Luke 8:40-48 (3)
The Gospel of Luke • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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-We’ve come to Chapter 8, and verse 40...
…in our study through Luke’s Gospel.
And, as always, I encourage you to follow along in your Bible...
…as we work our way through today’s verses.
-This is the final section, in a sense, of chapter 8...
But, because it contains two distinct miracles of Jesus...
...We’re going to break it up into two sermons.
But, try to not let that cause you to overlook the fact...
…that all 3 synoptic gospel writers...
…appear to intentionally weave them together...
…into a thread of singular focus.
What is it?
Well, it hasn’t changed.
It’s Jesus’ identity as..
The Son of God
The Messianic King...
…as demonstrated through the exercise of His...
Power
Authority.
-Remember that, prior to this, we had seen His Power over...
The Natural Order (Wind, waves, and sea)
The Super-natural order (i.e., demons)...
In this final section, Luke will be emphasizing His Power and Authority over...
Bodily sickness...
And even:
Death!
-We’re going to read Verses 40-48 for today...
And both events will be introduced in those verses...
But, we’re going to focus primarily on what happens in 43-48.
Please follow along as I read.
Luke 8:40–48 (ESV)
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 implored him to come to his house,
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
43 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.
44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
45 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!”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out 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.”
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Pray
-Let’s draw our attention back to verse 40 for a moment.
Notice, there, how Luke describes Jesus’ reception by the people...
…after he had returned from the “other side” of the Lake:
Luke 8:40 (ESV)
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
-So, it would appear that the multitudes that had...
...”forced” him into the boat to begin with...
…hadn’t quite disbanded...
…but were, instead, eagerly awaiting his return.
-For now, let’s move on...
Look at Verse 41.
Luke grabs our attention.
He tells us this:
Luke 8:41 (ESV)
41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue.
Notice a couple of things in this, already:
Jairus was...
The main elder at the synagogue
In charge of organizing the services
A man a great local notoriety
2. Luke’s historicity:
You don’t give names of prominent people if you’re making something up
-Now, Luke tells us, that this great man did this:
And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house,
(And remember, he is in the middle of a huge crowd!)
And, notice, that he DOESN’T:
Send out a delegation
Enter into negotiations (as though Jesus were his peer in ministry)
Try to command Jesus as the “Senior Pastor” of the local synagogue.
…He just throws himself down at Jesus’ feet...
…and begs him to come with him to his house.
-Now, why would a man like this, do that?
Desperation!
Look at Verse 42:
Luke 8:42 (ESV)
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying...
“only” = monogones (i.e., John 3:16, etc.)
(i.e., “unique” “special” or “one of a kind”)
His twelve year old daughter was all he had...
And she was (with all certainty) about to die!
-And already, we see something about the nature of this man’s faith.
How?
In that he left his imminently dying monogones...
…to come and take the chance of getting Jesus to heal her!
He was giving up what time he had left with her to do this.
That’s Faith!
Faith that is borne out in what you do!
If you truly believe something...
…you WILL act on it!
You can’t help it!
Matthew tells us how Jesus responds to...
…Jairus’s faith-filled plea:
Matthew 9:19 (ESV)
19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.
Mark adds:
Mark 5:24 (ESV)
24 And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
Luke describes it like this (end of Verse 42):
Luke 8:42 (ESV)
42 ...As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
Luke’s language here is intense:
The word can literally mean...
to “choke”
to “drown”
The point being that the crowds were pressing in so hard...
…that he could barely breathe.
-Now, this is the setting into which Luke introduces...
A new character
A new story.
Look at verse 43:
Luke 8:43 (ESV)
43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years,...
Notice:
The girl had lived for 12 years
The woman had been slowly dying for 12 years.
On this day, they’re both in peril.
Mark adds this vivid description of the woman:
Mark 5:26 (ESV)
26 ..had suffered much under many physicians, and . . . and was no better but rather grew worse.
Luke says:
Luke 8:43 (ESV)
43 ...though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.
-Now, just think for a minute about this woman’s condition.
(It is of gospel importance that we understand it)
--She had endured constant female hemorrhaging...
…for more than a decade!
--She (apparently) had possessed a measure of wealth before...
But, has now spent it all on doctors...
…and to no avail.
—This means that she was probably barren, as well!
—And, Not only that, remember what the Law commanded:
Leviticus 15:25–27 (ESV)
25 “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days . . . all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness...
26 Every bed on which she lies . . . And everything on which she sits shall be unclean...
27 And whoever touches these things shall be unclean...
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FOR TWELVE YEARS!
This woman was...
Desperate!
Broke
Tired
Weak
A social outcast!
She had no other hope… AT ALL!
She had been brought to the very end.
Hers was is a despairingly bleak picture.
But, the deeper the darkness...
…the brighter the light, right?
-Now, think about this before we read on.
Jesus was in a crowd so thick, that...
…they were nearly suffocating him!
So, what did it mean for this woman to get to him?
Pushing her way through that great crowd...
Unavoidably making contact as she did!
This was a daunting prospect for her in every way:
(Physically and Emotionally)
But, Matthew gives us this internal insight:
He tells us that she was saying...
Matthew 9:21 (ESV)
21 ...to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”
“He doesn’t even have to lay his hands on me!”
“If I can even have third party contact with this great man...
…it will be enough!”
Watch what she does:
Luke 8:44 (ESV)
44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment...
Why “behind” him?
So no one would notice (including him).
She wanted it done in secret.
--So, she presses her way in...
--Comes up behind him...
—And does what?
“touches the fringe of his garment”
This little detail may be more significant...
…than it appears.
When we hear “fringe,” we usually think of...
The outer hem on a garment
Or...
A Frayed portion on it’s border.
The word Luke uses could be better understood by us...
…as a tassel.
Luke uses the same Greek word, here...
…as the Septuagint does in:
Numbers 15:38–40 (ESV)
38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.
39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.
40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
So, these tassels were symbolic reminders of...
The obligations of holiness!
Hence, the Pharisaical corruption of them that we see in:
Matthew 23:5 (ESV)
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
Why?
They wanted to be revered as holy!
But, the command was to actually BE holy!
Those who ARE holy...
…are more concerned with God’s estimation of them, than that of men.
-Consider this commentary:
The edge of his cloak refers to the kraspedon, the blue tassel on the garment that symbolized a Jewish man’s obedience to the law (cf. Num 15:37–41).
The woman thus touched the very part of Jesus’ clothing that indicated his ritual purity. — NET Notes
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So, not only is she...
humbling herself:
Coming up behind him
Bowing down low (Tassels were on the bottom of the garment)...
She’s also...
Reaching out to contact the very thing...
…that symbolizes what Jesus possessed perfectly...
…and she DESPERATELY needs:
Righteousness
Holiness
Purity
Ethical Perfection!
This is such a beautiful picture of conversion!
She looked away from all other hopes...
And placed her trust in Jesus!
She forsook her hopes in men and money...
And looked to the provision of Christ!
She humbled herself before him in repentance and faith...
And this is what happened:
Luke 8:44 (ESV)
44 ...immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
Notice: This was immediate and complete.
(Contrast this with alleged “healers” today)
Not only that...
This was the first cure...
That she didn’t have to, and couldn’t, pay for...
To have ever actually worked!
And 12 years of stigma and suffering...
…came to a screeching halt...
And she was...
Whole
Alive
Clean!
Why?
How?
Because she had put her faith in the One who...
…fulfilled the conditions of Exodus 15:26 for her:
Exodus 15:26 (ESV)
26 . . . “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
Jesus earned that right!
How?
By fulfilling what those tassels on his cloak represented.
By fulfilling all righteousness as a man!
-But… It’s also deeper than that:
Look at verse 45:
Luke 8:45 (ESV)
45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” . . .
Remember, that she had...
Come up behind him
Only touched the tassel at the bottom of his outer cloak.
Mark even adds this detail:
Mark 5:32 (ESV)
32 And he looked around to see who had done it.
That makes me think (even though many disagree)...
…that his question was sincere...
Meaning… that he DIDN’T actually know!
-Now, this is an area where we must be very careful.
But remember what the Scripture affirms...
…about Jesus in the incarnation:
Philippians 2:6–7 (ESV)
6 ...though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
His omniscience certainly appears to be...
…one of those divine prerogatives that he willingly set aside...
…when he took on humanity.
Remember what Luke told us before:
Luke 2:52 (ESV)
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
This was a part of his real representative, substitutionary humanity.
Thus, Jesus asked:
Luke 8:45 (ESV)
45 . . . “Who was it that touched me?” . . .
-Then, Luke tells us that:
When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”
Notwithstanding the egregious nature of Peter’s rebuke...
He actually makes an important point.
He says, essentially...
“this crowd is “crushing” you like a vat of grapes!”
“EVERYONE… is touching you!”
And, that’s an important detail.
Why?
Because it was in the midst of all of that “pressing in,” that:
Luke 8:46 (ESV)
46 ...Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”
A certain person!
Even though hundreds were touching Him...
...This one was different.
It was the touch of saving faith!
And, the man — Jesus sensed it immediately!
-Now, how are we to understand what just happened, here?
Well, we need to be careful...
…but other Scriptures do give us indications:
Luke 3:21–22 (ESV)
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened,
22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Afterwards, (after being tested and proven) we read:
Luke 4:14 (ESV)
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee...
The Man of the Spirit
The Anointed One
Luke 5:17 (ESV)
17 On one of those days, as he was teaching . . . And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
Luke 6:19 (ESV)
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
Peter interprets it this way:
Acts 10:38 (ESV)
38 ...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
So, what was this power?
It was the Power of God...
…coming from within the Man, Jesus!
Let’s harmonize all of Scripture...
…and, in doing that...
…Let it say what it says!
And affirm it!
-But, notice one more thing that’s easily overlooked in this language:
Mike McKinley says:
The symbolism in the meeting is remarkable: blood flows from the sick woman, but the power to heal flows from Jesus.
Her touch was supposed to transmit uncleanness, but instead Jesus’ touch transformed her and made her clean. — Mike McKinley
Perhaps, THIS, is supposed to be the primary takeaway?
-Look at verse 47:
Luke 8:47 (ESV)
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling,...
Why?
She had been unclean!
She touched a lot of people!
She touched this beloved Rabbi and Miracle Worker!
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.
So, she publicly...
Admits to what she did
Testifies to Jesus’ power and authority.
-Now, why would Jesus do that?
Why would he not let her shirk away back into obscurity?
Because he loved her!
Think about it.
She was infamous for her condition.
She would have (and no doubt did) had to go through ...
…the process of ritual purification...
…and EVENTUALLY, after a really long time...
…been accepted back into religious society.
But, now...
…after being exposed for what she has done...
…after having publicly testified of Christ...
…before this enormous crowd...
…her cleansing will be as well-known...
…as her defilement had been!
…her new-found holiness as celebrated...
…as her profanity was despised.
This isn’t Jesus being mean and callous...
This is Jesus “loving” (biblically) one of his precious sheep!
-And, we see that love...
…endearingly in our last verse:
First of all, He addresses her as:
Luke 8:48 (ESV)
48 “Daughter”
From what I read...
…this is the only place in the Bible...
…where Jesus, himself, addresses someone as his daughter!
Matthew tells us more:
Matthew 9:22 (ESV)
22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter…
Do you see how he comforts her with this address?
Do you see how He calms her fears?
And, notice that he makes sure that everyone knows what really happened
He says:
Luke 8:48 (ESV)
48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; . . . ”
Literally: “saved you”
What has?
A Magic Cloak that Jesus wore?
The mystical touch?
No! EVERYONE was touching him!
Not everyone was healed.
Her faith!
The touch was just the deed that her faith produced.
It was merely the evidence of her faith.
And as a result of her “saving faith” . . .
Not only is she not in trouble...
Not only is Jesus not mad at her for touching him...
He tells her:
Luke 8:48 (ESV)
48 . . . “Daughter . . . go in peace.”
As a result of her faith in Christ...
…she is now at peace with God and men!
-And if you or I desire that peace...
We must come to Christ the SAME way:
Broken
Empty
Bowed-Low
Forsaking all other hopes
Touching the tassels of his righteousness...
…in an act of dependent faith!
If we’ll (by his grace), truly, do that...
Then we’ll go in peace...
…as a son or daughter of God.
Let’s ask him to give us grace to do that.
Pray