Jesus, Lord of Compassion Luke 8:40-56
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
We are in a section of Luke’s gospel account that focuses on presenting Jesus as the all powerful Lord of the universe.
In v.22-25 we saw Jesus calm a storm on the sea of Galilee by just speaking to it. Mark 4:39 records for us Jesus words “Peace, be still.” Proving that Jesus is Lord over all creation. From that we learned that there is nothing that he can’t do.
In 26-39 we saw Jesus coming to the shores in the region of the Gerasenes and being met by a demon possessed man. (Mark tells us there were actually two men, but Luke only focuses on the encounter with one). This man was possessed with 2,000 demons who Jesus cast out into a herd of swine who then plummeted to their deaths over the cliffs. We then see this man clothed, sitting at Jesus feet, and begging to go with him. Jesus instead told him to be a missionary and that’s exactly what he did. Proving that Jesus has power of the evil and demonic forces of darkness. Which teaches us that there is no sin or scar that Jesus can’t deliver from.
The Gerasene people wanted nothing to do with Jesus and begged him to leave. Which he did, never to return. He climbed into the boat and journeyed back across the sea of Galilee to the shores of Capernaum on the other side. This city was sort of a home base for Jesus ministry at the time.
As Jesus returned, the crowds were there waiting on him. It was these crowds he had crossed the Sea of Galilee to get a bit of respite from. In that crowd, no doubt there were people who were crippled, blind, deaf, and had all sorts of other maladies who were anxiously waiting Jesus return so that they could be healed. Others were just there to get a glimpse of Jesus, who at this point had become a celebrity. The people were absolutely captivated by his miracles, signs, and some even his sermons. No doubt many were hoping He would use his power to free them from Roman rule.
In this large crowd of people, there were two people with great need:
A man named Jairus who was a wealthy religious leader in jewish society. He was a ruler in the synagogue which means he not only would have been steeped in the Old Testament and Judaism; but he was also one of those responsible for overseeing the activities of the synagogue like, who read from the Torah, prayed and even taught on the Sabbath.
Prior to this encounter, Jairus had not been friendly to Jesus. Jesus was an outsider to the religious establishment and had even been accused of heresy by other synagogues outside of Capernaum. Add to that that Jesus previous use of the synagogue at Capernaum had been very controversial; as Jesus had set free a man from demonic possession. Jesus was hated by the religious establishment, so Jairus coming to Jesus and bowing at his feet begging for Jesus to come to his house could have cost him everything.
There is only one thing that could have brought a man like Jairus to beg at Jesus feet. Desperation. His 12 year old daughter was laying at home dying and he had just a faint flicker of faith that maybe just maybe Jesus could heal her as he had so many others. Like many before and after , it wasn't love or willingness to serve that brought him to Jesus; but despair mixed with just a little hope.
The second person we meet this day could not have been more different than Jairus. We do not know her name because she would have been a societal outcast. She was poor and alone. All we know about her is that she had suffered from hemorrhaging for 12 years. This hemorrhage had left her in a perpetual state of ceremonial uncleanness according to the Levitical law (Leviticus 15:19-30) tells us that she would have been a transmitter of uncleaness to anyone she came into contact with and to anything she touched. She was forbidden to have any sexual contact (Leviticus 18:19) so if she had been married, she was likely now divorced. All of this would have ostracized her from Jewish life and even worship.
She was so desperate to find healing that Mark’s account tells us:
Mark 5:26 (ESV)
and who had suffered much under many physicians,...
The Jewish Talmud listed at least eleven cures for her condition that included everything from potions to superstitious actions.
For example, “Take of the gum of Alexandria the weight of a small silver coin; of alum the same; of crocus the same. Let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that has an issue of blood. If this does not benefit take of Persian onions three pints; boil them in wine, and give her to drink, and say ‘Arise from thy flux.’ If this does not cure her, set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let some one come behind and frighten her, and say, ‘Arise from thy flux.’ ”
M. R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (Wilmington, DE: Associated Publishers and Authors, 1972), p. 103. as quoted by R. Kent Hughes, Luke: That You May Know the Truth, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998).
This woman had likely tried all eleven and none of them had worked.
Mark 5:26 (ESV)
...and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
She was now broke, cut off from everything and everyone and her health was getting worse by the day. She could not have been or felt any lower.
What brought her to Jesus? It wasn’t desperation, she was way beyond that. It was hopelessness.
This is an all too common place that many find themself in when they come to Jesus. Hopeless and full of trouble.
It is as Jesus is on his way to the home of Jairus that he encounters this woman.
Both of these miracles teach us that Jesus has supernatural ability over disease and death but it also provides us insight into the personal aspects of Jesus ministry. It takes us inside of the nature of the Lord Jesus because we see not just his power to heal but also his compassion upon those who were suffering.
There are 6 aspects of the compassion of our savior that Luke unfolds for us here. For today we’re just going to view the first three we see in v.40-48 that are present in his dealing with the woman with the issue of blood. Then, in pt.2 we will deal with the three that we see presented in Jesus dealings with Jairus and his daughter.
1.) Jesus is always accessible. (v.40-42b)
1.) Jesus is always accessible. (v.40-42b)
We see this demonstrated in a couple different ways here in vs. 40-42.
1.) He mixed in with the people. (v.40-42a)
Luke 8:40–42 (ESV)
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying....
Most of the religious leaders in the nation of Israel avoided being around common everyday people because they didn't want to be defiled by them. They were too good and too devoted to their religion to do that. So they remained aloof, unavailable and inattentive.
Jesus only took brief moments of respite to either instruct those who were closest to him or to spend time in prayer with the Father. Other than that, his entire ministry was spent among the people wherever he went.
All of this is consistent with his purpose in coming.
38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
2.) He took time for individuals. (v.42b)
Luke 8:42 (ESV)
... As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
It is precisely becuase Jesus intermixed and spent time among the people that Jairus was able to approach him in order to beg for Jesus to come heal his daughter.
Yes, the crowds demanded much from Jesus and needed constant attention, but he never was so consumed with the crowds that he couldn't take time for the individual people within those crowds.
All four Gospel writers filled their pages with event after event where Jesus gave personal attention to men, women, and even took time for children.
13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people,
14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
Yes, he is the creator and sustainer of the universe and everything it’s made up of but he came to live among people and to bear their burdens.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The old testament prophet Isaiah prophesied of Jesus that:
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Think of all the impressive miracles that Jesus preformed while he walked this earth and most of them have to do with him relieving those who were suffering from their pain.
Jesus is so compassionate that he is always accessible to comfort and strengthen us.
Jairus was a heartbroken father searching for help for his child. It didn't matter what he thought of Jesus or what others in the religious establishment may have thought of him.
Jairus didn't care what coming to Jesus may have cost him. He was desperate to help his daughter and that desperation drove him to the feet of Jesus.
Jairus didn't find an aloof and uncaring man but an accessible, loving and compassionate God who was ready to demonstrate his compassion though his power.
Because Jesus is always accessible.
2.) Jesus is interruptible. (v.42c-45)
2.) Jesus is interruptible. (v.42c-45)
As Jesus followed Jairus the large crowd of people began to press on him as they were all so desperate to get his attention. So much so that they impeded his ability to move.
Can you imagine the frustration and anxiety Jairus was feeling? Every minute that passed his daughter was closer to death.
As if that was bad enough Jesus came to a complete stop as another desperate person reached out to touch Jesus.
Luke 8:43–44 (ESV)
43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.
44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, ...
This delay was going to cost Jairus his daughters life. But Jesus took the time to stop.
This woman had lived in misery the entire time that Jairus daughter had been alive. She was in a constant state of bleeding, fatigue and pain that would one day be fatal. Add to that that everyone and everything she touched was made unclean. That means know one in her family or community would dare come near her.
Think back to the isolation of COVID
Here she was with the only shred of hope she had left thinking if I can just reach out and touch him, I know I’ll be healed. So she reached out and grabbed hold of the fringe on his garment.
In the Old Testament law God had commanded the Jews, “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself” (Deut. 22:12). Those tassels, on the fringe of their robes, served as a reminder of their obligation to obey God’s commandments (Num. 15:37–41).
John MacArthur, Luke 6–10, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2011), 233.
The word “touched” here suggest that this was more than a brush of her finger but that she reached out and grasped it.
When she did this, Jesus allowed himself to be interrupted so that he could interact with her. He stopped walking and asked
45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”
You got to love Peter, “Lord, who touched you? Everyone”
Jesus knew exactly who it was and stopped to interact with her.
This tells us that Jesus is so compassionate that He’s never to busy. God is not some impersonal force or being who is far away and too busy to care. No, he allows himself to be interrupted in order to bring healing to the hopeless.
If you’re here to day thinking “God, doesn't care about me, I’m a nobody.” You can’t get more “nobody” than this woman was. Yet Jesus stopped where he was going with a “somebody” to take time for a “nobody”
The first people to hear of Jesus coming were nobodies. Shepherds out in the field.
His own family were a bunch of nobodies. Everyday working class people.
He grew up in a town nobody cared about. Then that town rejected him.
Then, the people he chose to lead and establish his church were a bunch of nobodies.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Jesus loves nobodies and he has no problem being interrupted by them! So, interrupt away.
Because Jesus is always accessible and interruptible.
3.) Jesus is inexhaustible. (v.46-48)
3.) Jesus is inexhaustible. (v.46-48)
Jesus went way beyond just brining restoration to this woman physically, he brought restoration to her socially and spiritually.
After this woman grabbed hold of Jesus garment, there is a reason Jesus asked “Who touched me?”
It wasn't for him, he knew who it was, it was for the sake of this woman.
Jesus was fully aware that power had gone out from him.
46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”
It is impossible for someone to receive the power of God into their life and Jesus not know about it.
This poor woman was terrified, she had just touched Jesus and made him unclean. Surely she thought she was about to get a public rebuking for her action. That’s what the other religious leaders would of done.
But, she knew she couldn't hide, so she stepped forward and confessed it was her and that she had been healed.
Look at Jesus response, it was completely different than she expected.
48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
He calls her “daughter”. This is the only time Jesus addresses a woman this way in all of scripture. He established a personal relationship with her. Her faith in Jesus had brought his healing.
The phrase “has made you well” is one word in the original language and its the same verb that is the most common one used in the New Testament for salvation.
It’s the same word he used when the sinful woman washed his feet with her tears and hair in Luke 7 when he forgave her sin.
Jesus was telling this woman, you’ve not just been healed, you’ve received salvation.
By announcing her physical and spiritual healing, Jesus was also announcing to the world she was no longer unclean. She could go places and be around people again. She could worship in the synagogue and temple.
This desperate woman is not unlike all of humanity. We are ill. We’ve spent our money for things that don’t work. We need to reach out to Christ in faith and receive the healing only his power can bring.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
What a compassionate Savior our Lord is.
He’s not aloof and far off but accessible.
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
He’s not to busy, he cares for you
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
He is inexhaustable
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Have you you reached out to Jesus today in faith in order to experience healing from your sin?