When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.
Today Ps. Wai Ming reminded us again that, no matter what happens God is still in control.
The woman with the issue of blood had been suffering for twelve years. Year after year. doctor after doctor – and yet there was no cure for her. By this time, she would have probably gone through a number different rituals, some which would have left her scarred; consumed bitter herbs and what was medicine at that time that would have made her insides burn. Still, she would continue to bleed. Shunned by society, alone in her misery – she had no way out. Failure after failure would have traumatised her, slowly killing whatever hope she’d clung to.
She would be, what is today, a cancer victim whom, stricken with stubborn tumors – weakened after years of agonizing bouts of chemotherapy and surgery – is forced to hear doctor after doctor say “I’m sorry, we’ve done everything we could but the tumors are back. Maybe we can try something else.”
Or someone who has fallen so deep into depression, that no matter what he does he cannot get out of the war and turmoil raging on in his mind. The harder he tries, the deeper he slips back in.
The woman with the issue of blood refused to give up. She kept believing, there had to be a way out. Though she could not see it, there had to be hope. And when he came, she knew.
Jairus knew.
Hope is here.
So with whatever dignity she had left, she stepped out into a crowd who considered her filth. Ignoring their angry glares and disgusted expressions, she pushed her way through them. Nothing could stop her. Because she knew – he’s the one – her hope, her healing, her salvation.
The times have changed, but we have not. We still need hope. Jesus is our only hope.
