Today’s Gospel has not just one, but two examples of what I would call “Extreme Faith”.
In the first account, “an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” This miracle is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels.
While the ruler’s name is mentioned in the other Gospels, it’s the miracle that is important rather than the synagogue ruler’s name. Jesus goes with the person to heal his daughter. The Gospel of Luke tells us that “As he went, the crowds almost crushed him.”
In all 3 Synoptic Gospel accounts, the story of the raising of the synagogue ruler’s daughter is interrupted by the story of healing for the woman with a hemorrhage.
In the second account, “A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
With the crowds around Jesus so dense that they almost crushed him, many people had to be pressing against and touching Jesus. But Jesus knew that someone with great faith touched him because he felt that power had gone out of him. Only someone with a desperate need and great faith could have drawn power out of him.
This is the only instance of someone being healed by touching Jesus that I could find. In all the other miracles in the Gospels, Jesus touches the person to heal them. In that culture, a woman would not have dared to touch a man let alone a Rabbi. The woman’s faith was so great that she was healed. The Gospel tells us “And from that hour the woman was cured.”
“Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” Notice that he didn’t say your faith has healed you. He said, “Your faith has saved you.” Jesus so often forgave the sins of the person in addition to healing them. He was concerned about the whole person rather than just the physical body ailments.
The synagogue ruler knew that Jesus’ touch would heal his daughter. And the woman who suffered from hemorrhages knew that if she could just touch Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. The power of Jesus’ touch is still there for us today if we have faith.
Jesus wants healing, both spiritual and physical, for us today like he did when he walked this earth. But it takes faith on our part.
Do we have faith, like the parent of the girl who died and the woman with the hemorrhage, to receive his healing?
