And Jesus Deceived the Crowd

Misdirection in Mark 5

In the story of the raising of Jarius’s daughter from the dead, Jesus intentionally deceived the crowd of professional mourners. This troubles me. Lying is never right...is it? I always feel guilty when I deceive, but my wife pointed out that Jesus deceived of the crowd in Mark 5, and I believe that her conclusion is justified. Jesus didn’t want the knowledge of what he had done to be spread, and he deceived the crowd to conceal the fact that he had just raised a girl from the dead.

In Mark 5:22 Jairus approached Jesus pleading for him to come and heal his daughter. On their way there, followed by a huge crowd, he is touched by the woman with the flow of blood. That is another story which is difficult to understand. Then someone shows up who tells Jairus that his daughter is dead so stop bothering Rabbi Jesus. Jesus then took only Peter, James and John and Jairus and his wife into the house with him.

Now. This is where the story becomes strange. They enter the house where the professional mourners are earning their money with loud weeping. You can be sure that they aren’t genuinely mourning the girl. Had they been in genuine mourning they would not have reacted with laughter when he told them, “The child is not dead but sleeping.” At any rate, Jesus chased them all out of the house, and only took the five in with him. Jesus raised her from the dead, and the five were overcome with amazement. That is a moment I could long to live in. Wow! Then Jesus “strictly charged them that no one should know this.”

I can believe that these five could keep a secret. The crowd outside, though, is an altogether different matter. Some of the crowd was there to loudly communicate the parents’ grief over the death of their daughter. When she walked out they would know that something had happened. You can't keep a whole crowd of people quiet. It was to this crowd that Jesus said, “The child is not dead, but only sleeping.”

So our Lord and Savior lied to the crowd? Did he conceal this miracle so that he could continue to minister in the towns and villages? Does it matter why he deceived the crowd? Is this a “white lie?”

Did the parents have a few occasions where they had to act sheepish: “Yes. we thought our daughter was dead, but she just needed some food. It's a good thing Rabbi Jesus was there to point this out.” But I am sure they didn’t mind.

Tell me your take on Jesus’s statement, “The child is not dead but sleeping.” What do we do with this deception?

Login to add comments