sleeping or dead?

Matthew 9:23-26

This is the end of the story that started in verse 18 and was interrupted by the woman who touched Jesus' cloak. I think that it is significant that Jesus raised this girl from the dead (see the previous post) but also significant is Jesus' reaction to the traditional mourning crowd: "go away!" Again, I don't know all the traditions associated with death at that time period, but I do know that often professional mourners were hired - this family even had a band of pipe players to help them express their lament. I see a connection here to Jesus' teaching about new wine and new skins - he is sick of the traditions that burdened the people, even in death.
I think the fact that there was a crowd of mourners makes the dad's decision to come to Jesus even more significant. I don't know exactly what was going through the dad's mind but I imagine he was thinking that asking Jesus to come and raise his daughter from the dead certainly couldn't hurt and might help. I wonder if he was surprised when Jesus agreed to come...
If this happened to me, I know that I would tell everyone that I came across about the wonderful thing Jesus did in bringing my child back to me. As significant as this was, what Jesus did for me in saving me from eternal death is even more significant. When I know that Jesus could do the same thing for whoever puts their faith in him, I wonder why I'm not shouting the news from the rooftops...