The resurrections prior to Jesus’ own death and resurrection were not limited to any specific ethnic group or social class. Moses was perhaps the greatest human leader of God’s people ever (Deut. 34:10-12). By contrast, the poor Phoenician widow was not even an Israelite (1 Kings 17:9). The Shunammite woman was prominent in her community (2 Kings 4:8). The widow of Nain had only one son, upon whom she was probably dependent (Luke 7:12). In contrast, Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue, probably in Capernaum (Mark 5:22). Regardless of their different cultural backgrounds or social status, all of them were blessed by God’s life-giving power.

 Read Mark 5:21-24, 35-43. What can we learn about death from Christ’s words, “The child is not dead, but sleeping”? (Mark 5:39, NKJV).

 Jairus’s 12-year-old daughter was lying deathly sick at home. So, he went to Jesus and begged Him to come to his home and lay His healing hands on her. But before they could get there, someone already brought the sad news, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (Mark 5:35, NKJV). Then Jesus said to the grieving father, “Do not fear, only believe” (Mark 5:36, NRSV). Indeed, all the father could do was trust totally in God’s intervention.

 Arriving at the house, Jesus said to those who gathered there, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping” (Mark 5:39, NRSV). They ridiculed Him because 1. they knew that she was dead, and 2. they did not grasp the meaning of His words. “The comforting metaphor by which ‘sleep’ stands for ‘death’ seems to have been Christ’s favorite way of referring to this experience ([Matt. 9:24; Luke 8:52;] see on John 11:11-15). Death is a sleep, but it is a deep sleep from which only the great Life-giver can awaken one, for He alone has the keys to the tomb (see Rev. 1:18; cf. John 3:16; Rom. 6:23).” — The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 609.

 After the resurrection of this girl, those who saw it were “overcome with amazement” (Mark 5:42, NRSV). No wonder. For now death is final, absolute, and seemingly irreversible. To have seen something like this with their own eyes surely must have been an amazing, life-changing experience.