Christ’s Love and Man’s Brokenness

MEMORY VERSE: “Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” —Luke 8:48

LUKE 8:40-56

JESUS had been in “the country of the Gadarenes.” (Luke 8:26,27) He encountered opposition there and was asked to leave, which he did, returning to Galilee, where “the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him”

Soon after arriving in Galilee “there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.” Not many of the religious rulers of Israel cared to accept Jesus’ help, but Jarius desired it. His young daughter was dying, and he besought Jesus to come to his home, hoping that he might be able to help her. However, the young girl died before Jesus arrived at the house.

Jesus was delayed by the throng which surrounded him, and a messenger brought word to Jairus, “Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master” Jesus heard this, and he answered, “Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.” Jesus went to Jairus’ house and found those who were there weeping, and he said to them, “Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.” They laughed at Jesus, supposing that he referred to ordinary sleep, and believed that he had made a great mistake.

In both the Old and New Testaments death is referred to over and over again as a “sleep” This is because of the divine plan to restore the dead to life, which means that death, while real, is only temporary. Death would have been a permanent extinction of life but for the fact that God, in his love, provided through Jesus a Redeemer who gave himself “a ransom for all.” This provided for the lifting of the death sentence and the awakening of the dead. Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”—Rom. 6:23

At the time Jesus restored Jairus’ daughter to life, the due time for the general awakening of those asleep in death had not come; but since Jesus used the power of the Father invested in him to restore her life as a favor to her father, he properly referred to her as being merely asleep. How thankful we are that eventually all who sleep in death will be awakened and given an opportunity to live forever!

The record stated that the girl’s “spirit came again.” This does not mean that a separate entity of life, the real person, had escaped from her when she died. The Greek word here translated “spirit” could be just as correctly translated “life,” and the text would simply mean that the young damsel’s life returned, or was restored to her.

As noted, as Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ house; he was surrounded by a crowd, and in this throng was “a woman having an issue of blood twelve years.” She had “spent all her living upon physicians,” but none of them was able to help her.

She was apparently a timid soul, and hesitated to speak to the Master. But she believed that if she could get close enough merely to touch his garment, his healing power would reach and cure her, and she was right. The record states that immediately upon touching the Master’s garment the flow of blood which had made her ill for twelve years ceased.

But Jesus knew that someone had “touched” him, seeking help. His apostles insisted that it was not surprising in such a throng that some would be pushed against him, and that this was probably all there was to the incident. However, Jesus knew better, and replied, “Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue [RSV, “power”] is gone out of me” Luke 6:19 reads, “The whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue [power] out of him, and healed them all.” The Greek word here translated “virtue” is defined by Prof. Strong as “miraculous power.”

The woman who was healed of her issue of blood became frightened when she realized that Jesus had identified her. But the Master reassured her, saying, as in our memory verse, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole.”

QUESTIONS

Why did Jesus say of Jairus’ daughter, who had just died, that she was merely sleeping?

When will all the sick be healed, and all the dead awakened to life?

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