Feed Me!

Mark 5:43
And He strictly commanded and warned them that no one should know this, and He expressly told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus brings a dead girl back to life and the very next thing He does is command the people there not to tell anyone about what had happened. Instead, Jesus tells them to feed her something. He doesn’t just tell them to feed her, but the Bible says, “...He expressly told them...” This word, expressly, implies a sense of urgency in the necessity of getting her food. It wasn’t a “Get her some toast and see if she can keep it down” attitude, but more of a “Kill the fatted calf and feed this child” attitude.

There was something very important to the new life that this child had been given, and eating, being fed, played a crucial role in her survival. For the physical-ness of the miracle, food was going to be very important. She had been sick and died. She probably hadn’t eaten for quite some time, was malnourished, weak, and frail. She needed energy, calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fats to get her back up and functioning. Any doctor even today would tell you that this is true, but there is a spiritual message here as well.

We all, prior to proclaiming faith in Christ, were sick and had died spiritually. We were weak, frail, malnourished, and finally dead. But Christ came to give us life, just like He did for this girl. Notice that she, personally, didn’t do anything to receive life. She was dead!!! She couldn’t do anything. It was her father, Jairus, who went to Christ and petitioned for Him to come and heal her. This is a picture of a praying Christian. Intercession on behalf of the dead? That’s what we’re called to do.

The work, however, was done by Christ, and Him alone. It wasn’t Jairus that caused Christ to raise the girl from the dead; it was His perfect personality. It’s who He is, life!

After Christ’s purpose was served, that is, to make the dead alive again, there was still work to be done. This work didn’t need to be done by the newly resurrected girl, but by the followers and witnesses that were there to see this miracle, and it needed to be done expressly, urgently. The same holds true for us as believers today. When a person receives life, and professes faith in Christ, they need to be fed, expressly. Its not our purpose as Christians to start piling rules and demands on this new believer, but to feed them the bread of life. They were dead. Before they’re going to be able to work again, we need to give them some nutrition to build back their spiritual muscles.

All too often, we forget this crucial step and instead we drag the new believer up out of bed, weak and frail, and bombard them with to-do lists. “Stop drinking, you’re a Christian now. Stop swearing, you’re a Christian now. Stop living that lifestyle, you’re a Christian now.” When the truth is, we’re simply supposed to be feeding them more Jesus Bread. They don’t need work to do, they need nutrition to survive.

Friends, the grace that Christ extended at the cross doesn’t end at the profession of faith. We, the Christian body, need to continue to preach and expound that grace into the hearts and minds of the newly raised dead. Only after receiving grace-filled Jesus-bread strength will they be able to tackle the tasks set before them.