As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Luke 8:42-48
I've always read this story as though it was merely about Christ's great power to forgive and heal. I never really thought about the nature of the woman's condition, which gives greater weight to Christ's actions here.
This woman had a discharge of blood for 12 years. Do you know what the implications of this would have been? According to Leviticus 15:25-27, this woman would have been ceremonially unclean for over a decade. Not only would she have been unclean, but everything she touched would have been unclean. People who touched her would be made unclean. Uncleanliness and ceremonial impurity would have pervaded every part of her life for 12 years.
She would have been totally ostracized from the people of God. No one would have wanted to be near her—no friendships, romance, hugs, pats on the back—nothing. She was, according to the Law, totally unclean and unable to do anything about it despite her best efforts.
Mark's account tells us she "suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had" (Mark 5:26). She tried doctor after doctor, procedure after procedure, medicine after medicine, all to no avail. She had no money left. It is doubtful she would have received much (if any) support from other people. Perhaps the money she had was money she made before her discharge began. She was at the end of her rope with nowhere left to turn.
That is, until Jesus of Nazareth comes to town.
There in those narrow, ancient city streets, jam-packed with people all trying to get close to Jesus, our lady finds herself swept up in the current of the crowds. I imagine her keeping her head down as she weaved her way through people trying to reach Him. She didn't want a lot of attention drawn to her, seeing as how everyone she touched in the crowd would have been made unclean.
Perhaps a level of fear gripped her heart when she finally saw Jesus standing with His back to her.
Would He be willing to touch me and heal me? Wouldn't that make Him unclean? Will He turn away from me like everyone else has? Will He look at me like I'm a monster and cast me away from Him, humiliating me even further in front of all these people?
Perhaps it was this fear that caused her to opt for a secret touch when Jesus wasn't looking. Sure enough, as soon as her hand touched the fringe of His garment, she was healed. Of course, there wasn't anything magical about Jesus' clothing. It was the faith that it took for her to reach out and touch Him that led to her healing. Jesus knew someone touched Him immediately.
In fact, Jesus knew exactly who touched Him. He had walked through those streets with her in mind, ready for the exact moment when she would reach out to touch whatever part of His body she could get her hand on. And His heart filled with compassion for her, as the gospel writers love to remind us (Matt. 9:36).
For the first and only time recorded in the gospels, Jesus turns to her and addresses her as "daughter." Who knows how old she was? She could have been middle-aged, or even in her early twenties; We aren't sure. But this loving word healed something in her heart that she didn't know would be healed that day. She was loved. Jesus spoke to her in terms of a relationship. He gave her what no one else was able to give her: healing, compassion, and grace.
Jesus, the totally Pure One, was not in danger of being made unclean by her touch. He had more purity in Him than she had uncleanness in her. More than being ceremonially unclean from her discharge of blood, she was unclean due to her status as a sinner. People may have recoiled away from her lest they touch her and be made unclean, but she was no more unclean in her soul than anyone else. And anyone who looked down on her forgot that they, too, were unclean to the core because they were guilty of offending a righteous God.
Jesus answers her with tender words: "Your faith has made you well; go in peace." And so she did. She was now clean on the outside, finally able to enjoy community, relationships, and fellowship again with God's people. But she was also clean on the inside, able to see, savor, and magnify the great Savior who loved her while she was at her most desperate.
No matter how badly you've messed up, no matter what family you come from, no matter what your past looks like, no matter how messy your heart is, you are never beyond the willingness of Christ to forgive and heal. Jesus has more compassion and purity in Him than you have sin and dirtiness in you.
So if you ever find yourself at the end of your rope, having exhausted all avenues for self-improvement, elbow your way through the crowds and find Jesus waiting for you with arms outstretched and a heart full of mercy.