Luke 8

Luke 8:43-48

CHRIST AND THE TIMID WOMANLuk_8:43-48THE three reports of this miracle of healing are in remarkable agreement. Matthew’s is the most brief, reciting only the woman’s timid approach and touch, and Christ’s grant of good cheer and health. But Mark and Luke make the picture more complete, giving attention to the details. But no one reading the reports could ever question that these inspired penmen were painting the picture of one and the same incident.So perfect in their agreement are their reports, that one must admit either the inspiration of the record or the collusion of the writers. In each instance, He is on His way to Jairus’ home when this occurs; in each instance it is a woman with an issue of blood; in every report she had thus suffered for twelve years; all three of the evangelists take pains to say that she came up “behind Him” and touched the border of His garment; each of them expresses her confidence that from this slight contact she should be made whole; and each reports Jesus’ prompt and blessed response in her healing. It is a suggestion worthy of study that while Christ was on His way to raise Jairus’ daughter, He wrought health for those who crossed His track.

The incidental work of Jesus is like that of God; even His secondary miracles are sufficient proof of His Sonship.But I am to discuss tonight “The Timid Woman”, and I want you to think of three things: The Timidity of Sickness, The Timidity of Faith, and The Timidity of Confession.THE OF .“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, came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment: and immediately the issue of her blood stanched” (Luke 8:43-44).Disease naturally tends to intimidation. The sick child is commonly the fearful one.

Its physical weakness dissipates courage. One who has read much after Cowper, the wonderful poet, may have wondered within himself why that man was often tempted to suicide. He will find the explanation in a piece of his early history. It is recorded that he was a delicate child, and hence timid, and of tremulous sensibilities. At six years of age he had lost his mother, and being put to a public school, he was at once subjected to the jagging and brutality of a boy of about fifteen years, who singled William out as the object of his bullying. So villainous was this boy’s conduct toward the little lad, that he confesses to have conceived such a dread of his tormentor’s figure, that he never lifted his eyes toward him higher than his knees, and that he knew him better by his shoe-buckles than by any other part of his dress.By the time Cowper was nine years of age, melancholy had seized him, and a profound dejection, gloom and continual despair.

His very soul was so disturbed that he says, “Day and night I was upon the rack, lying down in horror and rising up in despair”. From this, Cowper, who was never strong, recovered not.

He admits that, later in life, the feelings of a man when he arrives at the place of execution, were probably like his every time he set foot in his office. This melancholia wore upon him so that he often cried out aloud (as he admits) “lifting his eyes to heaven, not as a suppliant, but in the hellish spirit of reproach and blasphemy against his Maker”. Finally, he was adjudged insane and lodged in an asylum, and when at last he came forth from that, it is said by the historian, “He smiled as well as he could, but it was an effort; it was the smile of a sick man who knows himself incurable, and tried to forget it for an instant, or at least to make others forget it”. And he himself said, “Indeed, I wonder that a sportive thought should ever knock at the door of my intellect, and still more that it should gain admittance”. It is only the sick that talk so!Whenever I meet a man who does not smile and who has no relish for a joke, I know that whatever his outward appearance, he is not in health. Edward Everett Hale is reported to have been one of the guests at a millionaire’s table.

The rich man was a free spender, but very anxious to parade his generosity; so, as the various dishes were served, he would remark upon their cost and importation, “This terrapin was shipped direct from Baltimore. A Baltimore cook came on to prepare it.

The dish actually cost $1.00 a teaspoonful”. So he talked of the cost of the peas, the asparagus, the Covent Garden peaches, which were equally importations and expensive. The large bunches of beautiful grapes, a foot long, and each one as big as a plum, he had brought from abroad, and figured out the expense of each grape. The guests looked annoyed and ate charily, knowing that at each gulp, gold was going down. But Edward Everett Hale extended his plate smilingly, and said, “Would you mind cutting me off about $1.87 worth more of that meat, please?” What better proof of a man’s health could be provided? A sense of humor is the expression of good poise, and a continual discouragement or a shrinking timidity, suggests physical or mental suffering, or both.Sex-suffering renders super-sensitive.

The peculiar trouble of this woman, according to Jewish law, rendered her unclean. Conscious of physical weakness, and condemned by a ceremonial precept, she would shrink from society almost as much as the leper did, and feel herself unfit to approach His feet to touch them; and yet, in her sore need, was urged to steal in behind Him and stretch her finger tips to the hem of His garment.Mark the gracious behaviour of Jesus toward a woman put away by a Jewish ceremonial.

The healthy, successful people of the world can scarcely appreciate the fearful shrinking spirits of those who are most sorely afflicted. Nor yet can they imagine what the slightest courtesy means to these starving, thirsty spirits. In Madagascar, some rude children were crying out “A Leper! A Leper!”, and pointing the finger of scorn at a poor woman who had lost the most of both hands and feet by the dreadful disease. A woman missionary, standing near, walked to her and laid her hand tenderly on her shoulder, and said, “Sister, sit down by me on the grass and let me tell you about Christ”. Instantly, the poor woman was overcome by emotion, and cried aloud, “A human hand hath touched me.

It is years since a hand has touched me”. But the hand that touched this woman was more blessed than that of earth’s greatest and noblest: and the word that was spoken to her was above any that ever passed the lips of mortal man, for God’s Son deigned to recognize and assist this suffering, supersensitive sister.Prolonged illness produces increasing diffidence.

When we are sick for a day, our buoyant spirits remain; extend it to a month and a slight discouragement may characterize us; prolong it into years, and he is brave indeed who does not lose both fortitude and faith. The most terrible test to which the spirit of man is ever subjected is not that of an acute physical suffering, but rather that of a chronic malady. One may turn, if he will, to the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews and hear the Apostle tell how“others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, * * wandering in deserts and mountains, and caves, and the holes of the earth. And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect”.But the martyr is not the man who suffers most. John Huss, going to his stake, is ecstatic. Savonarola, approaching the blazing pile, is discouraged in nothing.

John Eliot, dying in the London tower, goes out with an unbroken spirit. Each of these was inspired by the confidence of suffering to a noble end, and each of them had natural health with which to meet the unnatural outrage, to which he was subjected for conscience sake.

They were as faithful to the end as was Elijah, who knew he was about to be translated in a chariot of flame. But the man who endures some dread disease from day to day, and keeps his courage up, must be a courageous spirit indeed.Dwight Hillis says, “The prisoners of physical accident and misfortune are many, and through weakness of nerve or tissue they seem literally entombed in flesh. For them the body is a clog and hindrance. What was meant for wings becomes a weight. Byron had his club foot. De Quincey describes himself as being led around by an invisible jailer.

His forehead was broad and high, but his vast head rested upon a body so shrunken and bloodless that in his essay upon murder as a fine art, he expressed a doubt whether any highwayman who should cut the slender cord of flesh that bound him to the earth, could be legally tried for man slaughter. Going into the Lake country, De Quincey met Christopher North, who at once became his ideal.

The young Scottish professor was six feet and two inches in height. One morning, throwing off his clothes, Professor Wilson swam across the lake and back, and then started for a four or five mile run over the hills, shouting aloud in sheer delight in his physical being. When the glorious youth returned and sat himself down beside the poor, shrunken De Quincey, he knew that the physical chain that bound him down was short and strong indeed.Robert Hall, with his spinal trouble, needed more courage than did Huss with his papal torments; and Channing, exhausted every time he spoke, more than a Cramner, when he thrust his healthy hand into the consuming flame; and Alexander H. Stephens, in his wheel chair, than did Savonarola, to ride in his chariot of flame. I tell you that the man who excites my admiration beyond all others I meet, is the man who, with both legs off, sits at the street corner and cries his newspapers with a cheery smile,—and I used to see him at a Chicago corner; or the man who, with both legs paralyzed, yet drags himself to the House of God, and rejoices to be there, and you have seen him here; or the woman who, with weak heart, or hunch back, or rheumatic twist and torture, takes life sweetly and smiles through her tears, yet saying, “I can be an example of patience, can best illustrate fortitude, and can actually uplift and enhearten my more favored brothers and sisters”. She is, indeed, the “Saint of Second St.”In the presence of such, I uncover; and if it should be mine to speak the words over these crippled ones when the last enemy has wrought his work, I can keep within the limits of truth and yet pay them a tribute beyond any due to a Caesar or a Napoleon, a Lincoln or a Lloyd George.THE OF FAITH. “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. But Jesus said, Some one did touch Me, for I perceive that power has gone forth from Me”.Why is it that this woman, who actually believes, will not face Jesus? Why is it that, crawling through the crowd “behind Him”, she stealthily touches, and then slinks away? Why is it, when He calls for the person who had received the blessing, she at first joins the others and denies? The reasons are not far to seek.Her confidence had been often misplaced. “She had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed of any”.

How many times some new doctor had appeared in her neighborhood, and with great pretentions, had given promises. The sick are like a sinking man and will grab at a straw.

The most cruel, if not the most criminal, procedure known to ancient or modern times, is that of the man or woman who, under the pretense of healing almost all manner of disease with some patent drug, physical or psychic performance, plays upon the struggling credulity of the sick for the sole purpose of filling his own pocket while he filches theirs.I think, if I could speak, and laws were, I would determine two things relating to this subject: First, that men and women, physically and mentally deficient, should not be permitted to contract marriage; and second, that all who profess the healing art should be compelled to give demonstration, satisfactory to the state government, of their ability to make good their pretentions. Kane, the great Arctic explorer, was not a robust man. Dr. McPheeters cites an incident which may be used as an illustration. He says, “On one occasion, when going the rounds of the outwards, or almshouse department, with Dr. Kane, we encountered a miserable, squalid, diminutive, and deformed pauper, who had married quite a good looking woman in the house.

As we passed this interesting couple, I jocosely asked the doctor what he supposed must be the contemplations of that woman as she beheld that miserable object, and reflected that he was her lord and master? He paused for a moment, and then replied in a serious tone, ‘It is to save some lady just such reflections as these that I have made up my mind never to marry’ ”.Accident and disease may deform or disable at any point in life, and there is no ministry more sweet than that of serving those who have become the subjects of such misfortune, and who are joined to us by the ties of marriage, blood, or even friendship.

But highway robbery of quack doctors, and the sexual insanity of imbecile or invalid marriages, are alike to be condemned. Many a time, I have gone into a home where some sick and suffering one found it hard to trust even Christ, the Great Physician, because they had been so repeatedly disappointed by those who professed the healing art. Their work is equally a menace to science and an opposition to the plain promises of Sacred Scripture.Her expectation had been repeatedly disappointed. To trust men again and again, only to discover that our confidence has been misplaced, is to lose faith in God. Show me a man or woman who has lost faith in humankind and I will show you an individual who has lost faith in the Divine One. It is doubtful if there ever was an hour when the faith of the Psalmist was at a lower ebb than when in his haste he said, “All men are liars” (Psalms 116:11).

Now it is a significant thing that the sentence preceding that confession is this, “I was greatly afflicted”. The afflicted man, trying this remedy, and trusting that pretention, until his faith is gone, treads the very edge of the precipice of infidelity.To be disappointed once is to feel some discouragement.

It is declared of that great English statesman, who in his first public speech so signally failed that they hissed him from the platform, (though he went back again to conquer, as he declared he would), that oftentimes when he found himself about to appear in public, the memory of that time would come upon him, and his confidence in his own power was shaken to such an extent that he entered the arena of debate, livid with fear. But if Lord Beaconsfield, great man as he was, could never recover from a single failure, who can imagine the despair that comes upon those who have failed again and again to realize that for which they had hoped?But to all of this was added an estate entirely squandered. Your sympathy starts for this stricken woman. I have looked upon the man who once had a half million; have seen him when he knew not whence his next meal would come. I have seen the man who once added to that half million a splendid physical prowess, in the moment when his weakness exceeded that of the infant in the mother’s arms. I have known him whose brain once grappled with great problems of finance, and solved them successfully, and also when that mind had fallen into decay, and every mental effort only reminded you of a great cathedral in ruins I saw him but yesterday.

And I say to you, that, to keep faith under these circumstances, is not a proof of the final perseverance of the saints; but is a convincing illustration of the final preservation of the saints; only because God has not given us up, can such an one hope at all. And yet, hope we may, since God lives and loves.“There is never a day so dreary But God can make it bright: And unto the soul that trusts Him He giveth songs in the night. There is never a path so hidden But God will lead the way, If we seek for the spirit’s guidance And patiently wait and pray. “There is never a cross so heavy But the nail-scarred hands are there Outstretched in tender compassion, The burden to help us bear. There is never a heart so broken But the loving Lord can heal, For the heart that was pierced on Calvary Doth still for His loved ones feel. “There is never a life so darkened, So hopeless, so unblessed, But it may be filled with the light of God And enter His promised rest. There is never a sin or sorrow, There is never a care or loss, But that we may bring to Jesus And leave at the foot of the Cross”. Finally,THE OF .“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. And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace”.She might have feared to confess, lest the healing was not effective. Several times in the past, she may have supposed herself to be well, only to find the old malady to return. I have known people who have been evidently healed of God in answer to prayer, who were afraid to say so lest tomorrow they should be compelled to take it back, and the next day God’s honor should be discredited.In 1907 I was holding a meeting in the White Temple, Portland, Oregon. A mother brought her sixteen-year-old daughter to the service, absolutely paralyzed from the waist down, and both limbs, as a result of infantile paralysis. She listened to the sermon with the most eager, anxious face I have ever looked upon.

At its close, her mother wheeled her to the pastor’s study and sent for me, and, together with about six believing people, we laid hands upon her and prayed. I left her not knowing what the result would be, and now I permit her to chronicle her own words:“Portland, Oregon. December 8th, 1908. “My dear Dr. Riley:—“Do you remember the young girl who used to come to hear you preach when you were holding meetings in the White Temple here in Portland in and out of the church? I am that girl and I am writing to tell you that I can walk just everywhere now and am perfectly well. You remember that you prayed with me once and said that you would pray for me. You asked me to trust God to heal me and I told you I would. Well, He has heard and answered our prayers and made me perfectly well again. Oh! How I love and praise Him for it, and how much nearer it draws me to Him. I cannot tell in words how thankful I am for what He has dene for me, and it will be such a joy to me to help other sick and suffering people to look to God for health and strength again. “You do not know how much I appreciate your prayer for me as I began to improve very fast from that time. “I am going to have some photos taken soon and then I will send you one, so you can see what I look like standing up. “Believe me, I shall always love you and remember you most gratefully for your loving interest in me. I pray for you always and ask God to bless you in your work for Him. From your very sincere friend, Elizabeth Strickland”.I believe it is a trick of the devil to silence every man visited by the Great Physician. There were ten lepers healed; one only had the faith and courage to confess it. Nine of them slunk away in silence. I also want to say that I have rarely ever known a man to be healed in answer to prayer, who did not confess it, but the malady returned, as if the Adversary suggested that no praise be given to God and deliberately planned to occupy that body again, and to reduce the temple touched into beauty by the Divine hand, to a fresh heap of ruins.“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so”. Yes, whether that redemption be wrought upon the body, or for the soul. I have always admired the man who sat at the Gate Beautiful, and whose healing was wrought at the word of Peter in the Name of Christ, because he “leaping up, went with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God”.

A dumb silence does not become the redeemed.Dear John Robertson used to tell the story of the lad converted in North Umberland, England. Almost immediately he began to shout in meeting, breaking into the middle of the preaching with “Glory!”, “Praise the Lord!”, and the like.

The rector was much annoyed, as were the lad’s parents, and they appealed to their pastor asking him what could be done in the premises. He said, “By the law of association of ideas, I will divert his mind”, and so, inviting the lad to his house one day, he provided him with a scientific book, full of dry facts and figures, and asked him to pass the time reading until the dinner was spread. Suddenly he heard the boy shout, “Glory!” “Praise the Lord!” “Hallelujah!” “Why, what is the matter?” asked the minister. “Oh!” exclaimed the boy, “This book says the ocean is five miles deep”. “Well, what of that?” “Why”, the boy replied, “the Bible says my sins have been cast into the depths of the sea, and if it is that deep, the devil will be drowned before he can ever bring them up, and make an accusation against me again”. I confess I rejoice with him.Yet again, she, being a woman, would hesitate to make a public statement. In the Orient, women seldom speak. In all the world, women find it more difficult to speak in public than do men.

Judged by their conversation in private, this is largely the result of social codes and political economy; but it has had its effect upon religious life. All over the Southland, the majority of women seldom speak in a religious meeting; and even in this Northland, I have met timid women who in their heart of hearts loved the Lord, and who, in the study of the Word, knew what obedience meant, but who in soul drew back from public testimony, or a Biblical baptism, because they feared to face the crowd.

One of the sweetest Christian characters I have known in this church, said to me the night she walked with me to the baptismal waters, “I am doing this, Pastor, because it is plainly taught in God’s Word. If I live it through, I will praise God that it is past. You do not know how I dread it”. And when I suggested to her that a week later she would be back wanting to be baptized a second time, she smiled and said, “Don’t you think it!” Yet the truth was, when the ceremony was over, and just a week later, as I had finished baptizing others, she came to me and said, “Oh, how I wish I could be there again”. She had caught a fresh glimpse of what it meant to declare by this beautiful symbol that she was “dead to self and had risen with Christ to walk in newness of life”, and for His sake, and for the sake of others, she would gladly have gone with me a second time into the baptismal waters. So this timid woman of the text rose above her fears and “when she 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”.But yielding to His request, she conquered.

Listen to the gracious words, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace”. Peace of body, peace of mind, peace of soul!

That is the promise of Christ. “My peace give I unto you”. That is the experience of the trusting. Come to Him and you will be able to say with the poet:“There comes to my heart one sweet strain, A glad and a joyous refrain, I sing it again and again, Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love. “Thro’ Christ on the Cross peace was made, My debt by His death was all paid, No other foundation is laid For peace, the gift of God’s love. “When Jesus as Lord I had crown’d, My heart with this peace did abound; In Him a rich blessing I found, Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love. “In Jesus at peace I abide, And while I keep close to His side, There’s nothing but peace can betide, Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love. “Peace, peace, sweet peace, Wonderful gift from above, Oh, wonderful, wonderful peace, Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love”.