Editor’s note: This article is a lightly edited transcript of a Sunday class teaching. The recording begins mid-thought; the opening of the original talk was not captured. Spoken cadence — including asides, self-corrections, and class member contributions — has been preserved deliberately. Mid-thought breaks are marked
[interjection]. Section headings have been added by the editor to aid navigation.
Opening Exchange
Day 30 or 40? 40. Okay, we’ve asked a lot.
The Text: Luke 8:40–48
So we’re in Luke chapter 8, verse 40.
And it came to pass that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of a synagogue, and he fell down at Jesus’ feet and besought him that he would come into his house. For he had only one daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay dying.
But as he went, the people thronged him. And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years…
[interjection: aside about microphone setup] Sorry, this is in my eye here. If we could go down lower, that would be great. But it’s not perfect. It’s not very discreet, is it? I might even swap the other microphone out for it. But this is a better type of microphone, you see. I’ll try to make it a little bit more discreet.
…which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him and touched the border of his garment, and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me, for I perceive that virtue has gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and, falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
All right, let’s just concentrate on that bit. I know we’re kind of halfway through.
Two Stories, Interleaved
There’s two stories. There’s two stories tied in here. And isn’t it interesting that we know that this is — [interjection] it’s not a wooden account. He’s interleaving, interweaving stories. And we all know we’ve reached the end of one story, which is inserted into the middle of another story. And we’re hooked, aren’t we?
And isn’t this an encouragement for those working in narrative creation? That yes, we have here divinely inspired guidelines, and we’re given the thumbs up, the okay, by the Holy Spirit of God, saying — yes, well, take what I’ve done through Luke (and, you know, what was genuinely of Luke as well) and use that. And yeah, take it, here it is.
So that’s, of course, one thing to note — that he maintains interest throughout by interleaving stories. He’s picked up one thread, which is not yet one loop, that’s not yet closed. Meanwhile, he’s interjected another loop, which he has closed. Okay, but at the end of that, we’re not saying what time is Match of the Day on — we’re saying, well, what happened with the other story?
A Boy Who Wouldn’t Stop Reading Acts
Which reminds me of a story told by — [interjection] Rushdoony recounted from another book — about a guy in a public school — well, no, actually, it was probably just an ordinary British school — who was given the task of reading the scripture for the day. And this was a collect — it was part of the, probably the Book of Common Prayer. And it happened to be one of the stories of Paul’s missionary journey.
And the boy didn’t stop reading. Now this is Luke, [interjection] no, it’s not Luke, it’s Luke–Acts. That’s how the scholars view it. Luke–Acts, it’s one thing, you know — whether that’s true or not, of course, Luke wrote both books. And it just occurred to me now that the same energy that’s in Luke is, of course, in Acts.
This boy was reading the book of Acts, hallelujah. And he wouldn’t stop. And he wouldn’t stop and he wouldn’t stop and he wouldn’t stop. And finally the master, the schoolmaster, intervened and said, “Boy, shut up, boy, you’re past the reading.” And he quipped back, “I want to know what happens.”
Have We Ritualised the Bible Into Lifelessness?
Now, we — I think in the Christian community — have so ritualised the book that we’ve kind of neutered it. Maybe that doesn’t apply to you. Maybe you read the Bible intelligently. Maybe you read the Bible with a sense of wonder each time. But it’s very possible that, because you’ve grown up with the Bible, because you’ve grown up with the Bible being treated a certain way as a quote-unquote holy book — that is, a book that’s not accessible and should be treated with great reverence, you know — you should always have this uniform, what we call reverence, but kind of lifelessness, maybe, on the one hand. Or maybe you get the idea that the Bible is only to be approached by scholars or clergymen.
And you really can’t, you aren’t either of those. But it’s meant to be read, and we’re meant to delight in the story. And after all, is not our own lives — are not our own lives these interleaving open loops and closed loops and little dramas and so on? The very stories that the Lord is writing into our own life for the sake of his praise and honour and glory.
”The People Gladly Received Him”
All right. “And when it came to pass, that when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him” — for they were all waiting for him.
What does this tell us? It tells us that the Pharisees were very much opposed to Jesus, and the people in the synagogue — at least some synagogues — were ready to cast them off a cliff. But that’s not the whole story. That’s far from the whole story.
In fact, we just finished a section where the people of the country of the Gadarenes were ready to chuck him out. They said, “Oh, yes, Jesus. He’s a great man. We don’t want him anywhere near us. He’s a little bit too great for us. Thank you very much.”
Never a Uniform Picture
But it’s never a uniform picture. It’s never everybody hates the gospel. It’s never everybody. “Nobody wants to listen to me. Nobody wants to hear from me.” There’s always someone.
You might say later on that these were amongst the people who said, “Crucify him, crucify him.” But you can’t even say that, because after all, at the day of Pentecost, 3,000 were saved, were converted. And of course, it’s Luke himself in the book of Acts who tells us this. So this is part of his narrative, his contribution to scripture.
So let’s not be discouraged. Let’s not tell ourselves a lie, or accept a lie as it’s told to us in our own mind, that says, “Well, nobody will want to hear this. Nobody’s ready to hear what God has given me to say.” That’s simply not true. It wasn’t true for the Lord Jesus, who was the greatest stumbling stone of offence, the most absolutely uncompromising Bible teacher of all time.
Jesus’ Ministry Was Not One-Dimensional
And we should also take a leaf out of his book — that his ministry was not unidimensional. It was not one-dimensional. It wasn’t just, “I said this thing, I said this thing, I said the other thing, I said that thing.” It wasn’t just a saying, saying, saying ministry. It was something different. It was healing and service, as well as saying. Hallelujah.
The Variety of People
Okay. So you might say to yourself — you might find yourself saying to yourself — church is like this. Church is like that. The state is like this. The state is like that. People are like this. People are like that.
But we have a variety of people here. That’s just the nature of human life — that there are some good and some bad in terms of individuals; and some people, groups of people, who are good and some groups of people who are bad. That’s just the way it is. Because this is how it’s presented to us here.
A Variety in the Synagogues
Same goes with churches. So what do we find here? We’ve already found synagogues — entire synagogues — that, for example, tried to kill Jesus as soon as they heard him. This is extreme. This is bad. And you could be tempted to say, synagogues are like this, synagogues are like that.
We find other synagogues in which there are demon-possessed people. I mean, where would you know to go to guarantee that you’d get demon-possessed people? You’d hope not the church — but here is a church, inverted commas. So this is probably an indication that there’s something wrong there, you would imagine.
And other people — a whole group of people — said, we don’t want, [interjection] we’ve seen Jesus do a tremendous miracle, save and transform somebody’s life. We don’t want anything to do with him.
And again, people are like this, people are like that. No, there’s a variety here. And there’s a variety in this synagogue. You could even say, Jews are like this, Jews are like that. Wait a minute, hold on, hold on, hold on.
Jairus: A Ruler Falls Down
“Behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.” So this isn’t quite the clergy — and this is something we should understand about the synagogues — but we kind of put him in that class. He is an elder, essentially. He’s someone who was a ruler of the synagogue. So he was a man of some responsibility, who was chosen.
And all you need in Jewry, as I understand, to start a synagogue, is 10 men, who can then call an 11th man who would teach them, a rabbi who would teach them. And that’s something that’s worth thinking about. It’s not a centralised thing, which is great. So when you have anything that’s centralised, an organisation, whatever is good — well, whatever is bad tends to be spread out — because it’s all, whatever the centre really, [interjection] yeah, the dynamic is different, let’s just say that, okay.
Expectation Confounded
But what does he do, faced with Jesus? Does he have a demon? No. Does he want to throw Jesus off a cliff? No. Is he a proud man who won’t associate with Jesus? No.
What does he do? He falls down at Jesus’ feet. Well — expectation confounded.
And so we can’t, [interjection] if we prejudge and say, this is going to go like that — we’re putting ourselves in the place of God, trying to predict the future on the one hand. And we’re not following the Holy-Spirit-inspired concept of the world that we have — that some people, groups of people are good, some are bad, some will be open and receptive, others will not. Some religious people will be open and receptive, others will not, and there are extremes. Some are super receptive, some want to kill you.
But we cannot, going into a new situation, say — because, frankly, it’s a lie of the devil, it’s a lie of your flesh, maybe — to prevent the work of God happening. And therefore, it’s something that has to be combated. Combated how? By the word of God, by the application of Scripture to the situation.
The Public Humility of a Man of Distinction
Okay. What does he do? He’s the ruler, but he falls down at Jesus’ feet. This is a clear acknowledgement that this man — [interjection] of humility — he’s doing this in public, so it’s a public placing himself at Jesus’ feet. It’s a sign of faith — he knows that Jesus can do something. It’s a sign of love and concern for life, the precious life of his daughter. All these things at one. That’s quite a — [interjection] but it’s also quite a picture, isn’t it? A word picture.
Here’s a man of some means, a man of distinction, a man of responsibility — he falls down. It’s not easy for a man to fall down at another man’s feet. It’s not typically what a man would do. Give him a nod, give him a, you know, maybe put the chin up like this, you know. But you’ve got to be in some dire straits, and you’ve got to be — you’ve got to have a very key — you’ve got to be very clear that this man is something very different if you’re willing to fall down before him.
Well, perhaps this is a sign that he believed that Jesus was the Messiah, in fact. But who do you fall down before? You fall down before somebody who has greater authority than you. You acknowledge that. You happily throw yourself down, bow before a good king, you know — “my liege”. And you didn’t have to persuade Moses to take — [interjection] Moses didn’t have to be persuaded to take his shoes off, you know. And, you know, Isaiah didn’t have to be persuaded to prostrate himself — no, nor Daniel — because in his heart he knew that, well, there was something divine at play here, to say the least.
Come to My House — Variety Again
Okay, so here we have a ruler of the synagogue falling down, and this time, interestingly, by way of contrast from the Roman centurion — he was very insistent that he didn’t have to come to his house — here is a man saying, “Come to my house.” Now, is the one good and the other bad? Should you — [interjection] you know, which should you do? But I think the question is just variety. And, you know, it’s just as good, depending on the reasons, to want to have him into your house as not. But there’s variety, isn’t there?
And the mind easily interweaves these stories, which are similar but not the same. But again, we have the synagogue popping up as a theme. And so Jesus doesn’t say, “Synagogue — they’re all the same, won’t have anything to do with them.” He doesn’t do that. That’s not his practice. His practice is to take people as they come, I suspect, you know. But he did his duty, and his duty led him again and again and again in and around the synagogue.
”Only One Daughter, About 12 Years of Age, and She Lay Dying”
Okay. What’s the situation for him? “Only one daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a-dying.” Can you imagine? Again, this is a very extreme case.
Now, Jesus has already met a funeral and raised the dead. So he has quite the credentials, credo. He’s believable. And if I, [interjection] that laying down and bowing down in front of the man, surely that was motivated in huge measure by the fact that this father knew that this man, this Messiah, perhaps in his head, could in fact heal, could change the situation.
What would you not do? You’d grovel on the ground, you’d eat dirt, you’d do whatever you had to do to save your dear daughter. So what we have here is someone who loves life, loves the life of his daughter, loves his daughter — wants life to reign.
Contrast With the Pharisees
And this is, I think, in contrast to the rather wooden and childish, emotionally manipulative Pharisees that we’ve encountered previously. They’re a very different kettle of fish altogether. They are very distant from life.
It’s interesting that in that encounter with the woman caught in the act of adultery — where the man was — [interjection] we don’t know — but they all had to recuse themselves, from the greatest of them to the least. Why? Why did they have to recuse themselves? Recuse is a legal term. It’s like, well, I can’t be involved with this case because there’s a conflict of interest or something.
They recused themselves because under biblical law, they had no right to judge a case in which they themselves had been guilty of the crime. So these were all adulterers, every single last one of them.
A Man Whose Home Life Was Probably Better
Was this man an adulterer? Well, I don’t think so. I think his home life was probably a lot better than these Pharisees. And that’s interesting to consider — that those people who stand aloof from others, that stand aloof from life, observing people, having, [interjection] eating and drinking and criticising them — these are the ones who don’t have really a full home relationship. They don’t fully engage with their wives. They’re at a distance from them by virtue of the fact that they’re adulterers — not just in heart, in actions.
So this Jairus — he’s just got a heart. All he’s got is a heart of love towards his daughter, and he just pours it out at Jesus’ feet.
At the Feet of Jesus: Mary, the Demoniac, This Father
And again, this makes us think of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene? Mary Magdalene, wasn’t it? Mary, [interjection] another Mary. The demoniac, the woman who had seven demons. That’s Mary Magdalene. And, yeah — where does she find herself in relation to Jesus? At his feet.
Where is this man? At his feet. Ah, interesting.
So the correct attitude we should have is, we should be bowing to Jesus and at his feet.
And the Woman With the Issue of Blood
What about this woman that seeks healing from Jesus? What attitude does she have? Face to face? Where do you have to be to touch the hem of somebody’s garment? Well, I suppose if it is the hem, as in the hem towards the feet, then you have to be at the feet. Otherwise, you don’t call a cuff a hem. The hem is the bottom bit. So, again, she’s in the attitude of what? She’s in the attitude of humility.
She wants to just humble herself before Jesus, and touch the hem. That’s interesting, isn’t it?
What Is Your Attitude Toward Jesus?
Your attitude towards Jesus. Are you looking him straight in the eye? Are you above him? This is where a lot of people — just briefly, when I was in church yesterday, I briefly glanced through the NIV International Commentary in the New Testament, and some scholars — it was about the interaction with Annas — some scholars believe this is not part of Scripture.
What? You arrogant, arrogant unbelievers. You so-called scholars. They come, and they are above Scripture looking down on it, and therefore above the God of Scripture looking down on him. What will they ever learn? Well, they’ll piece together stuff. They know the Greek. Maybe they know the Hebrew. Maybe they know the Aramaic and all sorts of things. Maybe they’ve spent their lives — but what will they receive from Jesus? Nothing but condemnation. Will they receive grace from him? Absolutely not.
The Roman Centurion’s Humility
So, now, the Roman centurion — he, by his very humility and faith, he didn’t even have to bow before Jesus, because he was already bowed before Jesus in his words. He said, “I’m not even worthy for you to have me in your house.” So, as a prelude to healing, as a prelude to deliverance from even death, deadly disease, things that are chronic in our life — maybe it’s even a sin — you must approach Jesus in the right way, and that approach must be one of — just like this woman — stooping down before Jesus in humility, touching just the hem, not touching the man himself, just touching the hem.
“All I need to do is touch the hem. All I need for you to do is say the word. All I need to do is ask you in humility” — and this will make you stand out.
Singled Out for Public Praise
It’s interesting that he singles these people out for praise, and there’s some kind of public element to this, isn’t there? At each point, he publicly praises the Roman centurion. He publicly — [interjection] he makes this woman with the alabaster jar, [interjection] merit — she is doing this, yes, in a more private setting, but somehow it’s public as well. And he singles her out for praise in front of the whole company.
And this man — Jairus — is humbling himself publicly before Jesus. And this woman who touched him is scundered, as we would say. He doesn’t let it pass. He publicly makes a point of it, and of singling her out.
And just thinking about that dynamic there — isn’t it the fact that if we humble ourselves before Jesus, what happens? What happens if we humble ourselves? Jesus will humble us further. We will always be humbled. Well — no. What is he doing for these people who humble themselves in various manners before him? And with humility comes faith. And what do we find with these scholars who say, oh, this bit of the Bible doesn’t really belong there? But what we find is unbelief. This haughtiness is joined together with unbelief. But he exalts, of course, those who humble themselves before him in front of others.
A Legitimate Reward to Desire
Wow. Do you want to be exalted in front of others by Jesus himself? Do you? Did you know that this was a legitimate thing to be desired? Or a legitimate reward that the Lord Jesus Christ himself gives to you, offers to you, in explicit promise, and in narrative form here as we find it here? Did you know it was on the table as a reward?
Well, you can have all sorts of rewards. You can get Tesco points. You can get, if you have an Amazon credit card, you get points in your card, and those are pretty good. I mean, we live in terms of rewards. If you go to your wife, she might give you a peck on the cheek. That’s a lovely reward, isn’t it? Or, you know, you get your birthday presents. Those are rewards, and all sorts of things.
Men and Women Approach God Differently
So an interesting consideration here is, again, the attitude. You know — men and women, I don’t want to shock you, I don’t want to tell you something that you’ve never heard before — but men and women are different. All right. Men and women, as they approach God, are different, because God made them different.
This man — when he approached him, how did he come to Jesus? Face to face, mano a mano. How did these two women approach Jesus that were at his feet? Chapter 7, verse 37: “And behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner…” 38: “…and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears.” Did you picture that right in your mind when you thought of that story? Which is, [interjection] washing him from behind. That’s interesting, is it not?
And what about this woman with the issue of blood? “Neither could be healed of any.” Luke 8:43 and 44 — “came behind him and touched the border of his garment.” That’s worth noting. That’s worth noting. Maybe it’s not profound in itself, but let’s read the scripture intelligently. It’s like driving through Wales — reading the Bible. You have to go at 20 miles an hour.
I do believe it. My mind goes to Ruth with Boaz, and being at his feet. Women and men — they’re just not the same.
So this woman with the issue of blood, who’s not named, interestingly, approaches him from behind. This woman, who’s known to be a sinner, approaches him and washes his feet from behind — which should colour your idea of how all that went down.
Variety, Themes, and the Inclusion of Women
All right. Just to point out — men and women are different, and that difference is not just superficial.
Okay, another very colourful, very emotional, varied story. And again — aren’t there men here and women? It’s very noticeable that Mary Magdalene mentioned, and Clopas — who was it now? There was another woman mentioned. So this is not, you know, the chauvinist club. This is not “women in the kitchen” club. These women are out and about. They’re not in the home. And Jesus doesn’t condemn them. In fact, some of them are named and given great regard — just as the Romans were included here, the Roman centurion. So too a woman — and not just a woman, a sinful woman. And here we have another woman.
So again, this should colour our impression of who Jesus was, what the Bible is, and should colour our storytelling — because we have, again, variety and themes that are running through, that are being picked up. And of course, again, this is part of Jesus’ ministry — part of why he came. Not just to give lectures. It was not a lecture series, his incarnation. It was a proclamation of the coming of the kingdom of God — speaking, but also effectively serving the people.
These were signs that were given. But if you were at the receiving end of the sign, you would have been demon-possessed, perhaps; you would have been sick; some would have been dead — and you’re healed. So I wonder — should this colour our idea of our own Christian ministry in the world, the ministry of the church in the world? It’s not just an intellectual talk club. It’s something rather different. If our ministry is to be a Christian ministry, it should certainly be like Christ.
A Difficult, Icky Subject
And how do they address this woman? “With an issue of blood.” Oh, well, that’s a little bit of an icky subject, isn’t it? To be talking about in public and to write down in the book. We know what that means. Some kind of dysregulated menorrhoea or whatever you call it. Something was up with her flow. It’s really unpleasant to talk about that — but again, he brings up these themes. And it’s very graphic to think about it. Maybe she even smelled a bit off. And this is something that will strike women, of course, more than men.
But again, does Jesus sidestep and say, “Look, I’m here on a preaching tour. I don’t want to mess, dirty myself up. You know, just go to the NHS or whatever”? I’m being a little bit facetious there — but no, this is very much part of his ministry.
And again, it’s not very pleasant to admit that there are demon-possessed people in the synagogue, in the church. It’s time — but he addresses the difficult issues. And do we address the difficult issues? Are we willing in our own life, in the life of the church, are we willing to deal with the difficult, the people with difficult conditions, messy conditions — literally messy conditions?
The Cliffhanger: Storytelling in Scripture
All right. So there’s a contrast here. 42 to 43 is transition. “Lay a-dying.” This is a cliffhanger. This is a classic cliffhanger. The cliffhanger you heard for the first time wasn’t invented by Hollywood. Wasn’t invented on the stage. It was invented where? It wasn’t Shakespeare. Well, we have it here in the Bible.
So if you’re worried about, “Oh, I don’t want to use that gimmick in my sermon, I don’t want to use that gimmick in my Christian talk about doctrine” — well, here we have it in scripture. You got — okay, you got the thumbs up from the Trinity, said, use it, go for it.
Twelve and Twelve: The Numerical Echo
And an amazing contrast. There’s a woman — [interjection] a young woman, and now who’s only twelve, only twelve. What does that tell you? She hasn’t come, [interjection] probably hasn’t come into a flow yet. Her flow hasn’t started. But this one — [interjection] this woman’s won’t stop. And she’ll — [interjection] this girl, at twelve, she may never have her flow, because she’s close to death.
Cliffhanger — what’ll happen? And a woman having an issue of blood for how many years? Oh — twelve years. When Jairus’s daughter was born. So although there’s a contrast here, there’s also a continuity. Again, this should inform our storytelling.
By the way, he’s using a specific number there — which is part of what you should do in the headline, you know, use a specific number. Twelve years of age, for twelve years. So something happened, something joyful happened twelve years ago — the birth of a child. And something dreadful happened — a dysregulated, [interjection] and because of this, well, how could she conceive? Things weren’t right there.
So there was a conception on the one hand, and on the other hand, there was a woman who just couldn’t conceive, because there was something wrong with her in that special, secret place of the woman.
Both Coming to Jesus
And okay, what’s going to happen? Both of them at the same time come into contact with Jesus. Both, as we’ll see, in attitudes of humility. One a man, one a woman. And the issue of a man — really, it’s two women, but the man is interceding on behalf of his daughter, the young lady. Interesting. So again, women are front and centre here. Very interesting, very interesting, very important.
Spent All Her Living Upon Physicians
But this is a story — and what kind of a story are we going to have here? Well, it’s “a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians.” So this is not that she inherited money and she was spending that money — it was all her living. Maybe it would seem to me that either she had her own business, she worked at a job or something, but whatever she took in, she had to spend.
And what did she spend it on? On physicians. And this is a story as old as time itself, where someone has a condition — a woman has a condition — and everything is spent upon curing that, and guess what? Nothing. Spent it on the chiropractor, spent it at the Chinese guy, whatever, spent it with nutrients, supplements, ointments. Don’t kid yourself, all of those things were — there were some variety of all these things at the time of Jesus.
Beyond All Cure: Elijah on Mount Carmel
“Neither could be healed of any.” So this was something, again, in extremis — this is something beyond the ability of anyone to cure. And that was proven again and again and again. It was like the burnt offering being doused again and again and again on Mount Carmel. This definitely — this is incurable, this is incurable, this is incurable. Money’s not going to fix the problem. A different discipline of healing arts won’t fix the problem. This is — either God’s going to do this, or nothing.
The Touch of the Hem
“Came behind him and touched the border of his garment, and immediately her issue of blood stanched.” What to say there? Why, [interjection] was there something — [interjection] why touch him? Why did she think that that would help? I don’t know. I’m sure I’m missing a lot.
I do know that, for example, James I of England — that people did the same with him. That they thought if they touched him, then they would be healed. But I know that they did that because they thought that the divine power rested in him. It was not just kings who believed in the divine right of kings — which is not a Christian doctrine, of course. It’s a rather pagan one — that the powers of the universe come to focus in the state, namely in the person of the king, and healing would issue from him.
And of course, we find the same thing in Luke’s other book, the book of Acts, where handkerchiefs that were used to cure people. So this is again a thing that’s, [interjection] but this wasn’t just an illness, was it? It’s not just an illness.
Uncleanness and the Direction of Touch
And death is just not death. As we consider it, there are layers to this. There was a touch. What kind of a touch was it? A touch from an unclean woman. So there’s certainly a dynamic at play — that normally being touched by someone who is unclean, or touching something that is unclean (we go back to the book of Leviticus, and we remember that the general equity of Leviticus still applies, and will always apply on this earth) — says that uncleanness is communicated from the unclean to the one touched, or the one touching, the clean person touching the unclean thing.
All right. But what happens in the case of Jesus? What was going on? What must have been going on in her mind for her to — [interjection] and again, interestingly, he wasn’t touched. It was the hem of the garment that was touched, which probably explains why she touched the garment and not the man.
But somehow she had in her head, for whatever reason, the idea that this sickness could be healed, or this — [interjection] maybe she thought more in terms of the uncleanness could end. And this uncleanness would make her areah. I don’t know how the doctors got around that. They would have to wash themselves, I suppose, if there were Jewish doctors.
A Kind of Leper
But this most feminine of all complaints, this most embarrassing of all complaints for a woman — this constant source of uncleanness. She was, in effect, in some respects, a leper. With this house — [interjection] she worked. Was she able to work? I don’t know. But leper — I exaggerate somewhat there.
”Who Touched Me?”
But Jesus said, “Who touched me?” And when all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, “Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?”
So there’s something — this is part of the theme of both stories — that when all this is happening, people are thronging Jesus. So this tells you something about Jairus, and it tells you something about this woman. They were absolutely — they had to have been, and they were absolutely determined to get to Jesus. Through what? Through all obstacles, come what may.
They were serious about it. They had faith that if they got to him, he could somehow fix it. And they weren’t going to be concerned about jostling people, about giving the elbow, about slipping in. They were just going for it. They were absolutely determined — whatever the obstacles were, they were going to get to him.
The Effort to Humble Yourself
It would cost, as I say, some energy. They would have got bumped. The woman would have got bumped. Maybe Jairus — I don’t know what he’s like, big man, small man, I don’t know. Maybe he did more bumping than got bumped. But he was just going to jostle in there.
And you know, this is what it requires. It requires some effort on our part to humble ourselves before Jesus. And you know, why wouldn’t it? If this was the case in these two cases, surely it should be the case with ourselves — that it should take some time and effort. And this in public.
These people were in earnest. And as I’ve said before, culturally, in this country at least, to be seen as earnest is to be seen as a joke. If you’re taking life seriously, then you’ve got something wrong with you. You must be an American. What’s wrong with you? I’m not even joking.
But if you want to get closure with an issue that is just impossible for anyone else to cure, you’ve got to be serious. You’ve got to be determined. You’ve got to go through every obstacle that there might be. And guess what? And this is part of the reason why they got the reward of exaltation before people. Of being singled out by Jesus. And this is what made the difference. Everybody else, why were they there? They were there maybe for the sake of spectacle.
I don’t know — but again, you can go maybe to a church, and maybe a lot of people are there for one reason, but if you’re there for another reason, if you’re there to meet with God, as it were — well, that’s quite different.
”Virtue Has Gone Out of Me”
And the Lord — [interjection] he would know — “Somebody had touched me, and I perceive that virtue has gone out of me.” I don’t know what that means. I don’t have any sort of a concordance in front of me. But clearly that word is a rather — [interjection] what do you have in the Amplified there?
Class member: Healing power.
Healing power. Okay. Healing power. But “virtue” usually means strength. Right. Okay. So something went out of Jesus — healing power, strength, whatever.
The Woman Steps Forward
Okay. “And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling.” And again, this is a woman who — [interjection] she was a woman. This was an embarrassing thing. She didn’t want to highlight her condition. And she would have been — if she hadn’t been timid in the first place, having an affliction like this certainly would have shaped her character to make her timid, I’m sure. And she doesn’t want to be put in the spotlight. But Jesus does.
Again, he doesn’t always spare your feelings, does he? His concern is his kingdom and the edification of our brothers and sisters in Christ. “Came trembling, falling down before him.” Okay — [interjection] that kind of, [interjection] now she’s before him, but her approach was from behind.
“She declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.”
Why Embarrass Her? Testimony
So what is Jesus doing embarrassing this poor woman? You might say. But of course — and again, I mean, if the Lord — this is embarrassing. Is there anything more embarrassing? I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. But she’s put in a position where she has to testify to this. Interesting.
And so our testimony sometimes is sought by the Lord — and it’s a testimony of transformation that was sought. And again, if you’re in any sort of healing ministry, any ministry of teaching — well, how did Jesus authenticate his own ministry as being the Son of God, to being the Messiah, to the disciples of John? He gave them testimonial after testimonial after testimonial in action — him actually healing people — and then summarised that.
So Jesus wants — and will direct you, if he wants this testimony shared. But yes, he wants to do that, and he wants people to know about transformation. And this is what we should seek. What we should see in our ministries as we apply that virtue, that healing power that God gives us. The word is the healing power, of course.
”Thy Faith Hath Made Thee Whole”
“And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole.”
And again, we have the same concept that we’ve mentioned earlier — that what is sickness? It’s the absence of wholeness. And what is health? Health is wholeness. Health is wholeness.
There was a bit of her which was dysregulated, which caused this sickness to come. So what should we seek when we’re seeking — [interjection] when we’re healing — when we’re working in healing ministry, when we’re working — be it psychological, be it spiritual, you might say, be it physical — what should we be aiming for? Wholeness. Wholeness.
The Body as a Whole, Not a Set of Parts
Maybe that wholeness means that you touch the mind in order to touch the body. Or you touch the body in order to give breathing room to the mind. It’s all a whole — is the concept, again, that we should have of the body, that it’s a whole. It’s not just various bits. “Go to the lung specialist, go to the heart specialist.” No — that in itself is antithetical to the Christian concept of the body. Yes, there should be specialists, but those specialists should also be generalists, or else they’re very much missing the whole concept of health as we’re given in the word of God.
”Daughter”
“Daughter, be of good comfort.” Daughter? Wow. Who is this man that calls “Daughter”? “Be of good comfort.” So she probably wasn’t that — [interjection] she might not have been that old. Twelve years of issue of blood. And maybe she’s in her thirties. I don’t know. I don’t know. But anyway, “Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole.”
The Fruit of Faith Is Wholeness
And this is what — and we could say here that the outcome of faith in our life, the outcome of trusting in God and trusting in the word of God, is wholeness.
Well, you know that Nathan character? Yeah, things are coming together for him, aren’t they? They’re coming together. It used to be a little bit, you know, not quite right — but you know, things are coming together for him. What is it coming together? But wholeness, isn’t it?
And so, as you increase in your obedience — and obedience is always the obedience of faith — as the fruit of faith in your life is wholeness, wholeness of mind, wholeness of body. Let’s say it. If you’re running around with a huge gut on you, you’re not whole. If you’re 40 and you’re creaking and groaning, all your joints — there’s something that’s not whole. Is there an area of your mind which needs to be touched with the word of God so that you make a change in your life? That’s the goal. The goal is wholeness for ourselves and for others.
”Go in Peace”
“Go in peace.” Wow, that’s beautiful. He doesn’t tell her anything else. He makes — he asks that she give the testimony. She’s embarrassed, but does she stay embarrassed? No, she’s too — [interjection] she’s too whole. I’m sure she’s full of rejoicing. And maybe she had to put off marriage because of this — maybe — I mean, certainly her life would have been constrained.
She goes — how does she go in peace? Go in peace. And again, this should be the fruit of our ministry — that people who are tormented within become whole and go in peace. They leave us in peace after the ministry of the word. Wouldn’t that be something? Wouldn’t that be something to aim for?
”While He Yet Spake” — The Cliffhanger Resumes
Now, this is another device here. “While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the master.”
Okay, okay — right, well. Oh, this tells us something, doesn’t it? This tells us about the artful master storytelling of Dr Luke. And how they read his handwriting to copy this into a manuscript, I don’t know. But it’s Dr Luke. He’s also a — [interjection] he’s not just a physician, he’s a master storyteller. And of course, as a physician, this naturally would interest him — different afflictions and what have you, and their healing. And it takes some humility to admit, as a doctor, that other doctors couldn’t cure this woman. That’s beside the point, perhaps.
“While he yet spake.” What a beautiful device. “While he yet spake.” And suddenly, you know — “while he yet spake, there cometh.” So this is bang, bang, bang, action. You’re held in here, aren’t you?
And it is worth — [interjection] it is worth, you know, flowing through a book and getting the flow of the book, reading it quickly, that is. But there’s also a time for doing what we’re doing here, and take it verse by verse, considering the verses.
The Delegation
“There cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house.” Again, this is not Jairus himself. This is a delegation of Jairus. This is a theme. “Saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the master.” Oh, right — this is something. So this is, [interjection] right, this is Jairus being told this. Jairus, a man, is told that his daughter is dead in front of a huge, a massive throng of people. What’s that going to do to you? What state are you going to be in?
Now they — the delegation — thought that, well, this is beyond Jesus. Even Jesus, the great healer.
”Fear Not”
But what happens? “But when Jesus heard it, he answered him saying, Fear not.” This is what had gripped him. Fear not. Fear not. So he knew, [interjection] Jairus, that it was fear. Why fear? Why would fear be the emotion here? Interesting — don’t know.
“Believe only, and she shall be made whole.” Was she made whole? Yes. Why? Because of faith.
So this is what’s being highlighted here. That faith — faith — only believe. He’s been — [interjection] Jesus is setting down the conditions. If you believe, if you have faith, she will be made whole.
What Is Death? A Breakdown
And what is death to the human body? Well, it’s a breakdown, isn’t it? And we see what the nature of that breakdown — as it’s reversed, we’ll see what that dynamic is later.
“And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.” So he had his group — the mother and the father. And, you know, as a pastor, as it were, he realised, of course, that this is an incredibly sensitive scene. He doesn’t want Tom, Dick and Harry in there. But he also has this done for a different reason, which I can’t understand.
A Shocking Verse: “They Laughed Him to Scorn”
“And all wept and bewailed her.” So who’s there? Peter, James and John, the father and mother of the maiden. One, two, three, four, five — “and all wept and bewailed her.” But he said, “Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.” This I did not realise before. The next verse is striking.
Wait, hang on a minute. This — can this be right? “And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.” Who laughed him to scorn? Who? Who laughed him to scorn? No, it can’t be, can it? But who was in the house? Who does Luke tell us was in the house? Peter, James, John, and the father and the mother of the girl. And they laughed him to scorn.
Wait a minute — this, I didn’t see that coming. Did you? I didn’t.
“Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.” And why would you laugh? Why would you laugh someone — not just laugh “chuckle chuckle”, but laugh to scorn? Deriding? Who? Scorn — that’s very strong, isn’t it? I just don’t know, but let’s mark that and say, goodness me.
Wait — Crisis Averted: I Got the Verses Out of Order
“And all wept” — so Peter was — [interjection] who was weeping? Peter was weeping. James was weeping. John was weeping. Okay — these are grown men weeping. The father was weeping. Okay — and the mother. “Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.” Well, this is very, very rough. I just can’t get over this.
Okay, people — crisis averted. That was a relief, goodness me. I’m not getting things in order here. All right. So, no — it was 54 in which they put everybody else out. Of course, a father who’s just — [interjection] a father and mother who’ve just lost their daughter — is not going to laugh for any reason. There’s no laughing in them. Come on now — silliness. Peter, James and John — none of them is — it’s very doubtful they are going to laugh at Jesus either.
All right. What a relief — that my exegesis of Jesus was poor. He got the verses in order, and he put them all out. That makes sense. So all these eejits that were laughing at him, turfs them out.
”He Took Her by the Hand”
“And he took her by the hand.” Again, he is touching an unclean — a dead body. But Jesus is different. He is — unlike everyone else — uncleanness cannot be communicated to him. It’s impossible. Because he is, by his very nature, clean.
Okay. “And called” — saying — [interjection] and called — interesting. What does it have in the verse, in the Amplified? What does it say? 54. Called. Anything else? Okay. It isn’t said — it’s called. “Maid, arise.” So he doesn’t say this in his head. He says it out loud. “Maid, arise.” So it’s a, [interjection] it’s a, [interjection] it’s a meme. Okay.
”Her Spirit Came Again”
“And her spirit came again.” Ah — what is wholeness? The body and the spirit joined together.
Now this is a mystery. And we can go awry in imposing foreign views of what an individual is. We have all sorts of things — the mind and the body and the spirit, and all this sort of stuff. But we can say that the spirit had departed the body. Her spirit specifically had departed the body. So we know that, whatever that means, we have a spirit. We have a body. These are two different things. We have lungs. We have feet.
How that should be considered is that we are living souls. That we are joined together as a whole. And this further informs us that we cannot just minister to the body as a body. We cannot minister to the mind as a mind, unconnected with the body. But again, we should be aiming for wholeness.
Mind, Body, Spirit — All Aspects of Wholeness
Acknowledging that there are these aspects, you might call, you might say, of the living man or living woman before you. The mind, the body, the spirit — that you must address. And does medicine address the mind and the body and the spirit? Well, I don’t think so. Certainly not in the Christian sense.
But as we form a biblical idea of what the individual is, what the living man is, we’ll come to a wholeness in our understanding. Part of that wholeness is to understand that the living souls that we face each day have bodies, they have minds, they have spirits. And all of these are an aspect of the wholeness.
The wholeness of the other woman was that there was some bodily dysregulation that meant that there was a flow that didn’t stop. He brought wholeness to the body. And what did he do here? He brought the spirit into the body. In order to bring wholeness. The spirit had departed. She was dead. But Jesus is making whole. And again, that should be the dynamic that we aim for when we heal.
And maybe as teachers, we would say that just even pointing out that man is not just a body — he’s not just a chemical system, there’s much more at play there — that in itself brings wholeness to people, to realise this is what you are.
”She Arose Straight Away”
“And her spirit came again, and she arose straight away.” So — boom. This is the effect. The flow of blood was immediately stanched. The spirit came back to the body, and she arose straight away.
This is the effect when Jesus moves. Things happen. Boom. Like that. Life is brought. Boom. Life, wholeness is brought, just like that. And people — they don’t lie there. They don’t remain lying there. Boom. It’s a kind of spirit power. Woof. They’re on, they’re getting up. They want to — let’s go, let’s get up, life.
And of course, it’s a kind of sickness, isn’t it — to, when you can get up, and you don’t feel sick, and you’re not hyper-tired from the days before, to just lie and languish in bed. That’s not what a Christian, a spiritual Christian should be doing. He should be up and at them, you know. Okay — life. I want to embrace life. Let’s go.
”And He Commanded to Give Her Meat”
“And [he] commanded to give her” — [interjection: aside to a class member] Angie is getting a little dig in there — “and he commanded to give her meat.” Oh, hallelujah. Does it say anything in the Amplified there? “Something to eat.” Well, that’s a heresy. It was obviously meat.
”Tell No Man”
“And her parents were astonished. Why, why, why?” “But he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.”
What? This — what? So to the demoniac, he said, “Go back to your house, so assume your responsibilities in your local area, and tell as many people as you like.” And to this woman — [interjection] he didn’t command her to start a speaking ministry, but he did ask her to give her testimony, exactly what happened, exactly what Jesus did, in front of a large crowd, and they would have just spread it over all of creation.
But in this case, the command was specifically to tell no man. But surely this is a waste of a testimony. This is a waste of a healing. If men don’t hear about it, surely it’s wasted. What’s wrong? What’s wrong with this equation? But it’s not man who is the measure of all things. It’s our faith and obedience to the Lord that is the measure of all things. And ultimately, he wanted this story told. But he wanted the story told in his time, in his time.
Epilogue: Was It a Good Thing?
I’ll just close with a little epilogue. And the epilogue is this. Was it a good thing that this woman had an issue of blood for twelve years? Was it a good thing, or a bad thing? Well, for twelve years she could accumulate no capital. She could not think of marriage. She had all these inconveniences laid one on top of the other, and she was no further forward. Was that a good thing? Well, of course not. Except that it brought her to Jesus.
Well — except that it brought her to Jesus. And did it work faith in her? Did it strengthen her faith? Well — “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.” Same with Joseph. Same with Jacob. Same with Moses. A lot of stuff that happened in their lives was not good. Not good at all. Painful to the nth degree.
But if we believe — we are required to believe in the sovereignty of God, in the goodness of God — and we’re never at any point to give way to blaming and saying, “Why?” Turn to bitterness and blaming. Blaming God. “The woman, thou hast give me, givest me to eat. It’s your fault, God.” “Well, it’s the serpent. Why did you let the serpent into the garden?” Whatever. Sin — unrepentant sin — blames and points the finger ultimately at God. But she did.
A Sick Daughter and a Resurrected Daughter
Okay. And what about this? Was it a good thing to have a sick daughter? Was it a good thing to have your daughter die, and to be told that in front of a throng of people? No. But to have a faith that could hold on in that, and believe in the midst of that, and to see your daughter raised to life, Lord Jesus Christ — was that a good thing?
So again, when we weigh our lives with all their ups and downs, and sometimes the downs can be very down, we have to say, as we look back, or we have to say by faith as we will look back, this is for good. This is definitely for good. Why? Because God is sovereign, and because he is good.
Closing
So there’s so much in there, and we praise God for showing it to us. So may the quiet God be with you and bless you. God bless you. Bye.