Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  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, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.

But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  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, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  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?' "  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  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.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."

While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her, but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

- Luke 8:40-56

In yesterday's reading, Jesus and the disciples had sailed to the other side of the lake (or Sea of Galilee), into Gentile territory.  There they met a man who lived at the tombs, possessed by demons.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!"  for He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?"  And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.  The demons begged Jesus not to command them to go to the abyss, but to be allowed to enter a herd of swine nearby; Jesus gave them permission.  The swine at once ran down the steep cliff there and plunged and drowned in the lake.  When the townspeople were told what happened they all returned and saw the formerly tormented man, healed and fully clothed and in his right mind.  But they were seized with great fear nevertheless, and asked Jesus to leave their region.  The formerly possessed man begged Jesus that he might go with Him in the boat with the disciples, but Jesus told him, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  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, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.    Jesus has returned to Capernaum, His Galilean ministry's home base.  Here a ruler of the synagogue knows Him and what He has done, and begs Him for help.

But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  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, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.   Luke gives us the story of yet another woman, approaching Jesus from behind, in love and faith.  With this one, we are told her desperate situation.  We get a sense of women and their position in the society; the deference of not approaching boldly, but from behind tells us a story.  Here, this woman simply touched the hem of His garment.  This story is found also in the gospels of Matthew and Mark.

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?' "  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Most students of the Gospels would agree that Jesus surely knows who touched Him, but He clearly wishes to draw her out.  He wishes to draw attention to this event and make a sort of spectacle of it, and to draw attention to this woman who has suffered so, and even become impoverished through her suffering and lack of healing.  My study bible has a significant note about Jesus' power:  "Healing power flows from Christ.  That which Jesus touches or which touches Him, is sanctified.  The power to heal comes through the garment of Jesus but originates within Him.  . . . Jesus taught that one thing sanctifies another.  'Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?'  (Matt. 23:17).  Therefore, to trustingly touch the border of His garment was to touch Him.  Others may have touched Christ, but this woman's faith draws His power as well." 

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.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."   He draws the woman out, calls her daughter.  The word for "to be well" here is also "saved."  He brings her forward to witness, to testify -- and also to claim her as "daughter" before the crowd.  Let us be aware that because of her blood flow she would have been deemed unclean within the community.  Here she is restored in many ways.

While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."   Jesus once again confronts fear, as He has so often in the recent readings in Luke's gospel.  He puts faith in juxtaposition to fear; or rather asserts it in the midst of fear.  We should understand that fear so often accompanies evil, that which seeks to take away our faith and relationship to God.

When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her, but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.  Jesus performs another astonishing revival, a claiming of a child from the dead.  (In Luke's gospel, we have also read of the widow of Nain -- a story that is only told by Luke.) 

Today's reading is all about precious daughters.  There is the twelve year old daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue.  She has a great many people mourning her, all the town knows what has happened -- a greatly beloved little daughter is lost.  But then there is the other daughter in the story, the woman with an unfortunate haemorrhage that has lasted as long as Jairus's daughter has lived, who has been so unfortunate as to lose all her income on doctors who've never healed her, and she's only grown worse.  One is the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue; the other is most likely not allowed within that sole place of community because of her blood flow.  And yet, she is the one drawn out, drawn attention to (as opposed to the daughter of Jairus, about whom Jesus tells all to say nothing).  She is the one publicly praised by Jesus as His "daughter."  She is the one whose faith has made her well, saved her.  Two daughters, both beloved, and they couldn't be from more different circumstances.  My study bible makes a great note of what it is to be touched by Jesus' power, and sanctified by this grace.  It may be transferred to holy objects, even through Jesus' clothes.  And there are stories in other books of the New Testament in which similar miracles happen through the clothing of the apostles.  So in Jesus' healing power, in this sanctification of grace, family is created.  This power, which is expressed, unleashed through the connection with faith, causes healing in so many ways.  But it happens through connection and relationship.  And this is what we remember.  In the fellowship of Christ and Christ's Body, we are all linked in faith so that God's power may be at work and revealed through that connection.  How does the experience of this type of relatedness work in your life?  We see that it can even be conferred through objects, and thereby through all material things, in a world created through and for God's love, and cared for by God.  How does that power work in you?