There are three women that Jesus had an interaction with while he walked this earth that just floor me. Ive been in awe of their hearts since I’ve read these stories for myself. I love that none of them have a book in the Bible named after them, in fact, none of their names were given at all. When I read their stories I am continually challenged by their humility, hunger, bravery, faith, trust, and love. Their encounters with Jesus reveal the heart of Papa so beautifully and inspire me to go deeper.
I thought of putting all of their stories in one blog but they are too profound …so this will be a three part blog
Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone from me.”
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Luke 8: 40-48
Faith like this…how astounding.
Jesus was on an agenda to heal a young girl but he stopped and welcomed this interruption.
Whoever she was, Jesus recognized her, acknowledged her, and took time to stop for her. Out of an entire crowd her touch was separated out and distinct to Jesus- it didn’t go unnoticed, she didn’t go unnoticed. How easy could it have been for Jesus to keep walking and not pay any mind? Others were pressing against his physical body, brushing against him probably making it a little difficult to walk with ease. This woman just brushed her hand against the hem of his cloak and he noticed it above all the rest.
She must have needed to push through the crowds herself in order to reach him….her faith motivating her in urgency to just get close enough to stretch out her hand in hopes it would reach far enough to touch him. She must have been low to the ground in order for her hand to catch his hem…I imagine her almost leaping out in order to land laid out on the ground in one desperate attempt in hopes that it might be enough to reach him.
In that moment she let go of any inhibition … with him right there, so close she couldn’t contain herself. If Jesus were walking by with a pressing crowd would I take that same desperate leap with the hope of just touching the very edge of his clothes?
He knew, and he called her out on it. He wouldn’t allow her to fade into the background. It wasn’t just okay with him that she had been healed ….cause thats not what he came for- She had to know his love for her too.
Knowing she couldn’t hide, she didn’t just walk forward with her hand down – she “came trembling and fell at his feet” ….This is a woman who was considered so defiled and so unclean because of her bleeding that no one wanted to touch her..she was caste aside and forgotten and now before this crowd, Jesus knew her and challenged her boldness even further when he asked who had touched him. The honor she paid him in falling before his feet I just love …
As she told the crowd why she had reached for him and what had happened I feel like Jesus must have looked so proud … seeing her speak with humble assurance and confidence when others told her to be ashamed of herself …but instead he got to see his daughter believe in him and believe that he had called her worthy.
I think she came trembling because the power of Holy Spirit that was released on her…not because she was afraid to come forth.
How beautiful is her faith? She didn’t have to believe that this man named Jesus could and would heal her…she could have stayed home. She could have decided that their was a greater chance of not being healed and suffering humiliation just wasn’t worth the effort of trying. She could have just accepted her disease and decided to live as best as she could with it.
How amazing is her boldness? To go after her healing with everything in her, just reaching out her hand was unbelievable. Her boldness to believe and not care who was in the crowd. Some people in the crowd probably recognized her and knew she was ‘unclean’ …even knowing this was a high possibility she still went and still pressed in. It didn’t end there…she came forth when Jesus called her forth. She stepped out on the platform to proclaim his glory…bold move.
What an amazing woman…believing wholeheartedly in the things this man spoke of that she was willing to put herself completely out there. To have faith that overwhelming! Tenaciously bold!
A woman of determination…she was bleeding for twelve years before her healing came forth. To have such a faith …to be so relentless.
