We are now getting really close to the end of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. In fact it will be in the next chapter where we will see Jesus withdraw from going from city to city in the Galilean region and will be on the outskirts of the cities. By the time we get towards the end of chapter 9, Jesus will start making His move towards Jerusalem in what we call the later Judean ministry. But for now we will continue to look at how Jesus ministered in this area. In our last study we learned that Jesus and His disciples went to the region of the Gaderenes. There Jesus delivered two demoniacs of the demons that held them in bondage. As we learned one of those men truly was converted and wanted to follow Jesus but Jesus left him in that area to be a witness for God.
The people there rejected Jesus and pleaded with Him to leave their region. Of course we see at the end of our text last time that He got back on the boat and left the area. These events that we will see in this study takes place just after they make landfall again back in Capernaum. Let’s look at our text and our first point.
1.Jarius pleads with Jesus to heal his daughter.
Look with me at Luke 8:40-42 And as Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. 41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he began to plead with Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.
What we see here is set in the text as the context of the event that we will actually talk about in this study. In the next study we will look at what Jesus actually does when He arrives at Jairus’ house. So as we see the context is that Jesus returned.
The first thing is where did Jesus return too? If you look back into the events leading up to this in Luke and the other Gospels I think we can conclude that He was around Capernaum most likely. This was in fact His new hometown and where He spent a lot of time when He was not traveling to other locations. This would be where Peter and the other disciples that were fishermen would have the boats that they used to cross the Sea of Galilee at times. So I believe we see Jesus return back to Capernaum and as soon as He makes landfall the crowd was there waiting on Him. I believe that they knew if Jesus had left from there that in fact that He would return there at some point. The people would have probably been informed by someone that they could see Jesus and His disciples approaching the shore.
So here Jesus steps off of the boat from a journey that started the evening before until this moment. We can assume that this would be about mid morning or so. The people probably anticipated Jesus’ return every time they knew He was gone and here is no different. Here we see that our text says in Luke 8:41-42b And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he began to plead with Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.
This request sends Jesus in the direction of Jairus’ house. We aren’t sure how far this was from the shore but we do know that Jesus starts going that way by what we see in Luke 8:42b that says But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.
We will go into greater detail about Jairus in our next study but what I want us to see here is that the crowds were pressing against Him. This will be an important detail as we move into our look at the woman with the hemorrhage. Let’s look now at our next point.
2.The woman’s faith in Jesus’ power to heal.
Look with me at Luke 8:43-44a And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, 44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment.
There is no other way to look at this than to look at this as this woman having faith in Jesus to heal her disease. This woman would have been desperate at this point. She had been to doctors that never helped. In fact Mark 5:26 says that she had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse.
So this attempt to touch Jesus was not superficial or empty. This was not an act like false faith healers will present in our time that say if you have enough faith then you will be healed. This woman’s life was wasting away physically and financially. According to Old Testament law she would have been considered unclean and ousted socially as well. She would be treated like a leper that would not be accepted into any social event and was not allowed to be touched. Of course her issue would not be visible like a leper so it was her place to stay away because of this reason. But just like the leper we saw back in Luke 5 this woman went against everything she knew to be right to come to Jesus.
Mark’s account gives to us a little more insight into her motive to reach out to Jesus at this moment. Mark 5:27-28 says that after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His garment. 28 For she was saying, “If I just touch His garments, I will be saved from this.”
Simply this woman knew that Jesus could heal her of this horrible issue that she had been dealing with for twelve years. Could you imagine going through something for so long? I know many people have dealt with many different types of diseases and illnesses but this seems to be very extreme. This of course leads us to the actual moment that she touches Jesus that we will look at in our next point.
3.The woman is healed and Jesus displays His sovereignty.
Look with me at Luke 8:44b-46 and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding and pressing in on You.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I knew that power had gone out of Me.”
As always, there is no recovery time when Jesus heals a person. She touched Him and she was immediately healed of this illness that had made her live in poverty and as an social outcast. This section of Scripture not only shows the power of Jesus which is very important but it also shows to us the fact that Jesus is sovereign. Most people would want to look at this and say that this disproves Jesus’ sovereignty. We must look at the fact that Jesus is not asking who touched Me because He didn’t know who it was but in fact He knew exactly who it was. Here in Luke we see Jesus say “Who is the one who touched Me?”
In Mark 5:30b Jesus says “Who touched My garments?”
This seems to be a question of wonder about who it was that touched Him. In fact Luke 8:45b says And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding and pressing in on You.”
Mark’s account says that the disciples were all saying this to Him because it seemed impossible to point out who may had touched Him because they were all pressing in on Him. In fact many people could have touched Jesus during this time but He was only trying to point out one person. Jesus knew who it was and said in verse 46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I knew that power had gone out of Me.”
Jesus knew because of His sovereignty, He knew because power had come from Him to heal. It was in this moment that He was wanting this woman to come out among the people to express her faith before them all. In Mark’s account we see Jesus’ sovereignty in the fact that Mark 5:32 says And He was looking around to see the woman who had done this.
He knew who it was but was wanting her to come forward but she had slipped back into the crowd until she realizes that Jesus knew that it was her. Luke 8:47 says And when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling. And falling down before Him, she declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him and how she had been immediately healed.
What drove this outcast woman that would be considered unclean to go into the crowd to touch the garment of Jesus? It was her faith in Jesus to heal her. Remember back in Mark 5:28 she said “If I just touch His garments, I will be saved from this.”
That is what drove her to do what she did but I also want to point out that this does not mean that she was seeking to be saved from her sins. Notice that she was looking to be saved from this horrible illness. This does not mean that this is the norm either. It is not normal throughout Jesus’ life to see people healed upon touching His clothes. This moment was out of the ordinary but once again shows us that Jesus has a power that is beyond any human ability.
As we draw to a close in this study I do want to point out that even though she was only looking to be healed of her illness that she also was saved in a salvific way as well. This day she was healed of her sickness but also born again. Jesus says in Luke 8:48 “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
I want to show that this is not meaning that she was just saved from her illness but also from her sins. Mark 5:34 says And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
We see the clear separation in the text in Mark. Her faith is what saved her from her sins and it is Jesus’ power that has healed her of her affliction. I think often this story is looked at as if she had to have this faith in order to be healed but in reality her faith is pointed toward her faith to be healed from her sins. She thought if she could only touch the garment that she would be healed and she was but again not everyone that touched Jesus was healed. Not everyone that touched Jesus with the same faith that this woman had was healed. Many people when they get sick believe that God can heal them but it is only in God’s sovereignty that any healing will ever happen.
Here we clearly see that Jesus heals her physically and spiritually. It is in God’s sovereignty that any of this could be possible and we see that so clearly from this text.
As we move along in our next study we will complete the 8th chapter as we look into what happens as Jesus goes to Jairus’ house.
Disciple's Direction 