Talitha Koum

There she laid.  Dead.  A twelve year old girl, snatched from her parents in the jaws of death.  

Jairus, a synagogue ruler, had gone to the Teacher–the Miracle Worker–desperately pleading–interceding for the life of his precious daughter.  She was teetering on the brink of death.  Perhaps if He would come…if He would just touch her…then she would be healed.  

And to his relief–the Teacher said yes!  They were on their way.

The journey took longer than expected.  When they finally arrived, they were greeted with mourning and hopelessness.  His precious daughter…dead.  No need to bother the Teacher anymore.  It was over.

Or was it?

To his surprise, the Teacher asks to go inside!  Jairus, his wife, and a few of the Teacher’s followers crowd into the room around the corpse.  Reaching out, He touches the corpse’s hand.  Any good Teacher would know that, according to the Law, touching the dead makes one unclean!  What was he doing?  Could it be…

“TALITHA KOUM!”

“Little girl, I say to you, get up!”

And like that, life overcame death.  His precious daughter was rescued from the jaws of death, returned to the arms of her parents!  Who is this man who even death bows to His word? 

(A Retelling of Mark 5:21-43)

TALITHA KOUM!

Do these words need to resound in your life?

This situation is hopeless.  I’m defeated.  It’s a total loss.  It’s over.  It’s done.  There’s no way out of this one…no way to rewind the clock.  This is the way things will be from now on.

TALITHA KOUM!

Our relationship is broken beyond repair.  There’s no way things can ever be good between us again.  There’s nothing that can fix the damage done.  Trust is obliterated.  Our love is dead.  We might as well be dead to each other.

TALITHA KOUM!

This temptation is too much for me to bear.  It won’t quit gnawing at me…I can’t take living like this.  Maybe I should just give in.  Maybe this is just who I am.  I’m resigned to put part of me to death–the part that desires this temptation or the part that fights against it for what is right.  Am I doomed to be at war within me?  I wish I could change who I am–be a new creation.

TALITHA KOUM!

I can’t wrestle off the chains of this addiction.  I don’t like what I’m doing, but I can’t escape it.  I know there’s something better for me…something more for my life…but I can’t escape this momentary, insatiable craving.  I hate it, but I’ve sacrificed my relationships on the altar of this addiction–spending my money, my time, my health–the best of me–on it.  Quitting should be simple.  It’s just a matter of choice, right?  But still, I feel enslaved.  My life feels like death.

TALITHA KOUM!

I’ve blown it.  I’ll always be marked by this sin.  How could anyone look at me the same again?  How could anyone love me, knowing what I’ve done?  I’m stuck with this secret for the rest of my life.  I’m not happy with my life, but I’m terrified of death.  How could God possibly accept me, much less love me?  I feel doomed to live a life of death–hollow and aching on the inside for the shame I carry.

TALITHA KOUM!

The Teacher, the Word through whom the universe was made–Jesus–calls out to you, “TALITHA KOUM!”  Only the One who spoke the universe into being can speak a new creation in your life.

It’s never over until…Jesus!

Our struggles, our tragedies, our broken relationships, our temptations, our addictions, our sins–all are under the sovereignty of the One whom even the wind and waves obey.

The One who has compassion on the lost, the broken, the outcast, and the sinner.

The crucified One who chose to face death for us…and conquered it on our behalf!

The resurrected One who leads us into the resurrection of eternal life!

And guess what!  That resurrection life can start in you right now!

He speaks to us…

“TALITHA KOUM!  Get up, my little one!  You are not your struggles, your temptations, your brokenness, your sin–let me show you who are!  By My word, the old is gone, and the new has come!  You are my precious child!  You are significant, secure, and accepted!  You are chosen!  You are dearly loved!  You are free!  You are forgiven!  You are righteous!  You are pure and holy!  You are victorious over sin!  Death has no hold on you!”

And it is all in Christ alone.  You can come to Jesus today, exactly as you are–no matter how messy, confused, hopeless, or broken.  Don’t feel like you need to clean up your act first–none of us can do that on our own!  That’s the very reason we need to come to Him! The Holy One seeks us as we are and lovingly touches our mess, our chaos, our brokenness–our death–and contaminates us with His holiness and life!

TALITHA KOUM!

 

*I took the featured photo at Newgrange, a tomb in Ireland that dates back to the 3000s B.C.  Inside, the tomb is cruciform in shape.  Once a year, the winter solstice sunrise sends light cascading into the tomb, causing the white rock of the cruciform room to glow…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through Him all things were made.  Without Him, nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5