Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 7 Study # 4
July 19, 2009
Lincolnton, NC
(543)
AV Translation:
44 Came behind
him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
45 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?
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
47 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.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
49 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.
50 But when Jesus heard
it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
51 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.
52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.
1901 ASV Translation:
44 came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately the issue of her blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, Who is it that touched me? And when all denied, Peter said, and they that were with him, Master, the multitudes press thee and crush
thee.
46 But Jesus said, Some one did touch me; for I perceived that power had gone forth from me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people for what cause she touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's
house, saying, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Teacher.
50 But Jesus hearing it, answered him, Fear not: only believe, and she shall be made whole.
51 And when he came to the house, he suffered not any man to enter in with him, save Peter, and John, and James, and the father of the maiden and her mother.
52 And all were weeping, and bewailing her: but he said, Weep not; for she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 But he, taking her by the hand, called, saying, Maiden, arise.
55 And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately: and he commanded that
something be given her to eat.
56 And her parents were amazed: but he charged them to tell no man what had been done.
Luke's Record:
- I. The "Intro": Jairus' Plight.
- A. The highly contrastive "welcome" of the crowd [See Notes from June 28, 2009 (536)].
- B. The enormous responsibilities of Jairus [See Notes from July 5, 2009 (538)].
- II. The "Twelve Years" Issue [See Notes from July 12, 2009 (540)].
- III. The Woman's Action and Its Consequence.
- A. She deliberately touched an outer edge of His garment.
- 1. She had surreptitiously slipped up behind Him.
- a. Luke said that the crowd was pressing Him. The word he used was the one found in all three of the Gospel records of the seed that was sown among the thorns and was "choked" by them (the Authorized Version translators used "choked" four times and switched when it was used in this text to "thronged"). It is an apt word for the actions of those who saw Jesus as a Healer/Exorcist, but not as the glorious High King of Heaven. Pushing and shoving is not exactly the kind of behavior sought by the Kingdom of God.
- b. This means that the woman in our record was among those pushing and shoving to get closer to Jesus. It makes me think of WalMart on the Friday after Thanksgiving when the doors are unlocked and people actually trample others in their determination to get the "specials" of the day.
- 2. She ignored what the "Law" said about her condition and its impact upon others.
- a. Leviticus 15:25-27 clearly marked her as "unclean" as well as anyone who touched anything she had made unclean by her own contact with it.
- b. In a very real sense, she was putting herself above everyone, including Jesus, and she knew it.
- 1) Her "trembling" (8:47) revealed her "knowledge" as well as the "fear" it generated.
- 2) This raises enormous questions about "faith".
- B. Her "issue" was instantly healed.
- IV. The "Theological" Issues Involved.
- A. When people put themselves above all others, how can God "reward" them?
- 1. Before a person can become a practitioner of the Love of God, something has to change at the core of their being.
- 2. If God did not respond to them in their self-absorbed state, they would never be altered simply because that is the state in which all people exist until God changes them.
- 3. God is free to "reward" anyone at any time in any situation on the basis of His freedom from the constraints of "Justice". According to Romans 3:26, the propitiation of the blood of Jesus Christ "allows" the mercy and forebearance of God. The "appearance" of His "unrighteousness" in not dealing out "Justice" according to its demands is addressed by God's demonstration of how He fulfilled "Justice" so that He could ignore it. Because of Calvary, God is not constrained to consider a person's sins when He decides how He will deal with them (Romans 4:8).
- B. How does "faith" work in a completely self-absorbed situation?
- 1. Frankly, many times "it" does not "work". It seems that much depends upon why the person is functioning in that "self-absorbed" mode. If they are in that state because they have never been changed by God's dealings/lack-of-dealings with them, the possibilities of a positive response on God's part are greater. But, if they have reverted to that state after having been altered by God's grace to them, those possibilities decrease significantly (note well Matthew 18:23-35).
- 2. However, "faith" in the Bible is not significantly tied to certain characteristics of "Love".
- a. Faith is the mechanism term for why people do as they do; Love is another term for why people do as they do, but it is not in the area of "mechanism", but rather it operates in the area of "goal". People do as they do for two distinct reasons. They act out of what they consider to be "important", and they act out of what they consider to be "workable". "Love" defines "what is valuable" and "Faith" addresses how that value will be pursued.
- b. When the "love" is pretty much self-absorbed, "faith" will be careless of what happens to others. However, "faith" is still "faith" if it is rooted in a conviction that the "method" being applied to the "goal" will "work". When it does not "work", it is simply proven to have been "deception" masquerading as "faith".
- V. The Woman's "Faith".
- A. Where did it come from?
- 1. Matthew 14:36 and Mark 6:56 both reveal the fact that there were many in Israel who had this "faith" and that it was acceptable to Jesus. Mark 3:10 records this same action by many. Luke 6:19 is a contextually closer statement of the same reality.
- 2. It was, ultimately, rooted in the Messianic expectation outlined in the prophecies of the Old Testament.
- a. It was not directly covered as in "the blind shall receive sight" (Isaiah 29:18).
- b. But it was among the plethora of things that spread grief along their ways and Jesus had been sent to "heal the brokenhearted" (Isaiah 61:1).
- B. How did it "work"?
- 1. Jesus is presented as ignorant of the woman, her plight, and her "faith". He is revealed as indiscriminately healing without specific awareness.
- 2. The woman "touched" His garment at its extremities.
- a. With all of the pushing and shoving, Jesus was not "untouched" (this was Peter's point).
- b. The word used here is regularly used by the Gospels for this "healing contact".
- 3. Jesus said it was "faith" that "saved" her, but there is little in the record to recommend the quality of her "attitude". Clearly He had a point to make because He would not let it go. Luke 6:19 does not do this, but it is of the same character. Acts 5:13-16 reveals this same "general" action without a focus upon any individual. That Jesus deliberately forced the issue this time is instructive: He had a point to make.
- a. Was the "point" that one does not need to be aware of, or concerned by, one's "attitude"?
- b. Or was it that the grace of God seeks to make an "attitude-adjusting" impact upon those whose needs have driven them too deeply into their own personal morass?