Luke 8:40 tells us that Jesus returned, namely from one side of the Sea of Galilee to the other side, where He had previously ministered to the people.
Luke 8:40:
40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.
The Return of the Presence of Jesus and the Different Expectations
When we read in the Word about the return of Jesus, we may expect it to be accompanied by greater revelation and spiritual power associated with a quickened phase, as described by the statement in Matthew 24:27.
Matthew 24:27:
27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
The expectation of the people at the time of Jesus to meet Him personally is equal to our expectation at this time, waiting for the righteous intervention of God. This waiting of the people for Jesus on the other side of the lake, reveals that they had an attitude of expectation for something greater that they did not yet know.
The shore side with the waiting people represents the past and Jesus, who moved with His disciples to the other shore side (Note: of Gerasa; cf. Luke 8:26) stands for the present in order to enter into the future plans of the Heavenly Father.
It is important to the Heavenly Father that His people enter into the ‘future presence’ as the present with complete focus on the future of His plans. He has mercy and brings His presence with a higher potential (Note: accelerated like lightning that discharges) to the people. Thus, change occurs as well as movements within the society of His people as the church, the Ekklēsia, that reveal His greatness.
Here two types of expectation exist, described by the fact that on the one hand the people pressed Jesus, and on the other hand a woman suffering from blood flow, who approached Jesus from behind. While approaching Him, she pressed through the crowd and, believing for healing, touched the hem of His garment, holding it tightly.
This resulted in power emanating from Jesus and being transferred to the woman, who had a flow of blood, so that she was healed of her disease (cf. Luke 8:43-48).
Luke 8:42b-48:
… 42b As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.
43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no-one could heal her.
44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 ‘Who touched me?’ Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’
46 But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.’
47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.
48 Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.’
… 42b As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.
43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no-one could heal her.
44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 ‘Who touched me?’ Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’
46 But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.’
47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.
48 Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.’
Based on the above biblical passage, we can see that there are two types of ‘pressing’, with the crowd pressing Jesus more to see His presence and following actions, while the sick woman in faith pressed through the thronging crowd to come into contact with the power of God himself.
This is made clear by two Greek words used in Luke 8:44-45, namely the word for ‘touch – hạptomai’ in connection with the sick woman and the word for ‘press – apothlịbō’ in connection with the pressing crowd.
The Greek word ‘hạptomai’ also means, among other things, ‘to take something in one’s hand, to be attached to something, to touch in order to accomplish something’. (Part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible on the Greek words ‘touch – hạptō’ and ‘press – apothlịbō’ with word key number: 672, 593*)
Unlike the crowd, who were eager to see Jesus and be comfortable in His presence or passively enjoy His glory, the desperate woman suffering from the flow of blood chose to actively surprise Jesus by approaching Him from behind in faith and holding the hem of His garment. By doing so, she became one with Christ and clung to Him.
The Power of Faith and Becoming One with the Word of God
Accordingly, it shows that it is our faith that transforms even bitter or challenging circumstances into sweetness when we make ourselves one with the truth and presence of the Word of God, which is Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:14 i.c.w. Revelation 19:13).
John 1:14:
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Revelation 19:13:
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
The great crowd of Luke chapter 8:40ff. points to people who feel stuck in the time of the past recognizing the need to receive the future of God’s presence (Note: Jesus Christ returning from the other side of the lake) with the perspective of being transformed or changed.
This is particularly evident in the representation of the woman suffering from a blood disease for twelve years and approaching Jesus Christ from behind which represents coming from the past.
She approached Him in faith and trust which means the willingness to live in true spiritual relationship with the Heavenly Father and reached out to Him by touching the hem or tassels of His garment (Note: agreement with the order/instruction of God; cf. Luke 8:43-44 i.c.w. Numbers 15:37-41).
Luke 8:43-44:
43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.
44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.
44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
Numbers 15:37-41:
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.
39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.
40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.
41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.
39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.
40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.
41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’
This woman suffering of the blood disease for twelve years pressed her way through the different ‘levels’ of time to meet the divine moment for her life, Jesus Christ, which finally leads her into the future plans, as her promise of the Heavenly Father. By this touch the woman received true life in her blood system getting fully restored (cf. Genesis 9:4; i.c.w. Acts 15:20; John 6:53-54).
Genesis 9:4:
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. …”
Acts 15:20:
20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
John 6:53-54:
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Speaking in the prophetic context, this woman had an understanding of sonship in Jesus Christ through her spiritual maturity established in the past (Note: by teaching in the Torah/the Tenakh) and her touch of the hem of the garment of Jesus Christ, because He named her as daughter of faith (cf. Luke 8:48 i.c.w. Galatians 4:4-7).
Luke 8:48:
48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Galatians 4:4-7 (The Jewish New Testament, David H. Stern):
..., 4 but when the appointed time came, God sent his son. He was born of a woman, born into a culture in which the distortion of the Torah of legalism was the norm, 5 so that he might deliver those who were subject to this legalism and in this way enable us to be made sons of God.
6 But now, because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into your hearts, the spirit who cries, Abba! (Note: that means father).
7 So by God you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if you are a son, you are also an heir.
..., 4 but when the appointed time came, God sent his son. He was born of a woman, born into a culture in which the distortion of the Torah of legalism was the norm, 5 so that he might deliver those who were subject to this legalism and in this way enable us to be made sons of God.
6 But now, because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into your hearts, the spirit who cries, Abba! (Note: that means father).
7 So by God you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if you are a son, you are also an heir.
Amen and Amen.
In His Wisdom,
Daniel Glimm
