Power To Heal Series

“Power to Heal”

Luke 8:40-56

A sermon for 9/5/21

Pastor John Bright

We live in a day of declining trust in authority. People don’t trust the government to protect us. The recent chaos abroad has made it worse. People don’t trust their denominational leaders - that’s about all I can say at this point in the UMC!

The more trust in those who are given authority in the physical realm deteriorates, it seems to me that folks reject all authority. I see plenty of folks today who say they can do a better job at running everything. We need to be careful that we do not lose sight of God being in control. God has authority over us, over the government and even our denomination.

This series of miracles in Luke 8 is a demonstration of Jesus authority and power over the storms of the sea, over the legion of demons, and now over physical illness and even death. (In some churches I would have to make all those start with the same letter - destruction, demons, disease and death.) This last passage in Luke 8 is often called “a healing on the way to a healing“. Here, we are witness to another healing in Luke’s gospel and the second instance of a person being raised from the dead. The first was back in Chapter 7 - the son of a widow in Nain. In John 11 there’s the best-known person that Jesus raised from the dead, Lazarus. In both the Old Testament and in the book of Acts, we read of a few folks raised from the dead there are also accounts from church history of the dead being raised. As I’ve told you before, it happens around the world today in places where medical care is not readily available. They turn to fervent prayer, first and foremost, in those places.

In today’s passage, we meet a man who was a leader in his local synagogue: v.40-42 “40 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. 41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.”

This would have been a man of dignity and prestige but he falls down and begs for Jesus to help his only daughter - 12 years old - to be saved from death. If you have ever had a sick child, you know what Jairus was doing and what he was saying. He would have moved heaven and earth to get help for his daughter. There is urgency to get Jesus’ help before it’s too late. Luke does not record Jesus agreeing to help, but they head off to the home of Jairus which takes them through a crowd.

The woman in the crowd v. 43-48

“43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.

45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”

When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

46 But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” 47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.

48 And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

I find it interesting that this woman has been sick for as long as the child has been alive, 12 years. While we sense the urgency in the actions of Jairus, now we see in the actions of this woman a sense of desperation.

One of the problems I see in our world is a desperation for somebody to blame for my unhappiness. Husbands blame their wives for being unhappy. Adult children blame their parents for being unhappy. We blame the government. We blame the pastor. We blame God. We can get stuck in this blame game, unless we take ownership of our own “junk in the trunk.” Then we deal with our own junk and never let other folks junk become our junk. Yes, it’s possible. Talk to me sometime if you struggle in this area.

The woman in the crowd is desperate. I’ve known a couple of women who struggled with menstrual issues and it made them miserable. I’ve often wondered what a doctor in Jesus’ day would do for that woman, especially because the author of this gospel is a physician. There are records in Greek texts from that day describing medical practices of that day – “bloodletting, vomiting, baths, heating, cooling, and sweating were common.” They also used plants for healing. Some are exotic to us, such as frankincense and myrrh. Others are familiar in our day – garlic, fennel, pomegranate, cabbage and blackberries.