From the Daily Lectionary for Tuesday in the Nineteenth Week after Pentecost
Luke 8:40-56
A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying.
As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
While he was still speaking, someone came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.” When Jesus heard this, he replied, “Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.” When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, “Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.
Two more healings among many in Luke’s Gospel. Again, this is a description of what salvation looks like. Salvation is manifest in well-being and dignity, the raising up of those of low estate. In these two healings perhaps the more important of the two is dignity. Both the hemorrhaging woman, and the dead daughter would have been considered “unclean” according to Jewish purity laws, and uncleanliness invites shame. It was believed in the ancient world that illness and calamity were due to the sins of the affected persons, or of their parents. That is why in performing healings Jesus sometimes says “your sins are forgiven.” He, of course, was not immune from the norms of the culture.
This passage, however, challenges the social norms of community. It would have been taboo for anyone other than a physician, or a priest/undertaker to come in contact with such uncleanliness. Jesus has demonstrated time and again that the ritual and traditional boundaries of the culture don’t apply when it comes to loving one’s neighbor. But there is a twist in this story. In both cases it is someone other than Jesus who crosses the proverbial boundary. Jairus, the father of the dying girl, takes it upon himself to seek Jesus’ help. The hemorrhaging woman dares to reach out and touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment. I think Luke is identifying the healing process as collaborative. It is not just about Jesus. It requires the faith of the community… and their love. It is as if Jesus is merely affirming what is already true; that faith itself engenders healing and wholeness… and dignity.
This is a snapshot of what makes a community thrive; that we in compassion attend to each other’s infirmities; we respond to cries of help; we live for the well-being of the other. Jesus tells the little girl to “get up.” The word for this is the same as the word for resurrection in the Greek. To live in the resurrection is to participate in God’s healing and restoration of the world.
Our loving care ultimately is the cure for the present pandemic, and for those yet to come. Faith is lived out in our loving our neighbor, and there is nothing more potent, more enduring. Ours is to pay attention to the bleeding and dying among us, and to answer their cries for help. In the love of God there is no unclean, only the faith that all manner of thing in the end will be well.
A Prayer for Strength and Confidence (BCP p. 459)
O God, giver of life and health: Comfort and relieve your servants who are sick, and give your power of healing to those who minister to their needs, that they may be strengthened in their weakness and have confidence in your loving care; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
