miracles - Drew Boswell

“Failing to Remember God’s Word is Dangerous” Jude vv. 5-7

Drew Boswell Ministries

“Failing to Remember God’s Word is Dangerous” Jude vv. 5-7

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The Fundamentals of Our Faith; What We Believe Sermon Series “We Believe in Jesus” Miscellaneous Verses

The Fundamentals of Our Faith;

What We Believe Sermon Series

“We Believe in Jesus”

Miscellaneous Verses

Introduction

We must continue to affirm the uniqueness and finality of Jesus Christ. For he is unique in his incarnation (the one and only God-man), unique in his atonement (only he has died for the sins of the world), and unique in his resurrection (only he has conquered death). And since in no other person but Jesus of Nazareth did God first become human (in his birth), then bear our sins (in his death), and then triumph over death (in his resurrection), he is uniquely competent to save sinners. Nobody else possesses his qualifications.

So we may talk about Alexander the Great, Charles the Great and Napoleon the Great, but not Jesus the Great. He is not the Great—he is the Only. There is nobody like him. He has no rival and no successor.[1]

Prayer

Fulfilled Prophecies

“Jesus is the second member of the trinity, and is described to us as the Son of God, who existed before the creation of the world, participated in creation, and became a human (Jesus of Nazareth), was given birth by a virgin, coming to earth to do the will of God the Father. He lived without sin, died for our sins, was bodily resurrected, ascended into heaven and will come again someday to judge sin and establish permanent righteousness on earth.”[2]

1 Corinthians 15:1-5 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

This passage says, “according to the Scriptures” – there is prophecy after prophecy that predicted Jesus’ arrival, and with very specific detail show Him to have fulfilled them. Some biblical scholars hold that there are close to 300 prophecies of the Messiah in the Bible. In we pull only eight and “The prospect that anyone would satisfy those eight prophecies was just 1 in 10¹⁷. In Science Speaks, he described it like this:

“Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10¹⁷silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.

“Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.”

The God-Man

As God in eternity, He existed before taking on human flesh and becoming human, yet He did not give up any of His divinity – yet he took on being human completely. He was fully God and fully man at the same time.[3] One God, three persons.

In Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Remember last week we said that God is immutable (unchanging) – So Jesus as God does not change. Jesus did not cease to be God when he took on “the form of a servant,” so he was fully human (he grew tired, slept, was thirsty and hungry, expressed emotions, etc.) yet fully God at the same time.

The theological term we use here is kenosis or “emptied himself,” so this involves a voluntary nonuse of his divinity – Nonuse does not mean subtraction. For example, there are things that as the God-Man Jesus chose not to know (when He was coming back, parousia).

Also, there is apart of his kenosis that involves covering Jesus’ preincarnate glory. If we go to the transfiguration of Jesus in Mark 9:2-8 “And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.

But while fully God, Jesus was also fully man. “If Jesus had not been a man, he could not have died in our place and paid the penalty that was due to us.”[4] Hebrews 2:16-17 says, “For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

Propitiation; “the sacrifice that is an acceptable substitute for us.” The root meaning of this word is “to make the face of someone sweet or pleasant,”[5] There has been an offense, what then is required to make things right again. We have offended God due to our sin, what must be done to propitiate the relationship? Justice demands death, the penalty for our sin is death. “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect” Jesus had to be fully man, so that He could settle the offense of sin against God.

The Virgin Birth

Jesus became human in a very special way. His birth was a result of a miraculous conception. “In the womb of the virgin Mary, Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 tells us what happened, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” Jesus did not have an earthly biological father, Mary conceived as a virgin.

Why is the virgin birth important?

1) “It shows that salvation ultimately must come from the Lord.”[6] Salvation will never have come from human self-effort, God had to step in and do something.

2) “It makes possible Christ’s true humanity without inherited sin.” Everyone inherits a corrupted sin nature from Adam, but because Jesus did not have a human father that was somehow interrupted. What About Mary’s inherited sin nature? Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” In some miraculous way, the Holy Spirit kept the sin nature from passing on the Jesus.

3) “The virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person. This was the means God used to send his Son (John 3:16; Galatians 4:4) into the world as a man.”[7]

Savior of the World

Jesus lived a sinless life, “He had to be sinless or else His death on our behalf would have been worthless. Since ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23), meaning eternal spiritual and physical death, if Jesus had sinned He would Himself have suffered eternal separation and physical death. His death on the cross, then, could have done nothing for us. But because He was sinless, He did not deserve to die; and because He was God, His death could count for ours.”[8]

“Adam served as our representative in the Garden of Eden, and through his disobedience God counted us guilty as well. In a similar way, Jesus was our representative and obeyed for us where Adam had disobeyed and failed.”[9]

There is a parallel between Jesus’ temptation (Luke 4:1-13) and the time of testing for Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 2:15-3:7). Paul also discusses this parallel between Adam and Christ in Romans 5:18-19 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for fall men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” This is why Paul calls Jesus the “last Adam.” There are no other Saviors coming, He is the ultimate and final sacrifice.

Humanity is separated from God because of sin, and unless one believes in Jesus, committing your life to Him, he or she will be separated from God forever. John 1:1, 12 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, the gave the right to become children of God,”

His Teachings Were Astonishing

Jesus taught us, that nothing is more important than your soul, and what you do with it. Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Our greatest need is to do something about our sin – we need to be saved. Through Jesus we see that God is willing, because of His love for us, to give His one and only Son to be the payment that is required for our sin.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus came to this reality (remember God is transcendent) and suffered as a man and died, so that His creation may be rid of sin.

Before we move on from Jesus’ teaching, I think it is helpful to look at a quote from C.S. Lewis,

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”[10]

Jesus claimed deity for Himself in a way quite clear to His listeners. He said on one occasion, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). His decisive expression of deity led to his crucifixion” John 19:7 “The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”[11]

The high priest expressly asked Jesus in Matthew 26:63-65 “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need?” In His claiming to be the Son of God, he said he had the authority to forgive sin, that He would come in future judgment, and that He had the authority to raise the dad.

His Actions Were Miraculous

To prove He was who He said He was, he did miracles. “Jesus performed miracles not to amaze or entertain people. He healed people out of a sense of compassion. He wept before raising Lazarus from the dead. Also, He performed miracles in order to help people believe what He was saying. For example, He claimed to be the light of the world, and then gave sight to a blind man. He claimed to be the bread of life, and He fed five thousand people with a few loaves. He claimed to the resurrection and the life, and He raised Lazarus from the dead.”[12]

“Jesus demonstrated for all to see and hear the attributes which belong to God alone. He claimed omnipotence (all power) with the words, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). During His life He demonstrated power over nature by stilling the stormy waves (Mark 4:39) and turning water into wine (John 2:7-11).”[13]

His Continued Ministry For Humanity

When Jesus ascended into heaven He sat down at the right hand of the Father, indicating that His earthly task was completed successfully. Now, He intercedes for us in prayer. Romans 8:34 “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Also, Romans 8:24 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Do You Know This Jesus Today? Have you accepted His gift of His life as a substitute for your sin – His sinless life for yours? He wants you to give your life to him today – won’t you do it.

______________________________

[2] Max Anders, New Christian’s Handbook, Everything New Believers Need to Know (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) 24.

[3] Shortly after Jesus’ death some claimed that Jesus did not truly have a human body; He only seemed human. That was rejected at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. (Anders, 25)

[4] Grudem, 236.

[5] George Arthur Buttrick, Dictionary Editor, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, An Illustrated Encyclopedia (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1962) 920.

[6] Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1999) 230.

[7] Grudem, 230.

[8] Anders, 28.

[9] Grudem, 235.

[10] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6979-i-am-trying-here-to-prevent-anyone-saying-the-really

[11] Paul Little, Know What You Believe, A Practical Discussion of the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith (Colorado Springs, Colorado; Cook Communications, 1999) 42.

[12] Anders, 42.

[13] Little, 43.

Christ’s Power Over Every Need The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series “Miracles Part 2: Power Over Sickness and Death” Mark 5:21-43

https://youtu.be/8beTtw9pIg4

Christ’s Power Over Every Need

The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series

Miracles Part 2: Power Over Sickness and Death

Mark 5:21-43

Introduction

“A pastor I know, Stephey Bilynskyj, starts each confirmation class with a jar full of beans. He asks his students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and on a big pad of paper writes down their estimates. Then, next to those estimates, he helps them make another list: Their favorite songs. When the lists are complete, he reveals the actual number of beans in the jar. The whole class looks over their guesses, to see which estimate was closest to being right. Bilynskyj then turns to the list of favorite songs. “And which one of these is closest to being right?” he asks. The students protest that there is no “right answer”; a person’s favorite song is purely a matter of taste. Bilynskyj, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Notre Dame asks, “When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is that more like guessing the number of beans, or more like choosing your favorite song?” Always, Bilynskyj says, from old as well as young, he gets the same answer: Choosing one’s faith is more like choosing a favorite song. When Bilynskyj told me this, it took my breath away. “After they say that, do you confirm them?” I asked him. “Well,” smiled Bilynskyj, “First I try to argue them out of it.”[1]

Prayer

My Little Daughter (vv. 21-24a)

21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.

Having healed the Gerasene Demoniac and sending 2,000 pigs into the sea, Jesus was asked to leave the village across the lake by a crowd, and now they land back on the shore, and crowds once again surround him.

As we know from previous chapters in Mark, Jesus would address the crowds at the seashore, or even in a boat pulled off the shore. This was another great opportunity to teach and preach to the “great crowd gathered about him.” But “one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus” came and fell at his feet, and earnestly asked for help for his little daughter, who is about to die.

“Rulers of the synagogue” were laymen whose responsibility were administrative, not priestly, and included such things as looking after the building and supervising the worship (such as inviting people to speak).

(v. 23) “My little daughter is at the point of death” – Jairus is doing what any desperate parent would do, he falls at Jesus’ feet, he uses the term little daughter to express how important she is to him.

It would seem that Jesus’ ministry impact would be with the great crowd, but he left them to minister to one family.

My Daughter’s Faith (vv. 24b-34)

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

The woman mentioned here had “a discharge of blood for twelve years” and in an effort to be healed she went to many physicians, who had her do all sorts of things that caused her to “suffer[ed] much under” their care. So not only does she suffer under the physicians, she has spent all the money she had, and the issue has grown worse, not better.

She had paid money to receive instructions like, “carrying the ashes of an ostrich egg in a cloth.”[2] Another instruction given would have been, “Set the woman in a place where. Two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let someone come from behind and frighten her, and say, ‘arise from thy flux.’”[3] So, she hears about Jesus, and thinks “if I can just touch his clothes, then I may be healed.”

In the New Testament there were miracles resulting from having Peter’s shadow pass over you (Acts 5:15-16) or coming into contact with Paul’s handkerchief (Acts 19:12), and later it was a common practice to touch Jesus’ clothes to be healed (Mark 6:56).[4] So almost from the beginning there is a need to clarify the difference between faith and relics (superstition).

Leviticus 15:25 “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27 And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.” Uncleanliness was transferable – the “unclean” were not to touch the “clean (Lev. 5:3).”[5]

(v. 25) This woman has been ceremonially unclean for over twelve years. An outcast, and alone, untouchable, for twelve years. “She was just as much an outcast as the demon-possessed man had been.”[6] She would not be allowed to approach Jesus, to talk to Him was unthinkable.

“Uncleanness in Israel causes Yahweh to turn away his face, and without the saving presence the nation is doomed to exile and destruction (Ezek. 39:24).”[7] So the leaders and the people as a whole think it is very important to keep the law, and to remain “clean.”

“And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” – We have already seen in Mark 4:12 Jesus’ explanation of the different soils and why He taught in parables, “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand,” and here in chapter 5 we see them touching but not receive healing. The disciples are saying “many are pressed up against you,” many have touched him but this woman stands out.

The disciples reproached Jesus in the boat during the storm, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” and here again, “You see the crowd . . .” Why is Jesus concerned about one person among all these people? Jesus’ response “reveals the glory of the gospel . . . “Behold what manner of love . . . , that we should be called the sons of God (1 John 3:1).”[8]

The disciples are focused on trying to get Jesus to Jairus’ daughter where the real emergency existed, but Jesus is slowing them down by worrying about someone in a dense crowd that touched him. This apparent silly question would only cause a delay. Jesus’ question was not to rebuke her, but to make personal contact with her. “She needed to know that it was not her superstition (touching objects or clothes) that saved her, but her faith that caused God to heal her.”[9]

This woman has tried everything she can possibly do, in her own effort to be healed, and be ceremonially “clean” with God. It was her faith in Jesus that allowed her to be healed, and have the ability to enter into God’s presence. Jesus stops everything to make sure she understands that.

She is anticipating rebuke, chastisement, so she “came in fear and trembling and fell down before him . . .” “She knew Jesus’ power, but she did not yet know His heart.”[10] This all-powerful Son of God, what is He like?

(v. 34) “Daughter[11], your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Jesus is claiming the same special relationship with her that Jairus had with his little daughter.[12] Jairus does not want to lose his daughter to death, Jesus does not want to lose His daughter to her not understanding what truly healed her. No matter the pressures of the crowd/world you stop everything when your kids are hurting.

John 6:37 “. . . whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

“The word translated healed is sesoken (“saved”). Here both physical and theological salvation are in mind. “Go in peace” is a traditional Jewish formula for leaving-taking “shalom” but it is not just peace, as in peace from inward anxiety, but also in the sense of wholeness or completeness that comes from being brought into a right relationship with God.”[13] Go knowing that you are right with God.

Little Girl Arise (vv. 35-43)

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,”[14] which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age),[15] and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jairus knows that his daughter is about to die, and he has two options. Stay and be with her when she dies (which is imminent) or go find Jesus – so he has found Jesus, but she dies before they can get back to the bedside.

Jesus overhears the conversation between Jairus and someone from his household, and says, “Do not fear, only believe.” Jairus has a choice of voices to listen to – someone from his household, or Jesus. It is always better to listen to hear what Jesus has to say about our situation, than anyone else.

Also, there is a finality on the friend’s remarks, “Why bother the teacher any further?” as if to say, “there is nothing that Jesus can do, now.” It’s too late. If Jesus decides to lay His hands upon something, then it is never too late. “Do not fear, only believe.”

When they arrive to Jairus’ home there were people, “weeping and wailing loudly.” The word for wailing is an onomatopoetic word, Alala – soldiers would yell this word when entering into battle, it is used for clanging symbols (1 Cor. 13:1), and it is used here to “refer to the sound of the monotonous wail of the hired mourners.”[16]

These are paid mourners, who are yelling out this alala “The lamentations consisted of choral song, or antiphony, accompanied with hand clapping.”[17] And flute and instrument playing, and people tearing their clothes.[18]

The paid mourner’s reaction to Jesus saying, “The child is not dead but sleeping” is to laugh at him. To ridicule Him. Jesus asks the paid mourners to leave and only the parents, Jesus, Peter, James and John are there when she is healed – Why?

Some are entrusted with who Jesus is, the Messiah, the Savior of the World, and others are not. If Jesus knows you are not serious, but only pretending (like the paid mourners) then you will be sent away and will never experience the true miracle. The crowd who was looking on in curiosity were sent away, the paid mourners who lacked the faith that the father showed were sent away, even the other new disciples were sent out (leaving the inner three Peter, James, and John).

All three gospels mention that Jesus took her by the hand. He touches her. The father in v. 23 says, “Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” believing that it was his touch, but Jesus says, v. 36 “But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

(v. 42) “the girl got up and began walking” Walking (aorist tense) here means, she kept on walking around. “She kept on walking about, first possibly to her mother, then to her father, and then finding out what had happened to Jesus who had restored her to life.”[19]

The healed woman with the blood discharge touched Jesus’ clothes. Jesus stops the woman and explains that it was the woman’s faith that saved her. Both of these stories are grounded on the word faith, believe.

Jesus does not care if the unclean touch him (blood issues or death), because He is the source of holiness. With His touch, all that defiles is gone. Nothing unclean can make him unclean by it’s touch. But Jesus can make clean anything that is unclean, “do not fear, only believe.”

There is nothing that is too far gone, that finding Jesus and asking Him to help will not make it better. In all three stories (the Gerasene Demoniac – unclean spirit, The woman with the blood discharge – bodily discharges, and the Jairus’ daughter – contact with the dead) all of these people were ceremonially unclean; but Jesus made them clean again, whole again, able to enter God’s presence again.

____________________________

[1] Tim Stafford, Christianity Today, September 14, 1992, p. 36.

[2] Max Anders, General Editor, Holman New Testament Commentary, Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 2000) 87.

[3] W. N. Clarke, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Judson Press, 1950) 77.

[4] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume 1 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1930) 300.

[5] Unclean could make something unclean, but clean could not make something unclean, clean.

[6] Anders, 87.

[7] L.E. Tombs, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume 1 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 647.

[8] George Arthur Buttrick, Commentary Editor, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 7 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 723.

[9] Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 1984) 660.

[10] Clarke, 77.

[11] This is the only time Jesus was recorded calling a woman, “daughter.”

[12] Anders, 88.

[13] Gaebelein, 662.

[14] First mention of Jesus speaking Aramaic in the Gospel of Mark.

[15] The woman healed from bleeding and discharge suffered for 12 years, and the little girl raised from the dead was 12 years old. Is there a connection?

[16] Robertson, 302.

[17] Gaebelein, 662.

[18] “A vivid description of the tumult is provided by L. Bauer, Volksleben im Lande der Bibel (Leipzig, 1903), pp. 211 ff. The woman form a circle around the leader of the dance of death, and dance rhythmically from left to right with their hair hanging down, Gradually they increase their mournful lament and the wild movements of hands and feet until their faces become flushed to a high degree and appear especially excited as the time of burial draws near.” William L. Lane, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1993) 196.

[19] Herchel H. Hobbs, An Exposition of the Four Gospels, Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1978) 88.