Today's passage is two stories in one passage.
It tells the account of Jesus was approached by a ruler to come save is daughter, but on the way, a woman, who has been bleeding for 12 years, follows Jesus, hoping that if she just touches his robes, then she'll be healed. So she quietly touches the edge of his robe, and Jesus turns to her, telling her to take heart that her faith has healed her. When Jesus finally reaches the ruler's house, it's loud and bustling outside the house because the girl has just died but Jesus tells everyone that she is just sleeping. Everyone laughs at Jesus like He's crazy, but Jesus goes in and walks out with the girl, hand in hand.
As I was reading this, I wondered how these two stories were combine as one. There is no connection between the girl and woman, but I think this passage shows that all things happen for reason and in a particular order.
If you think about it, a girl was dying, and so one would see the urgency of the matter as her father begged and pleaded on her behalf, but then this woman comes from behind and is healed by touching His robes. This probably delayed Jesus from immediately going to the ruler's house before it was too late. Sadly, the girl died, but Jesus brought her back to life like it was nothing. I mean he told the mourners to go away because the girl was sleeping. And even though he was mocked and laughed at for His crazy comment, Jesus goes in and proves them wrong by bringing the girl out, alive and well. In the end, Jesus came through, even though it looked like all the odds were against him.
Now we should take a look at the woman, who touched Jesus's robes. She suffered for 12 long years. We don't know if she did something to warrant her to have such a disease, but all we know is that she was desperate. It was in that desperation and by her faith in Jesus that ultimately saved her because she didn't scream or wail to get Jesus's attention. She didn't even dare to approach him face to face. She figured that if she could be stealthy like ninja and discreetly touch the edge of his robe, that would be enough to heal her. So she quietly did what she had to do, and nobody would have noticed her until Jesus stopped and said something.
Things happen, in our lives, the way they do because it is according to God's will for us. Sometimes, it happens not the way we'd expect it to, or when we want it to happen, but we have to remember that God will always come through for us like He did for the woman and the girl. He has a plan and His ways are always good. The question, we have to ask ourselves, is do we have the faith to trust and obey.
Oh and an interesting fact that I remembered was that the girl was told to be 12 years old, in Mark and Luke's accounts, and the woman was bleeding for 12 years. The woman suffered for as along as the girl was alive. Coincidence, I think not.
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4 comments:
hey michelle, thank you for your blog... i enjoyed reading it... food for thought--i always thought that the two stories were unrelated too!
Thanks for the insight, Michelle!
Now we can be frustaded because things in our life are not going the way we planned, but God has always better solutions.
I need to look at the bigger picture!
Funny, as I was reading Michelle's remark on comparing the woman to the girl, I realized that the miracle that raised the little girl from the dead was more of a side note to me compared to the woman that was healed in the streets. One would think that raising the dead is the greater miracle but I am more drawn to the part of the story when the woman put her faith in Jesus Christ. Maybe it's because it doesn't surprise me that Jesus can raise the dead but that Jesus acknowledges faith even when it was wished to be unnoticed.
The woman had faith that could move mountains but probably didn't even know it, let alone know that it is her faith that would heal her. Jesus clearly said to the woman, "your faith has healed you." but I think what saved her is the fact Jesus acknowledged her and showed her compassion.
The woman had faith that moved her mountain- the kind of faith I would like to have. But I think Jesus wants us to have more than that. I think the power of Jesus is not meant to merely supplement the life we already have but to bring us into a relationship with Him. It is what brings life into our spiritual deadness.
thanks michelle for such an insightful reflection. i don't think it's an accident that the two incidents in the story intersect. seemingly unrelated events often intersect in our lives too, although we often lack the discernment at first to understand how the events are related.
the ruler's daughter had just died, but in an incredible act of faith, he seeks Jesus out, begging Him to come and bring her back to life. God be praised, Jesus consents to go home with the ruler.
along the way the woman with the bleeding interrupts the procession. no details are given as to what is going on in the mind of the ruler, but we can imagine how he must have despaired at the delay.
those few moments that Jesus spent with the woman must have seemed an eternity to the ruler, tormented as he must have been by those two everpresent doubts we all have when we question the Lord:
is Jesus WILLING to answer our prayer?
is Jesus ABLE to answer our prayer?
as we know, Jesus showed not only that He was willing, but actually able to raise someone from the dead. we need not worry about the apparent delays in the answering of our prayers. He walks alongside us in life, just as He did with the ruler, knowing the exact right time to answer our requests and meet all our needs.
if He can actually raise someone from the dead, is He not able to do all the other lesser things?
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