Reel Luke

Jesus Heals Two Daughters

Luke 8:40-56

Intro to Reel Luke
Reel Luke Leader's Guide
More Reel Questions

Helpful Stuff to Know

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  • In Jesus' culture, there were many rules and traditions about blood diseases. The woman in this story had likely lived an isolated life for 12 years, apart from others. It was very dangerous, risky, and "against the rules" for her to be in the crowd that day.
  • Leaders of the synagogue would have been well known and had some power and prestige.
  • Many people wanted to touch the hem of Jesus' robe in hopes of being healed. Check out Matthew 14:36.
  • This story is the only time Jesus named someone "Daughter."

Be Sure Not to Miss

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  • The stories of Jairus and the bleeding woman happen side by side. Pay attention to all the parallel story elements — some are similar and some are opposite — to see how diverse the people are and how wide Jesus’ love and power is.
  • The sick daughter was 12 years old. The bleeding woman had been sick for 12 years.
  • When Jesus named the woman “daughter,” Jairus heard. He would have understood the deeper meaning because he loved his own daughter.
  • After talking to the woman about her faith, Jesus then told Jairus to have faith.
  • Jesus listened and cared for both Jairus and the bleeding woman even though they approached him and interacted with him very differently.

Be Careful About

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  • To the bleeding woman Jesus said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you." To Jairus he said, “Just have faith and your daughter will be well.” These are not promises to everyone today that if we trust Jesus enough he will heal us. These were specific promises to specific people in specific circumstances. Jesus can still heal and do miracles, of course, but be careful about copying and pasting statements and circumstances from specific stories into your own life.

1. Read Luke 8:40–56

Here's a few different ways you can read and recap the story with your group.

  • Read it through one time with people just listening to you. Then read it through a second time with people following along in their own Bibles.
  • Ask a few people to act out the story while you read it.
  • Ask one or two people to retell the story after hearing it.
  • Ask two people to retell the story in the first person, as though they were actually there. One person can do the play-by-play (tell the details of what happened), and the other can offer color commentary (add details about how they felt, what surprised them, what confused them, etc.). First-person retelling can make the story feel more real. It's also a blast.

2. Reel Questions (set the scene)

  • Where did this story happen? What do you think it looked like? Smelled like? Sounded like?
  • Make a list of all the people in the story (including "crowd" if there is one), and give a one-word description of each e.g. impatient, desperate, funny, selfish, awkward, etc.
  • List everything that Jesus did and said in the story. What was your favorite scene or statement?

3. Story-Specific Questions

  • Why do you think Jesus took time to listen to the woman’s story even though she’d already been healed?
  • Why do you think Jesus named the woman "Daughter"? How do you think this made her feel?
  • What do you think Jairus was thinking about while Jesus stopped, waited, and listened to the woman’s story?

4. Wrap-Up Question

  • Why do you think this story is included in the Bible? What do you think God wants us to learn from it?

5. Pray