Why did Jesus say the dead girl was "not dead but asleep"? Luke and Matthew tell of when Jesus brought a young girl back to life. Before he did it however, Jesus says to the people that the girl is only sleeping:

Luke 8:52
Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. &quot;Stop wailing,&quot; Jesus said. &quot;She is not dead but asleep.&quot;
Matthew 9:24
he said, &quot;Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.&quot; But they laughed at him.

Why did he tell the people that she was only asleep when she was clearly not?
A few things come to my mind:

It was a parable
He wanted to hide his power from the people, as he did at other times. The problem here is that that would've been a lie.

So, what reason was there to tell the people that she was sleeping, rather than that she was dead and he raised her from the dead?
The Bible often uses the word sleep to refer to those who are dead, especially those who are going to be resurrected to life. So I think Jesus meant that the girl was not dead forever, without hope.

Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning (Psalm 90:5)
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,” (John 11:11-14)
Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (Acts 13:36)
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:6)
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)