As I saw Mei-San struggle with the end of the story, I was not sure whether she was struggling to find the words she wanted to say in English or with the idea that Jesus raised someone from the dead. Mei-San was one of my Japanese language teachers, whom I had invited to a small-group English Bible study. Interested in improving her English, she accepted the invitation. That night, we were in Mark 5:35-43, where Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead.
I finally realized that Mei-San was struggling with the idea that Jesus raised this little girl to life again after she had died. With pause and some uncertainty in her response, she asked, “Is this a big miracle?”
“Yes,” I replied. I went on to say that only Jesus could do this. Up to this point, we had studied rather easy stories about Jesus, His parables, His words and only one or two of His healing miracles. Mei-San did not seem to struggle so much with the other stories. But today was different. Jesus was now resurrecting people from the dead, and I was witnessing someone being confronted with some of the boldest claims about Jesus in the Bible, claims that science or reason cannot explain. Only faith could make sense of it.
As a missionary, I have to remind myself to be patient in these situations. Pushing someone unfamiliar with the Bible to believe at this point could do more harm than good. It is God’s work to convince someone of the truthfulness of His Word. Only the Spirit of God can convert someone from doubt to faith, from darkness to light and from error to truth. I prayed silently as we continued our discussion.
We began talking about faith, and I could sense things getting a little awkward. Since our time was expiring, I decided to gently bring the Bible study to an end. Even a little awkwardness can be too much for some Japanese people. They live in a society that goes to great efforts to avoid awkward moments and conflicts. If we do this right, there will be many more opportunities to talk about faith and the resurrecting power of Jesus. And we want more opportunities. For now, we pray that God waters the seeds that have been planted.
Please join us in missions by praying for the Spirit of God to be poured out upon the people of Kyoto, Japan, so that many would believe in Jesus, and that the gospel would go out to other unreached people groups. Thank you.
