But Grace Said…

PATHWAY TO HIS PRESENCE
B.J. FUNK
 
Just that morning, she had been scolded by her younger sister for the constant trail of blood that always followed her. “Can’t you do something about it?” 
 
Softly, she answered, her head down due to embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I try. I really do. And, the doctors have done everything they can do. I’m out of money. I need a miracle.”
 
She never dreamed adulthood could be so trying. She never dreamed her body’s monthly cycle would turn into a year round cycle, leaving her so exhausted that she had to spend most days in bed.
 
Then, she heard about Jesus. She heard He was called The Healer. Maybe….she thought….just maybe He could cure her. But, no. Of course that wouldn’t work. She was a woman. It was a man’s world, and women having their period were considered unclean. There was no way she could get to the Healer. Despondency set in. 
 
Voices clamored out in the street, and she and her sister moved to their door. A large crowd gathered, so large that she could not see who the crowd was talking to. They seemed to be celebrating something…or someone. Soon, a small space appeared, and she saw a man. But, who?
 
“Jesus,” the crowd was shouting. “Jesus!” Her heart jumped with hope.
 
It was her only chance. She might be laughed at and pushed away, but she had to try. Slowly she began walking toward him, and then she bent down and started crawling. “I need to touch His hem. Just His hem. If I can touch the tassels, I can be healed. I just know it!”
 
The dust from the road sprayed her face, but she kept going. “Maybe no one will notice me.”
 
But, they did. “Go away! Move back! Jesus doesn’t have time for you! Get out of here!” 
 
Intimidated and feeling very alone, she began turning around.
 
But, Grace said, “No. Don’t stop. Keep going. Move forward. Keep going.”
 
A strength she never knew began surging through her body as she slowly continued moving toward Jesus. 
 
“I thought I told you to leave,” one large man said as he slapped her face. 
 
“You don’t belong here,” another said. “Go home where you belong. We all know who you are. You can’t be here! Your blood makes us unclean. Get away from us!” His fist hit the back of her head.
 
But, Grace said, “Go forward. Find Jesus. This is your only chance. You deserve this.”
 
She wasn’t quite sure what to do with the words, “You deserve this.” In twelve years of continuous bleeding, she didn’t think she deserved anything but to be cursed and ignored. 
 
Jesus was moving forward, the crowd was so large and tight that she thought she would never reach him. But, when she did, she stretched her arm as far as it would go before a short man reached down and slapped her away. She got up. Trying again, she reached for the hem of His garment, and she made it. 
 
A tingling wave moved into her. Immediately, she felt the blood dry up, her swollen tummy relax, and the overall pain in her body float away. Healing had come! She knew it! She turned to move back home, crawling quickly so as to escape the jeers of the men.
 
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. “I know someone touched me because power left me.” She stopped.
 
Her voice was shaking as she confessed it was her. She told Him why she did it and that she had been instantly healed.
 
Her hands trembled, and her heart beat faster than it ever had. The crowd grew quiet, waiting to see if Jesus would follow the Levitical law. The continual blood flow made her a sinner. There would be a punishment for that. And, besides, she had exposed any person she touched. No one said a word.
 
But Grace, who IS Jesus, said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
 
That’s it? No punishment? Just go? Go in peace?
 
No one argued with Jesus, and no one told her to leave. In fact, slowly one, then another moved over for her to start her journey back to her home. Then, a man….maybe it was the same one who had hit her in the back of the head…..reached down and helped her get up. The crowd continued to move over until she made it back into her home.
 
Stunned and unable to say a word, the crowd of men soon gathered back around Jesus, contemplating what had just happened. They couldn’t figure it all out. No one dared asked. They would discuss this later tonight, when the day was gone and Jesus had left. They would decide if it was right for Him to heal a woman with an issue of blood, thereby disobeying the Law of Moses. (Leviticus 15: 25-27) They were sure it wasn’t right. They would take this news to the Sanhedrin and let them decide.
 
Back safely inside her home, the woman was being hugged by neighbor women who had watched her suffer for twelve years and had come to rejoice with her.
 
But, something else had happened. Always just called “a woman,” she had now been dignified and raised to a high honor by Jesus Himself. He called her Daughter. She didn’t deserve this.
 
But, Grace said…I decide what you deserve, and I decide you should be called Daughter. Forever and ever, you are Daughter. My daughter. My beloved daughter. Your story will be told through the ages as a testament to the faithfulness of your God.
 
And it has been.
 
Luke 8:43-48
 
The Rev. B.J. Funk is a retired United Methodist pastor and can be reached at bjfunk0@gmail.com.