Devotion
Tom Coceano
“While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.”
KJV, Matthew 9:18-25
Jesus’ ministry of healing the sick has always fascinated me because beyond the remedy of the superficial affliction, there is so much within the stories that reflects how powerful God’s healing work of salvation truly is and how it applies to all of us. The above excerpt shows two very different, albeit equally tragic afflictions. In one case, we have a young girl (as Luke’s version of the gospel tells us, she is a lively, healthy 12-year-old), who suddenly is stricken with a terminal illness. On the other hand, there is a woman who has suffered for much of her life with a chronic ailment.
If we think about tragedy, illness or struggles in our own lives, these two stories sum up much of what we may face. The ruler’s daughter represents times in life where everything is going great, then suddenly things take a turn for the worse; the world strikes a blow, such as a sudden job loss, an accident to property or person, or a terminal diagnosis from the physician. No matter how devastating the blow, or how badly we sin, it’s okay, Jesus can save us!
The woman in the crowd represents the baggage we sometimes carry, be it a physical ailment, a dependency or a past sin eating at our conscience. How wonderful that even if we have suffered so much as to have almost gotten used to it, fear not! Jesus can still save us!
What makes these stories stand out to me even more is that Jesus’ power overcomes our shortcomings, as long as we have faith. Both the ruler and the woman in the crowd suffer from bad theology. The ruler thinks Jesus must be physically present and lay hands on his daughter to heal her, not really giving credit (as the centurion from Matthew chapter 8 did) to Jesus’ deity and his ability to will anything, from anywhere and at any time. The woman in the crowd exhibited even worse theology, superstitiously believing that Jesus’ cloak held some magical power. But Jesus doesn’t care about our skill, education, style, or if we get a piece of theology wrong…he cares about our belief in his covenant…Jesus healed this woman, and he can heal us too!
When we need healing in our life, what we really need is Jesus. In some cases, Jesus will come to us and touch us…as he did the little girl (or the blind men, or the leper). And if Jesus does not touch us…do what the woman in the crowd does, reach out, fight through the crowd of non-belief, worldly distractions, and stress, and touch Jesus yourself. Pray for him to intervene, to heal, to save!