When Salvation Is Impossible - part 4

Mar 15, 2026 • Rory Mosley

027 When Salvation Is Impossible – part 4

IMPENDING DEATH

Mark 5:21-43

March 15, 2026

We are still in our segment regarding scenarios

In which salvation was impossible.

At least impossible from a human standpoint.

1. The disciples found themselves in a boat, on the sea, in the middle of a cyclone.

2. Later a man came up who was inhabited by a literal army of demons.

3. This morning we saw a woman with a disease that no doctor could cure, and who had spent all her money and yet had only grown worse.

And yet Jesus saved in every one of those situations.

It is true that there is no dilemma that is too great

From which Jesus cannot save.

And tonight we look at yet another of these unsavable dilemmas,

And it is the granddaddy of them all: IMPENDING DEATH.

Death is really the big one.

It is really the one that powers all the rest.

· The storm the disciples faced was scary because it threatened death.

· The demoniac was scary and he even lived among death.

· The woman’s disease was scary because it stole life and would eventually

even bring death.

DEATH IS THE REAL PROBLEM OF HUMANITY.

I’ve often said it at funerals, how we live under death’s constant mocking.

· “Buckle your seatbelt…”

· “Don’t run with scissors…”

· “Get a colonoscopy…”

· “Don’t backtalk your momma…”

WHY? BECAUSE DEATH IS LOOMING.

It has a way of pointing its bony finger at you and promising

That if you slip up or delay too long then it is coming for you.

It not only threatens us regarding our own lives, but it even has a way of threatening us regarding the lives of those we love.

· How many mothers have sat up long periods of the night concerned about the safety of their children?

It is very simply what the Bible refers to as “the fear of death”.

There was a man, there was a woman, there was a tree, there was a snake

· God had said not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or death would be the result.

· The snake lied to the woman and told her it would be fine.

· She ate it.

In that very chapter (Gen. 3) God promised that death was coming.

In the very next chapter (Gen. 4) that woman buried one of her children.

The chapter after that, told us that death was spreading.

Genesis 5 repeatedly uses the phrase, “and he died…”

And in Genesis 6 God killed everyone with a flood except for 8 people.

Genesis 1-6 contains the same common enemies of Mark 4 & 5.

· There is a cowardly man.

· There is a cursed woman.

· There is a tormenting devil.

· There is a deadly storm.

And it all funneled to the same terrible end.

DEATH

It comes with certainty as it is appointed that all men die.

It comes suddenly, as very few are warned before it happens.

It comes unpredictably, as it can hit any age and any gender.

It comes permanently, at least from a human perspective, as once death occurs, there’s no going back.

It can be quite depressing to think on it.

The writer of Ecclesiastes certainly knew how to talk about it.

Ecclesiastes 9:2-6 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.”

What an encouraging thought.

Death is coming and there is nothing you can do about it.

Of all the scenarios that Mark presents to us here

This one is the grandfather of them all.

When the storm hit,

The disciples tried everything they knew to do on a boat in a storm.

· I’m sure they baled water, rowed harder, and everything else.

Even with the demoniac

· They had tried many times to bind him.

This woman

· Had spent all her money and seen many doctors.

Men try all manner of deliverances in life’s trials,

But there is one dilemma in which men don’t even try anymore… DEATH.

When death occurs there’s nothing to be done.

All you can do is bury your loved one and walk away.

Death is final.

IT IS THE ULTIMATE FOE.

And that is what makes this story the capstone

Of Mark’s segment on the Amazing Jesus.

IT IS JESUS VERSUS DEATH!

We’ll break this one into 5 points.

#1 THE AWFUL DILEMMA

Mark 5:21-24

We read it this morning, but let’s look at it a little closer tonight.

· We know about Jesus returning.

· We know again about the crowd gathering.

· But this time a surprising figure arises in the crowd.

(22) “One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet”

Let’s think about this Jairus for a moment.

Mark tells us that he is “one of the synagogue officials”.

· Every synagogue would have had several,

· At the synagogue in Capernaum that Jairus was one of them.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO US?

Well think about where we’ve been so far:

Mark 1:21-28 “They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.”

Or how about this one?

Mark 3:1-6 “He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”

That means there are two things Jairus unmistakably knew about Jesus.

1. He was a competent savior.

2. He was totally off-limits to the religious elite.

That tells us something of the dilemma of Jairus.

Jesus certainly offered a scenario of hope in great peril,

But doing so also came with a form of career suicide.

No synagogue official would have even considered coming to Jesus

Unless he was totally out of options.

And yet, here is Jairus approaching Jesus

“and on seeing Him, fell at His feet”

Let’s just acknowledge that

The barrier of pride has now been eradicated.

· Jairus would have been forced to remove the weeds from his heart in order to approach Jesus at all.

· He could not keep his reputation and come here, so he let his reputation go and came anyway.

He must have been in a very bad predicament.

INDEED HE WAS.

He approached Jesus, fell at His feet…

(23) “and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.”

Now we get it.

He had held out as long as he could.

· There’s no telling how long his daughter had been ill, but like the woman, nothing had worked.

· He was out of options.

And yet He was well-aware of this man

Who healed the sick and cast out demons.

This was the only Man who could help now.

Jesus must be called because his daughter is lingering around death.

Incidentally, Greek scholars often make a point of

THE CRUDE LANGUAGE OF MARK IN THIS VERSE.

It is often pointed out that the phrase “at the point of death”

Was a crude statement and even considered to be uncouth speech.

It’s not the sort of thing that was appropriate to say.

Scholars also like to point out

THE ABRUPT and almost incoherent SPEECH of Jairus.

Our English translation certainly smooths it out

As we read “please come and lay Your hands on her”,

But the Greek is choppy and broken.

“come…lay Your hands”

It is the words of a man stricken with grief and desperation.

He can’t even fully describe the situation.

He just knows he needs Jesus to come and do what He does.

THE ENTIRE SCENE SPEAKS OF DESPERATION.

His daughter is about to die.

There’s no time for eloquence now.

There’s no time for manners.

This is desperation.

Many even point out how this man refers to her as “My little daughter”,

A detail only Mark includes.

Certainly losing a child at any age is terrible,

But that word “little” certainly grips at the heart even more.

· We find out later that this girl (42) “was twelve years old”

· Which in Judaism was the age she would have become a woman, and

potentially even married.

· But to this man, she was his “little daughter”.

IT IS AN AWFUL DILEMMA.

She is sick and no one can help.

What this man doesn’t know is that

His dilemma is even greater than he thinks,

But that is all part of the plan as well.

And here we see, at the very least, the mercy of Jesus.

(24) “And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.”

So Jesus answers this man’s request, and is off to see the little girl.

#2 THE ANXIOUS DELAY

Mark 5:25-35

Jesus is following Jairus,

· No doubt having to push through a crowd that is only concerned with their own troubles.

AND THEN SOMETHING HAPPENS.

· One can imagine Jairus in a hurry,

· Pushing people aside,

· And then he turns around and Jesus is no longer following.

WHAT HAPPENED?

WHERE DID HE GO?

Apparently some woman touched Him or something

Because now Jesus has quit following

And is instead looking for the woman who touched Him.

Have you ever been in a hurry and got stuck behind someone who was joy-riding in their car?

It’s maddening, and yet those scenarios don’t hold a candle to this one.

IN THIS SCENARIO,

· You’ve got your loved one in an ambulance with sirens blaring to haul your

child to the ER as fast as you can,

· And the ambulance driver all of a sudden pulls over and is reading one of

those historical marker signs on the side of the road.

WHAT IS HE DOING?

So what a woman touched Him!

Everyone is touching Him!

Perhaps that is what the disciples were pointing out as well.

(31) “And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

Can you feel the awkwardness?

Jesus has stopped following…

· He’s looking for someone who apparently touched Him…

· Jairus is antsy and desperate…

· Jairus makes eye contact with Peter as if to show his desperation…

· Peter undoubtedly tries to hurry Jesus along…

Whatever the anxiety was in the heart of Jairus upon coming to Jesus,

It has just exponentially multiplied.

AND YET, IF JAIRUS IS LISTENING,

The point Jesus will make to the woman

Is the very thing he needed to know as well.

This was a woman with an incurable disease.

· Jairus had a daughter in a similar condition.

Though the delay must have been torturous,

The point should have been very calming.

Jesus just did it again!

He healed and saved this woman!

All He required was faith.

The delay would have been difficult,

But the result should have been overwhelmingly calming.

Jairus had recruited the right guy.

HOWEVER…

Just as Jairus’ hopes might have risen, then came the news that would crush him completely.

(35) “While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”

While Jesus was announcing salvation to the woman,

Jairus looks up and his worst fears are realized.

Here comes a messenger from the house,

And the look on his face says it all.

And then those bone chilling words.

“Your daughter has died…”

Can you feel the punch in the gut?

Can you feel the instant flood of grief?

The situation a moment ago only felt impossible,

Now it surely is.

We all know that once death sets in there is nothing that can be done.

And the statement of the messenger is telling too:

“why trouble the Teacher anymore?”

Some would read that as though they were speaking with disdain toward Jesus for delaying to heal that woman and not coming soon enough.

But that’s not really the point.

It is likely that this little girl had died and the messengers dispatched

Before Jesus even stopped to heal the woman.

Beyond that, the language DOESN’T suggest anger at Jesus.

“trouble” is the Greek word (SKOO-lo)

Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

· There it is “distressed”

· The word actually means “to skin” or “to flay”

AND THE SCENE HAS COME INTO FOCUS.

It is quite likely that everyone at the house

Had already accepted the fate that this little girl was going to die,

But her father had one last piece of hope he was hanging to.

He would go find Jesus.

One even has to wonder if

The crowd at the house had tried to talk him out of it.

· “You won’t find Him in time”

· “He won’t come”

· “I heard He crossed the sea”

· “It’s occupational suicide if you do”

Because once the girl dies, the messengers not only report the news,

But ultimately tell Jairus to leave Jesus alone.

It reads with a sort of “we told you it wouldn’t work, now leave Him alone” type of tone.

This situation just went from bad to worse.

Now your daughter is dead and everyone is reminding you

That now even Jesus can’t help.

The parallels to the Lazarus story are too similar to miss.

· The sick individual

· The summons for Jesus

· The delay of Jesus

· The death of the individual

· The announcement that now that death has occurred it’s too late.

Who could forget Martha?

John 11:21 “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Or Mary?

John 11:32 “Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Or the entire crowd?

John 11:37 “But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

Maybe Jesus could have helped while she was still sick,

But this is death and it’s over.

But that leads us to the next point and really the point of the story.

#3 THE ASSURING DIRECTIVE

Mark 5:36

What a statement!

Jesus calls for hope against all hope.

Did He not do the same with Martha?

John 11:23-26 “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Well here we are at that very point.

· I would imagine this man is weeping and sobbing.

· Jesus heard the announcement.

· Jesus certainly witnessed the response.

And Jesus utters this phrase to him

“Do not be afraid any longer, only believe”

The main points of Mark’s segment come resonating through yet again.

Fear is the opposite of faith.

Don’t give in to fear, exercise faith.

Faith is what is required here.

But there are two words Mark includes that makes all the difference.

The first is “afraid any longer”

· If you read your English translation, “any longer” is italicized which means the words aren’t in the Greek, but the tense of the verb is explained with the addition of those words.

“Do not be afraid any longer”

It indicates that

Perhaps there was a time when fear of death was appropriate.

Before Christ came

The writer of Ecclesiastes was the utmost authority on how to view death.

It is terrible and permanent and irreversible.

Certainly men were right to fear it.

But Jesus here announces that that day has come to an end.

“Do not be afraid any longer”

· Your fear of death is now out of place.

· Your fear of death is now incorrect.

It is because He had come to defeat death.

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Jesus came to overthrow Satan’s kingdom.

In order to overthrow a regime,

You must eliminate the regime’s greatest weapons.

Satan’s greatest weapon is death.

· He uses it to bully and malign.

· Jesus came to destroy it.

That’s what He told Martha, that is what He tells Jairus.

Certainly Jesus is beginning to point to His own death and resurrection

Where He will drive the death nail into death.

After His resurrection

· When John saw the glorified Lord we read that victorious statement from Him:

Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

All of that just to remind us that

There may have been a time when fear of death was appropriate,

But now that Jesus has come, it does not fit any longer.

We are promised that because He lives, we will live also.

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

That is the statement!

“Do not be afraid any longer”

And the other interesting word Mark includes is the word “only”.

By now we should be well-aware that faith is required.

But we love that Mark reminds us here that it is all that is required.

Jesus DID NOT say “believe and…”

He said “only believe”

And this is the perfect scenario for such a clarification

Since when facing death there is nothing else that can be done.

Even though we know certain things are wrong or even heretical

It is amazing how easily they can get lodged in our minds

And even come out when put under pressure.

But false doctrines like “God helps those who help themselves”

Tend to arise during trials.

And we take such a mindset

And we try to do everything we possibly can before we cry out to God

As though our input is going to make any difference at all.

· How much did the rowing or baling of water of the disciples actually help when

facing that storm?

· How much did the chains and fetters of the community actually help when

facing the demoniac?

· How much did all the doctor visits actually help the hemorrhaging woman?

And the answer is 0%

The only thing that helped in any of those situations was Christ.

He did it all and all He asked for was faith.

Faith remains the only requirement of God.

It is all you must give.

Take that wonderful Psalms 107 we read this morning.

Nothing any of them tried worked except their calling on the Lord.

But that is what makes this a perfect scenario for Jesus’ statement.

Since death has occurred there is nothing else to do but “believe”.

That is literally all that is left and that is all that is needed.

“Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”

And with that, Jesus is back on track to go with Jairus.

#4 THE AMAZING DECLARATION

Mark 5:37-40a

So at this point Jesus puts a stop to the crowd.

· They can go no further.

· Even most of the disciples are told to wait,

· But a few get to go certainly to give witness to what is about to happen.

The scene when Jesus arrives is exactly what one would expect.

There is a worship service for the power of death being held.

(38) “They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing.”

· Jews would hire professional mourners and wailers who would carry on for

days.

· It was a way to just let you stay in your unyielding grief as long as possible.

· It amounted to nothing more than a worship service and tribute to the power

and pain of death.

And Jesus will have none of it.

(39) “And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.”

Again, the similarities to the Lazarus story arise as this is precisely what Jesus told His disciples before they set out for the home of Lazarus.

John 11:11 “This He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.”

Jesus won’t even give death the courtesy of calling it by name.

Before Jesus death has no more power than that of sleep.

How easy is it for you to awaken someone from sleep.

Most of us do it without even trying.

That’s how easy it is for Jesus to pull someone out of death.

And because death should no longer be feared

Jesus questioned the necessity of this commotion in its honor.

“Why make a commotion and weep?”

We don’t do that when people take a nap

Because we know naps are a temporary thing.

FIRST Jesus says not to fear death.

NOW He says not to get all worked up about it.

IT’S NOT AS POWERFUL AS YOU THINK.

The crowd however was amazed, even humored.

(40a) “They began laughing at Him.”

They were certain His announcement would soon be met with humiliation

This also gives evidence to us that the girl was actually dead.

Enough people had viewed the scene by now to confirm that she was dead.

And that leads to the triumphant scene

#5 THE ASTOUNDING DELIVERANCE

Mark 5:40b-43

When Jesus enters:

(41) “Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).”

The fact that Mark gives you the interpretation of the phrase “Talitha kum!”

Is more evidence that Mark wrote for a Gentile audience

Since no such interpretation would have been needed for Jews.

Here Jesus treated death like a common nap.

· He pulls her out of death like one pulls a child out of a nap.

(42-43) “Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.”

HE DID IT!

Another impossible situation and Jesus saved!

Another unsalvageable circumstance and Jesus redeemed it!

“the girl got up and began to walk”

· There is no gradual recovery.

· There is no physical therapy required.

· She was dead and now she is alive.

Jesus even commanded that she be given something to eat.

· This of course was proof now of life.

· You’ll remember Jesus also ate something in front of His disciples after His

resurrection as a proof of His life.

This was not a spirit.