True ‘Faith Healing’ (Luke 8:40–56) | The Gospel of Luke (Part 61)

Transcript

JRNT 112
6/21/2026
The Gospel of Luke (Part 61)
True Faith Healing
Luke 8:40-56
Jesse Randolph

I’d like to invite you to open your Bibles to Luke 8. Over these past two Sunday mornings, as we’ve been working through the tail end of Luke 8. We’ve seen how Jesus demonstrated His power over nature as He caused the stormy Sea of Galilee to suddenly become calm as He caused these waves which had been smacking against His disciples’ fishing boat to suddenly become as smooth as freshly ironed shirt. And then last Sunday, we saw how Jesus demonstrated His power over the demonic realm as He expelled a “Legion” of demons who had taken up residence in a man of the Gerasenes. And that demonstrated that the expulsion of the demons not only Jesus’s power over the demonic realm but ultimately His grace toward this Gerasene. As Luke reports it in Luke 8:35, after this Gerasene demoniac had been relieved of his demon possession he was now “sitting at the feet of Jesus” it says. So, he had not only been delivered from his demons, but he’d also been delivered from his sin. Which is why it says in verse 36 of Luke 8, that “the man who was demon-possessed had been saved.”

We then saw how this once demon-possessed man, having experienced both the grace and the power of Jesus having had this incredible encounter with the God-Man. He wanted to stay with Jesus. He wanted to accompany Him. He wanted to become one of the Lord’s disciples. But it was not to be. Instead, Jesus says to him in verse 38 “Return to your house and recount what great things God has done for you.” So, Jesus and this demoniac, at this point, parted ways. And then Jesus, verse 37, “got into a boat and returned.” Meaning, He and His disciples went back over the Sea of Galilee. Back toward the northwestern shore from which they had originally embarked and back toward the land of Galilee.

So, that gets us up to speed. That catches us up and it bridges the gap to our text for today. We’re going to be picking it up in verse 40 this morning and working our way all the way to the end of Luke 8. Luke 8:40 – God’s Word reads:
“And as Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. 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, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him. And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 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.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch Me, for I knew that power had gone out of Me.’ 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. And He said her, ‘Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, ‘Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.’ But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, ‘Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be saved.’ So, when He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother. Now they were all crying and lamenting for her, but He said, ‘Stop crying, for she has not died, but is asleep.’ And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Child, arise!’ And her spirit returned, and she stood up immediately. And He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. And her parents were astounded, but He directed them to tell no one what had happened.”

You know, in our day today, you don’t have to look very far to find certain false teachers who will call themselves “faith healers.” These are those who would tell you that if you just “have enough faith” it is always God’s will for you to be healed and it is always best for you to be healed. If you’ll just pray those prayers they’ve written out for you in their best-selling book. You know, if you just purchase one of those holy cloths those holy shawls, a holy shofar, some holy oil and some holy water. If you’ll just “sow a seed” in their ministry $57.18 to be precise, because Isaiah 57:18 says it’s buried in there “. . . I will heal him.” If you’ll just have more faith, God will heal you.

Well, that’s what they’ll say. They’ll say that the reason you’re not walking, the reason your child is sick, the reason your kid is in the hospital, the reason you got that cancer diagnosis, the reason you feel creaks in your joints, the reason your eyesight is failing you, is that you don’t have enough faith. And then what they’ll do, charlatans that they are, is they’ll heap guilt on those who don’t buy into their deviant theology by pointing to a passage like the one we’re in today; where we have these two individuals who did have faith and as a consequence of their faith Jesus did bring healing to them. And so, the thinking goes, if Jesus brought healing to them, to these individuals in this scene and He’s not bringing healing to you today, right now, the way you would want it, the issue must be you. And the issue must be that you don’t have enough faith.

As you’ve heard me say several times before, a text without a context is a pretext. Meaning, anyone can take a passage out of its context and airlift it and transport it into their immediate circumstances and try to make it say what they want. But in doing so, by removing the text from its original context they’ve divorced the text from its original meaning, and they’ve robbed the text of its power. We don’t want to do that. Rather, as good Bible students. As sound learners of the Word. We first want to understand what was happening in the original context in which any passage of scripture was given. Only then, after gaining an understanding of what actually was happening in that day, at that time, do we take the timeless principles that we see in that text and then map it over our circumstances for application today.

And that is what we’re going to do this morning. We’re going to use the shovel of the Holy Spirit to dig into the soil of what was actually happening at this time, in this context in the first century. And then, and only then, will we then take the principle of what was going on here, and the context of what was happening here and then migrate it over to how we can live in light of it today. Now, as we’re going to see, what we have in this text in context, are these twin episodes of “True Faith Healing.” These two incidents, involving these two individuals who demonstrated true faith in Jesus, to bring about His true power to heal. As we’ll see, both were rewarded for their faith, as they saw healing - true healing – happening right there in their midst.

In terms of an outline for this morning, in verse 40 through the beginning of verse 42 we’re going to see: The Tenacity Of Faith.
Halfway thought verse 42, all the way through verse 48, we’re going to see: The Touch Of Faith. And then, verses 49-56, we’ll see: The Triumph Of Faith.

Let’s start in verse 40, with: The Tenacity Of Faith
Luke resumes his narrative here by saying, verse 40, “And as Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.”
So, with these words, Luke is just setting the stage. You know, Jesus has been on the other side of the Sea of Galilee with His disciples. He’s been on the eastern edge of the shore. That land of the Gentiles, the land of the Gerasenes, this spiritually dark, dry land a land which was full of pagans and paganism. As we saw last week, pigs, swine. But now, He’s back with His people. He’s back with the Jews. He’s on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. “And as Jesus returned”, Luke tells us in verse 40 meaning, as He returned to the other side of the sea,
“the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.”

The crowd on the other side, the eastern side, the Gerasene crowd they had desperately wanted Jesus to leave. They wanted Him out of there. Verse 37 tells us that - “all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear.” But now, we see the opposite happening in His homeland, on the western edge of the sea as He is back in Galilee, and specifically, Capernaum. Here in His homeland, or the home turf, He’s received warmly received with open arms. “the crowd welcomed Him”, it tells us, “for they had all been waiting for Him.” See, the “buzz” around Jesus was growing. It was intensifying. This crowd was eager to see Him perform more miracles in their midst. And for those few fortunate ones, perhaps even on their behalf.

Well, one man who had especially wanted to see Jesus, and see Him return and behold Him with his very eyes was this man named Jairus. Luke introduces us to him in verse 41, and it says “And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue.”
Now, what’s being highlighted here through Luke’s description of this man is that this was a man of stature. This was a ruler of the local synagogue. Meaning, he was the one who would determine the order and the conduct of Jewish synagogue services. This was the man who determined who could participate in synagogue services. This was the man who could slam the door shut on those who came into services and were bringing any sort of uncleanness or corruption or pollution into the services. He was, in other words, a powerful man this Jairus. He was a man of prominence. He was a man who, with his credentials, would have been viewed publicly as this man on whom God’s hand of favor was resting.

While this man seemed to have it all going on for himself of the outside; inside, and specifically inside his home, we see that his entire world was falling apart. Look at the second sentence of verse 41, it says “And falling at Jesus’ feet, he began to plead with Him to come to his house.” Why? Verse 42 “for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.”

Now, the fact that this man is described as having an “only daughter” is jumping off the page here. Dads, remember it’s Father’s Day, and maybe you’re one of those dads, as I am, who has a gaggle of boys, and then one girl. If so, you know what’s being said here. Right? When you have sons, and multiple sons you know, you just raise them to be these hard-scrabble, rough-and-tumble type boys. Right? The boys that scrape their elbows, and jump off roofs, and break their bones, and wrestle and dogpile their way through childhood and it’s good for them. You’re like, “That’s great, rub some dirt on it you’ll be fine.” But then, there’s your daughter, your girl, your little princess and it’s completely different. Because when you learn that someone has hurt her feelings. Or you see that little tear that’s starting to form in the corner of her eye. Or you see that lip just start to quiver your heart’s a mess. You’re like a puddle on the floor. That’s what Luke is driving at here, when he’s describing this man, Jairus. That he had “an only daughter.” Just one precious little girl. And indeed, she still was a girl, not yet a fully developed woman. That’s why it’s said here that she was “about twelve years old.”
This girl, who undoubtedly had brightened up Jairus’ life, and his wife’s life for all these years was now “dying.” She had become critically ill. What her illness was, we’re not told. But what Luke is conveying to us with this text is crystal clear. He’s saying that this man of great prestige. This man of great power – Jairus, this “official of the synagogue” was now powerless. His precious daughter was ill, and she was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. So, the man was desperate. Whatever pride of position he once held, was now gone. And now, this healer that he had learned of, Jesus, this one who apparently was claiming to be Israel’s Messiah, was now back on his side of the Sea of Galilee. And this stirred something in Jairus. He’s now in this state of helplessness and humble desperation. Realizing that Jesus within striking distance, withing proximity, verse 41, it describes him as “falling at Jesus’ feet.” And then he “began to plead with Him to come to his house”, because verse 42, “he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.” So, here in this opening scene, we’re already encountering the tenacity of Jairus’ faith as he laid down whatever sense of pride and prestige he might have otherwise held, and prostrated himself before Jesus, as he begged the Lord of all to come see his sick and dying daughter.

Now, this is where Luke’s narrative takes a really fascinating turn. Because the narrative now shifts to something and someone altogether new. If you’re taking notes, our second point is: The Touch Of Faith. So, we looked at The Tenacity Of Faith, now we get to The Touch Of Faith starting in the middle of verse 42. It says, “But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him. And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Jesus said, ‘Who is the one who touched Me?’ While they were all denying it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds are surrounding and pressing in one You.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch Me, for I knew that power had gone out of Me.’ 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. And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”

Now, there is so much going on here. And with the limited time that I’ve got, I’m going to do my best to tap ingo a few of the veins of gold that we have in this passage. So that we can all appreciate the richness of what Luke is describing in this scene. For starters. Note that this situation between Jesus and Jairus and Jairus’ daughter isn’t even resolved yet. He’s just sort of left us out there on a cliff. And Jairus is still there in Jesus’ traveling party. And he’s still got a daughter back at home, who is still sick and suffering. And apparently still on death’s doorstep. But now, Luke has moved on to describe this woman, this woman with a “hemorrhage.” The way this is written is leaving us intentionally on the edge of our seat. We all want to know what happened to Jairus’s daughter. Did she make it? Did she survive? Well, Luke will get there eventually in verse 49. But he’s doing something, yet again in this Gospel that’s masterful. He’s putting us right into the front row seat here of this whole encounter, this whole scene as it played out in real time. We have to remember the macro story that’s happening here is that Jesus was approached by Jairus on the seashore. Jairus had a sick daughter that he needed to be cared for. And Jesus is now on his way to go visit Jairus’ daughter in their home, but His travel is now interrupted as He encounters yet another sufferer on the way to that house. And that sufferer was this woman, this woman who had this “hemorrhage for twelve years.”

Luke, in other words, is layering one account of suffering right on top of another. He’s sandwiching one incident of suffering right between another one. It’s this masterful literary stroke. As He’s doing so, He’s highlighting as you read the text through, and as you look at it again and again and again and again; you see these incredible parallels between these two accounts. Both involved females. One is explicitly singled out as a younger girl, who had not yet experienced a menstrual cycle. The other is experiencing chronic hemorrhaging, brought about through her menstrual cycles. One would have been considered ceremonially unclean according to the Law of the day on account of her twelve years of hemorrhaging, of bleeding. The other one, this girl, this twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, would be unclean on account of her impending death. She would soon be a corpse, and corpses were unclean. And then both of these individuals, both females, were ultimately made clean, as they were healed delivered from that unclean state by the healing hand of Jesus and all on account of their faith.

There are even more parallels between these two. Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet, verse 41. As did the woman with the hemorrhage in verse 47. Jairus was there on behalf of his daughter, verse 42. Jesus refers to the woman with the hemorrhage as “Daughter”, verse 48. Jairus’ daughter was “about twelve years old”, verse 42. The woman with the hemorrhage experienced those symptoms for about “twelve years”, verse 43. In the case of Jairus and his daughter, Jesus said to him, “only believe, [verse 50] and she will be saved.” While in the case of the woman, verse 48, He said to her, “your faith has saved you.” In the case of Jairus’ daughter, it was Jesus’ touch which resulted in her healing, verse 54 says He “took her by the hand”, He touched her. And then verse 55 “her spirit returned, and she stood up immediately.” While in the case of the woman, verse 44, she “touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.” And then finally, in both cases, both of Jairus’ daughter and the woman with the hemorrhage the healing, which was brought about, it was brought about immediately. Jairus’ daughter, verse 55: “stood up immediately” while the woman, verse 47, was “immediately healed.”

See, these aren’t accidental details. These are intricately woven together details which highlight the reality that God’s divine fingerprints are all over this book, and all over this account. If we could just zoom-out for a moment here there is a point to be made there, which is that the Bible is not some sort of fanciful collection of fables which was thrown together haphazardly by mere men, to suppress the thoughts of men for multiple centuries and millennial now. No. The Bible is a sovereignly-stitched-together document chronicling God working through real people, in real places, in real circumstances. He lays out His will for mankind as He lays out His love for mankind and His perfect plans and purposes that He wants to bring to pass and will bring to pass for mankind. And as He does so, you can’t help but appreciate how God, through His Spirit, would move the pen of a masterful historian like Luke to weave together such a beautiful account like we have here of these two individuals, on these two parallel tracks, both demonstrating faith, and both being healed.

So, back to our account. This wedged-in account of this woman with the hemorrhage, and the “touch of faith” that she demonstrated here in the presence of Jesus. We’ll pick it up in the middle of verse 42 where the text reads “But as He went, [meaning, as Jesus went with Jairus toward Jairus’ house where his dying daughter lay] the crowds were pressing against Him.” As we’ve worked through these first eight chapters of Luke, we’ve seen some similar scenes play out, where more and more, larger and larger swelling of crowds were starting to encircle Jesus. And here in verse 42, it’s more of the same as these crowds are described as “pressing against Him.” Now, interesting to note, those words “pressing against Him”, the actual Greek verb means “to choke.” I almost choked as I said it. “To choke.” We see this same verb used back in the Parable of the Soils . where there’s that thorny soil, and the thorns are portrayed as “choking” out the seed that’s landed on that soil. It’s the same verb here. This crowd is being portrayed as “choking” Jesus, cutting Him off as He’s walking toward Jairus’ house. They are “pressing in on Him.” They are invading His personal space, as they crowd around Him. They are there for the show. They’re there to see what sort of miracle that He was going to Wow them with next. They don’t care that they’re crushing in on Him and pressing in on Him hampering His progress to get to where He actually needs to go. Almost like a traffic jam impeding the progress of an ambulance. They don’t care, they’re there to get what they want and see what they want.

Well, into all that commotion, enters the second major player in this account this woman with the hemorrhage. Verse 43, it says, “And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him.” We can park there for just a moment. Note first, that this woman had what’s being described here as “a hemorrhage.” We must remember that Luke, our human author, was a physician. So, what he’s describing here is a medical condition through which, at a certain time every month, this woman would have had an abnormally voluminous discharge of blood. This would have been a condition which, no doubt, would have left her weakened. It would have been a condition which would have left her, in many cases, very embarrassing circumstances. But, most fundamentally, what this would have done is it left her perpetually unclean under the Mosaic Law of their day, of this time.

In fact, if you would, turn with me, back to the book of Leviticus. I’m sure this morning, as you were writing out in Dad’s Father’s Day card, you thought to yourself, “Maybe we’ll go to Leviticus and learn about discharges and ceremonial uncleanness from the book of Leviticus today.” Leviticus 15 is where we’re going to go and we’re going to start in Leviticus 15:25. But I’ll note as you’re turning there, that any Israelite woman during this time, would have been ceremonially unclean at the very time each month that she was menstruating. So, for any woman in Israel, who was post-pubescent and pre-menopausal there was a certain time every month that they were unclean. However, this woman that’s being described in Luke’s account, she had this sort of aggravated, ongoing condition that would have left her perpetually unclean. She was forever unclean for those twelve years that she was suffering from this affliction. So, Leviticus 15, starting in verse 25, it says, “Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, all the days of her unclean discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness from her menstrual impurity. Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. Now if she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean. Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them into the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So, the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before Yahweh because of her unclean discharge.”

This passage in Leviticus 15 is describing the plight of the woman in our passage, back in our text in Luke 8. You can go ahead and turn back there to Luke 8. As you sit with that language of Leviticus 15, I hope what it imparts to you and leaves you with a sense of, is how totally embarrassed and humiliated and isolated, socially and religiously this woman would have been, on account of her being ceremonially unclean. And for her, this wasn’t some sort of short term or seasonal affliction like it might be for other women no, she had been plagued with his problem for twelve years. In American terms, that’s three presidential cycles going back to the Obama administration from where we sit today. For her, it wasn’t getting any better. Look at the end of verse 43, where we’re told that she “could not be healed by anyone.” So, no doctor. No physician could fix her. No medicine. No treatment could bring relief to her. In fact, in Mark’s parallel account Mark 5, we’re told that this woman had visited “many physicians”. And notwithstanding her many visits and many expenses she had incurred she had actually gotten worse. This is from Mark 5:26, it says 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.”

Doing a little historical digging this week, it’s actually really no surprise that she got worse. Because you start studying on first-century medical practices you realize it was really a lot of superstitious passing on of a number of homespun remedies and kind of hoping for the best. In fact, I came across the writing of one physician from the first century, from this very era, who wrote a prescription for some lady who was going through something similar to this woman in Luke 8. Here’s how the prescription reads, it’s sort of in old English. Not sure how that came to pass, but it says, “Take the gum of Alexandria the weight of a small silver coin; of alum the same; of crocus petals the same. Let them be crushed and mixed with wine. If this does not cure her, add three pints of onions, boil them in wine and give that to her to drink. If that does not cure her, set her at an intersection where two roads meet and let someone come up behind her and frighten her, saying, ‘Be healed from thy flow.’” Like, scare it out of her. Shockingly, that didn’t work. Probably not for this first-century patient and not for the woman here in Luke 8. It was an ineffective remedy. Because of that, this woman in our account, she remained unclean. She would have defiled anything or anyone she touched. No one would have wanted to associate with her. She would have felt very desolate and dejected and isolated and alone. And she must have been discouraged, because she wasn’t showing any signs of getting any better.

So, with that being her lot, and that being her condition and that being her social and religious position this woman is now emerging from this crowd and approaching Jesus. Verse 44 tells us that she “came up behind Him.” So, she had been anxiously lying low and waiting for Him to pass by through the crowd. And then, it says she “came up behind Him.” And note what she did next. It says she “touched the fringe of His garment.” Now, the “fringe” of His garment would be referring to the hem or the border on the lower part of the backside of His robe. Meaning, this woman, if you can picture this large crowd dynamic, she’s finding a way to stoop herself down, in this already large pressed crowded scene. Getting somehow to just about ankle level. Low enough to touch the fringe on the backside of Jesus’ robe. I mean, this truly was an act of desperation, and I think we can fairly say an act of faith. This woman believed that Jesus not only could, but that He would ultimately heal her.

And then, look what happened, end of verse 44, it says: “. . . and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.” There’s such a beautiful link here to what happened on the Sea of Galilee, just days prior where the crashing waves had suddenly turned to glass. And now, there’s this flow of 12 years that’s coming to a sudden end. It just stops like that! In an instant, this affliction which had been coursing through this woman’s body, embarrassing her and polluting her and ostracizing her for over a decade; it came to a complete stop. In fact, that’s how it’s phrased in the parallel account in Mark 5:29, it says, “And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she knew within her body that she had been healed of her affliction.” Well, knowing this, knowing that her flow of blood had stopped. Knowing that she had been completely healed. This woman, it would seem, was content just to slip away, and to never be seen again. To be that anonymous face in the crowd that no one would ever hear from again. But that wasn’t to be. Look at verse 45, it says “And Jesus said, ‘Who is the one who touched Me?”

Now, of course everybody wants to know the answer to this question. They see this question, and they themselves ask the question. And that question has now been asked for about 2,000 years, and it is, did Jesus actually not know the identity of the person who touched Him? Was He aware or not aware of the person who touched Him? That’s what people want to know. Could the omniscient God-Man could the One who has counted and can count every hair on every head in this room could the One who is named every star in the universe, not actually know who it was in this instance, who touched Him? You can probably tell by the way I pre-loaded my question there, that no, I don’t think that’s the case at all.

I don’t think that’s the case that He didn’t know who touched Him. I believe He knew who touched Him. He knew whose finger it was which had extended out to touch the fringe of His garment. He knew that that fringe on His garment had been touched in faith. He knew that He needed to address that faith that was behind that finger that touched that fringe. And He knew He needed to do so, to bring to light the one who had touched Him. The one who had made this expression, this gesture of faith. He needed to do so, so that everyone in her community, everyone around her, would know that not only that she had faith; but that she had been healed, and that she was not clean, and that she could now reenter society. So, for that reason, Jesus asked the question “Who is the one who touched Me?” Not that He didn’t know, but that He wanted her to be known, so that she could be reintegrated into society.

Well, as everyone else in the crowd was denying that they had touched Jesus’ fringe. Peter piped in – of course Peter piped in. Verse 45, it says, “And while they were all denying it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds are surrounding and pressing in on You.” That was Perer’s characteristically awkward way of saying, “Jesus, have you noticed these crowds, they’re all swarming around You, they’re all gathering around You. They’re all pressing in on You. They’re choking You. Of course You’ve been touched. Everybody is touching You in this scene.” So, Peter here is essentially suggesting here is that “Jesus, You are mistaken, You have just been grazed. You have been brushed accidentally. Incidentally, no one was touching You purposely. I, Peter, know better than You, Jesus.” Well, the Lord was persistent, verse 46 says, “But Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch Me, for I knew that power had gone out of Me.”

Jesus, of course, being omniscient, He knew that He wasn’t just grazed or brushed or accidentally touched. He knew that He had been touched intentionally, and He knew that He had been touched in faith. Now, we can pause for just a moment here, and ask ourselves the question what is Jarius thinking at this point? This whole scene began on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, somewhere near Capernaum. As this powerful man is now this desperate man, who is now approaching Jesus and asking Him to heal his daughter who is sick and dying. He’s asked Jesus to follow him back home. And Jesus now, is in fact visiting him back home to visit his sick and dying daughter. But now, Jesus is tangling with folks around Him over the question about who it was that touched the hem of His garment. Jarius, I’m imaging, might have experienced a little bit of frustration here. Like, “Lord, can we just get back to my house? I mean I know she’s bleeding, but my daughter is dying. Can we take care of that first?” “And here You are, Lord, being touched, and now You’re addressing folks, that are touching You. You’re asking questions like, who is it that touched the fringe of My garment? Why are we wasting our time?”

Well, Jesus, the Great Physician the friend of sinners the Servant of Servants. He was on a mission. He was on a mission in this scene, to get to Jarius’ daughter. But because of how compassionate He is not just powerful, but compassionate, He saw this woman, right before Him, was in great need. And knowing her plight, and aware of her faith, He decided to stop. And He decided to heal her. And He decided to reveal and uncover her faith. And not only that, but her now cleansed status, so that she could move on with her life. So, He asked the question “Who is the one who touched Me?” Not to accuse, but to reveal. Then, verse 46, He doubled down, and He said “Someone did touch Me.”

Then note, end of verse 46, He says “for I knew that power had gone out of Me.” Now, here’s another one of those theological knots that people will attempt to find here. And will say, “Ah, Jesus is not all powerful, because He says right here that power went out of Him. The tank was less than full, as a result of Him healing this woman. But that’s not what this is saying at all. He’s not in any way saying that He was depleted of power, in this woman touching the fringe of His garment and Him in turn, healing her. No. Jesus always has been and always will be perfectly divine and perfectly powerful and perfectly omnipotent. He never has lost any of His power; He never will lose any of His power. Rather, what Jesus was communicating with this language is that He knew that someone had touched Him in a manner that was different. He knew that He had been touched, not by accident, but intentionally. He knew that whoever had touched Him, had touched Him as an expression of faith. And He knew that power had gone forth from Him, as a result of that touch. And that power had impacted the one who did the touching. Here’s how it’s said in Mark’s account, in Mark 5 that “Jesus perceived in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth.” That’s the issue here. That’s the idea here. Not that Jesus’ power had in any way been depleted by healing this woman but rather, that His power had gone forth to heal this woman.

So, with that question in verse 45 and His statement in verse 46, out of the way. The time had now come for this woman to be exposed. The time had come for her to be outed as this one, this person in the crowd who had touched Him. Look at verse 47, it 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.” Now, note this is so poignant, when we think about how this scene began. And what this woman’s attitude and posture was. And now, what she is doing. This woman has gone from hiding out, and approaching Jesus from behind and slinking away, when she touched the fringe of His garment. Avoiding His initial question: “Who was it who touched Me?” To now, declaring out in the open, not only that it was she who had reached out and touched the fringe of His garment, but why had she done so. She’s now, in verse 47, declaring, unhindered, that she had been through this embarrassing 12-year process of having this flow. She’s now declaring that she was that one, who had been declared and deemed unclean under the Law. She’s now declaring that she lived for these past 12 years, in this desperate condition. And she’s now declaring that in her desperation, it was she who had reached out to Jesus, through this touch of faith. That’s what Luke is communicating when he says here, toward the end of verse 47, that “she declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him.” Not only that, and “how she had been immediately healed.”

So, as this procession of people, this crowd of onlookers, was pressing in on Jesus as He’s making His way to Jairus’ house. This woman, who mere moments earlier was in the status of pariah and societal outcast. She’s now in the middle of this crowd, essentially sharing her testimony broadcasting to anyone who would listen what Jesus had done for her. This woman had faith. This woman had faith in Jesus. Faith which let her extend her finger to touch the fringe of His garment in the first place. But now, faithfully she’s professing out loud in the open air for all to hear. Jesus that not only rewarded her faith by healing her, but He recognized her faith in front of this very crowd. Look at verse 48, it says “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has saved you’ go in peace.’”

There is such a sweetness to Jesus’ words here. For starters, He addresses her as “Daughter.” You know, lovingly, the Lord is addressing this poor woman, as a father would address his child. And in context, we must remember who this woman was. She was a total outcast. She was a total outcast because of her 12 years of uncleanness. She had been left completely alone in this culture at this time and this society, for a stretch of time that was that long. It is very likely, by this point, her parents, if they were still living had disowned her. It was very likely that her husband, if she’d ever had one, had long since abandoned her. It was very likely that any friends that she may have had were gone. They had ghosted her. She’d been left completely alone for over a decade. And now, she’s hearing Jesus the Messiah of Israel the Son of God, address her, looking her in the eye, and saying: “Daughter.”

There is a sweetness and a poignancy to that word in this scene. Then, the Lord said, “your faith has saved you.” The verb there is sozo, meaning, your faith has rescued you. Your faith has delivered you. As it’s rendered here, your faith has saved you. “You came for healing, but because of your faith, you got, not only healing, but physical healing also you got salvation.” She came with the flow of blood, and she was going to find, later, that it was His shedding of His blood that would lead to the forgiveness of her sins. This is why, end of verse 48, Jesus said: “go in peace.” This woman, on account of her faith, her faith in Jesus, now had “peace.” She not only had peace with those in her community, now that she was able to be reintegrated, having been cleansed. But she had peace with God, on account of her faith in Jesus. So, she could truly “go in peace.”

There’s a parallel here at the end of Luke 7. If you want to turn the page, there’s that scene involving the former prostitute who came up to Jesus, and she’s kissing His feet and anointing His feet with her tears and the perfume that she had brought. At the end of Luke 7, He said to that woman “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Now, He says the same thing to this woman with the flow of blood, in Luke 8:48 – “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Again, this woman had approached Jesus with such a sense of timidity and trepidation approaching Him from behind, touching the fringe of His garment hoping to go unnoticed. But now, she’d been healed and cured. And it says here, saved. So, now she could leave with her head held high, knowing that on account of her faith, she was now in the family of God.

Alright, we’ve worked through the first two sections of this narrative. We’ve seen The Tenacity Of Faith meaning Jairus’ faith. We’ve now just looked at The Touch Of Faith, meaning the touch or this woman that Jesus encountered on His was to see Jairus’s daughter. Now, in our remaining time, we’re going to look at, in verses 49-56: The Triumph Of Faith, that’s our third point.

The Triumph Of Faith, look at verse 49, it says:
“While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, ‘Your daughter has died; do not trouble the anymore.” I mean, what horrible news what a sad development. Right when Jairus had initially greeted Jesus on the seashore near Capernaum, we are told that his daughter was sick and dying. At least at that point, she was still breathing. Well, apparently, that was no longer the case. Instead, at the very moment that Jesus was telling the woman that he had just ministered to: “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Look at how Luke phrases it in verse 49: “While He was still speaking.” At that very moment, someone from Jairus’ house, a servant, a maid, a field hand, a relative came from that house and told Jairus that his daughter had perished. Note that as they delivered that bad news, they had a terrible bedside manner. Because they say in the same breath “do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” You know, you’ve had about three seconds to process the fact that your daughter is now dead, can you please leave Jesus alone? That’s what’s being said here. Not a very diplomatic way to share such alarming news.

Well, as Jairus heard this news about the death of his daughter, one has to wonder, at least I wonder whether he was thinking to himself, again “Jesus, why did You stop?” “We were on our way to my house, where You could have done something about my daughter.” “Why did You slow down?” “You slowed down for the person who was suffering from the lesser condition, bleeding, big deal.” “But my daughter was about to die, and now she is dead.” “Wasn’t my daughter’s condition more serious? And shouldn’t You have helped her first?” Now, we’re not told, of course, that Jairus actually entertained such thoughts. But we are told that apparently, he was afraid. And we get that from verse 50, where Luke reports “But when Jesus heard this [meaning, when He heard that Jairus’ daughter died] He answered him, ‘Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be saved.”

So, Jairus has just heard this message, and received this message about the death of his daughter, and it’s at this very moment that Jesus gives him this simple, yet not always easy to follow command “Do not be afraid any longer.” Fear not, have no fear. And then this: “only believe.” Note, it wasn’t “pray this prayer.” “If you’ll just touch this anointed healing shawl.” “If you’ll just sow a seed in my ministry, she’ll be saved.” No. It was “Do not be afraid.” And then the simplest of commands, “believe”, “believe.” That’s one of those principles. That’s one of those truths. That carries over to our day today. “Fear not.” “Believe.” That’s the prescription that the Great Physician, the Lord Jesus Christ has been writing to sin-sick individuals now, for centuries “believe.”

Well, Luke continues in verse 51 by describing what happened when Jesus and the grieving father, Jairus, entered the home. It says, “So when He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girls’ father and mother.” Now, this is one of those moments where the stories of these two episodes of “true faith healing” really intersect. Because remember, the woman with hemorrhage on account of her condition we saw this back in Leviticus 15. That condition would have rendered her unclean. It would have rendered anyone whom she came into contact with, unclean. So, the fact that Jairus is now allowing Jesus, who has touched that woman, to enter his house, it’s really highlighting something for us. It’s highlighting the fact that Jairus did, in fact, have the faith which Jesus was calling on him to have. By allowing Jesus into his home to begin with, he was affirming, Jairus was, that he had faith in Jesus. That he had faith that Jesus had really healed that woman with the hemorrhage. That he had faith that Jesus was not Himself, unclean by touching that woman with the hemorrhage. That he had faith that Jesus was somebody special, perhaps even divine, if He could heal somebody and touch somebody, and not Himself be rendered unclean. He had faith, he had faith in Jesus, and he had faith that Jesus could heal his daughter. And so, Jesus, and three of the disciples, the inner circle of Peter and John and James and also “the girl’s father and mother”, Jairus and his wife they entered the house.

Now, look at what they encountered, verse 52, it says “Now they were all crying and lamenting for her.” Those who had gathered in Jairus’ home were weeping and wailing in despair. In fact, the parallel account in Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew writes of this event as well, Matthew 9 says, “When Jesus came into the official’s house [he] saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder.” In other words, the professional mourners were on the job. They were in position. They were ready to sing that funeral dirge for Jairus’ daughter. But as He entered that house, and heard all this commotion, Jesus wasn’t having it. The end of verse 52 it says, “But He said, [to the mourners] ‘Stop crying, for she ahs not died, but is asleep.” Then look at the reaction that draws from these mourners, it says, verse 53 “And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.”

I mean, just think about that for a moment. These folks are ridiculing the Resurrection and the Life. They’re openly laughing at the Creator of the Universe. The nerve, right? But why were they laughing? Well, they’re laughing at Jesus, for saying that the girl had merely fallen asleep. Now, had the girl just fallen asleep? Had she in fact, died? Yes, she had in fact, died. We know she was dead. In fact, look down the page at verse 55, Luke tells us that after being revived, “her spirit returned.” Those words only make sense her spirit returning, if she had actually died in between. Because it’s at death, that there’s a separation between the spirit and the body. So, the fact that the “spirit returned” to her, means that she had in fact, died and was now, in this scene, living. It’s also clear, by the way, that that word “asleep”, that Jesus uses here, is a euphemism for “death.”

In John 11, we see this play out. John 11 is the scene involving Lazarus. And in John 11:11, Jesus, on one hand says, “our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.” But then, three verses later, in John 11:14, He says that “Lazarus is dead.” So, in both cases, John 11 and Luke 8, Jesus is making the same point. Number one, that sleep is a synonym for “death.” But even more fundamentally that “death” was not here, going to have the final say. Death wasn’t going to have the last word. Jairus’ child, his daughter, was going to wake up, and she was going to live again. So, these mocking mourners, in one sense, they were accurate, in the sense that she in fact had died. But it was their tone and their attitude that was the issue. Again, how dare they attempt to shame the Savior?

Well, in verse 54, we see that Jesus essentially waved off these naysayers, Luke tells us, “He, however, took her by the hand.” Now, the fact, again, that Jesus would touch her, His hand clasping hers His hand, His fingers would touch her dead fingers this is a corpse. We’re talking about a ceremonially unclean body that just shows that not only did He have power to raise the dead, but it shows He had great compassion for her. He wanted to bring her to life and bring joy to the family. And then reading on, we’re told that Jesus then said, “Child, arise!” This is that passage that we see parallel in Mark 5:41, where the original Aramaic is preserved, and it reads: “Talitha kum!” Little daughter, little girl, “arise!” Then, she heeded His command, verse 55 “And her spirit returned, and she stood up immediately.” She wasn’t merely breathing again. It wasn’t that her heart was merely beating again. It wasn’t that her brain waves were merely functioning again. No. This is saying that she got up from her deathbed in an instant. She “stood up immediately.” Just like the son of the widow at Nain she’d risen immediately to life. That’s even backstopped by what He says, at the end of verse 55, it says, “And He gave orders for something to be given to her to eat.” She had an appetite. She’d been dead for a period of time. She had been sick before that and now, she was hungry. This is a sign that she had been fully revived, fully restored.

Now, turning to verse 56, we learn that “her parents were astounded” is says. They were astonished. They were literally beside themselves in amazement. Of course they were. Their daughter, once feared to be dead actually dead, is now alive! That would astonish and amaze anybody. Then, at the end of verse 56, though these grateful parents understandably would have wanted to tell others what had just happened that their daughter, once dead, is now alive. She’s breathing, she’s eating. Jesus commanded them not to. It says, “He directed them to tell no one what had happened.” Why? Why is He putting the kybosh on them telling their friends and neighbors, “My daughter’s back, she’s alive now. And He’s the One who did it.” Well, the time hadn’t come for Jesus to proclaim openly, that He was and is the Messiah. That time would come in conjunction, really with His arrival in Jerusalem, in Luke 9. But that day had not yet arrived. So, for now, He asked the parents, Jairus, the wife, to keep what they had witnessed, under their hats.

Now, Luke, writing a few decades after these events. He didn’t keep this account under his hat. That’s why it’s’ written here for Theophilus and why we’re reading it today. Instead, he reported this account, in this Gospel and we’ve had the privilege this morning, of working our way through it. Now, what lessons? I’ve mentioned takeaways, application, can we draw from what we’ve learned in this text? I mean, surly we could take the simple one. You know, the reality of suffering in man. God’s sovereignty over our suffering. Those are definitely themes that are going on here. I’d like us to zero in on just two, as we close.

First, would be this reminder that Jesus is not only all-powerful. And we’ve seen that in these last three Sunday morning accounts. That He has power over the wind and the waves. He has power over the demonic realm. And here in this episode, He has power over sickness and disease. But Jesus is also all-compassionate. That’s what we’ve seen throughout this account. That Jesus is not only all-powerful, but He’s all-compassionate. You know, in His deity and in His humanity, Jesus is not some one-dimensional God-Man. No. We, as believers today, can have both confidence in His power and we can also rest in His compassion.

Pastor Andrew, next Sunday morning, is going to take us through Micah 7, where we’ll go deeper into this topic of the fact that we serve a compassionate God. One who has the power to bring us through life’s difficulties but in the case of Jesus, also a compassionate God. One who can “sympathize with our weaknesses”, as we’re told in Hebrews 4:15.

Here’s the other takeaway, our second and last one. Jesus truly is the Great Physician. Though there will come a time where, as the Great Physician, He will, according to His will and privilege, and prerogative, bring physical healing into our lives, in order to accomplish His divine purposes. His chief aim, and His chief objective, is to bring about spiritual healing. To cure spiritual sickness for sinners like you and me. We must remember that, back in Luke 5 we studied this a few months ago there was that scene where the Pharisees asked Jesus a question, in Luke 5:30. This is that scene where He’s associating with tax collectors and sinners. The question they have is “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” His response is so interesting, because it’s there that He says, in verse 31 of chapter 5,
“It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus is that Physician. He’s the Great Physician. He brings healing, true healing – spiritual healing to all who call upon Him in faith.

So, if you’re here this morning, as a follower of Jesus Christ. I pray that that would just be a reminder to all of us, that we serve the One, we live for the One who is this Great Physician. But if you’ve yet to put your faith in Christ, my call on you, as a minister of the Gospel, as a Pastor of this flock, is to call on Him. To call on Him for healing, not healing of your afflictions, and diseases, and addictions and all the rest but healing for the greatest problem you have which is that you are separated from the living God, on account of your sin. And the only way a person can be reconciled to that God, restored to that God is by putting faith in the Jesus of whom we’ve been studying today. Believing upon His death, and believing upon His resurrection, believing that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father, but through Him. There is one way to salvation. There is one way to have forgiveness. There is one way to be healed. That is by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. I pray you would do so today, if that hasn’t happened already.