To Be Made WellSample

How can I experience healing in my spirit?

When we think about healing, we typically think about receiving a medical fix or cure. We think about surgeries that knit together broken bones and antibiotics that eradicate infections. But Jesus’ healing involves far more than this.

After the bleeding woman reaches out her hand to touch Jesus, she feels her bleeding stop. In this sense, she is cured.

And yet it is not until she comes face-to-face with Jesus, and he addresses other aspects of her pain and alienation, that she is healed. When she falls at Jesus’ feet, he responds by saying, “‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering’” (Mark 5:34).

Jesus uses a somewhat unusual word to describe what has happened to her when he says she is “healed.” The word comes from the Greek word sozo, which can also be translated as “saved.” It connotes spiritual restoration as well as a physical transformation. It implies healing for the body, mind, and spirit.

Jesus also addresses this outcast woman as “Daughter.” He claims her as his own before he sends her back out. He publicly honors her as a precious member of God’s family.

We, too, need to receive the healing love of Jesus, not simply so that our aches and pains feel better, but so that our souls experience restoration to the love of God. We are invited to come into God’s loving presence not as servants or subjects, but as sons and daughters. We are invited to receive God’s healing love so that we are made well in our bodies and also in our souls.

Questions for reflection:

Can you imagine this interaction between the bleeding woman and Jesus and what it felt like when he called her “daughter”?

Can you imagine Jesus looking you in the eye and gently calling you daughter, son, or child and commending you for your faith? How might that interaction bring healing to your soul?

Prayer: Jesus, I come to you with my whole self. I hear you speak to me a word of welcome and love. I receive your blessing and tender care. Amen.