Mark 5:39 Commentary and Bible Study

The Lord, seeing this, says, ‘Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.’ It seems extraordinary. They know she is dead. So why say something so provocative? Anyway, how does he know? He hasn’t seen her; he has only just arrived and has not been in the house yet. And what a tasteless thing to say! He seems to be setting himself up to be corrected by them, but he says it to bring out their unbelief. They have seen so many of his signs and wonders, and yet they do not believe. As far as they are concerned, if she is dead there is nothing he can do. That is how they regarded the Lord. His art has reached its limit. He wants to believe he can still do something; we know better. We don’t believe he is the Messiah. Of course he spoke figuratively. She was not literally sleeping; she was truly dead. He was God; he knew all things. Besides, he had heard the message, that she had died. He means that she is not permanently dead; she will live again. He is however quite ready to be misunderstood, because he sets no store on the unbelieving conclusions of men. He knows that after she is raised, they will be forced to re-evaluate all that they have said. They will be ashamed of their words. They will see how hasty they were and how they completely misread him and failed to evaluate him. They would see also how little he cared about their misreading of him. He knew his own power and wisdom and knowledge, and was not affected by their underestimation of him.