This is the story of two women. One is helpless to act on her own behalf, while the other is legally prohibited from doing so. How does faith impact the lives of these two women? What can we learn from their stories? If our eyes and ears are attentive to the grace that they received- one through her own boldness, and the other through the boldness of another- then we will learn something not only about their own experience, but also about the possibilities of our own future with a generous and loving God.
The first thing that strikes us is the combination of humility and boldness exhibited by both Jairus, and the woman with the issue of blood. Here is Jairus, a synagogue official, falling at the feet of Jesus, who has no officially recognized station or position. In this moment, his own pride matters very little, when placed on a balance with the health of his little girl. More than likely some of his friends in the religious establishment would have whispered among themselves at his willingness to approach this Jesus fellow, whose "official" credentials were non-existent. And yet, in this moment the circumstances of Jairus' life have forced him to come to the realization that he needs help, and so he bows, before the only one who seemingly has the ability to deliver his little girl. If Jairus' actions are humble with a touch of boldness, then the actions of the woman with the issue of blood are quite the opposite, being characterized by a boldness that causes her to defy the rules her community lives by. According to the law, she shouldn't even be in the crowd (see Leviticus 15: 25-30), as her medical condition makes her ritually unclean. And yet, here she is, bold enough to break the law because it has become obvious to her that it is the only chance she has at receiving healing. Faith is recognizing our own limitations, knowing when we need help, and boldly approaching the only one capable of providing the grace and forgiveness we need to desperately.
A second thing we learn from Jesus' interaction with the woman, and with Jairus' daughter, is that we are not defined by those around us. On the contrary, we are defined by Jesus Christ, the one who created us. In the eyes of society the woman was physically ill; impoverished, because doctors charge whether they are successful at healing you or not; and ritually unclean. This is how others saw her. Jesus' saw her in a very different way, as witnessed by the act that He calls her "daughter". By referring to her in a way that demonstrates her intrinsic value, Jesus is granting her not only physical healing, but also binding up the spiritual and psychological wounds see has suffered because of her long illness. In a similar way, Jairus' daughter was labeled by those around her as being dead, and understandably so. Their fault lies not because they saw the little girl as dead, for that was in reality her situation. Their failure was in failing to understand the scope of Jesus' power, and it's ability to defeat even death itself. Their laughter calls to mind other instances of people laughing in the Bible. Both Abraham and Sarah laugh at the thought of a couple their age having a child (Gen. 17:15-17 & 18:9-15). The soldiers and those present for Jesus' crucifixion mock Him and make light of His death. In both instances, that of Abraham and Sarah, and that of the soldiers and crowd that mock Jesus, the laughter and mockery is over-whelmed by the power of God to accomplish His plan on the earth, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. If God can cause the old to bear children and the dead to rise, surely He can accomplish His will in each of our lives, despite what others may say or think. The opinions of others are shown to be beyond insignificant in the presence of our resurrected Lord.
A final lesson that we can learn from this story is perhaps the most important one of the three, and that is that nothing separates us from the love of Christ. We typically place a lot of pressure on ourselves to "get things right" when it comes to our religious life. While it is an admirable goal to want to rightly understand God's will for us, and one that I think is worthy of pursuit, at times in our zeal to pursue that goal we buy into the idea that a failure to properly understand on our part will become an impediment to God's grace. Consider the instance of the woman with the issue of blood. Her desire to touch Jesus' garment was almost certainly related to a prevalent belief at the time that the garments of powerful figures were themselves imbued with power. Is this actually how it worked? No. However, even in her misunderstanding the woman recognized Jesus as a powerful figure, and thus sought Him out. Notice that despite her failure to understand the process, she is still healed. It is after she is healed that Jesus takes the time to correct her thinking, telling her that her faith has made her well. What does this mean? It means that perhaps we should spend less time dissecting the process, and more time studying and reflecting on the one who empowers the process. Faith comes with a certain degree of mystery, elements of belief that lie beyond understanding. It's not misunderstanding that leads us astray, but our efforts to explain the inexplicable. It's a manifestation of God's grace that even when we don't get everything right, He still imparts healing, just as He did for the woman with the issue of blood. For Jesus' part, it's also worth noticing that in healing the woman, Jesus subjects Himself to ritual impurity. It may be a little odd to think of Jesus' as being ritually impure, but then again it is also a little odd to think of a crucified Messiah. If we are impressed by Jesus' willingness to cross the boundaries of ritual purity, how much more impressed will we be when we see Him cross the boundary between life and death? Jesus' willingness to die is His own way of defining, or shall we say redefining who we are, and at the same time demonstrating the boundless love of a God who goes anywhere, and does anything necessary to reconcile us to Himself.
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