Luke 8:35-56 Bible Teaching

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Okay, we left off with Jesus allowing the demons in the man named Legion to go into a heard of swine which in turn ran into the sea and drown themselves.

And we read:

34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.

Let’s continue on with the narrative of this demon possessed man and then we will read another chunk of scripture which presents us with two more significant healings performed by the LORD.

So the people who fed the swine, which last week ran down a steep slope to the sea and drown themselves because the demons were allowed to enter them, fled the scene and went and told people both in the city and in the countryside what had happened. Verse 35 of chapter 8:

Luke 8.35-
September 22nd 2019
Meat

35 Then they (the people in the countryside and from the city who had heard) went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

Last week we talked about how Jesus introduces peace to situations – that on the boat trip over he calmed the wind and the waves, that he dispels chaos and levels things out to a state of peace. That is why He is called the prince of peace. We are going to read two more stories in a minute which again emphasize this feature about him.

And where this man tore and gnashed and terrified people passing by so badly that they put him in chains and fetters which he broke, when the villagers came out to observe the scene, Luke tells us (that because of his encounter with Jesus) they –

“found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid”

It’s sort of comical in a way that all of their expectations were to come out and find the man frothing and gnashing and naked as before. But in seeing him returned to “his right mind and clothed, THAT scared them.

Right? It’s like: With the madman we know what to expect, but when he LOOKS safe and we know what he was before – now that is a scary scene!

But all comedy factors aside, this man was healed, clothed, and had his life given back to him – evidenced in the line that he was in His right mind.

And bottom line – which is what Jesus came to do – restore! Fix! Heal! Change! Improve. Solutions! Peace.

My mentor years ago used to say “All the battles are in the mind.” When it gets muddied and clouded, and riddled with confusion, difficult situations become hopeless and nearly impossible to manage without the mind being mended.

We note that the sudden introduction of the demons to the swine ended with them running to the sea to escape their presence. And so it is with humans when the mind become clouded by infiltrating sources that confuse and alter the thinking of the soul.

Its one of the reasons I am not a big fan of drugs. I’ve tried them, tried to use them recreationally and tried to use them to ease pain. But the mental befuddlement and what I perceive as the spiritual infringement they make on me personally is not worth the escape – even from pain.

Can’t take the mist and find myself longing to run to the sea to drown myself. Why? Because the mind is the battlefield, and when the mind gets compromised, wars are lost.

The interesting thing is that the Living Word – Jesus Christ – walking among men and women in His day – had the capacity to remove the elements that overtook the minds of the people and like this man, set Him on the right course (in His RIGHT MIND) again.

And so it is with the introduction of the written word of God when we consult it and ingest it into our person.

It washes away the drugs and the demons and the thoughts we entertain about God and truth and replaces them with heavenly reason, renewing the mind, and thereby empowering the individual with the ability to overcome personal enemies.

People don’t want to believe it – they don’t really appreciate the advice – but when someone is losing the war with life, and finds themselves struggling to stay above water, my first question is ALWAYS, ALWAYS “are you in the Word of God.”

Because it is the living word and by the Spirit has the actual ability to renew the invaded mind and redirect misguided ideas, beliefs, and thoughts which are on the battlefield losing to life’s challenges.

But the choice has to come from within, and cannot be forced or the individual, with personal rights ever so sacrosanct, will refuse manipulation and dig their toes more firmly in the soil of their own will. (verse 36)

36 They also which saw it (those who had witnessed Jesus talking with Legion and allowing the demons to enter the pigs) told them (the townpeople) by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.

That is really a fascinating response from the towns people isn’t it! They wanted the person who cast the demons out from another, to leave them!

Instead of rejoicing over the demoniac being healed and becoming one of them again, and more importantly wanting the one who had the power to fix him to stay, they wanted him to leave!

Why?

Luke tells us, saying: “FOR they were taken with great fear.”

The Greek for taken and the for fear, when combined, describe a people who were overthetop with fright.

They could not grasp a person with the power to take a known demoniac, cast the demons into the swine of the area, have the swine all run into the sea, and then to come and find the man in his right mind.

So even thought the action was really beneficial to the possessed man, and to the peace of that community, it was too much for them to accept in their presence. Perhaps they worried he, having such power, would turn on them someday, and overtake their minds, and cause them to run into the deep! Who knows – all we can say is that the people “on the other side of the Lake” were not ready to receive a miracle worker in their presence.

And we note that Jesus left at their request but before doing so established a witness to live among them. Verse 38 and 39

38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

Alright, so let’s read from verse 40 through verse 56

Luke 8:40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received 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 besought him that he would come into his house:
42 For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

And back to verse 40:

Luke 8:40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.

Interesting – two sides of the same lake. One side asked him to leave – the otherside glady received him – so much so that they were all there waiting for him. Perhaps we have in this a model for all of humanity?

Some want nothing to do with a being who will put the well being of an individual over the well being of communities livelihood and another community thirsty for anything He says or does!

It’s a pretty interesting contrast isn’t it? Now, at this point we are going to have presented to us two healings that sort of overlap each other.
First, Jesus is going to be approached by a man named Jairus and while he proceeds to go and heal his daughter, a woman with an issue of blood is going to encroach upon his person and touch him.

Verses 41-42

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 besought him that he would come into his house:
42 For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.

Jairus, as A ruler of the synagogue, would have been someone who was well esteemed among the people and a man who took care of the physical demands of running a place for fellowship and study among the Jews.

Matthews account says that he fell down and worshipped him and Luke simply says that he fell down at Jesus feet – both mean the same thing and its important to understand the cultural surroundings.

Bowing down to another – especially a person of respect – was a custom in that day and this is what Jairus was doing – showing respect to the LORD.

As a Jew He was NOT worshipping Jesus as a Jew would worship God – hands held up. They strictly knew the command to worship only ONE God – the living God – and at this point Jairus in all probability did NOT see Jesus as God with us. His own apostles were uncertain of His identity.

This is not to suggest that Jairus would not fall down and actually worship Jesus today. But just understand what we are reading was a customary sign of respect toward others as the term to worship or to kneel before another is the same:
Proscuneo.

Luke says that this was his only daughter, and that she was twelve years of age. Mark and Luke say that she was at the point of death and will have someone inform us that on the way to heal her that she had died.

Matthew combines the two facts providing a summary of the events where Luke and Mark will give us more details on how the news of her passing was given.

The passage at hand may be read “My daughter was so sick that she must be, by this time, dead.”

And like any father of any child who has any faith or hope in any persons ability to heal, Jairus (in Lukes account) asks Jesus to come to his house (with the presumption to heal her) and Matthew actually has the man ask Jesus to “Come and lay thy hand upon her,” which was the customary way for the Jewish prophets to bestow favors – especially healings- on others.

Perhaps Jairus had seen Jesus heal others in this manner and was asking for the same action which represented healing.
(Verse 43)

43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,

Matthews account adds:

“For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.”

For as long as Jairus’s daughter had been alive this woman had been battling with a disease from which there was no relief. An issue of blood, meaning some sort of menstrual issue, which in that day was not only really a pain (more than it is now) but was surely physically painful, and to top it all of was, according to Leviticus 15:25, made the woman unclean – and therefore not fit to touch.

Now, a regular menstrual cycle was historically considered unclean event in a womans life prior to the Law among most nations. We remember that Rachael hid her fathers idols and sat over them and explained that she was menstruating to keep them from being discovered – and this was well before the law.

Why a menstruating woman was considered unclean is not know but there are some ideas that make some sense.

One it that it was a means to cause husbands to show gentleness and consideration to his wife during that time.

Another says that blood of anykind was sacred and held up as essential to all life and the shedding of it in any situation introduced mitigating factors.

It is said that David committed extra evil when he took Bathsheba because she was in the process of purification due to her cycle.

We do note that while sexual relations between a man and wife during her cycle was strictly forbidden, there was no animal sacrifice required for breaking the law relative to a normal menstrual cycle.

However, this woman, who had the issue of blood for twelve years, was required to offer sacrifice and to remain unclean and untouched the whole time.

She was made a social pariah and outcast, and had zero support or progress from the medical community at the time on which she spent all her money on to no avail.

Now, it was certainly unlawful for anyone to touch her, she appears to be so desperate for help she dared touch the Lord – but only the very hem of his garment.

He was being thronged by the masses and perhaps for the first time in the past twelve years her ailment served her as she probably parted the crowd behind the Lord by her condition and had access to Him and His robe.

Verse 44

(And she) came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.

An immediate healing by the power of God in Him.

You want to hear a beautiful song sung by Sam Cooke, listen to him perform, Touch the Hem of His Garment.

In any case, this garment was probably the square garment which was thrown over the shoulders and these had a border or fringe; and this fringe which consisted of loose threads hanging down.

According to Numbers 15:38 and 29 and Deuteronmy 22 the Jews were commanded to wear this in order to distinguish them from other nations.

Mark says that the woman, fearing and trembling, came and told him all the truth. Perhaps she feared that, from the impure nature of her disease, he would be offended that she touched him.

45 And Jesus said, Who touched me?

Now, this question takes us directly into the realm by which Jesus operated – in the Spiritual realm.

This woman merely touched the HEM – the threads of His garment in faith and was healed by this action – without His approbation or approval or consent – SHE chose to approach him and SHE chose to touch him (even while it was unlawful) and SHE was healed without Him saying a word!

But what He does first recognize is that SOMEONE touched Him. Touched His virtue. Tapped into Him as the source of all healing and fixing.

The thread she touched had no power. But the power of faith that drove her, and her desperate situation of uncleanliness, that was what Jesus felt – its always the spiritual stuff with him – and he asks the great question – who touched me?

Again we are presented with another type of healing. Sometime Jesus commands, sometimes he merely says the person is healed.

Sometimes he touches, one time he spit and actually made mud and stuck it in the eye of a guy – and this time, he felt another TOUCH HIM AND BE HEALED AS A DIRECT RESULT!

Oh, what power and virtue and light and love, our Lord posseses. Of course after asking the question, Peter – not huge on nuance yet, gets in the fray. And we read:

When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

The word translated to virtue here is dunamis which better means power, strength, or force. And from this we learn that there is an exchange of force or power in the universe, even in and from God, when Good overcomes Evil.

It’s not an empty hollow exchange but has a basis in one thing lessening in order for another thing to be fortified or strengthened as Jesus actually says that he felt, in her healing, power leave him.

And so we are allowed, through this, to better appreciate the characteristics of God and how they interact with the rest of the world relative to sustenance, support, healing, fixing and saving;

And that there is a direct correlation to sacrifice, love, and God when we, His children, are acting in His name.

What I mean by this is agape love MUST be sacrificial for it to be defined as such.
There must be a loss – of time, of money, of attention, or personal will – for Godly love to be operating at its highest levels.

To give to someone because it is something we want to do is something WE want to do.

To provide a something – time, attention – whatever when it is inconvenient to us and our agenda, that is feeling the dunamus leaving us.

It is easy to love when we want and feel like loving. Jesus made this clear saying that even the publicans do so.

But when our love requires the forfeiture of something we provide that incurs a loss in our lives – that is the definition of loving as God loves.

Imagine the power and force it requires of Him who is love to sustain a universe that is indifferent or even insulting toward Him and His Son!

But this is the very love – sacrificial love – that is ultimately required of all who are His to the point that we too could say upon delivery:

I feel power has gone out of me.

Because she touched the hem of his garment it appears that she had her head down toward the earth; that perhaps she bowed with humility and crept toward him in the first place not realizing that the parted crowd had left her open and exposed as she was crouching behind Jesus. (verse 47)

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

Perhaps the woman felt she needed to confess her touching the Lord without an invitation. Perhaps she wanted to announce the victory she had had over her ailment in and through Him. We aren’t told. But Luke and Mark include her confession. (verse 48)

48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

Matthew adds some words that appear to conflict with Luke’s account as he has Jesus turn around and when he sees her, say:

“Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”

Luke’s account says the woman felt the blood flow staunch immediately, Matthew adds that after Jesus confirmed this faith healing, that she was made whole within an hour.

I don’t know how to reconcile this other than to come up with some hypothecation like she felt it stauch immediately but it took an hour for all the symptoms to leave.

Bottom like, and I really believe this, we cannot see everything clearly, and not everything is presented clearly. The choice to believe the Good News is really that – a choice – one that can be fortified with substantiated facts but will not be made CERTAIN by any means.

Mark’s account says that the woman came forth fearing and trembling, and that Jesus quells her fears saying the words we just read:

“Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”

Now, I have to reiterate that I believe – you may not – but I believe, that the healings Jesus did when walking the earth were in light to three important factors:

The Messiah was prophesied to actually do miracles and by these miracles people would know His identity.
There was no reliable health care in that day so to cure what was incurable was a true miracle for the people to see and believe.
That these physical healings, which were often wrought by faith, are types or pictures of the healing Jesus gives all people who look to him for forgiveness of sin and the associated healing of the soul.

I maintain this NOT because I don’t believe that God can and does heal some people miraculously today but to dispel the notion that we are all in the same position as the people in that day and if we only had enough faith all people could be healed of everything by Jesus– that is a damaging lie which conveniently ignores the fact that all of us will die of something.

At this point in Matthews account Jesus goes straight to Jairus’ house and discovers the professional mourners making noise and wailing but Luke writes (verse 49)

49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

I give this same advice to any and all who have lost loved ones over the years who worry and wonder about their afterlife state:

“Fear Not. Believe only – he or she, son or daughter, mom or dad, wife or husband – shall be made whole!”

51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

His inner circle disciples and the parents of the girl. Who would hope more for her recovery than her parents? And who needed to witness this miracle more than his key apostles – who could relay all they saw to the other nine.

Remember, these were small houses, and space was in all probability limited. Besides, what better way to exclude Judas Iscariot (if he was a doubter) than to put him in with others who were excluded. Just a thought.

52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

(Laughing like hyenas when in the presence of death)

54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

Another fascinating event – he removed the doubters – whom Matthew calls the minstrels and the people making noise.

We learn from Jeremiahs 9:17; 16:6-7; and Ezekiel 24:17 that the people of the East used to bewail the dead by cutting their skin, tearing their hair out and crying bitterly – very extreme.

Apparently, as soon as someone died all the females in the family began wailing and would continue as long as they can without taking breath until the wail fades to a low sob.

Amos speaks of direct relatives not doing these practices but hiring both sexes to come in and mourn for the dead in this frantic way.

Mouring included singing the virtues of the deceased, recounting their acts of virtue, dwell on their beauty, strength, or learning and the like – all the while mournful music plays.

This would go on for eight days if they were common and a full month if they were nobility!

Because the Jews were forbidden to tear out their hair or cut themselves (Leviticus 19:28 and Deuteronomy 14) they grived by howling, by music, by concealing the chin under their clothes, rending the outer garment, refusing to wash or anoint themselves, or to converse with people, and by scattering ashes or dust in the air and/or by lying down in them.

Jesus was coming to bring life, to again bring PEACE, so we read:

54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

In the case of Lazarus, he simply spake. Here He took her hand. (Verse 55)

55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

Remember, it is the Spirit which giveth life to all things – and her spirit returned animating her body and reviving her soul.

The professional mourners laughed at Jesus when he said, she is not dead but only sleeps – certainly a figure of speech that suggests she was about to wake.

But parents would know looking down on here in her state. Verse 56

56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

Why? To keep the press down so he could get to all of Judea. Matthew adds however:

26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

Let’s end here for today – Luke chapter 9 next week!

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Nancy and Dave
Jax and Brian and Militia