(continued story of the woman with an issue of blood – Mark 5:21-34)

Shulah was amazed at the healing story a woman in the village told her. She asked, “Where is this miraculous healer?”

“He’s in Capernaum. His name is Jesus,” she said.

Along the way, Shulah noticed another group of excited people surrounding a man who had been touched by Jesus. She talked to a girl standing nearby. “Why is everyone so excited?”

The girl pointed. “The man who is talking is my uncle. He has always had terribly twisted legs and could barely walk even with crutches. His sons carried him in a cart to Capernaum and the teacher healed him!”

“And the teacher’s name was Jesus, right?”

“Yes. Have you seen him?”

“No, but I intend to.”

Shulah felt real hope for the first time in a long time and set out for Capernaum. When she arrived, she saw a crowd gathered around a man who looked like a synogogue leader. She asked a woman nearby, “Who is the man that is talking to the synogogue leader?”

“Oh, that’s Jesus, the healer. He’s talking to Jairus, whose daughter is sick.”

Jesus stood only a few feet away. Shulah’s heart pounded in anticipation. But just then, Jesus turned to walk away with the man while others crowded behind him. I’m so close. I must follow. Maybe if I just touch the hem of his robe I will be healed!

Shulah edged her way through the crowd, her heart pounding in anticipation, an opening here, another opening there. Finally, she reached through and touched his garment. The crowd rushed on past her. Suddenly, a sensation, a burning sensation passed through her body, something she had never felt before, a cleansing kind of feeling. I’m healed, she sighed. I can feel it!

Jesus stopped and said, “Who touched me?”

Shulah’s emotions took a spin. Fear gripped her soul when she saw Jesus looking her way. Others turned and looked. She stepped forward and bowed down before him. Jesus knelt by her and touched her shoulder. “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” As he helped her to stand, he said, “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Just then, three men came to Jesus to give a report on the daughter of Jairus. Jesus was whisked away to see about the situation.

Hardly able to believe what had just happened, Shulah hugged her arms. “I’m whole,” she whispered. The woman she had talked to earlier came to her. “Oh, my dear one, you’ve had the healing touch of the Master.”

“Yes, yes I have!” Shulah smiled and broke into tears of joy. She hugged the woman. “I’m cleansed. I’m whole. Praise be to God!”

And so, my dear friends, you have the account of “the woman who touched the hem of his garment.” We don’t know her name. We don’t know that she had two sisters or where she lived or if her father cast her out for being unclean, but all three gospel writers tell about this woman and her healing. I merely enhanced the story with possibilities to help us internalize her experience and see this young woman as the real person she was.

A final take-away for me, is that even though Jesus was about to minister to a dying young girl twelve years old, he was also ministering to a woman, ill for twelve years. The numerical 12 has meaning in Hebrew letters. It indicates divine authority and God in control of perfect timing. We definitely see the double indications of that in this segment of Jesus’ life with these two girls. Look for his touch in your life.

~ Joyce ~