Slices
Prepare
On a typical day, how many interruptions do you experience? Do you ever express your frustration to God? Does God sometimes interrupt your busy-ness?
Bible passage
Jesus raises a dead girl and heals a sick woman
40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 ‘Who touched me?’ Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’
46 But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.’
47 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. 48 Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.’
49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ he said. ‘Don’t bother the teacher anymore.’
50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.’
51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. ‘Stop wailing,’ Jesus said. ‘She is not dead but asleep.’
53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, ‘My child, get up!’ 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Explore
This story weaves two incidents together. One interrupted the other. First, the only daughter of the synagogue leader was dying. Second, a ceremonially unclean woman was hunting for help. There was a twelve-year-old girl and a woman with a twelve-year-old problem. They could not have been more different. One was probably the princess of the village, while the other a bankrupt social outcast.
Notice how Jesus honoured the woman. He could have left her unnoticed and carried on to care for Jairus’ daughter. Instead, he stopped and spoke with her (vs 47,48). If he had carried on, she would still have been healed, but she would not have been socially restored. See how Jesus called her ‘daughter’ and publicly acknowledged her faith. This was a beautiful moment, but it must have felt like a fateful delay for Jairus.
When news came that Jairus’ daughter had died, everything seemed lost (v 49). Jesus was not perturbed. He took a small group into the house and raised her back to life! The interruption led to wholeness for the woman and a greater miracle for Jairus and his family.
Respond
Praise God that his grace pours out to rich and poor. Praise God that his grace pours out as he chooses, even if that sometimes interrupts our expectations and creates confusion for us.
Deeper Bible study
‘Just one touch as he moves along, / pushed and press’d by the jostling throng, / just one touch and the weak was strong, / cured by the Healer divine.’1
The unnamed bleeding woman is desperate; she has bled for twelve years, with no doctor able to help her. A menstruating woman is ceremonially unclean under Jewish law, and so is any person or thing she touches.2 This means she would have been ostracised for all these long years. Perhaps her husband has left her, or she has lost her family. She has run out of options and is covered in shame and disgrace.
When she sees Jesus, she somehow knows he can heal her. The crowd is crushing around him, so she must fight through the throng to reach him, which must be very difficult if she is not allowed to touch anyone. I picture her crawling on her hands and knees through peoples’ legs to get close enough. When Jesus asks, ‘Who touched me?’ (v 45), it is not because he doesn’t know. It is because he recognises that this woman needs to step forward and identify herself; to let her simply slip away would not accomplish the full healing she requires. Clearly terrified, she falls trembling at Jesus’ feet. Jesus doesn’t specifically call her out, but he allows her to identify herself, to exercise her own choice, to claim her own story. Part of her healing is in finding her voice and telling her full story to Jesus and all the onlookers.
She must have felt exposed and ashamed so many times, but Jesus is safe. He listens carefully to her, tenderly calls her ‘daughter’ (see v 48), is willing to associate with her and reassures her that her faith has healed her. He tells her to ‘Go in peace’, and this phrase taps into the Hebrew tradition of shalom, representing holistic wholeness and wellness in every way, the aligning of all things.
Many people are touching Jesus, yet her touch is different – it is the touch of desperate faith, the touch that receives healing. Reach out and touch Jesus in faith today.
1 Birdie Bell, 1897 2 Lev 15:19–28
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Job 33,34; Luke 24
Pray for Scripture Union
The staff team and volunteers of Local Mission Partner The Lighthouse are resting after another busy year. Pray that they will come back in September refreshed and with renewed excitement to share their faith with the 95 in the schools of Crawley.
