A Stolen Miracle

Hello everyone.

Today I will continue my exegesis of Luke 8 by looking at the verses 40-48.  This section of Scripture tells two stories.  It begins the story of Jairus' daughter and tells the story of a woman who suffered from bleeding for twelve years.  In this post, we focus mostly on the woman, and save much of the story of Jairus and his daughter for next time. 

If you remember, Jesus had crossed the lake, healed a man possessed of many demons and then returned to the other side. Crowds were waiting for Jesus there.  I’m not sure how long his journey to the opposite side of the lake was, but his absence was noted on the Jewish side of the lake and they were anticipating his return. 

When he returned, a man named Jairus was waiting for him.  Jairus was the leader of the local synagogue. Jairus seems like an unlikely person to be waiting in the crowd for Jesus, since most of the religious leaders were at odds with Jesus. Jairus had a difficult situation that brought him to Jesus.  His twelve-year-old daughter was dying, and he came in desperation. He came and begged Jesus to go with him and heal his daughter. Jairus had a combination of faith and humility that seemed to be absent in most of the religious leaders that Jesus dealt with.  Most of the Pharisees and teachers of the law would not turn to Jesus, even in desperation. Jesus agrees to go with Jairus, but the crowds were heavy and pressed around Jesus.  

A woman was there who had been dealing with a bleeding issue for twelve years, and no one had been able to help her, even though she had poured all of her money into this situation. Ironically, Jesus was on his way to heal a twelve year old girl, when he encounters a woman with a twelve year old problem. Lev. 15:25 says that if a woman has blood flow beyond her period, she is unclean for the duration. Also, any bed she sleeps in, or chair she sits in or anyone who touches her. So, this woman had been “unclean” for twelve years. She had sought a remedy for her situation and had spent all of her money seeing doctors, but the situation had not gotten any better. Her uncleanness puts her outside of the normal fellowship.  No one would touch her because it would make them unclean as well. 

She is taking a big chance touching Jesus' clothes, because she is making his clothing “unclean,” and by extension she is making Jesus unclean. The good news for her is that Jesus supersedes all of the clean/unclean rules.  Rather than Jesus, who was 'clean', being made "unclean", Jesus makes the unclean, clean. He is the rules, in reverse. 

Luke doesn’t tell us what the woman is thinking, but Mark gives us some insight into her thoughts. “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:28)  The woman is basically trying to steal a miracle, getting a healing without Jesus even realizing it.  Why did she think this plan would work?  I don’t know.  I have to admit that if she had revealed this plan to me before she tried, I would be very skeptical that it would work.  But it did work. 

One might ask, “why so secretive?”  Why not just approach Jesus and ask him for healing?” I suspect that the woman very embarrassed by her situation, and may have been concerned that Jesus would refuse because of her unclean status. Whatever the thinking behind it, her plan worked and her bleeding stopped immediately. It also apparently stopped Jesus in his tracks.  He was on his way to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter when this happened. Jesus, feeling the power go out, stopped everything to find out who touched him. 

I suspect that Jesus knew all along who it was. Being the prophet that he was, it seems likely that he did. With crowds all around him, Jesus asked anyway.  Peter points out that lots of people were touching him, as he was being swarmed by the crowd. Eventually the woman, realizing that she would not be able to hide, came forward. I am not sure what she was expecting or what she was so afraid of, but Jesus blesses her for her faith. Calling her "daughter,” and telling her that her faith had saived her. (verse 48.) Jesus treats her as a family member because of her faith.  Remember who Jesus said, earlier in this chapter, were his family? "Those who hear the word and obey it." (Luke 8:21.) 

Now that her faith had saved her, Jesus tells her then to ‘Go in peace.” Darrell Bock says (Bock, 799.) that peace is not an internal subjective feeling. It is a state that exists between the woman and God because of her faith. This had to be a great comfort to a woman who had been ceremonially unclean for twelve years. We, too can "go in peace" as close relatives of Jesus when we act in faith. 

Tom

     Darrell Bock, Luke, Volume 1 - 1:1-9;50, Grand Rapids, Mich. Baker Academic. 1994.