Jesus sees our Pain (Luke 8:40-48)
- Starting in Luke 8:40 we see two miracles; The two characters in these stories are also unlikely characters.
Luke 8:40 The crowd’s reaction here is in contrast to the fear of the crowd Jesus just left on the other side of the lake after he healed the man with the legion of demons. That story ended with them begging Jesus to leave.
Verse 41 In the Original language the word translated as “leader” suggests that he was the main leader in the local synagogue. Jairus was for sure a man of standing in the city. He had a lot to lose by coming to Jesus.
- His name Jairus means “he will give light”
Verse 42 The word “dying” in the original language has the feel of “beginning to die.”
- The fact Jesus agreed to go is almost lost in the way That Luke Presents it, “on His way”
- Jesus saw Jairus’s pain, even though the leader could have been seen an enemy.
Verse 43 The woman had a flow of blood that she has suffered from for 12 years. Jairus’s daughter was 12.
- This would have made the woman continuously unclean and that would have been the source of continual embarrassment, affecting her ability to live a normal life. She lived lonely and fearful.
Verse 44 The woman approaches Jesus from behind to try and avoid a public spectacle.
- The term that Luke uses here is a medical term for the stoppage of blood.
- Remember Luke was a doctor so it is not unusual for him to use a medical term.
- The healing is also immediate! Years of agony are over in an instant.
Verse 45 Jesus asks who touched him, this is interesting. Because remember the crowds were pressing in on him so hard it was if they were choking him.
- Jesus wasn’t looking for her to confess so that he could further embarrass her but so that he could build her faith and restore her.
- Peter says the people are “crowding” and “pressing against”
- The first term can also mean holding prisoners in jail or locked in a siege, the second verb can refer to pressing grapes.
Verse 46 This was not a normal touch for he says that power has gone out from him.
Verse 47 The word for trembling here is the word associated with fear.
- Now remember in the last story when people saw Jesus heal the man with the demons and had fear they begged Jesus to leave. Here the woman, though filled with fear, comes forward.
- This may have been an act of worship and thankfulness.
- She may also have been a begging for mercy because of the fear she had of a rebuke.
Verse 48 Jesus restores her by calling her daughter and sending her forth with his blessing of peace. It is interesting to note that he calls her daughter but she is probably older than Jesus.
- The other very interesting thing here is that Jesus actually says, “your faith has saved you.”
- The word is “saved” or “rescued” Jesus seems to have in mind more than just healing.
- This word can mean healing but its greater sense is that of salvation.
- Her faith to come to Jesus has brought her not just healing for her physical body but also salvation.