Luke 8:41-56: Weak Faith Meets a Strong Saviour

‘My cup runneth over;’ ‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think;’ these biblical phrases remind us that when we bring the thimble of our faith to God, He fills it with the flood of Himself and His gifts. Luke 8:41-56 records the narrative of two people who have faith in Christ, but it is a thimble sized faith and Christ exceeds their expectations. The woman with the issue of blood comes to Jesus believing that He has the power to heal, but she will leave knowing His kindness and goodness as well. Jairus comes with hope for a healing but he comes to believe in the Messiah who not only heals but raises the dead. This part of Luke 8 is all about demonstrating who Jesus is. We see that He is the one who has authority over nature in calming the storm; He is the one who commands demons and they obey; now we will see that He has authority over disease and even death. But there is more than His mere power and authority on display we see Jesus attending upon individuals in the crowd; we see Jesus concerned to see people broken under the effects of sin restored; we see a gentle and compassionate Saviour who meets our weak faith with His power and goodness.

We will look at this section in three parts. Firstly, we will introduce ourselves to those who have need in this portion. Then we will look at the woman’s faith and then Jairus’s faith.