She was desperate. The bleeding started 12 years ago. It began as a typical period and then just didn’t stop. The perpetual loss of blood left her weak and with constant cramping. Ceremonially unclean, she couldn’t go to the temple or the high holy days. She wasn’t allowed to touch her friends or family as she would make them unclean. Loneliness crept in. She went to doctor after doctor. She took herbs and minerals and oils. Her finances diminished as her desperation increased. She was lonely and depressed.
And then she heard about him: Jesus of Nazareth. Some said he was Messiah. He had healed lepers, blind people, and paralytics. The crowds murmured that his boat was headed toward shore from the southeast. Perhaps this man could do what none of the doctors could do, what none of the prayers of her rabbi and friends could do. But would she dare approach the crowd? Would she dare approach this man? There was no other choice. Maybe she could do so without anyone in the group noticing her. Perhaps she could even touch this Jesus and receive his healing without him seeing her.
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 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, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.
As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 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. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 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!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 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. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (Luke 8:40-48)
Why would Jesus expose this woman? Why wouldn’t he just let her touch him, be healed, and slide away without having to be exposed? Wasn’t this cruel?
On the contrary, Jesus is not interested in anonymous healing. He has no desire for someone to be healed physically without experiencing his spiritual healing. If Jesus had not responded, the woman might have wondered if she had stolen something from Jesus. She might have ruminated about whether she had made Jesus unclean, bringing him indignity or shame.
Faith is not anonymous.
Jesus meets the courageous faith of this woman with grace and compassion, but he will not allow her faith to remain disconnected from a relationship with him.
Jesus lifts the chin of those who seek him in faith and he speaks to us,
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
“Son, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Healing does not come as a force or as energy. It’s not magic. We don’t receive it by praying just the right prayer or coaxing God through our penance. The Healer offers healing and lifts our chin so that we might see and know him. Healing is always an invitation to a relationship.
Jesus sees us. He knows our pain. He knows our fear. He knows our loss. He knows our grief. When we reach out to touch him, he stops for us. And, in his mercy, he often heals us. But whether he chooses to grant us healing for our physical or emotional pain, he will always give us spiritual healing.
More significant than the physical and emotional healing is the spiritual healing he offers. “Go in shalom,” Jesus promises us. “Go in wholeness,” “Go in hope.” This woman who had suffered spiritual trauma in being ostracized from corporate worship was invited publicly back to fellowship. In a religious culture that tended to ascribe physical sickness to spiritual sickness, Jesus affirmed her faith.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached the words of the prophet Joel, declaring that what had been promised had come to pass, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Jesus knows your name. Have you called on his? Faith is not anonymous.
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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash