When Jesus left Capernaum, He did so to get away from the crowds. From
thence till His return, He had calmed two tempests. One was the tempest at the Sea
of Galilee that threatened to take Him, His disciples and the boat down. The
other tempest He calmed was one that was raging in the life of a man in the grip
of a legion of demons. And when He returned, a vast crowd again gathered at the
shore to greet Him, expecting to see Him perform more miracles. The crowd was
probably jostling and inching to get near to Him. Then the noise gave way to a
moment of silence as we read of Jairus, prostrating himself before Jesus. Here was
the leader of the synagogue, pleading with Jesus to go with him to heal his
dying daughter of 12 years. Jesus agreed and as they were on their way, Luke
paused to describe another healing of a women plagued by a hemorrhaging condition
for 12 years.
There's nothing magical about the number 12. But it
appears that the common denominator of two key persons whom Jesus healed in the
account in Luke 8:40-59 is the number 12. Here we see Jairus' young daughter
sick and about to die. And we also see an older woman suffering from virginal
haemorrhaging that her physicians could not cure. One was 12 years old, the
other suffered for 12 long years. For both, their divine interventions came
when pride was laid aside and faith in Christ was put in place.
For the
young 12 years old girl, it was Jairus, her father's pride that was set aside.
Being an official of the synagogue, we could surmise that he would have had
some brushes with the Lord at some point. But now with the daughter's impending
death, he knew that he must swallow his pride and approach his daughter's only
hope for a cure. So he didn't let his status or pride come in the way. Setting
them aside, he just v-lined for Jesus, fell down at his feet and by faith
beseeched the Lord to heal his daughter.
It was at
this point that the issue of the older woman was introduced. Her account
interrupted the journey of Jesus and Jairus, on the way to heal the latter's
daughter. For this older woman, her personal pride would have been the obstacle
to her healing. We must know that with her condition it was impossible for her
to have a social life. Her continuous bleeding made her ceremonially unclean
and no one would want to risk being made unclean by being near her.
Furthermore, she was impoverished by the cost of seeking her physicians. Her poverty,
shame, loneliness, and isolation were more than she could bear. When she
heard about Jesus, she believed that He was her only hope for a cure. Setting
aside her personal pride, she refused to let the crowd hinder her. So she
doggedly pushed through the crowd and gingerly touched the hem of the Lord's
garment. Her act of faith caused a release of power from the Lord to her. In an
instant, her 12 long years of bleeding stopped. Jesus the Lord knew that she had
touched Him, but He wanted her to identify herself. She let go of her
personal pride here and owned up. The Lord then rewarded and commended her for
her faith.
Right at
this juncture, news came to Jairus that his daughter was dead already and he
was not to trouble Jesus anymore. But death couldn't prevent the Lord of life
from doing what He came to give, abundant life. Encouraging Jairus to hold on
to his faith, they proceeded home. And despite the unbelief and ridicule of the
people, Jesus took only Peter, James and John and Jairus and his wife, into the
dead girl's room. And here the Lord raised her from death and brought her back
to life. What happened amazed both Jairus and his wife. Who would not?
So what do
we take away from here? For sure we know from these miraculous accounts
of healing that Jesus is the Lord of life. And here, we are challenged to look
beyond the physical visible world to the unseen eternal realities of God: a
life that is full and rich and within the reach of our faith. We should not
allow pride to hijack it. We must pursue the full dimension of this life in
Christ. He is rich in grace and power, and He is at work in each of us. He
wants to enrich our life with a depth of richness that we cannot possibly
measure. Are we ready to apprehend it by faith?
It was at this point that the issue of the older woman was introduced. Her account interrupted the journey of Jesus and Jairus, on the way to heal the latter's daughter. For this older woman, her personal pride would have been the obstacle to her healing. We must know that with her condition it was impossible for her to have a social life. Her continuous bleeding made her ceremonially unclean and no one would want to risk being made unclean by being near her. Furthermore, she was impoverished by the cost of seeking her physicians. Her poverty, shame, loneliness, and isolation were more than she could bear. When she heard about Jesus, she believed that He was her only hope for a cure. Setting aside her personal pride, she refused to let the crowd hinder her. So she doggedly pushed through the crowd and gingerly touched the hem of the Lord's garment. Her act of faith caused a release of power from the Lord to her. In an instant, her 12 long years of bleeding stopped. Jesus the Lord knew that she had touched Him, but He wanted her to identify herself. She let go of her personal pride here and owned up. The Lord then rewarded and commended her for her faith.
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