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Chapter XXX.

JESUS RAISES TO LIFE THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS, AND
HEALS THE WOMAN AFFLICTED WITH AN ISSUE OF BLOOD.

[Luke 8, 40 — 56.]

WHEN Jesus reached the opposite shore[1], a great multitude came to receive Him. Among the people there was one of the rulers[2] of the synagogue, named Jairus. This man threw himself at the feet of Jesus and besought Him: “Lord, my daughter is at the point of death; but come[3], lay Thy Hand upon her, and she shall live.” Now this maiden was twelve years old, and the only child of her parents. Jesus went with Jairus, being followed by His disciples and a great number of people.

Among those who followed Jesus and thronged around Him, there was a woman who had been suffering from an issue of blood for twelve years, and had spent all her fortune in paying doctors; but she could not be healed [4]. She now made her way through the crowd, and came close to Jesus; for she thought within herself: If I shall but touch His garments, I shall be whole. So she walked behind the Saviour, and, stretching out her hand, she touched the hem of His garment, and immediately the issue of her blood stopped[5].

Then Jesus, turning round, asked[6]: “Who hath touched My garment?” The woman, seeing that she could not hide herself,

  1. Opposite shore. At Capharnaum.
  2. The rulers. There were three, and their duty was to superintend the arrangements of the synagogue, and the divine services.
  3. Come. The faith of Jairus was, therefore, not so great as that of the pagan centurion (chapter XXII). Jairus believed that Jesus could not cure the sick girl unless He went to her, and laid His Hand on her; whereas the centurion believed that it was not necessary for Jesus to visit his sick servant, His word being as mighty to heal at a distance as on the spot.
  4. Could not be healed. Her illness had increased in spite of all remedies, so that not only had she become poor, but also weaker and more infirm. Reduced to this extremity, she heard of the great miracles wrought by Jesus, and she had the conviction that, if she could but get to Him, He could help her.
  5. Stopped. She felt new health and life coursing through her feeble body.
  6. Asked. Jesus asked this, though He already knew who had touched Him. He desired that the woman should proclaim her wonderful cure in the presence of the multitude, in order that the faith of all present, and especially of Jairus, should be strengthened.