Relationships Redeemed
What SHe SAid - Part 12
Lisa Wallover, Guest Writer
Today’s Treasure
And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Mark 5:34
Suggested Scripture reading for today: Mark 5:25-34 or Luke 8:43-48
He was her last hope.
Her money was gone. Her health was gone. Her family and friends were long gone, a result of her twelve years of continued uncleanness. The requirements of the law prevented them from touching her—or even touching a cushion she had sat upon—lest they, too, be considered ceremonially unclean.
She was alone.
Twelve years of a flow of blood, which neither she nor the physicians could cure, had made her an outcast in her own land and even prevented her from entering the Temple or synagogue to worship the one true God, her God. The law of Moses was clear (Leviticus 15:19-33).
But she had heard of another man of God, a teacher, and a healer, and He was here, walking the streets of her city! Jesus had just been approached by Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, who had asked Him to heal his dying daughter. Jesus was on His way there, to do the very thing she longed for.
She had no champion to ask for her. She dared not speak. But she would not need to. The throng grew larger with the anticipation that a healing would be witnessed; more and more people pressed in on Jesus as He made His way through the streets. In the crush of the crowd, she could be invisible.
Now. Now would be the time she might touch Him and still be unseen. No one would need to know that she had made them unclean…that she had made the Teacher unclean…not if she could just come up from behind and brush His garments with her hand. Just touch the cloth, she thought, perhaps even the tassel of His prayer shawl…and she would be healed. Now!
Immediately she knew. Immediately she felt it. After twelve years of continuing in her uncleanness, after that one touch, she was freed from her suffering. And now…to get away. To get out of the crowd. After enduring what seemed a lifetime of agony alone in her shame, she desperately wanted to be alone in her healing. Her secret healing.
“Who touched My garments?” His voice rose above the crowd. “Who was it that touched Me?”
She froze. How did He know?
“You see the crowd pressing around You, and yet You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” His disciples asked. Yes, perhaps they would dissuade Him. Certainly, Jairus desired Him to continue quickly. But Jesus would not move from there.
“Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from Me,” He said. He had felt it, too. The power had not been in the cloth. It had been in Him.
In fear and trembling, she stepped toward Him. What would happen now? Would she lose her healing? Would the crowd, so many of whom were now unclean because of her, turn in anger?
It did not matter; she would tell Him her story. She would tell them all. She fell to her knees and declared both her humiliation and her healing. She told what Jesus had done for her: He had made her clean.
And then, she waited.
One word. One word told her everything. One word completed her healing. The one time in all of Scripture Jesus would address someone saying this word, and He said it to her: “Daughter…”
In that word, Jesus proclaimed to her and to all who were there that she was under His care and His protection. She was not alone. Gently, He removed any lingering fear or doubt: she was a daughter of the Covenant, a child of the King.
Having restored the relationship, He then taught her. He teaches us all:
Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.
Mark 5:34
There was nothing remarkable in His garment. It was her faith in Him that connected her both to the Person and to the power of God. Jesus had made her clean. No longer hiding nor hidden, she was freed to live out her new life of faith in His peace. Her healing was complete.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
It is the same for us. Jesus, our Priest, makes atonement for us before the Lord, fulfilling the law and restoring our relationship with God. We are adopted as God’s sons and daughters. Under the cloak of Christ, we receive a spiritual healing that begins on earth and carries us into eternity.
How does your own adoption, and your new identity as a son or daughter of God, free you to live life more fully?
How does Jesus gently and kindly reassure you of His care, and restore you to God?
Who else might need to hear this same good news?
PRAYER
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Lord, thank You for knowing exactly what I need and for so graciously and patiently meeting me there. Your care for this woman encourages me to honestly bring all my hidden hurts to You. Thank You for this remarkable picture of faith and the promise of Your unfailing companionship.
Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
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Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.