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Two Stories at Once
Healing of a Hemorrhaging Woman
Compare Luke to Mark 5:25-26 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
12 years of striving for healing
In a crowd comes up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his garment
Immediately the flow was stanched
Jesus asks an unanswerable question (except for 1 person)
“Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”
47 When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed.
Trembling, she presented herself to Jesus and makes a full confession
People in the crowd heard about her condition – and her healing
“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
Compare this to last week’s text when Jesus was anointed by the sinful woman: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Raising of a Dead Girl to Life
12 years old
An only daughter, dying father saught out Jesus
miracle workers in Jesus’ time were celebrities, mainly because people in biblical times faced death regularly – the average man lived about 31 years, the infant and child mortality were in the 50 percent range, and a mild ailment, like a cut on one’s hand or a tooth abscess could become life-threatening.
A servant came with horrible news. Blunt – using word order for emphasis in Greek: Dead, your daughter is.
“Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed.”
“Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
“My child, get up!”
At that moment = immediately ≠ 12 years
A Grace-Filled Response to Interruption
How would you respond to Jesus stopping and asking the ‘unanswerable question’ if you were Jairus?
What does Jesus do?
Why?
When Jairus hears Jesus say, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” doesn’t he ask what about my daughter?
Questions to Ponder
- What happens because Jesus stops to interact with the woman?
- How do you respond when you are interrupted or something (someone) comes along that you didn’t expect?
- Is there a Jesus-like stance toward interrupting people you can adopt this week?