Luke 8:40-56
Jesus’ power saves the unclean, raises the dead, and calls fearful hearts to faith.
40 When Jesus returned, the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
41 Behold, a man named Jairus came. He was a ruler of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus’ feet, and begged him to come into his house,
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes pressed against him.
43 A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by any
44 came behind him, and touched the fringe of his cloak. Immediately the flow of her blood stopped.
45 Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes press and jostle you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch me, for I perceived that power has gone out of me.”
47 When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 He said to her, “Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
49 While he still spoke, one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house came, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Don’t trouble the Teacher.”
50 But Jesus hearing it, answered him, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe, and she will be healed.”
51 When he came to the house, he didn’t allow anyone to enter in, except Peter, John, James, the father of the child, and her mother.
52 All were weeping and mourning her, but he said, “Don’t weep. She isn’t dead, but sleeping.”
53 They were ridiculing him, knowing that she was dead.
54 But he put them all outside, and taking her by the hand, he called, saying, “Child, arise!”
55 Her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately. He commanded that something be given to her to eat.
56 Her parents were amazed, but he commanded them to tell no one what had been done.
Jesus’ power saves the unclean, raises the dead, and calls fearful hearts to faith.
Luke records Jesus healing the woman with the twelve-year flow of blood and raising Jairus’s twelve-year-old daughter to reveal Jesus’ authority over chronic uncleanness, social shame, human helplessness, and death itself, while calling desperate people to faith rather than fear.
This miracle pair concludes the escalating authority sequence: nature, demons, disease, and death.
After returning from the Gerasene region, Jesus is welcomed by a waiting crowd. Jairus, a synagogue leader, falls at Jesus’ feet and pleads for his only daughter, about twelve years old, who is dying. As Jesus goes, the crowd presses around him. A woman with a twelve-year hemorrhage, who had spent all she had on doctors and could not be healed, touches the edge of Jesus’ cloak and is immediately healed. Jesus stops, asks who touched him, and brings her hidden act into public testimony. While this occurs, news comes that Jairus’s daughter has died. Jesus tells Jairus not to fear but believe. At the house, Jesus takes the girl by the hand, commands her to rise, and restores her to life.
The Word Heard, the Kingdom Revealed, and the Lord’s Authority Displayed
Jesus' word must be heard with persevering faith because the One who speaks the kingdom also rules over storms, demons, disease, impurity, and death.