Daily Bible Reading 22nd July 2026 // Luke 8:40-56
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.
As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 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. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given to her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.
There was more misunderstanding still, however. She made to slip away unnoticed, and would have done so if Jesus had not called her back and into the open. The misunderstanding was her false idea that the healing was something separate from Him and could be had without Him or without any relationship to Him. But it is futile to want forgiveness in isolation from the rest of the gospel. We receive forgiveness when we receive Him. We must beware of looking for the benefits of Christianity without Christ. It was after she was brought into the open by Jesus, after the healing of the body, that Jesus said, 'Daughter, go in (to) peace: thy faith hath made thee whole.' The 'daughter' emphasis is very significant: she who by her disease had been ostracised, despised, shunned, held in suspicion, was welcomed into the family of God. 'Go', said Jesus - and it was into a future bright with hope, and into a new life. And surely the confrontation, by which she was brought out into the open, was infinitely worthwhile, however traumatic it may have been for her! So often, we are unwilling to have ourselves 'put right' in this way, and so often, in thus withholding ourselves, we miss God's best. Is not this a lesson worth learning?