Is there an area in your life that makes you feel confined, or something that you are going through that no one else seems to understand? Perhaps this passage from Luke 8 will encourage you.
During His ministry on earth, Jesus performed many miracles. When people came to Him and asked to be healed, He healed them. He also cast out demons, and He forgave sins. We approach prayer in the same way, asking God for our needs in repentance and faith. In this week’s passage, we see the importance of faith when we approach God; no words were said out loud, but a twelve-year long prayer for healing was answered.
This is a very short account and a lot is not said about this woman apart from the continuous bleeding with which she had been suffering. However, from scriptural context, we can get a few clues about what her life might have been like before she was healed.
Under the Jewish law, a woman who was bleeding was considered ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15), and thus this woman would have been living in isolation for twelve years; she could not go to the synagogue to celebrate the Jewish festivals like everyone else, and she probably could not socialise with others as they would have been made unclean by touching anything she touched. The passage in Luke also tells us that she could not find a cure, which implies that she had probably spent a lot of money and resources consulting physicians, putting herself in a place of vulnerability.
Now imagine if you were in the same position as this woman: after twelve long years of suffering and waiting to be healed, she heard about Jesus and all the miracles He had done. Better yet, she must have heard the commotion in town, with people saying that Jesus was there! This was her chance to be healed. She prepared herself, pushing through the crowds to get to Jesus. She did not shout to Him or call attention to herself as others who asked for healing had done; instead, in faith, she just reached for the fringe of His garment.
She touched Heaven not by lifting her hands up high, but by bowing in submission to the authority and healing power of Jesus as she knelt down to touch His robe. By healing her, Jesus not only saved her from her physical suffering, but also made her clean, giving her freedom. He publicly acknowledges her so that she (and those around her) have the assurance that she has been healed and cleansed, and then, He tells her to ‘Go in peace.’ She has been living in isolation and suffering; but now, she can live in peace.
As you reflect on this passage, consider the following:
– The woman approaches Jesus on her own, without any family or friends. Even with a large jostling crowd around her and Jesus, her focus was on Jesus and the healing He could bring.
– She comes in silence and simplicity to Jesus; when we approach God in prayer, it does not need to be loud and showy.
– She came to Jesus because of what she had heard about Him; we have the whole Bible to tell us about who God is and all that He has done for us.
– She came in submission to Jesus, having faith that if she could just meet with Him, she would be made well.
What are you doing to prepare yourself to move from confinement to Jesus? What promise in the Word of God are you holding on to the help you take that step forward? How are you going to push through the crowd of unbelief, of embarrassment, and of apathy to get to Jesus?
It’s never too late to leave where you are to find God; there is never going to be a crowd big enough to keep you from His feet; it’s never going to be too difficult or impossible to reach out to Jesus.
As you seek Jesus, may your faith in Him make you well, and may you go in peace.