Miracle Interrupted

Luke 8:40–56 ESV

Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 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, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 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. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 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!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Introduction:

As we read through the Gospels and look at the life of Jesus, we need to realize what a crazy amount of activity was surrounding Jesus. One commentator pointed out that we tend to walk through the gospels and see the miracles and interactions in Jesus’ life as these stand alone parts that are nicely divided up for sermons or teachings. However, in today’s passage we come into a situation where two of the miracles of Jesus are intertwined. He’s going to do one and is interrupted by the need for another one.

Context… Jesus had just healed the man with the demon in the Gerasenes and the Gentiles there wanted him to leave. Jesus sent the man to tell his family what God had done for him.

Directly after today’s passage you have Jesus sending out the 12 disciples. Here in the middle we have two more miracles that continue to reveal truths about Jesus and His identity. Today we see Jesus excercise His power of sickness and the grave, healing and saving people.

I. People in Desperate Need

The people were excited for Jesus to be back. - compare to the people of the Gerasenes who wanted Him to leave.

We find two people in this passage with a desperate need.

The first is Jairus who is one of the elders in the synagogue. He was a prominent person in teh community. The synagogue was social and spiritual center of the Jewish community. Jairus was responsible to oversee the teaching ministry of the synagogue.

Here we see him approach Jesus and fall at His feet.

We have seen this type of action before. In the previous passage in chapter 8 the man who had demons came and fell before Jesus as well. However, it was for a different reason… the demons feared before Jesus.

This man was desperate for Jesus to help him.

His only daughter was gravely ill, at the point of death. He needed help. He would do anything to save his little girl. We find that she was 12 years old. This is all very interesting for a couple of reasons, not the least of which being that this was a religious leader and Jesus typically wasn’t super popular with the religious establishment of the day in Israel. But now Jairus was facing down our last and greatest enemy, death. It had brought him to his knees to seek the help of Jesus. It had brought him to his knees at the feet of the only one who could truly do anything about it.

Jesus was able and willing to help.

He heads to help and all of a sudden…

There was someone else who had a desperate need.

II. From Timid to Testifying

Jesus is heading to Jairus’ house to deal with the sick daughter and as He goes, the people are pressing in around Him. A woman is in the crowd who has had an issue of bleeding for 12 years. We’re not sure exactly what was causing this but she had some kind of uterine hemorrhage for 12 years. This is an illness that would have ruined this poor woman’s life. Because of her blood she would have been ritually unclean and unable to touch or be touched lest others be made unclean as well. She would have certainly been an outcast. Luke tells us she had spent all of her living on physicians. Anyone with medical bills today can identify with that feeling. Mark tells us she had suffered much under these physicians. Mark 5:26

Mark 5:26 ESV

and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

She spent all her money and it actually made her worse. This is a terrible and desperate situation. It’s odd that Dr. Luke didn’t focus on the issue itself but made sure to mention the cost. There is actually a prescription in the Talmund for what a woman in this situation should do about it. The Talmund is the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law and it exists in two versions. Here’s what it says,

“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.’ ” If any doctor gives you this a fix for anything short of the hiccups, find a different doctor.

You may know this but often people with chronic illnesses even today feel great isolation and linked depression from it. She was lacking social interaction and physical contact. It likely would have been 12 years since she had been embraced by anyone. She would have been careful to not touch anyone and be watchful that no one touched her. She has lost her money, her relationships, and her strength. And yet, here she was in this large crowd, reaching out her hand, risking it all, to touch the fringe of Jesus’ robe.

She’s at the other side of the social spectrum from Jairus. She reaches out and touches the fringe of Jesus’s garment and she is instantly healed.

Her outstretched hand was an expression of her faith that Jesus could heal her.

Healed freely - first time she didn’t have to pay for a cure and this one worked where others had failed. she was healed by the same power that created her.

Jesus asks for the woman’s sake.

Calls her out to give a public account of God’s saving work in her life.

giving her an opportunity to bring glory to God. In telling it she brings glory to Jesus’ name. Her Savior is glorified.

There are people out there who want to reach out to Jesus for salvation but they would prefer that it just be their own little secret and not have anyone else know about it. They want to healed but they don’t want to make a public stand for Jesus. They’re all about that secret, healing touch, as long as no one else knows about it.

These people are probably not truly Christians. Why would I say that? Because Christians are people who make an open confession that Jesus is Lord.

Matthew 10:32–33 ESV

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

A real testament of a confession of faith is not the private moment but the public profession of his grace. This woman did that even though it was with fear and trembling.

Abraham Kuyper said, Never keep silence, or accustom yourself to reticence. You must speak out for the Christ. He who does not do so, or who is loathe to do so because of embarrassment, becomes guilty of denying his Savior.” You relationship with Jesus is personal but it’s never private. We confess the name of Jesus before men. We give Him glory in the world, no matter the personal or relational cost to us.

Salvation is so much more than touching Jesus one time, being healed, and that’s it. NO. It’s entering into a personal relationship with Him. You see that right in this passage. Look how this interaction ends.

Luke 8:48 ESV

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

The Grace of Adoption - from alienated to accepted. From sick to saved. From called unclean to called daughter.

Ephesians 1:4–5 ESV

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Jesus also addresses the gift of saving faith. He tells her her faith made her well. The word Jesus uses for healing there is the a form of the basic NT word for salvation.

Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Belonging to Christ

This was not some kind of magical superstition; it was simple faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This daughter of God trusted Jesus for her salvation, and by faith she gained access to his saving power.

Philip Ryken

She came with no peace in life and left in the peace of Christ.

She went from timid to testifying. That is what Jesus does in the life of a sin sick person.

She comes in turmoil and leaves with a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

III. From Fear to Faith

Now, imagine you’re Jairus. He’s got Jesus in tow and heading home to see his daughter made well and this woman is holding them up. He’s a desperate man and I’m sure worried and fearful of what will happen if they delay. Then the seemingly worst happens. Someone shows up and tells him his daughter has died and there’s no sense in bothering Jesus anymore.

Luke 8:49 ESV

While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.”

What Jesus says to this news.

Luke 8:50 ESV

But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.”

Jairus had been fearful of losing his daughter and now news had come that the worst had happened. Jesus tells him not to be afraid but to believe. He told him to have faith. For years now I’ve heard it said or seen it on tshirts, Faith of Fear. These two words stand in direct opposition to one another. When faced with a circumstance we have to choose if we are going to fear what could happen or will we trust Jesus to get us through to the other side?

I found this illustration of what it means that fear finds it’s answer in Christian faith:

During a night in WW2, when the Nazis were bombing London, a father was running away from a building that had been bombed. He was running with his young son, holding by the hand. They were looking for somewhere to lay low and he jumped into a shell hole in the ground. He landed and held out his arms for his son to jump into them. The son was terrified. When he heard his father telling him to jump, he replied, saying, “I can’t see you. The father could see the silhouette of the boy against the sky, lit by the buildings that were ablaze. He said, “But I can see you. Jump.”

We are called to have that same kind of faith, that same kind of trust, in Jesus. We aren’t taking some blind leap of faith where we have no certainty of outcome. We are simply falling into the arms of Jesus BECAUSE we hear HIS VOICE.

Trust Him for forgiveness of sins…

Restoration of relationships.

adoption into the family of God

giving our life new meaning

giving us a mission/a testimony

Jesus tells Jairus that his daughter will be saved. She will be well. And it happened. They get to the house and the mourners are already there. Jesus only allows her immediate family and the inner circle of disciples, his closest followers to go into the room with him. He tells the people not to weep because the little girl is not dead but sleeping. To us death is final but to Jesus it is as sleeping.

He tells her to get up and she gets up. He gets them to give her some food

Certainty and gospel connection

The little girl was dead. She had no power to raise herself. She couldn’t do anything to earn it or believe strong enough to warrant it. No. The resurrection here was a free gift by the grace and power of Jesus.

Like us.

The amount of her faith didn’t matter. Someone believed that Jesus could save her and they went to Jesus on her behalf.

Let me say that again. Someone in this girl’s life believed Jesus could help. So this father went and fell down before Jesus on behalf of his little girl.

Jesus told him to not be afraid but to believe. Trust Jesus when you ask him to help your sin sickness.