“The Last Laugh”
Text: Mark 5:21-43
6-30-2024
In the name of Him who has power over death and the grave, dear friends in Christ. Even though death affects every one of us, in most social circles it’s still treated like a 500-pound gorilla sitting on the couch at a party. You know it’s there, everybody is scared by it, nobody knows how to get rid of it, and no one wants to talk about it. That’s probably why we generally don’t discuss death much except at funerals. It’s a huge threat that lurks nearby and we can’t make it go away. So we deal with death only when we have to. But as Christians, we don’t have to try to ignore it or pretend that it’s not there. Because we know that Jesus has conquered that threatening monster called death, so we have nothing to fear.
There’s a wonderful example of this in the Gospel Lesson. Jairus was a desperate man. His young daughter was very sick and he was scared that she was going to die. As a ruler of the Synagogue, he was an important and respected man. By this point in Jesus’ ministry the Jewish religious leaders hated and opposed Him. But even though it may have been the kiss of death for his career, Jairus went to Christ for help anyway. In fact, he humbled himself, bowing at the feet of Jesus to beg for his daughter’s healing. Like any loving parent, he’d risk everything in order to save his child’s life.
Jesus agreed to go with him. Sadly, while they were on the way, the news came that Jairus’ daughter was dead. That had to be heart wrenching. Over the years I’ve talked to many parents whose son or daughter has died, and regardless of the child’s age they all basically say the same thing: “I never expected to bury my own child. It’s not supposed to happen this way!” Death is hard enough to cope with, but it’s even more ugly when it strikes a young child. It’s devastating! Jairus’ heart sank and his friend spoke the words that were probably on his mind too. “Why bug Jesus anymore? It’s too late. It’s no use. She’s dead and that’s the end of it.”
Before those hopeless, despairing words could sink in Jesus interrupted the gloomy news. Christ ignored those words of doom. Not because He was pretending that death wasn’t there, but rather, He knew He was about to rob death of its prey. He ignored the hopeless message and He urged Jairus to do the same. He apparently had a spark of faith to believe that Jesus had the power to heal his daughter. Jesus fanned that spark into a flame as He said “Do not fear, only believe.” You see, faith in the power of Jesus to save a soul from death is the key to this whole reading.
When they got to the house, they walked into the noise and chaos of the professional mourners who were there. Yes, I said “professional.” This was their job. They would cry and wail with the family over the death of their loved one. St. Matthew tells us that there were also hired flute players who droned out somber tunes. This was a common Jewish custom kind of like hiring a caterer to serve the funeral luncheon. It was expected, but it just added to all the commotion. Jesus walked into this noisy mess with Jairus and 3 disciples at His side. Now remember. Jesus had just encouraged this desperate father to ignore the death notice by holding onto his faith. But then all this distracting noise greets them. You know how that affects you. Like when you’re driving down the Interstate in heavy traffic and you’re trying hard to concentrate so you turn the radio off and tell the kids to be quiet and sit still. Why? Because the added noise distracts your focus. Well, all this funeral noise was distracting Jairus from concentrating on his trust in Jesus. Christ addresses this in verse 39 saying to the professional mourners, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
Just picture that scene for a minute. Everybody was crying and these folks were wailing away: “Oh woe is me! Oh, what a tragedy! Oh, what misery! Ooohhh!” Jesus tells them to knock it off because it’s unnecessary. Can you imagine the look on their faces? They turned off their weeping and wailing as if a switch had been flipped and they scornfully laughed at Jesus instead. “Ha, ha, ha! Did I hear you right Jesus? Hah! You’re nuts! You don’t know what you’re talking about. We do this gig all the time and we KNOW dead when we see it!”
There’s an old saying that goes, “He who laughs last, laughs best.” Well, Jesus is about to have the last laugh. But true to form, He refused to dignify their mocking laughter by responding to it. These folks obviously didn’t believe in Him as the Son of God or His power, so why should they be privileged to witness this miracle? Oh, I know. If you’re like me you would have invited them in and said “Okay smarty pants, watch this!” But Jesus kicked them all out. Why? Well, we’re back to the faith issue. Read through the Gospels and you’ll find that the reason Jesus performed His miracles was in order to reveal His glory. And only people with faith in Him would accept these miracles as evidence that Jesus truly is the Savior from sin and death.
You know, when you think about it, there are some powerful similarities between this girl’s death and resurrection and the death and resurrection of Jesus. Unbelieving people laughed and mocked Jesus when He told them that He would rise from the dead in 3 days. In fact, as He hung on the cross they jeered at Him saying, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself.” Perhaps they were thinking of the miracle of this girl’s resurrection? They mockingly laughed at Jesus. But once again, in a much greater way, He would have the last laugh. Just like at the death of that little girl, on the cross Jesus didn’t respond to their deriding laughter. Instead, He willingly died for the sins of the world knowing that His body would only sleep in death for a short time. Then, by the power that created this world, His life would be restored. When He rose from the grave on Easter morning, He had the last laugh on death. As St. Peter told the crowds on the Day of Pentecost, death could not hold Him. And the best part is that by His death and resurrection, He has broken the power of death over us. For everyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior, death is now just a temporary sleep from which He will awaken us. That’s why Jesus could calmly and confidently say, “The child is not dead but sleeping." So He woke up this child from the sleep of death and restored her life.
But remember, faith in Jesus is the key. Only those who had faith in Him were privileged to witness the resurrection of that little girl. And if you check it out, you’ll find that only those who had faith in Jesus were privileged to witness His resurrection from the grave. That’s the way it will be on the Last Day when Christ returns to this world. Only those who have faith in Jesus will experience the resurrection from the dead to eternal life. Oh, make no mistake. Those who mockingly laughed at Jesus in this life and refused to believe in Him will be raised too. But they will not be raised to eternal life. They’ll be raised to spend an eternity of suffering in hell separated from God.
As I just said, faith in Jesus is the key. If you believe in His perfect and complete sacrifice on the cross for your sins, then you will be raised to eternal life. You can’t do anything to save yourself. Like that little girl, you and I were dead in sin. It was the almighty power of Jesus that spoke the words that created the life of faith in our hearts. When you were Baptized the benefits of His death and resurrection were applied to you personally. You did absolutely nothing to deserve it. All you and I could do was receive it. Sadly, some people are disillusioned into thinking that they can buy their way into heaven by doing nice things. Several years ago the multi-billionaire, Warren Buffet, made the news by giving billions of dollars to a charity. That’s nice. But what was his motive? He himself said, “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.” I’ve got news for you. If Mr. Buffet or anybody thinks that they will be welcomed into heaven because of their good works then they are in for a rude awakening. It is by faith and faith alone that ANYONE will be raised to eternal life.
There was a Sunday school teacher who was testing her class to see if they understood the concept of how believers get to heaven. She asked, "If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?” "NO!” the children answered. "If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into heaven?” Again, the answer was, "NO!” By now the teacher was smiling. "If I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children I met and loved my husband, would that get me into heaven?” Again, they all answered, "NO!” The teacher was bursting with pride for her kids. “Well then, how can I get into heaven?” A five-year-old boy shouted out, "You gotta be dead!” Ah, out of the mouths of babes! It’s so true. The only way we can get to heaven is by passing through death. But believers in Jesus Christ don’t have to be afraid of that because death is now just the doorway to eternal life with God. That’s a great comfort to us as we face death whether it be our own or the death of a loved one.
As strange as it may sound, we Christians can now laugh at death. Oh sure, we’ll still cry as we mourn the passing of our family and friends and even as we approach our own death. But we can laugh at death because we know that Jesus had the last laugh when He conquered that devouring monster on Easter morning. St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that death has now been “swallowed up” due to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our sins are forgiven through Him and death no longer has power to hold us. We can die in peace knowing that like Jairus’ daughter, Jesus will someday take us by the hand and gently awaken us to eternal life. May our faith stay focused on Jesus amidst all the unbelieving mourners who wail and cry that death is the end. Like Jairus, may we ignore that message of gloom and instead trust in Jesus as we hear Him say, “Do not fear, only believe!” Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!