Growth In Spiritual Awareness

Growth in Spiritual Awareness

Luke 8:40-56

Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

Luke 8:40 And as Jesus was returning, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. 41 And a man named Jairus came, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began urging Him to come to his house; 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

Luke 8:43 And a woman who had suffered a chronic flow of blood for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, 44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had left Me.” 47 Now when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and admitted in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has 1made you well; go in peace.”

Luke 8:49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” 50 But when Jesus heard this, He responded to him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be 1made well.” 51 When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him except Peter, John, and James, and the girl’s father and mother. 52 Now they were all weeping and mourning for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but bis asleep.” 53 And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. 54 He, however, took her by the hand and spoke 1forcefully, saying, “Child, arise!” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He ordered that something be given her to eat. 56 Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

In Luke’s gospel chapter 8, starting on the 40th verse and going to the 56th, we have three stories about Jesus doing healings. One thing that we need to understand is that the number three when used in the Bible relates the narrative to God. This triad form is found all over the Scripture, especially in the Gospels. The author of Luke’s gospel brought together three miraculous healing stories to illustrate to us that Jesus, when he was on earth, had divine powers.

He also uses these three healing miracles to explain to us that faith needs to be built up from its original base and never stops growing. What I’m trying to say here is that each of us has a faith in God through Jesus, and it’s important for us to continue to grow our faith and to mature in our faith. St. Paul called it moving from milk to meat, which is an excellent illustration for us to look at. When we are a newborn baby, we consume milk products. Whether that be directly from your mom or from the grocery store, infants need milk with many nutrients so that they can start to grow.

Faith is the same way, in that we start with simple milk, and we move throughout our lives to the meat. You can see this in the Scripture because the Scripture starts with simple stories that are easy-to-understand and easy to memorize. God then expects us to look into those narratives and to see more than what they are in the literal form. Remembering that Semitic writers wrote in metaphors and analogies; we start to look for more profound meaning in each of the stories. You’ll also hear the words every time I read the narrative, I learned something new. That is precisely what supposed to happen.

If you were to go to a synagogue on the Sabbath, you would discover that the first five books of the Bible are read every year. When the first Sabbath of the new year comes, the rabbi starts to read Genesis all the way through Deuteronomy. Therefore, a religious Jewish person would hear the story of creation to the end of Moses' life 70+ times in their lifetime. The sages of Israel tell us that this is done because there are so many layers of understanding to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, that you need to be constantly hearing it and thinking about it. Every time you hear it, something new will occur to you. Then you might think of more questions or thoughts about that Scripture. Then you hear it again and those questions and thoughts become a part of your faith, and it never stops.