Women of the New TestamentMuestra

The Bleeding Woman Who Jesus Calls Daughter

The Covid-19 pandemic taught us how to quarantine and social distance. We had Zoom and other technology to help us stay connected to people during that time. But still, the lack of in-person contact took a toll on many of us. According to the World Health Organization, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression rose by 25% in the first year of the pandemic.

Now imagine social distancing for 12 years. Mark 5 tells the story of a woman who bled for 12 years. According to Jewish purity laws, women who were menstruating were considered “unclean” and could not enter the Temple to worship. Those they touched would also become “unclean.” This poor woman lived in an ongoing state of religious isolation.

She probably feels forgotten or invisible after suffering from this condition for so long. Scripture does not give her a name. Maybe her condition has come to define her identity. Does her community call her the bleeding or unclean woman as well?

Desperate to be healed, this woman has spent all her money on doctors, but instead of getting better, she has only gotten worse (Mark 5:26). Yet she doesn’t give up. Even after twelve years of trying everything she can, when she hears that Jesus is in town, somehow she has faith that if she just touches Jesus’ clothes, she will be healed (Mark 5:28).

She courageously ventures out into the crowd to meet Him. If someone recognizes her, she may be rebuked or publicly shamed. Quietly crouching down from behind, she touches the hem of Jesus’ robe (Matthew 9:20; Luke 8:44). Immediately, she felt her bleeding stop.

Jesus is on his way to heal the synagogue leader, Jairus’s ailing daughter. There is no time to lose because the girl is on death’s doorstep. But at that moment, Jesus stops and turns around. “Who touched my clothes?” He asks. The woman came forward and fell at His feet. Trembling with fear, she told Him the whole story (Mark 5:33-34).

But to her surprise, instead of chastising her, Jesus calls her by a new name, “Daughter.” Was He referring to her? Jairus’ daughter was the daughter Jesus was seeking to heal. She is an outcast with no one to advocate for her. Did she hear him correctly? Yes, Jesus is claiming her as His daughter. Daughter connotes a sense of love and belonging. No longer would she be defined by her issue with blood. No longer would she be defined by loneliness or shame.

Jesus saw everything she had endured. While she sought Jesus only for physical healing, Jesus pursued her so that He could restore her spiritually, emotionally, and socially as well. Before the entire crowd, Jesus commends her and fully cures her: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:34).

Prayer: God, thank you for seeing all of our pain and heartache. You have not forgotten us. You pursue us to give us a new identity as your sons and daughters. Help us to live as your beloved children, knowing that you care for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.