Raju was in Church on Sunday morning more due to his father’s compulsion than to any personal interest. The previous night, Saturday night, was spent in a wild party in a pub. Usually his Saturday nights were spent in a pub or in a way out Dhabha.
On this Sunday morning he was feeling very miserable, completely out of place in that Church. Most of the others were well groomed with bright shining faces. He was shabbily dressed with a gloomy face. Inside, he felt so guilty and shameful. He felt he was not fit and worthy to be in this place. It was then that he caught the attention of the Pastor. With his kind, affectionate look fixed on Raju; he came near him, put his arm around him and welcomed him very warmly to the service. Not a look of disapproval or condescension, not a word of condemnation.
He treated Raju as he treated all the others only with a special word of warm welcome. A similar scene we find in Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:24-34 and Luke 8:45-48. This was a woman with a problem of bleeding from which she suffered for twelve years. Her Problem “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” (Mark 5:26). There was physical suffering… Our Lord said to her, “Be freed from your suffering” (5:34).
The Great Shepherd does take note of our physical suffering. There was a large crowd pressing around Him. Yet, He was aware of the suffering of this woman. There was moral and spiritual suffering. She might have wondered why she was suffering like that. Was it because of her sin or the sin of her parents? Also, this particular disability made her defiled and unclean. She could not live a normal life. If she touched someone, that person would be defiled according to the Jewish law. Even the articles she touched would be defiled.
She could not be in any religious or social function. This would have created a sense of dejection and loneliness. How often a person practising some sin secretly feels defiled and guilty and gives in to an inferiority complex and a sense of rejection! There was emotional suffering, a deep sense of frustration and hopelessness. She had gone from one doctor to another and it was useless. She had spent all she had and was left with very little. Also, she was getting worse. How often people go from one doctor to another and even from one healing meeting to another and end up in deep frustration! The Great Shepherd must have known all this. Sometimes we seem to be a bundle of complications and problems.
But the comforting fact is that our Lord, the Great Shepherd knows all this about us. Her Approach The greatest thing that she did was to come to Jesus with all her suffering, her sense of guilt and defilement and frustrations. Now, the problem was to get His attention. The crowd was large and they were pressing around Him. What chance could she have in this situation to present her need? She thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed” and came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak.
She was afraid to come to the front and face Him. We may call this superstitious faith but still it was the beginning of faith like a dimly burning wick. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3). The problem is often that we write ourselves off spiritually! Our Lord does not despise us or reject us however feeble our faith is and hesitant our approach is. The action of the Great Shepherd His awareness Even in that big crowd He was aware of her need and what was happening to her. “Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it” (5:32). His acceptance His question, “Who touched my clothes?” surprised the disciples because the crowd was pressing around Him.
But He wanted to establish a personal relationship with her, assuring her of His love and acceptance. He did not treat the sick as so many bodies to be healed. Each one is an individual with a body and a soul. To treat human beings as soulless bodies or bodiless souls is a great mistake in Christian service. His holistic healing As we see from Mark 5:30, her bleeding had stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. But now, He gave her the assurance of her healing not only physically but also spiritually establishing a personal relationship with her. He called her “Daughter” and said, “Your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (5:34). He removed her sense of defilement and uncleanness accepting her as His daughter, gave her hope and wholeness of life. The Great Shepherd is thorough in His redemptive work.
Author: Rev. Dr. Theodore Williams is a retired pastor of the Methodist Church in the Southern India Regional Conference.
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