Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November 14, 2004
Introduction
Jesus and His disciples had taken a boat to the other side of the Sea
of Galilee. There they
encountered a man possessed by many demons.
When Jesus cast the demons out, the demons destroyed a herd of
pigs. Though the man had been delivered
from the demons, the people sent Jesus away probably because of what He had
done to their pigs.
Today we will read the story of two gals.
Two gals who need Jesus. Their
stories are intertwined. There are
going to be some words that tie the two stories together. Look for the number twelve. Look for the daughter. Look for the touch of Jesus.
:21-25 Jairus’ Sick Daughter
:22 …one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name…
rulers of the synagogue – archisunagogos – It
was his duty to select the readers or teachers in the synagogue, and to see
that things were done properly at the synagogue.
Jairus may have been in the synagogue at Capernaum
the day that Jesus healed the man with the withered hand (Mark 3).
He may have been part of the religious leaders who were trying to destroy
Jesus because He didn’t keep their rituals.
But now things are different. Now he needs Jesus to come and touch his
daughter.
Jairus – Iaeiros – “whom God enlightens”
:23 My little daughter …come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be
healed
little daughter – thugatrion – a
little daughter
Luke tells us that this little girl was Jairus’ only daughter (Luke 8:42).
she may be healed – sozo – to save, to
rescue from danger or destruction. This
is not the typical Greek word to describe healing. There are other more “doctor-like” words
Jairus could have used. This word is
translated “save” 93/110 times in the NT.
:24 …much people followed him, and thronged him.
thronged – sunthlibo – to crowd someone almost to the point
of suffocation.
This makes me think of some of the things we’ve seen this week at Mr.
Arafat’s funeral, with the unruly crowd pressing in against the coffin,
jostling the people in the middle of the crowd.
:25-34 The Hem of His Garment
:25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
This woman’s constant hemorrhaging would have made her ceremonially
“unclean” (Lev. 15:25-27). This meant that she had to separate herself
from people. She would not have been
allowed to participate in worship at the Temple. Anything or anybody she touched would be
considered “unclean” as well. She would
be an “outcast”.
twelve years – a long time to be “unclean”
:26 And had suffered many things of many physicians …
Doctors are a wonderful blessing to us.
Most doctors are very conscientious.
But even the best doctor isn’t able to cure every illness. And sometimes a doctor can end up hurting a
patient more than they help them.
For this woman, not only had she spent all her money on doctors, but she
had ended up feeling worse after seeing all her doctors.
:27 …and touched his garment
touched – haptomai – to fasten one’s self to, cling to
garment – himation – the outer garment, the cloak
Matthew records:
(Mat 9:20
KJV) …and touched the hem of his garment:
hem – kraspedon
– a little tassel made of twisted wool
God commanded the Jews to put blue “borders” or “tassels” on their garments
to be a reminder that they were to remember God’s Laws and be holy (Num.
15:37-41)
There were four tassels on the typical robe, and they were to remind the
people of the Law and of how they were to be holy. As they wrapped the robe around them, one of the corners was
thrown over the shoulder and the tassel hung down the back, this is evidently
the one that the woman grasped.
What does it mean to be “holy”?
It means being “different”. God is
not like us. He is different from
us. He is pure, without sin. He is light and in Him there is no darkness. God wants us to be like Him.
Lesson
Closeness and Cleansing
There’s a connection between God’s holiness and the being cleansed from
uncleanness.
(Isa 6:1-8 KJV) In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also
the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the
temple. {2} Above it stood the seraphims: each one
had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his
feet, and with twain he did fly. {3} And one cried unto another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
{4} And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the
house was filled with smoke. {5} Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. {6} Then
flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal
in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: {7} And he
laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. {8} Also I heard the voice of the
Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am
I; send me.
Isaiah had this incredible vision of God on His throne, and the vision
focused on God’s holiness. It made
Isaiah realize just how “unholy” he was.
But as a result of this vision, Isaiah found himself cleansed by God and
even being sent out on his ministry by God.
I find it interesting that the woman touches this symbol of “holiness” and like
Isaiah, she is going to be cleansed.
We might feel like we need to clean ourselves up before we get close to
God. In reality we need to get close to
God so He can clean us up.
:28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
she said – literally, “she’d been saying over and over again …”
shall be whole – sozo – to save. It’s
the same strange word used to describe Jairus’ hope for his daughter’s healing.
Lesson
Points of Contact
We might call the touching of the hem a “point of contact” for this woman’s
faith. It’s something that helped her to release her faith, to cause her to
trust Jesus to heal her.
To some, this sounds a little superstitious for the woman to think that she
could be healed by simply touching the hem of Jesus’ garment.
Yet Jesus didn’t seem bothered that the woman thought this way. Instead He honored her faith by healing her.
Jairus was also looking for one of those “points of contact”. He wanted Jesus to put His hands on his
daughter.
(Mark 5:23 KJV)
…come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall
live.
Just as the woman was saying to herself, “If I can only
touch that garment …”, Jairus was saying to himself, “If I can only get Jesus
to touch my daughter.”
God often uses these “points of contact” to help us.
(Acts 19:11-12 KJV) And God
wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: {12} So that from his body were
brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them,
and the evil spirits went out of them.
There was nothing medicinal about Paul’s sweat rags. It
was all about faith in Jesus.
God even gives us today a similar “point of contact” for our faith:
(James 5:14-15 KJV) Is any
sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: {1 5} And the prayer
of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and it he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
There is nothing magical about olive oil. But olive oil can
be a point of contact to release your faith.
Do you need a “point of contact” to be healed? No. God honors faith, even
if it needs some help.
:29 and she felt in her body that she was healed
she felt – ginosko – a knowledge grounded on personal experience
was healed – iaomai – to cure, heal; to make whole
:30…knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in
the press, and said,
knowing – epiginosko –personal knowledge gained by experience
and which is clear. He’d felt this before.
He knew what had happened.
virtue – dunamis – strength, power, ability
and said – imperfect tense, He was asking around …
:32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
The language makes it sound that Jesus knew that He was looking for a
woman. It was a woman who had touched
Him.
Why does Jesus stop to find out who touched Him?
I don’t think it’s just because He was curious about who had been healed.
I think Jesus wants to find this woman because she can help Jairus learn
something. I believe that the things
this woman has done will be able to be an example for Jairus. There are too many parallels between the
stories to think it’s all just a coincidence.
:33 But the woman fearing and trembling …
I have a notion that the woman is in a bit of shock after what has happened
to her. She tells Jesus all about what
has happened to her, including how she has suffered for twelve years. I wonder if Jairus’ ears perked up when he
heard her mention the number twelve.
:34 Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole
Daughter – thugater – a daughter; Jairus asked for help for
his “little daughter”.
faith – pistis – conviction of the truth of anything,
belief. This woman has had faith in Jesus.
This was the key to her healing, her “salvation”.
made thee whole – sozo – to save. This
is the unusual word that both Jairus and this woman have used in describing
their need of Jesus. They both needed to
be “saved”.
:35-43 Raising Jairus’ Daughter
:35 …Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
daughter – thugater – a daughter; again the “daughter”
connection
troublest – skullo – to skin, flay; to rend, mangle; to
vex, trouble, annoy
While Jesus is talking to the woman, these messengers from Jairus’ house
show up to speak to Jairus, telling him to forget about Jesus.
Some people will try to discourage you and keep you from following Jesus.
They’ll tell you that you’re just causing trouble.
They might tell you that what worked for someone else isn’t going to work
for you.
:36 As soon as Jesus heard the word …Be not afraid, only believe.
Jesus heard what Jairus was being told.
He had different advice.
be not afraid – phobeo – literally,
“stop fearing”.
believe – pisteuo – this is the verb form of “faith”; present
tense: “be believing”
Keep in mind, the woman had been “saved” because of her “faith”.
:37 … Peter, and James, and John
The only ones who are going to be allowed to see what happens are Jairus
and his wife, Peter, James, and John.
:40 And they laughed him to scorn
They’re crying one moment and laughing at Jesus the next.
:41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi…
he took – krateo – to have power. He got a firm grip on
her hand.
Talitha cumi – Aramaic meaning “little lamb, arise”. Jesus speaks
Aramaic to the little girl not because these words are some sort of magical
incantation. He’s simply telling the
little girl in her own language to get up.
:42 they were astonished with a great astonishment.
They were totally blown away with what they had just seen.
:43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it
Why didn’t Jesus want this to get out?
I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s because
His ultimate purpose was not to temporarily raise people from the dead, only to
die again.
His purpose was to die on the cross so people could live for ever.
Perhaps He didn’t want to be kept from His ultimate goal.
Lesson
Learning from others
The woman with the bloody issue had to push through the crowd. She was healed because she believed.
Now Jairus is told to do the same thing – push through and keep believing.
Jairus’ situation was very likely something that had just recently
happened.
Yet this woman had been living with her situation for twelve years, and she
kept going until she found Jesus.
We have a lot to learn from each other.
Jairus was a religious leader, and this woman was an unclean outcast.
Yet she proved to be the example of what it means to push through the crowd
to get to Jesus.
Lesson
Don’t stop trusting Jesus
People will tell you that it’s too late.
They will tell you that Jesus let you down. They will tell you that it won’t work for
you.
You need to keep going and push through the crowd.
You need to get to Jesus and trust Him.