Two Daughters (Luke 8:40–56) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

You don’t need power until you’re needy for it. I thought the other day, “Before this week, I don’t think I’ve ever wondered if people had an expertise in cave diving.” Yet the past few days many of us had that thought. And we were thankful for people who had the capability to do just that.

You don’t need that bank teller until those random charges show up on your bill. You don’t bother MLGW until the storm comes through your neighborhood. But when we’re needy, we seek the ones who might be able to meet that need.

In our text, we have at least two needy people. Both seek out power for their need.

Since 8:22, Jesus has demonstrated His power over nature by calming the storm and over the demonic. In today’s text He demonstrates it over disease and death. He shows us His power, who He is, to help us trust Him.

1. Jesus shows us His power over disease

V. 40: Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. At this point in the Gospel, Jesus’ crowds are continuing to grow. Relatively soon His demands will thin them out. And then later the crowds will return with a different tune.

But at this point they’re flocking. Some came with selfish motives, of course, but others were desperate for Him. One such example arrives in verse 41: And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. We don’t have to detail synagogue polity to know this was a man of considerable standing. But he won’t be standing when Jesus arrives. V. 42: And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.

Luke, with his usual meticulousness, gives us details to help us empathize with Jairus. He wouldn’t have to say much to stir compassion, but he tells us the girl’s age. In Jewish culture during this era, a 12–year old girl would be preparing to enter the prime of her life. Further, Luke tells us that this is Jairus’ only daughter. His 12–year old girl, his only girl, is dying.

So when Jesus comes by, Jairus, caring nothing for decorum or the perception of dignity, falls at Jesus’ feet. Once there, he implores Jesus to come to his house. The verb tense suggests he asked more than once. Jesus can’t be in the street; he can’t be headed wherever he was going. To Jairus, nothing else matters. Jesus must come near.

And it seems that Jesus agreed to come. You might imagine Jairus’ joy. There’s a crowd here, scores pining for Jesus’ help, yet He decides to come visit Jairus’ dying daughter. V. 42 continues, As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.

On these narrow roads, it’s rush hour. You can imagine walking out of an event (graduation/game), being shoulder to shoulder with men and women. You might even stick your wallet in your front pocket. People press around you. The word for “press” here is interesting. It’s the same word Jesus used in the parable of the soils to describe the thorns choking the word.[1] It implies the crowd presses in to the degree that it’s difficult to breathe.[2]

Get in Jairus’ head for a second here. While you know the end of this story, he doesn’t. He’d finally got the man he believed could help him to come and see his sick daughter. Every second matters. But the crowds block the way.

And that’s not all that will slow Jesus’ arrival. Here comes another interruption. V. 43: And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.

There’s a 12 year old girl; and then there’s this woman with an ostracizing medical condition for 12 years. Keep in mind that this issue would’ve made her religiously unclean. While that might not land with the appropriate weight on you, consider that she couldn’t live among and with other people. Were anyone to touch her, he or she would become unclean themselves.[3] This woman is cut off from rela[...]