Amy C Walters

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter | Luke 8:40-56

The crowds are starting to flock to Jesus, pressing tight around him. In the midst of this, he takes time to help two women: one who had been bleeding for 12 years and one who was 12 years old and dying. Jesus’ response shows us that he is both powerful and compassionate.

There are a lot of things happening in this story. At the beginning, Jesus returns to Galilee from the region of the Gerasenes, a Gentile area. When he comes back, he’s welcomed by a crowd so big that they almost crush him. But Luke points out two specific people in the crowd.  

The first one is Jairus, a synagogue ruler. He would have been a very important person because of his position. But Jairus is in a desperate situation. His only daughter, a girl of about 12, is dying. He comes to Jesus, falls at his feet and humbly pleads with Jesus to come to his house.

Jesus goes with Jairus and tries to make his way through the crowd. As he does, we meet the other character in this story; the Bleeding Woman.

This woman has been subject to bleeding for 12 years. This is a very long time to be in that situation, a situation that not only affects her health but also her social and religious status. 

Leviticus 15:25-27 says that if a woman is bleeding like this, she is ceremonially unclean. That means that other people can’t touch her or anything that she is touched. If they do, they too become unclean for a period of time. 

What might this woman’s life have been like? She was probably very isolated. People would be hesitant to be near her and risk becoming unclean. 

We’re told in other accounts of this story, like in Mark 5:25-34, that she had spent everything she had trying to find a cure and had suffered greatly at the hands of many different physicians. 

So, her friends and family are gone, her money is gone, her body is suffering. She’s in a desperate situation. 

But unlike Jairus, this woman doesn’t come and speak to Jesus directly. Instead, she comes up behind him and touches the edge of his cloak. She’s trying to hide. She does not want to be known or discovered. 

She risks quite a lot to come into the middle of that crowd to approach Jesus. If people recognize her, they could be very angry with her for potentially making them unclean too. 

But she is desperate. And she also has enough faith to believe that just touching Jesus’ cloak is going to be enough. So she’s willing to risk it. There are no other options left. Jesus is her last hope.

The woman comes and touches the edge of Jesus’ cloak and immediately her bleeding stops. She is healed! 

What relief she must have felt in that moment! But then, her worst fear is realized and Jesus calls her out. “Who touched me,” he asks. They all deny it and Peter even says, “The people are crowding and pressing against you.” Basically, “Everyone is touching you, Jesus.” 

But Jesus knows this is not just the press of the crowd, that this is a special touch because “power has gone out from me.” So the woman knows that she can’t hide, and she is terrified.

She comes trembling and falls at Jesus’ feet. And there in front of everyone, she has to admit what has happened. She tells them why she touched Jesus and that she had been instantly healed.

Jesus’ response is so beautiful. He says, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

I wonder what kind of response this woman was expecting. When Jesus calls her out and she comes to kneel before him, what is she bracing herself for? Maybe she’s expecting to get yelled at. Maybe she’s expecting anger, indignation, shaming. But instead, Jesus responds with such compassion toward her.

Meanwhile, Jairus is waiting. And this has got to be very stressful. He’s come to Jesus with this urgent need for his dying daughter, and Jesus is now pausing to deal with an unclean woman.

What might Jairus have been feeling and thinking at that moment? He’s probably growing very impatient and upset at this interruption. This is going to throw everything off. What if they don’t get there in time? What if it’s too late? And in fact, it does appear to be too late.

Someone comes from Jairus’ house and tells him, “Your daughter is dead. Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Jairus’ greatest fear has now been realized. His daughter has died. But Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe and she will be healed.”

So this person has said, “Don’t bother the teacher.” And Jesus says, “It’s no bother. Let’s go.”

Jesus only takes a few people in with him. They arrive at the house and Jesus takes the girl by the hand and says, “My child, get up.” And she does! The dead girl is raised to life just by Jesus’ words. 

Everyone knows that this girl has died. The people are outside wailing and mourning for her. When Jesus tells them, “Stop wailing, she’s not dead, just asleep,” they laugh at him. The story even tells us that the girl’s spirit returned to her.

So what do we learn about Jesus from this story? First of all, even though the crowds are pressing in on Jesus and his attention is pulled in so many different directions, he’s not frazzled, he’s not rushed, he’s not frustrated at interruptions. Jesus takes time to acknowledge the bleeding woman and respond to her. And he’s not frazzled when someone tells Jairus that his daughter is dead. This doesn’t ruin Jesus’ plans. 

Second, we see Jesus’ incredible power. No one was able to heal this woman from a problem she’s dealt with for 12 years. She’s spent all of her money to seek a cure, and nobody has been able to do it. But just touching the edge of Jesus’ cloak was enough. And for the girl, just a few words from Jesus was enough. 

We also see Jesus’ incredible compassion toward people. In the midst of this crushing crowd, Jesus takes time for these two, for Jairus and for this woman. Notice, too, that both patients were women. These were people who were not considered very important in society. But Jesus takes his time to help them. 

So from this story, we learn our key truth for today that Jesus is powerful and compassionate.

Jesus has the power to heal diseases and to meet people right where they are. Jesus is compassionate, showing that he values people, even those that the rest of society might not value. Jesus takes his time for them.