Yesterday we discussed Jesus and his miraculous healing of Jairus’s daughter. On the way to Jairus’s house, a woman in desperate need of a healing interrupted their journey. Today, we focus on that interrupted moment.
As Jesus walked with his disciples and Jairus through the crowd, he felt healing power being extracted from him. Turning around, he asked, “Who touched me?” Finally, a woman stepped forward, timid and afraid (Luke 8:47).
Unlike Jairus’s daughter, this woman was well into adulthood and had been bleeding for twelve years. This was more than an irregular menstrual cycle. Scholars suggest that this disease could have been endometriosis or even uterine cancer. We remember that number twelve, right? It’s the age of Jairus’s daughter. Luke doesn’t want us to miss this. This woman had been dealing with a disease for as long as Jairus’s daughter had been alive.
Because the symptoms of her disease included a continual discharge of blood, she was deemed ceremonially unclean and made anyone she touched unclean. This meant that she could not go into the temple or be around people at social events. For twelve years! What must life have looked like for this poor woman, who had to endure seclusion in a society where community was the cornerstone of the culture? It is scary to have to deal with a disease; it’s even more daunting to have to do it alone.
Notice the difference between Jairus’s family and this woman. Jairus was a leader of the synagogue, making him a man of status and perhaps one with an abundance of financial resources. This woman was a social outcast, and she was poor—she’d spent all of her money on doctors, hoping they would find a cure. She was as desperate as Jairus and reasoned that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’s garment, she would be healed. When Jairus came to Jesus, he knelt in front of him to get his attention. However, this bleeding woman initially came behind Jesus, planning to obtain her healing and then fade back into obscurity. Jesus had other plans.
“Who touched me?” he asked (Luke 8:45).
The woman, healed, came forward and confessed (v. 47). Obviously, Jesus knew who had touched him in that special way. Why would he make her come forward?
By bringing her to the public eye, he validated her healing, putting an end to her public embarrassment and shame. He also served as the ultimate witness that she was no longer ceremonially unclean. Remember that little tidbit that Luke gave us about Jairus? He wasn’t just any kind of leader—he was a leader of the synagogue. So Jesus declared her ceremonially clean in front of a religious leader. Coincidence? We know better.
The interconnected stories involving the bleeding woman and Jairus’s daughter show us that Jesus is concerned about all women, no matter what our age or station in life. He wants to lovingly heal us and restore us to himself first, and then restore us to fellowship with our communities.
I have identified with the bleeding woman for many many years. As a sexual abuse survivor, there has always been a sense of impurity that caused her story to resonate with me. In Mark (ironically the name of my abuser), Jesus tells her to “go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” That sentence has been a constant comfort in my journey, a reminder in Jesus’ own words to use every time the enemy tries to bring back those memories and the lies they once caused me to believe about myself. A nameless women in history forever altered my own.
I would say my faith is actually what has separated me from people. Growing up Catholic, I was often criticized for how often I went to church or why I was fasting from something. When I got to college, I was criticized for my choice to save myself for marriage. It separated me from people, but it separated me from the kind of people I didn’t want to surround myself with anyway. My solitude was a blessing during a time when my faith was the most vulnerable it had ever been.
when my husband and I wanted to marry, after living together for 5 years, because we’d both had failed marriages, there was a lot of judgement and disappointment , both expressed and silent, from our then – church congregation and especially pastor. He refused to marry us, and I felt what he was saying was that we were "unclean". We sought out a different minister, who did marry us, and we moved on with the support of a new church family. The persecution and judgement that we felt from that situation took a long time to heal from spiritually and emotionally……looking back over 21 years ago, God has led us to and surrounded us with supportive fellow Christ followers. He continues to encourage us to take steps to keep our faith strong. WE are stronger in our faith now, than ever.
Surrendered to Seeds- A Secret Lament
The battles and questions do not give way
When hope is spoken come what may
Years of prayer and faithful trust
Leave us in waiting, ashes and dust
With lifted eyes we’ve hoped to see
Our desires answered, binds set free
Betrayals and sickness, cancer and loss
Seemingly drowning like leaves under moss
We find a comfort in secret lament
Rich in darkness, soil prayers are sent
Surrendered to seeds despairing to grow
Silently pressed into earth below
Quieted language and resting in dirt
We learn of sweetness being honest in hurt
Sadness and tears soften the ground
Water and salt clears sight and sound
We listen for breathing and look for light
In passionate peace grows strength and might
Husks of hope will break open in time
We wait together holding, yours, ours, mine.
https://sharetostrengthen.com/2018/08/15/surrendered-to-seeds-a-secret-lament/
Just beautiful; what a gift!
Absolutely beautiful! Is this in a book? Might I ask the title?
Thank you. I did write this 🙂 I have a personal blog where I share my thoughts and poems in response to God’s word. Sharetostrengthen.com if you want to read. The title says it all, I share to strengthen they way God strengthens me. I am grateful He touched you through the words He gave me.
Very nice. You are talented. Thanks for sharing.
This is beautiful! Did you write this? I love it!