Luke 8:40–56 We can read about this account as well in Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43. For the third time in this chapter, Dr.
Luke validates Jesus as the Messiah, concluding with two more miracles. Dr.
Luke shows us through two interwoven miracles that Jesus has the power over
sickness and death, without becoming ceremonially unclean Himself. What
we will study in Sickness and Death…01. The Plea of Jairus (Luke 8:40-42); 02. The Sick Woman (Luke 8:43-48); and 03. The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter (Luke 8:49-56).
01. The Plea of Jairus (Luke 8:40-42)
Luke
8:40 “So it was, when Jesus returned,” This phrase links this
passage (Luke
8:40-56) directly to what we have previously studied regarding Jesus the God-man (Luke 8:22-25) and The Maniac Missionary (Luke 8:26-39)
Luke
8:40 “that the multitude welcomed Him,” Mark tells us: “Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the
other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.” (Mark 5:21) Quite
possibly this is the same group of people who were at The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-15) and who prevented Jesus’
mother and brothers from coming to Him (Luke
8:19-21). They saw Him go with His disciples in the boats across the Sea of
Galilee (Mark 4:36) on the evening of
the busy day, and waited for Him to come back while He healed the demoniacs (Luke 8:26-39). Compared to the crowd of Gersa (Luke 8:37),
this crowd was welcoming, receiving Him favorably.[1]
Luke
8:40 “for they were all waiting for Him.” (ἠσαν γαρ παντες προσδοκωντες αὐτον [ēsan
gar pantes prosdokōntes auton]). Periphrastic imperfect active of προσδοκαω [prosdokaō], an old verb
for eager expectancy, a vivid picture of the attitude of the people towards
Jesus.[2]
Luke
8:41 “And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the
synagogue.” The name “Jairus”
is the same as Jair (H2971 יָאִיר Yâʾîyr, yaw-ear´[3])
that means YHWH enlightens or one giving light.[4] (Numbers 32:41;
Deuteronomy
3:14; Joshua 13:30; Judges 10:3-5; 1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles
2:22-23; 1 Chronicles 20:5; Esther 2:5). In Esther 2:5,
we are told that Jair was the name of Mordecai’s father.
Dr. Luke mentions that “Jairus…was a ruler of the synagogue”, indicating
that he was an important man in Judaism. The “ruler
of the synagogue” could mean that he helped lead the worship
service, handled the finances of the synagogue, was responsible for the
cleaning and maintenance of the building and was a member of the elders. Other
synagogue rulers in the New Testament were Crispus (Acts 18:8) and Sosthenes (Acts 18:17).[5]
Luke
8:41 “And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house,”
Matthew tells us that the man “came and
worshiped Him” (Matthew 9:18)
while Mark tells us that “when he saw Him, he
fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly” (Mark 5:22–23). It is ironic that a Jewish
religious leader would come to Jesus and fall at His feet in the same way that
the demoniac did in Luke 8:28 (cf. Mark 5:6).
Luke
8:42 “for he had an only daughter” in the Greek (θυγάτηρ
μονογενὴς) [thugatēr monogenēs] implies that she was his only child. The
same adjective (G3439 μονογενής
mŏnŏgĕnēs maw-naw-guh-nace)[6] was
used to describe the widows’ only son whom Jesus raised from the dead (Luke 7:12)
and later the epileptic boy (Luke 9:38). It was also used to describe Jesus
as “The only begotten Son” in John 1:18 and John 3:16.[7] Since she
was his only child, she was his heir.
Luke 8:42 “about twelve years of
age, and she was dying.” According to Jewish (Halakha) law, a woman
came of age at twelve years and one day, boys at thirteen years and one day.[8]
Being that she was twelve years old, she was approaching the age to be married.
This would make her impending death all the more tragic.
Luke 8:42 “But as He went, the
multitudes thronged Him.” In the Greek, the verb “thronged” is G4846 συνέπνιγον sunepnigon) written in Imperfect active of συμπνίγω sumpnigō and it means to press together. This is the same verb
used of the thorns choking the growing grain in Luke 8:14.[9]
02. The Sick Woman (Luke 8:43-48)
Luke
8:43 “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years,” The
account of Jairus and his daughter is interrupted by a woman in the crowd that
was pressing up against Jesus as He walked towards the house of Jairus. The mentioning of her ailment lasting for twelve
years links this account with the daughter of Jairus, who was twelve years old and
dying. The healing this woman who was
sick for twelve years becomes a sign for what will be done for the
twelve-year-old girl was dying. The
constant bleeding made this woman ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:19-30; cf. Ezekiel 36:17),
and if anyone would touch her they would also become ceremonially unclean. Because of this, this woman should not have even
been in the crowd! Dr. Luke tells us
that this woman “had spent all her livelihood on
physicians and could not be healed by any,” (Luke 8:43). Mark
tells us that she “had suffered many things from
many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather
grew worse.” (Mark 5:26)
On one leaf (page) of the Talmud (The
Mishna and Gemara together make up the Talmud. The Gemara was a vast collection
of interpretations of the Mishna. The Mishna may roughly be termed the text,
the Gemara the commentary, of the Talmud), there are eleven different
remedies suggested for women with bleeding that would not stop. The first remedy listed was
take some
Persian onions, boil them in wine, make the woman drink it and say to her,
“Cease your discharge”. If
that didn’t work, the woman was to sit at a crossroads while holding a cup of
wine in her hand, and a man was to come from behind her to scare her while he
says, “Cease your discharge”. Among
other remedies, it was suggested to smear the woman on the bottom half of her
body with flour, and to say, “Cease your discharge”. Another was to take the ashes of an
Ostrich egg, and a man was to say, “Cease your discharge”. Finally, if all of the above didn’t work, you
were to take barley grain which is found in the dung of a white mule: if she holds
it one day, her discharge will cease for two days; if she holds it two days, it
will cease for three days; but if she holds it three days, it will cease for
ever.[10]
So this woman who exhausted all
of her money from trying to get healed, in faith “came
from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of
blood stopped.” (Luke 8:44) The
Greek word for “stopped” in Luke 8:44 is G2476 ἵστημι histēmi and it means a flow of blood come to an end[11],
and this is the only time in the New Testament that it is used in this way. It
was a usual word for the medical writers to describe the stoppage of bodily
discharges.[12] Mark
writes “When she heard about Jesus, she came
behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may
touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”” (Mark 5:27–28) This woman, ceremonially unclean
for twelve years in faith touched the garment of Jesus and Mark tells us that she
felt the healing immediately in her body (Mark
5:29). The Greek noun used here for “affliction”
(Mark 5:29) is G3148 μάστιγος mastigos from
μάστιξ mastix[13],
the same Greek word that is used for a
scourge or a whip used in whippings, such as on on Paul (Acts 22:24,
Hebrews
11:26). It is an old word that was used for afflictions regarded as
a scourge from God.[14]
When a Jewish boy was three years old he was given the tasseled
garment directed by the Law (Numbers 15:38-41; Deuteronomy 22:12),
known as the tallit (prayer shawl) with the tzitzit (tassels) on the corners.
At five he
usually began to learn portions of the Law, under his mother's direction; these
were passages written on scrolls, such as the Shema or creed of Deuteronomy 6:4,
the Hallel Psalms (Psalm 114:1-8; Psalm 118:1-29; Psalm 136:1-26).
When the boy was thirteen years old he wore, for the first time, the
phylacteries, which the Jew always put on at the recital of the daily prayer. In the well-known and most ancient “Maxims of
the Fathers” (“Pirke Avoth”), we read that, at the age of ten, a boy was to
commence the study of the Mishna (the Mishna was a compilation of traditional
interpretations of the Law); at eighteen he was to be instructed in the Gemara (The
Mishna and Gemara together make up the Talmud. The Gemara was a vast collection
of interpretations of the Mishna. The Mishna may roughly be termed the text,
the Gemara the commentary, of the Talmud).[15]
Now “the border of His garment”
(Luke 8:44) that this woman touched was
the hem or fringe of a garment, the tassel hanging from the edge of the outer
garment according to Numbers 15:38. It was made of twisted wool.
Jesus wore the dress of other people with these fringes at the four corners of
the outer garment. The Jews actually counted the words YHWH One from the numbers of the twisted white thread...[16] This
edge of His garment was the blue tassel(tzittzit) that symbolized a Jewish man’s
obedience to the Law (Numbers 15:37–41; Deuteronomy 22:12) and it
represented their ritual purity. Later Jewish tradition stated that the tassel
should be made up of six hundred thirteen threads, one for each of the commands
found in the Torah. The Hebrew word for corners is H3671 כָּנָף kânâph kaw-nawf[17]. So
this woman touched the corners or the tzitzit (tassels) on the tallit (prayer
shawl) that Jesus wore, possibly because she believed what Malachi prophesied
in Malachi 4:2, with the Hebrew word
for “wings” being the same word for
corners, (H3671) כָּנָף kânâph kaw-nawf! Maybe she truly did
believe that there was healing in His wings, and that was the reason why she
touched the corner, or tassels on His prayer shawl.
It is interesting to point out
here that though the Mosaic Law stated that anyone who touched or was touched
by a woman who was ceremonially unclean was made unclean themselves (Leviticus 15:19-30),
Jesus Himself wasn’t made unclean.
Luke
8:45 “And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”” When Jesus said “Who
touched Me?”, it doesn’t mean that He was ignorant of what just
happened.
Luke
8:45 “When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the
multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who
touched Me?’”” Peter and the
disciples thought that this statement made by Jesus was crazy, for they said
that the crowd was pressing in upon Him. The Greek verb used here for “press”
is (G598) ἀποθλίβουσι apothlibō, the present, active, indicative, third person,
plural of ἀποθλίβω apŏthlibō[18] and
it was used of pressing out grapes.[19] Peter
and the disciples were essentially saying, “How
can You ask this question? Everyone is touching You!”
Luke
8:46 This means in the Greek
that Jesus had experienced this before and that He felt the sensation of power
already gone.[20] Mark
tells us that “Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out
of Him,” and that is why He “turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”” (Mark 5:30)
Luke
8:47 This is exactly what Jesus
wanted this woman to do. What Jesus wanted to do was to have the woman reveal
herself and openly express her faith that caused her to touch Him.
Luke
8:48 Matthew records that when
Jesus “saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter;
your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that
hour.” (Matthew 9:22) She is the only woman whom Jesus called “Daughter”, a term of endearment. Plus it probably
was done to show Jairus that this unclean woman was just as precious to Jesus
as the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus was to him. It is important to point
out that it was the woman’s faith, and not her touch that made her well. This
woman learned that it was not from the garment of the Saviour that healed her,
but her faith in Him.[21]
03. The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter (Luke 8:49-56)
Luke
8:49 Dr. Luke now tells us that
a messenger from the house of Jairus comes to inform him that his daughter is
now dead, and there is no need to annoy or bother Jesus anymore.
Luke
8:50 Jesus had been touched by a
ceremonially unclean woman and healed her in front of Jairus. Jesus tells
Jairus to have faith for she will be healed.
The faith of Jairus is
demonstrated when we read in the next verse, “When
He came into the house,” (Luke 8:51). For if Jairus did not have faith that Jesus
could raise his daughter from the dead, he would not have allowed Jesus to come
to his house.
Luke
8:51 “He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the
father and mother of the girl.” Jesus only allowed Peter, James and
John and the parents of the daughter to go into the house with Him.
Luke
8:52 “Now all wept and mourned for her;” The professional mourners
were there, as well as family and friends weeping and mourning about the death
of the young girl.
Luke
8:52-53 “but He said, “Do not weep; she is not
dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed
Him, knowing that she was dead.” All those gathered to mourn the
death of the young girl laughed at Jesus because she was clearly dead, as they
were just starting the funeral procession.
Luke
8:54 “But He put them all outside” So Jesus made sure they were all
out of the house for their lack of faith. Jesus then “took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little
girl, arise.”” (Luke 8:54) Mark records the Aramaic words that
Jesus spoke here: ““Talitha, cumi,” which is
translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.””
(Mark 5:41) Jesus didn’t need the remedies prescribed by the
Rabbi’s to heal anyone or to say some magical phrase, but instead He took her
by the hand (as we do by one that we would awake out of sleep, and help up).[22]
Luke
8:55 This is now the second
funeral that Jesus has ruined in Luke’s Gospel (cf. Luke 7:15). With
her spirit returning this means that her life came back to her. This is also an
allusion to the miracle performed by Elijah in 1 Kings 17:21-22 where he raised
the widow’s dead son. Jesus commands that they feed her, a sure
sign that she is now alive. Like what we saw when Jesus healed
Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:39), the healing by Jesus is
instantaneous, with no requirement to send a seed offering, or put a green
cloth on your knees, or to be blown upon.
Luke
8:56 “And her parents were astonished” The Greek verb used for “astonished” is G1839 ἐξέστησαν exestēsan, the
aorist, active, indicative, third person, plural version of ἐξίστημι ĕxistēmi, and it literally means
that her parents were “beside themselves
in amazement”
[1] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 109). Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
[2] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 8:40). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[3] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew
Bible (Vol. 2, p. 46). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[4] Whitaker, R., Brown, F., Driver, S. R. (Samuel R.,
& Briggs, C. A. (Charles A. (1906). The
Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: from
A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver
and Charles Briggs, based on the lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius. Boston; New
York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
[5] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord &
R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge
Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 227). Wheaton, IL:
Victor Books.
[6] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew
Bible (Vol. 1, p. 49). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[7] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 8:42). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[8] Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
[Peabody; Hendrickson, 1993], Bk 3, Ch 26, p425, 1.619
[9] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 8:42). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[10] Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Shabbath 110a-b, http://come-and-hear.com/shabbath/shabbath_110.html
[11] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 482). Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
[12] Plummer, Alfred. A
Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke, The
International Critical Commentary. [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1902], p235.
[13] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew
Bible (Vol. 1, p. 46). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[14] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Mk 5:29). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[16] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Mt 9:20). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[17] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew
Bible (Vol. 2, p. 55). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[18] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew
Bible (Vol. 1, p. 14). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[19] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 8:45). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[20] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 8:46). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[21] Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
[Peabody; Hendrickson, 1993], Bk 3, Ch 26, p432, 1.628
[22] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew
Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume
(p. 1850). Peabody: Hendrickson.
