Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Who is my Shepherd? 

The LORD - Jehovah, the Existing One. He cares for His people, He tends His precious flock. In Isaiah 40:11 it says:

He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.

He provides His sheep with everything they need. Food and water, safety, compassion, guidance etc. He isn't a harsh Shepherd, He will gently lead those who are with young - young = baby Christians, newly converted and in need of guidance from their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! He gave His life for His sheep. John 10:14,15

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. No harm will come to His sheep and no sheep will ever want for anything. The Good Shepherd, leads His sheep into green  pastures - a place of peace, calm, tranquillity and sustenance. Our souls rest in Him because He is our peace, He is our calm. He leads His sheep by the still waters, calm waters not tempestuous seas. If chaos rages around us, it isn't there because Jesus put us there - no, His leading and guiding takes us from a place of storm to a habour of calm. He anchors us in His love! 

Our souls may be filled with sin and torment, but He restores them and He leads us into the paths of righteousness. Without peace, calm, tranquillity, guidance, righteousness we are in spiritual turmoil, our hearts aren't right with our Shepherd, but don't despair, He takes us again in His arms, He leads us again into those green pastures by still waters. Why does He do this? For His name's sake. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. He is with us to the end of time. 

This Psalm switches to the peace and tranquillity of green pastures and still waters to the valley of the shadow of death, but even in these circumstances - not necessarily literal death, but sometimes our trials and tribulations can feel so black, it's like death has come upon us. The coldness of our souls at times, the sins which over take us - Jesus Christ is LIFE and the opposite of these cold and dark times in our lives, and the opposite of life is death! Even when our sins, trials and tribulations feel like they are swallowing us up in confusion, fear, anxiety, depression etc we mustn't fear those times, because Christ, our Shepherd is with us.

The Lord's rod - this was used by a shepherd to protect the sheep from wild animals, it symbolises strength and protection. The staff was used to guide the sheep and speaks of the Lord's guidance. So often we wander from the path, but the Lord, if we are His, brings us back onto the path and if we seek His guidance He will give it to us! It's good to have boundaries because they offer protection and the Lord gives His own people boundaries on how to live their lives to come under His protection and care. Sometimes we kick against these, but they are there to protect us from harm, from guilt, from pain, from anguish. God's commands are to comfort and keep us safe. 

Psalm 91:1,2 says

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”  

If we abide in Him, if we allow the Lord to lead and guide us into green pastures, by still waters. If He restores our souls then we dwell in the secret place of the Most High and we learn to trust in Him in all things. 

The Lord loves His sheep so much - the animals may be set to pounce, devour and overcome us, but He provides so much for us. A table laden with spiritual fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and pure living water - the Shepherd Himself. 

John 4:14

“…but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 

There are accounts of starving prisoners of war, who have their tables laden with spiritual food - they were filled with the fruit of spirit, even in the midst of their enemies' vileness. The Lord has anointed them as His messengers in such dark and unholy places, yet they have stuck to serving Him, worshipping Him. The Hebrew word in the original for 'anointed' can mean to make or grow fat - even in adversity many of the Lord's people have grown fat spiritually (in a good way). Sometimes we can be spiritually lean, but only when we feed on God's word can we grow as Christians. There is an abundance here with the cup running over. The cup of the Lord's blessings and care runs over - it doesn't stop running over because those blessings never ever end. In the Christian life there is an abundance of all the Lord gives - He isn't miserly or mean - He gives grace, faith, blessings, life, love etc abundantly out of His never ending storehouse in glory! 

After reading this Psalm, no wonder David could conclude:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

When we have a generous Shepherd giving His own life for His sheep, giving out of the abundance of the storehouses of grace in heaven - the only conclusion we can draw from this IS that goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Not only that BUT I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Being in Christ doesn't just mean all of these things end when we die, but they continue in even more abundance in heaven where we shall be forever with the Lord. 

Revelation 22:1-5 give us a glimpse of what we can look forward to if we are in Christ:

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.  They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

What a glorious future we have if we belong to the Shepherd!

image generated using ChatGPT

Rending the Veil Part 3: Jairus' Daughter

This account is also found in Luke 8:40-56 

Mark 5:21-24

Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.

Jairus - the synagogue leader would have been in charge of the local synagogue in Capernaum. He would have been highly respected amongst the community. He would have been charged with supervising services to the worship of God, maintaining the religious order and teaching the Law.  The religious leaders of the day were suspicious of Jesus so Jairus coming to him shows he had some knowledge of Jesus' miracles and the love for his daughter took priority over his religious prejudices.

We don't know what ailed the daughter, but it was bad enough for Jairus to believe she didn't have too long to live. By falling at Jesus' feet, it showed that he had respect and faith in Christ and he knew Jesus was the only One who could heal his daughter of what was ailing her. Did his faith go deeper than just believing in a miraculous healing?

Jesus didn't hesitate and went with him. The multitude came along too and pressed on all sides around Him. On their way to Jairus' house they were held up by another healing - the woman with the issue of blood - click HERE to read Part 2 of this series and verses Mark 5:25-34, which relates the account.

Jairus must have been uneasy having this woman stopping Jesus from going to his house. Being the leader of the synagogue he more than likely knew her - the woman who was unclean, had been a social outcast for twelve years... His daughter was on the point of death, but Jesus had halted to deal with this person who had managed to walk to where Jesus was, but his daughter was in bed, not able to rise up and walk anywhere. What was Jesus thinking? 

Mark 5:35-43

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”

And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

Now comes the testing of Jairus's faith. Some people (maybe servants?) from Jairus's house came to him with the most tragic news - his beloved daughter had died, while her father was looking for healing for her, she was taken from him. Words Jairus' didn't want to hear "Your daughter is dead." Jairus must have been devastated, but he was with Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (Colossians 1:16-17). Jesus is the creator of life! Jairus and his wife was going to witness the most amazing miracle of all... 

Jesus is the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23, John 10:11), the One who brings comfort, dispels fear and heals the broken hearted (Psalm 147:3) says comforting and gentle words to Jairus "Do not be afraid; only believe." We aren't told why, but Jesus permitted no one to follow except three of His close disciples, Peter, James and his brother John. I expect the young girl would have been overwhelmed by so many people AND Jesus didn't want His full work to be revealed yet. 

In the days of Jesus if somebody died, the family would pay for professional mourners which validated the family's grief and loss. It was a public and communal show of mourning for the deceased. With the weeping and wailing it emphasised the seriousness of the occasion. When Jesus went into the house, He asked what the commotion was because the girl wasn't dead, but merely sleeping. The mourning turned to laughter and ridicule. These people had probably witnessed death on so many occasions, they would have probably thought Jesus was a bit mad. This mocking didn't deter Him because He knew the power vested in him could raise Jairus's daughter from the dead. He put them outside and took the father and mother and the three disciples into the girl's room where she was lying. 

The Author of life took her by the hand and said the famous words which the translators have kept in this translation of the Bible: "Talitha Cumi" [Aramaic] which means "Little girl, I say to you, arise." Instantly the child arose and walked. We don't know how long she hadn't been able to walk, but adding that detail implies she had been bedridden for quite some time. Her parents, who more than likely had lost all hope, had their hope restored - their precious little girl had been brought back to life, to the One who gives physical and spiritual life. Scripture tells us that they were overcome with great amazement. 

Jesus didn't want this to spread, because His work wasn't complete and if the religious leaders found out perhaps they would be all the more bent on having Jesus arrested. 

As well as not wanting everyone to know, the Lord who cares for young and old, the weak and strong, told her parents to feed her. After her long illness she would need some nourishment. 

Children may not have had value in Jesus's day:

Matthew 19:13-15 

Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

but Jesus values everybody. Each person has a worth and a value to God. 

As we saw in the introduction women [and girls] may not have been of value to society, but to our Creator He gives them their value and worth back. What society takes away from God's creative purposes, Jesus Christ gives it back. 

Lessons:
Jesus doesn't just heal people, He raises them to new life
Everybody has value and worth to God, it doesn't matter what your social standing is, young, old, rich, poor
He is the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep