The story of the woman with the issue of blood is one that
resonates with me, I find it compelling in its simplicity and depth. The story
took on a whole new life to me in recent time because for almost 5 years of my
life, I felt I had an issue of blood! I had horrendous periods that lasted up
to 3 weeks…yes you read right, 3 weeks! And the periods came like clockwork
every 28 days so if you do the math, you’ll know why I felt like that woman. I also see the story from 3 different angles: the Woman,
the Healer and the Crowd.
The Woman
Every time I read that story, and I do read it often, I am struck
by the fact that, in the era in which the central character lived, everyone must have believed that she was
the unlikeliest of people to have close contact with Jesus; in fact, she was
the unlikeliest person to be found in a crowd. She must have been written off
as cursed and thereby an outcast, whose only fate was a lonely death. There
were just so many things holding her down, so many legitimate reasons for her
to give up and die in that condition. Let’s take a look at the obvious reasons
she shouldn't have been in that crowd:
According to Jewish law, she was ritually
unclean and everything she came in contact with was tainted (check out the full
requirements of the Law in Leviticus 15:19-33)
As she was ritually unclean, she must have been
alone. The account in Mark doesn't mention a family but if she had any, prior
to her condition, they would have been long gone. Her family may not have left
her out of spite but inability to have any contact with a family member for
years would put a strain on a relationship
She had been ill with a flow of blood for 12
years, so she must have been gravely ill, debilitated by the loss of blood;
anemic to the point of death. She must have been so weak that it would have
required extreme will power to propel herself into that crowd
She had spent all that she had on physicians so
she must have been in dire poverty.
There are other practical reasons why people wouldn't have
wanted her around; she would have carried the constant stench of blood around, so
apart from Jewish Law, she would have really been unclean. Remember there were no modern sanitary items for her to
use, if you think about it, the Law was practical. But this didn't stop her
from taking a decision to do something to change the trajectory of her life. She
heard about the Solution and she pushed her way into that crowd and touched the
hem of His garment.
This woman has also taught me about surrender and
flexibility in my approach to God, she didn't seek an
audience with Jesus at all costs, she didn't cry out “Jesus heal me” as some other people
did; she looked at that crowd and decided that it would be next to impossible
to push through and have a face to face with Him, so she took a pragmatic decision – she touched His garment, the rest is history.
The Healer
He was on His way to heal a little girl, the daughter of Jairus,
one of the rulers of the synagogue; the man had begged Jesus to come and lay
hands on her to heal her (he had pretty specific ideas about how his daughter
was going to be healed like some of us have specific ideas of how God should
answer our prayers). Jesus didn't quibble, He didn't ignore the plea. He simply
went along with Jairus. His willingness in itself is telling because people of
Jairus’s class resented Jesus; in fact, some of them claimed that He was demon
possessed!
As He was going, He felt power go out of Him…I used to
wonder about this but now I understand that faith is the one thing that grabs
His attention. If there’s one thing that makes God stand still for a man, it’s his faith. Faith met with power in that instant and He just had
to know where it emanated from, that’s why He stopped to ask “Who touched my
clothes”
When He turned around and saw her and heard her story, He
didn't rebuke her for touching Him in her unclean state, instead He called her
daughter - a term of affection for someone who was badly in need of affection.
When she touched His garment, she was physically healed, when He stopped to
speak to her, she was emotionally and psychologically healed.
Apart from the healing, He had time for her; remember He was
on his way to heal a VIP’s daughter but He had time for an unclean outcast.
The Crowd
“So Jesus went with
him and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him” (Mark 5:24)
I don’t really know why that crowd was following Him to
Jairus's house but I think they all wanted to see a spectacle, they were true
spectators. Everyone wants to experience the extraordinary; we want to tell the
tale in the first person. Those people were eager to see what ‘magic’ Jesus
would perform on the little girl. The thing
about being a spectator is that you’re constantly watching someone else’s story
unfolding. When Jesus wondered aloud about who touched Him, some of His
disciples took umbrage because everyone was literally touching Him so how could
He ask such a question? The question I have always wanted to ask is, in that
whole crowd, was there no one who needed healing of some sort apart from the
frail woman who touched Him?
There are loads of people who are within touching distance
of saving grace and power but they’re too busy being voyeurs to extend their
faith.
