Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 7 Study # 3
July 12, 2009
Lincolnton, NC
<541>
AV Translation:
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.
1901 ASV Translation:
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went the multitudes thronged him.
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed of any,
44 came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately the issue of her blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, Who is it that touched me? And when all denied, Peter said, and they that were with him, Master, the multitudes press thee and crush thee.
46 But Jesus said, Some one did touch me; for I perceived that power had gone forth from me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people for what cause she touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, 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, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Teacher.
50 But Jesus hearing it, answered him, Fear not: only believe, and she shall be made whole.
51 And when he came to the house, he suffered not any man to enter in with him, save Peter, and John, and James, and the father of the maiden and her mother.
52 And all were weeping, and bewailing her: but he said, Weep not; for she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 But he, taking her by the hand, called, saying, Maiden, arise.
55 And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately: and he commanded that something be given her to eat.
56 And her parents were amazed: but he charged them to tell no man what had been done.
Luke's Record:
- I. The "Intro": Jairus' Plight.
- A. The highly contrastive "welcome" of the crowd [See Notes from June 28, 2009<536>].
- B. The enormous responsibilities of Jairus [See Notes from July 5, 2009<538>].
- II. The "Twelve Years" Issue.
- A. Luke records that both the dying "daughter" and the "daughter" with the issue of blood were involved in a "twelve year" issue.
- B. Generally, the amount of time involved does not appear to be of significance unless it magnifies the greatness of the "miracle" (John 9:32).
- 1. Since, even in Luke, the amount of time varies greatly and twelve years is not as long as "eighteen" (13:11), it seems that "twelve" has to mean something.
- 2. Since many of the miracles of Jesus recorded by Luke have unspecified "time" issues involved, identifying the length in a specific way has to be significant. The Gadarene demoniac is said to have "had devils [a] long time" (AV).
- C. Luke's Use of "Twelve".
- 1. Jesus was "twelve years old" when He remained behind in Jerusalem (2:42).
- 2. Jesus chose "twelve" apostles (6:13) and they were known as "the Twelve" (8:1 / 9:12 / 18:31 / 22:3, 47).
- 3. Jesus fed "five thousand men" and had "twelve" baskets of broken pieces of food left over (9:17).
- 4. Jesus told "the Twelve" that it was their destiny to "sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" in His kingdom (22:30). This destiny was qualified by the phrase "ye...that have continued with Me in my temptations" in 22:28 so that Judas Iscariot was excluded from the promise, but the focus is yet upon "twelve".
- 5. In numerological significance, "twelve" is a combination of multiple configurations: two sets of six (or two sets of two sets of three), three sets of four (or three sets of two sets of two), and four sets of three (or two sets of two "threes"). This can get pretty complicated pretty fast, but the facts are that the "indivisible" numbers (1, 2, 3, 5, 7,11,13, etc.) have certain implications and those initial implications are expanded by "multiples". "One" signals a perfect unity, "Two" signals a "pair" with unity/disunity possibilities, "Three" signals "sufficiency". "Four" flags a doubled "pair in unity" that signals "representation", "Five" indicates a "significant flaw", etc. The number "twelve" is a combination of "sufficiency" and "representation" so that it signals a sufficient representation of a larger group. The New Jerusalem is composed of a "foundation" that was made of twelve stones and it had "four" walls that each had "three" gates. The significance is that the city is founded upon a sufficient representation of the principles required for relational unity. It is surrounded by a wall that is representative of "security" and each wall is open in three places (gates that never shut) to allow adequate access by those in the city to the tribes which surround the city and are governed by those who sit upon the thrones that represent authority over each of the tribes. This is a complicated issue, but the bottom line is that "twelve" signals a "sufficient representation" of whatever is involved. In our record, the years of the "daughter of Jairus" make her a sufficient representation of a household (indeed, the "only" scion of that house) that is on death's door and the years of the constant drain of blood from the "daughter" of Jesus make her a sufficient representative of the complete inadequacy of her "resources" (which she spent to no avail) and of her physicians (none of whom could heal her). In other words, Jesus is addressing both of the "problems" of the setting: Jairus is about to be rendered childless/heirless because of the "death" in his household as a ruler of the synagogue and the unnamed "daughter" has been drained both of "blood" and "resources". At the same time in history, the first daughter was born and the second was rendered incapable of conception. One grew up in a household of theological death and the other lived day after day without hope of being able to contribute to the next generations. The former was on the verge of the death that marked the household and the other was seeking a way out of the death of uselessness.