Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well

While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live." So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land.

- Matthew 9:18-26

In yesterday's reading, Jesus passed a tax collector named Matthew, and told him, " Follow Me." Later as Jesus was at table in the house at Capernaum, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Him and His disciples. Some Pharisees asked His disciples, "Why does your Teacher sit with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Some disciples of John the Baptist came and asked Jesus, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live." So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. This is another story also found, with a little more detail, in other Gospels. In Luke's Gospel, this ruler is Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. So, let's remember that Jesus is speaking about new wine and new wineskins, and just then the ruler comes to Him. Jesus immediately acts, along with the disciples who follow.

And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. Again, in Luke's Gospel, we're given a little more detail. The crowd is jostling Jesus and the disciples. Jesus feels His power go out of Himself, and asks, "Who touched Me?" No one can tell with such a crowd; but the woman came forward herself. We have to consider the context of the story. Jesus is on His way to help the ruler's child, a precious daughter. The ruler's faith in Jesus is so great, that he believes Jesus has the power of life and death. This woman with the blood flow of twelve years would have been considered ritually unclean. My study bible says, "In the Old Testament, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, imposing religious and social restrictions, for contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Lev. 18:25)." Let's imagine this woman's perspective after twelve years! But the key here is her faith, as expressed by Jesus. She thinks she can secretly touch His hem, given her condition. But it's her faith that makes all the difference, the connection of faith in the relationship it creates with Christ. All He tells her here is, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." He calls her daughter, even as He is on His way to the daughter of the ruler. Touching Him, her blood flow, none of this makes any difference to Him. She is healed because of the faith that creates a bond that goes beyond our own understanding, a kind of recognition and connection that goes beyond words and into the kingdom where God rules, and God's rules apply. The power of that mercy is second to nothing.

When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. The flute players and the noisy crowd are all signs of mourning. These people are all convinced of the young girl's death (in Luke's Gospel, we're told she is twelve years old -- the same age as the woman's length of affliction). As a picture of great contradiction to the woman with the blood flow, who touched His hem seemingly in secret, these people ridicule whatever Jesus has to say.

But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land. One thing that I find very intriguing is the detail that He put the crowd outside. In Luke's reporting, Jesus also kept everyone else outside but His closest disciples and her parents. Jesus keeps out a noisy and possibly volatile public, and lets in only those whose real focus is going to be on the girl and on His work -- and in some sense, the mystery of what is happening here. It reminds me of His injunction to pray to our Father who sees in secret, in the secret place. Holy work is for reverence and focus; we shut out all that distracts. We can imagine the woman who touched His hem, and her singular focus on the faith that drew her near to Him, even in the midst of the crowd. When we look at things this way, we can also understand her singular faith.

Let's consider Christ's expressions of mercy in these healings. In this particular section of Matthew's Gospel we have already encountered many healings. There is the healing of the paralytic, of Peter's mother-in-law, of the demon-possessed men in Gentile territory, of the boy servant of the centurion, and of the leper. In yesterday's reading, we read about the "healing" of Matthew himself, a tax collector who became a disciple. In that passage, Jesus told the Pharisees, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." So, what do all these diverse healings and signs teach us, today's reading included? Overall, there is the impact of God's mercy. It really doesn't matter where people come from or where they have been, this faith acts to connect to a healing power. It is an initiation into something that sets things aright, "lets go" our sins, our "debts" and begins to work in us. We have to presume that behind this faith is the power of Jesus' command to Matthew: "Follow Me." These are not just random happenings out of time and by coincidence; rather they are signs of the presence of the kingdom which Christ is bringing - even in His incarnation - into the world. They are signs that through faith, we can become members of that kingdom, and His disciples. Each person who comes to Him, comes with a kind of earnestness and singularity of purpose that we can't really ignore. They all want deeply what Christ has to offer. One man's friends bring him, the centurion comes with great reverence for a boy servant or slave, the ruler in our story comes for a beloved daughter - and the woman, though she has been afflicted for twelve years, comes behind Him, in secret, only hoping to touch His hem. But God's mercy, as Physician, heals them all. We note that both females in today's reading are called "Daughter" - one with so much before her, and the other with so much behind. It really doesn't matter where they have been or what has gone on before -- what matters is the moment of connection (even through parents and guardians), that depth at which Creator and creature connect, a depth in the heart, a recognition, even one we can infer from Matthew's answer to the call to "Follow Me." Yesterday, we spoke of the journey that begins in that faith. It's not necessarily a straight one, and certainly not an easy one! The whole of the Old and New Testaments speak to that. But it is one that can lead us for the rest of our lives, in which we may participate in this kingdom, bear it within us and in our lives, in which the Physician works to take us forward and leads us into His version of health, His image of what it means for us to be healed. This may be at great odds with our own expectations! In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, St. Paul tells us that he prayed several times to be released from a particular affliction. The answer he received is surprising: And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. We all know the powerful apostle that was St. Paul, the effects of his life upon the whole of the world, that continue through Scripture. And yet, it is to St. Paul that the words of the Divine Physician come: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Let us remember that the Physician heals in the image He has of us, and that even our own strength might just be made perfect in weakness in this image and vision. He will always take us on the journey that is ours in His kingdom, for His kingdom, and we are to bear that kingdom into the world. His rules, not ours.