Luke 8:49-56 meaning

The parallel Gospel accounts for Luke 8:49-56 are Matthew 9:23-26 and Mark 5:35-43.

Jesus had been on His way to help the dying daughter of Jairus, a synagogue official in Capernaum (Luke 8:41-42).

But He had to press His way through the crowds when a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage discreetly reached out to touch the fringe of His rabbinic shawl as He passed her by, in the belief that contact with Him would heal her (Luke 8:43-44a). She was immediately healed (Luke 8:44b).

Jesus stopped and asked who had touched Him, and after the woman confessed to everything, Jesus encouraged her, that her faith had made her well (Luke 8:45-48).

In this passage (Luke 8:49-56), Luke resumes the narrative of Jesus’s urgent errand to the house of Jairus.

As Jesus was giving the woman of faith the best news of her life, Jairus was about to receive the worst news of his life.

While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore” (v 49).

The phrase—while He was still speaking—refers to when Jesus was speaking with the woman of faith (Luke 8:47-48). As He was encouraging her, someone came from Jairus’s house with dreadful news.

The messenger told Jairus: “Your daughter has died.” This was heartbreaking. Jairus had hurried to find Jesus in the hope that He could heal his daughter before she died.

Now, it was too late (from the perspective of the messenger). As Jairus was trying to process this overwhelming grief, the messenger sought to lead him one step at a time. The first logical step (from the perspective of the messenger) was to dismiss Jesus. So he told Jairus: “do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”

“The Teacher” was how the messenger referred to Jesus. This term emphasized Jesus’s role as a teacher of the Law and wisdom from God, and this term may have been used to respectfully de-emphasize Jesus’s role as a miraculous healer. In any case, the messenger believed that Jesus lacked the power to raise the synagogue official’s daughter from the dead—otherwise he would not have counseled Jairus to dismiss Jesus.

Jairus had hoped that Jesus would miraculously heal his daughter from her sickness. Jesus had healed many people from various diseases and afflictions—including the woman who suffered from a twelve-year-long hemorrhage. But everyone Jesus had healed thus far had been alive. No one had reported Him raising someone from the dead. Which, again, is why the messenger advised Jairus to not trouble the Teacher anymore.

But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well” (v 50).

When Jesus heard the awful news and what the messenger had instructed Jairus to do, He encouraged Jairus: “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.”

Jesus was not defeated by the news the girl had died. He was not troubled by her death because death could not stop Jesus. Jesus is the author of life (John 1:4). He came to defeat death.

Jesus encouraged the girl’s father to not fear her death, because He was capable. Jesus instructed Jairus to not hold onto fear of death, but to only believe in Him. Jesus promised Jairus that if he did this his daughter would be made well.

This father had just witnessed the healing of the bleeding woman through her faith, and similarly Jesus encouraged him to believe. Jesus reassured him that his little girl will be made well.

When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother (v 51).

Although a crowd had been following Jesus (possibly since He got out of the boat from returning from the Decapolis on the other side of the sea—Luke 8:22, 40), Jesus did not permit them to follow Him inside the house of the synagogue official.

This miracle would not be for the public at this time. The only exceptions He allowed to enter the house with Him were the girl’s family—her father and mother; and three of His closest disciples: Peter, James, and John.

The Gospels do not explicitly state why Jesus only permitted these few and forbade everyone else from witnessing what He was about to do. But they are clear that no one saw this miracle except for the five people who were mentioned by name. (We will consider why Jesus wanted this to be a “private” miracle at the end of this commentary).

Luke describes the scene at the house when Jesus and Jairus arrived: Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her (v 52a).

In ancient Jewish culture, it was customary and proper to hire professional mourners to weep and lament the dead. Apparently, the girl had been dead long enough for someone to notify and gather a troupe of professional mourners. The noise and pandemonium reflect the deep mourning and despair over the girl's death. The air would have resounded with lamentations and dirges. Matthew describes the scene with flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder (Matthew 9:23). In addition to professional wailers, flute-players were also hired for mourning rituals in Jewish culture.

All of this commotion (Mark 5:38) of weeping and lamenting and flute-playing probably created a loud and chaotic atmosphere. Jesus ordered all of it to stop.

but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep” (v 52b).

Jesus ordered all of it to stop. Matthew reports that Jesus told the mourners to “leave” (Matthew 9:24) and bid them to get out of the house.

He claimed that the reason everyone should stop weeping was because the girl has not died, but rather is asleep. It is unclear why Jesus makes the statement that the girl had not died when it was unmistakable from the report and those lamenting for her in the house that she was in fact dead. Perhaps He was speaking of His forthcoming miracle to raise the girl from the dead, or maybe He knew something that the crowd did not. It is possible that He wanted to downplay what He was about to do.

And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died (v 53).

The reason they began laughing at Jesus was because Jesus claimed the girl was only asleep, while they were confident in their knowledge that she had died. They thought Jesus’s statement was ignorant, silly, and ridiculous.

Their laughter seems to have been a scoffing response, taking offense at Jesus’s statement that the girl was not dead, but asleep. Their laughter also revealed the hypocrisy of the professional mourners as they broke character from their “purchased” sorrow.

Luke does not explicitly state that Jesus told those in the crowded house to leave, but this is inferred from:

• v 51: which says: He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother
• v 56, which says: He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

The Gospels of Matthew and Mark support this inference and explicitly state that Jesus dismissed everyone except for His three disciples and the girl’s parents (Matthew 9:24-25, Mark 5:40).

With everyone else out of the house, Jesus miraculously restored the girl from death to life:

He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat (vv 54-55a).

All three Gospels report that Jesus took her by the hand (Matthew 9:25b, Mark 5:41a). Luke reports what Jesus said as “Child arise!”—His words commanded her dead body back to life.

Mark reports what Jesus said in Aramaic—the common language of the day,

“He said to her, ‘Talitha kum!’ (which translated means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’).”
(Mark 5:41)

Mark’s source was Peter, who witnessed this impressive miracle. Peter likely told Mark precisely what Jesus said because it was so vivid and memorable to him. Luke’s account shares only the translation of Jesus’s words to his audience).

Luke’s Gospel is the most explicit that the girl returned to life, because his account is the only one to specify that the girl’s spirit returned to her at Jesus’s command. As a physician, Luke may have taken a professional interest in this fact.

Physical death occurs when a person’s spirit becomes separated from their body. This girl had experienced physical death because her spirit departed from her body—but Jesus restored her to life when He said: “Child arise!” and her spirit returned to her body.

Her spirit returned instantly when Jesus said this. He is the Great Physician. And when her spirit returned, she immediately got up. Mark adds that “she began to walk” and “they [her parents, and Peter, James, and John] were astounded” (Mark 5:42).

Luke reports that after Jairus’s daughter was restored to life that He (Jesus) gave orders for something to be given her to eat (v 55b).

It is implied that she ate food. Her eating and walking demonstrate that Jairus’s daughter was not just restored to life, but also to health.

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened (v 56).

This miraculous act was amazing! It not only reunited a daughter who had died with her family, it also underscored Jesus's divine authority over death.

Jesus performed this miracle in front of a small group of people who were either close to the girl or to Himself, but there were many others gathered outside the house who were aware of her death and would soon know that she was restored to life. This could have been an opportunity for all those present to see this supernatural healing, yet Jesus instructed the few witnesses within the house to tell no one what had happened.

Despite these strict orders, Matthew reported: “This news spread throughout all that land”—referring to Galilee and beyond (Matthew 9:26).

It seems as though Jesus did not want people knowing He could raise the dead at this time.

Perhaps if it was confirmed that Jesus did raise someone from the dead, it would complicate His mission. If people knew He could raise the dead, then every Jew would instantly proclaim Him to be the Messiah and demand that He overthrow their Roman oppressors, which they expected the Messiah to do.

But Jesus did not primarily come to earth to overthrow political systems. He came to do His Father’s will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38, and Luke 22:42), which meant that He came to overthrow sin and death forever. Jesus sought to avoid the praise and demands of the people who would tempt Him from His Father’s will to suffer and die and be restored to life for the salvation of the world.

Jesus’s raising of this girl from the dead was but a glimmer of the eternal resurrection He came to offer the entire world.