Women

WOMEN IN LUKE PART 5

by GLENN PEASE
02/27/21
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LUKE 8:40-56
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 besought him to
come to his house,
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age,
and she was dying. As he went, the people pressed round
him.
49 While he was still speaking, a man from the ruler's
house came and said, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble
the Teacher any more."
50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, "Do not fear;
only believe, and she shall be well."
51 And when he came to the house, he permitted no one to
enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the
father and mother of the child.
52 And all were weeping and bewailing her; but he said,
"Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping."
53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, "Child,
arise."
55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once; and he
directed that something should be given her to eat.
56 And her parents were amazed; but he charged them to
tell no one what had happened.

Lockyer writes, "Standing by the little bed, Jesus took one of
the girl's cold hands in His and tenderly said in her own
Aramaic tongue, "Rise up, little maid!" No lengthened
process was necessary once His divine hand had been put
forth."

Jesus knows what it is like to be a celebrity welcomed by a
great crowd of eager cheering people. No doubt this
atmosphere helped Jesus in performing miracles, for where
faith is strong his power is demonstrated. Jesus must have
made it clear that He was crossing the lake only for a short
while, for they were all waiting His return. He said, "Thy
faith has made thee whole." Much does depend upon the
faith of the person, and not just the sovereignty of God. See
Mark 6:5-6.

In New York City the greatest welcome in history was for
Lt. Colonel John Glenn after his flight into space. The mass
of colored paper cleaned up after was 3,474 tons. They
actually weighed this welcome and measured it. There was
no way to weigh the welcome of Jesus, but the very fact that
it is mentioned makes it likely that it was a huge and excited
crowd.

The greatest of men are helpless and need a great
physician, for no other can halt death. Here is a religious
ruler among the class who rejected Jesus, but now when his
daughters life is at stake, he does not rely on his theology,
but desperately needs a deliverer. This father cares not for
the crowd, or his peers, but comes to Jesus and falls at His
feet begging for help. This reveals the great distress and the
genuine desire. He dearly loves his daughter, and this tells us
she had a good family and likely a good life. Girls were less
thought of in the ancient world as a whole, but here is an
individual girl who was greatly loved. Illness often makes a
family appreciate a child more, for it causes fear that they
might be taken away. He had great faith, or he would not
have left his only daughter dying in order to get to Jesus.

Many people are afraid to ask for help. They are ashamed
that they have a need, and they fear publicity. But here we
see a man of public authority who was willing to admit he
needed help. The woman who came and touched Jesus led to
a delay, and then the news came that his daughter had died.
Now the need was not just for restoration, but resurrection.
But the good news is, Jesus is never too late. Even death does
not mean the end of His reach. He has the key to death.

What a comforter Jesus was. This poor man would be a
nervous wreck. The interruption of this sick woman would
be almost intolerable. She was sick for 12 years, and that is
rough, but he would be thinking, my daughter is about to
die, and it is far better to be sick and alive, so why bother
with her, let's go where the greater need is. It had to be a
crushing blow when the news came that his daughter was
dead. But Jesus gave him immediate assurance that she
would be healed. Timing is not that important when it comes
to a miracle.

In verse 52 Jesus says the girl is just sleeping. Munger
writes, "If Christ had done nothing more for humanity than
to give to it this word sleep in place of death, He would have
been the greatest of benefactors. To that which seems the
worst thing, He has given the best name..."

LUKE 8:43-48
43 And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve
years and could not be healed by any one,
44 came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his
garment; and immediately her flow of blood ceased.
45 And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When
all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the multitudes surround
you and press upon you!"
46 But Jesus said, "Some one touched me; for I perceive
that power has gone forth from me."
47 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.
48 And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you
well; go in peace."

G. Campbell Morgan, "On account of the peculiar form of
physical disease from which she was suffering she was
excommunicated from the temple, and not allowed to mingle
with the worshippers. By that selfsame law she was divorced
from her husband, and not allowed to live with him. By that
same law she was ostracized from society, and in appalling
loneliness she had lived for twelve years."

Spurgeon tries to imagine all the things she was advised to
do, and all the quack drugs she no doubt took. One of the
crazy prescriptions of that day was to eat the nail of a man
who had been hanged. Spurgeon writes, "The wonder is that
for 12 years poor human nature could stand out, not against
the disease, but against the doctors."

She fits the picture of one who had tried all else and failed,
then finally comes to Christ. Dr. Ceremony and Dr. Religion
have prescribed all sorts of prayers and services, and Dr.
Morality, all sorts of good deeds, and Dr. Civility all kinds of
community involvement, but after it all has left you worse
than before, you realize you need a Savior. Jesus did not
charge. She was broke, and yet He healed her for nothing.
Was she fearful He would charge, and that is why she came
in secret? It is not likely, for He did all He did freely and
publicly. Others say she did it in secret because her touch
defiled, and she did not want anyone to know that she had
touched Christ.

She illustrates that no one needs to come to Jesus publicly
to experience His healing. If one comes in secret believing,
that is enough. Jesus however, does want a public
confession. Spurgeon said, "O my hearer, you can be saved
in silence. You have no need to speak to any person of your
acquaintance, not even to mother or father. At this moment,
while in the pew, believe and live. Nobody will know that
you are now touching the Lord."

Legend says she was Veronica, the woman who ministered
to him when he was dying. Legend also says she was wealthy
at one time, but spent all to be healed, and now she finally
gets it free. The best things in life are often free. We see here
the cooperation of body and spirit, for both faith and her
finger were necessary. Physical contact is not necessary, but
in her case it was because she was trying to do it secretly. It
almost seems as if the healing power of Christ was objective,
for she got a healing without His willing it. It was like she
was a pickpocket who came from behind and took healing
out of his back pocket. An actual flow of power, like
electricity, flowed out of Jesus into her. Jesus was sensitive to
this power flow. He knew it was not just someone in the
crowd pressing upon Him.

Near Him she stole, rank after rank;
She feared approach too loud;
She touched His garments' hem, and shrank
Back in the sheltering crowd.

A shame-faced gladness thrills her frame;
Her twelve years' fainting prayer
Is heard at last; she is the same
As other women there.

She hears His voice; He looks about;
Ah! is it kind or good
To drag her secret sorrow out
Before that multitude?

The eyes of men she dares not meet--
On her they straight must fall:
Forward she sped, and at His feet
Fell down, and told Him all.

His presence makes a holy place;
No alien eyes are there;
Her shrinking shame finds god-like grace,
The covert of its care.

"Daughter," He said, "be of good cheer;
Thy faith hath made thee whole";
With plenteous love, not healing mere,
He would content her soul. (G. MacDonald)

Sankey in Gospel Hymns wrote of her,
She only touched the hem of His garment,
As to His side she stole,
Amid the crowd that gathered round Him,
And straightway she was whole.

Reach out and touch someone is a popular phrase, and
this woman reached out for the one who could heal by a
touch. We talk about getting in touch with someone, and she
got in touch with the Healing Christ. "Touch is the sense
which love employs." Contact eliminates all distance
between one who loves and the object of his love.

Clearly she was a woman of great determination and
hope. After 12 years most would say I'll always have this
problem, and just give up. She was still hoping for a cure.
Women are supposedly stronger than men in suffering. The
Christian attitude should always be to never give in and
accept it unless it is clearly the will of God, as was Paul's
thorn in the flesh. If you accept something as God's will you
don't fight it, and so if you go to get medicine you are
declaring, this is not God's will. Here is a woman driven by
need and drawn by hope to find a cure. Many have tried to
help her but none could. She had to bear pain and great
loneliness. She was defiled, and according to the law she was
practically an outcast, for all that she touched or sat upon
would be defiled. She was so ashamed of her problem she did
not come and ask for public healing. Like many with female
problems, she did not want to broadcast it. She was hoping
for a hidden miracle that nobody would know about but
herself. Instead, it turns out that the whole of history
became informed of her problem and her miracle.

Here is doctor Luke admitting that doctors cannot cure all
problems. This is humility on his part. He was not so proud
as to think man had the answer to all. The world is filled with
people who have problems that the wisdom of man cannot
solve. Jesus is the hope of the hopeless, and He alone can heal
the sin sick soul. She was a good example of ambivalence, for
she believed, and yet was not so sure, and so wanted all to be
in secret. Cowper wrote,

Conceded amid the gathering throng,
She would have shunn'd thy view,
And if her faith was firm and strong
Had strong misgivings too.

Note the contrast between her and Jairus. He was bold
and straightforward, but she was sneaky. Their is a parallel
between them also, for the daughter had been born 12 years
ago, and she had developed her problem 12 years ago. One
was losing a great blessing, and the other was hoping to lose a
great curse. We have here the case of the stealing of healing.
She had to have greater faith than most to believe she could
be healed without even asking Jesus, or having Him speak a
word. No man is recorded as having this kind of faith that a
mere touch could heal. Here is an unconscious healing.
Jesus was on His way to heal another, and this was just an
extra. Spurgeon called it, "A sort of over splash of the great
fountain of mercy." This was a side road and an
interruption in His journey, but as Spurgeon said again,
"The episodes of the Lord Jesus are as beautiful as the main
run of His life's poem."

This interruption would give Jarius an illustration of the
power of the touch of Jesus and strengthen his own faith.
There are different types of touch. There is the touch of
enforced nearness of the crowd which had no meaning. Then
there is her touch with a purpose. It was aimed deliberately
at Jesus for a specific gift of healing. We can still reach out
and touch someone, and if that someone is Jesus we can still
receive healing and forgiveness of sin. Every sinner needs to
reach out and touch the hem of His garment, which today is
the body of Christ, the church, which is to wear the robe of
righteousness that can be touched.

Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" Godet writes, "There is
no reason for not attributing to Jesus the ignorance implied
in the question..." "Anything like feigning ignorance ill
comports with the candor of His character."

There is a paradox here. Jesus brings this woman out to
give a public testimony, and yet he puts the gag on Jarius
and his family in verse 56. He made the one who wanted to
stay hidden come public, and made the one who wanted to
shout it from the house top to keep it private. This was a
minor miracle on the way to a major miracle, and so maybe
it was not so impressive that it could not be brought to the
attention of the crowd.