By the Way

Introduction

C. S. Lewis, “The great thing, of one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruputions of one’s own or real life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precicely one’s real life - the life God is sending us day by day.

In the story we are going to read today, we see Jesus get interrupted on his way to heal a little girl who is dying.

We are often so busy in our everyday lives that we have no time for interruptions.

Read Luke 8:40-55.

We cannot treat these miracles separately. They are tied together. They are interwoven into the same text. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the the girl is twelve years old and the woman has had an issue with blood for twelve years.

Jairus had loved his daughter and cared for her for twelve years.

This woman had struggled on the fringes of society due to her issue with blood for twelve years.

They are both going to see the power of God today.

Explanation

Jesus Heals the Woman with an Issue of Blood

Jesus is in a crowded town, and someone comes to Him with a request.

Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, runs up to Jesus, falls at His feet, and begs Him to come and save his twelve year old daughter. This man must be utterly desperate as someone who profits from being a

Jesus is in the middle of a large crowd of people, and people are very closely pressed around Him. So far, the story seems pretty straightforward.

A woman, who has had a discharge of blood for twelve years, is in the crowd. What are some of the characteristics of this woman’s life?

Living in Shame - This woman is dealing with an issue that was unspeakable.

Unclean - A discharge of blood would have made her ritually unclean. Isolated and Mistreated.

Destitute - She had spent all of her money trying to attain healing from physicians near her.

The Scriptures tell us that she came behind him and touched the hem or the fringe of his garment. Her bleeding immediately ceases.

How incredible. I can only imagine the thoughts going through her head UNTIL… she heads Jesus speak. Jesus says, “Who was it that touched me?”

Is He going to be mad?

Technically, I am unclean.

I am going to have to tell Him in front of this crowd why I touched Him.

What if He is mad? After all, He is quickly moving on His way to heal someone else who is about to die! I interrupted His trip.

She saw that she wasn’t hidden, trembled, and fell down before him. She told him in front of everyone why she touched Him and that she had been healed.

APPLICATION: Some of you, Jesus has made well, and He is drawing you out to tell your story. He does not mean to humiliate you, but that others would know who He is and the salvation that He brings.

Your story may be the story that saves someone’s life.

Jesus says,

“Daughter.” This instance is the only time recorded in the Bible that Jesus calls a woman, daughter.

The same drive that caused Jairus to frantically send a family member to find Jesus is the same drive that moves Jesus to condescend into the world and meet with this woman in this very moment.

She is not a passerby or a chance encounter. She is a daughter of the son of God.

People are not interruptions to what you think you are supposed to be doing. People are the point of our lives.

“Your faith has made you well;”

Neither Jairus nor this woman asked for salvation. They asked for healing. And because they asked for healing by faith, salvation was given to them also.

Luke uses the word “saved” to both refer to bodily healing and spiritual salvation throughout the book. Many of the people coming to Jesus by faith are coming because of their faith in who He is.

You may pray in faith, and God may heal you. We don’t know if He will or not. But we can pray that God would heal us spiritually.

“Go in peace”

This woman went from a life of struggle, torment, illness, and difficulty to a life of peace.

American’s have everything but peace. We are so restless, and we live such restless lives.

Your life will never be restful and peaceful until Jesus has touched your life.

Jesus Heals Jairus’s Daughter

We have this beautiful story, and we almost forget about the second person who needs Jesus’ help.

Someone from Jairus’s house came to Jesus and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.”

“Tell Him not to worry, my daughter is dead.”

APPLICATION: Is Jesus bothered with our requests to Him?

Neither Jairus nor the woman struggled with Jesus ability to save. They struggled with whether or not He actually wanted to heal them or their family members.

Jesus is not bothered by your requests to Him.

They both believed that Jesus COULD save them from their situation. Neither of them believed that Jesus WOULD save them.

Jesus arrives at the home, and he finds the family mourning the loss of the little girl. When they tell him, “she is dead,”, “Jesus replies, “No, she is asleep.” So, they laughed at Him.

Thabiti Anyabwile, “The crowd is more committed to the girl’s death than the father is to the girl’s life.”

If you have been telling God what He can and can’t do - It’s time to stop.

That family member who is beyond your reach ISN’T beyond His.

That addiction that you can’t break ISN’T too strong for Him to break.

The little girls gets up, and Jesus tells these stunned family members to get her something to eat!

Invitation