I really like how Jesus stopped to take care of the old lady who truly believed and truly needed help. He could have easily said, "Sorry mam, I have an emergency and I can't stay!" The power of healing is so strong.
I wonder if the girl was actually dead. Jesus did save her and make her well, but was she just in a state close to death? You can be still and pale. Sometimes now we think others are dead, but if you use a stethoscope you can hear a faint heartbeat. If she was in fact dead, and Jesus knew he could save her anyway (which is why he stopped to help the old lady) does it say, "If Jesus didn't get there soon, it would be too late."?
Why don't we still see miracles like this?
ReplyDeleteMaybe she was, maybe she wasn't...either way I think the importance of his interaction with the old woman significantly outweighs his healing of the girl. The woman's actions were a testament of true faith - so much so that even Jesus was impressed! And it kind of put the disciples in check a bit too.
The woman who was healed was probably not that old. The reason that she was frail is that she had been hemmoraging for all those years. It was incredibly brave of her to do what she did -- and to admit it. Everyone knew that she was hemoraging. As such, she was considered unclean under the law and was not allowed to sit where others sat, to touch people -- let alone, important rabbis like Jesus. But she knew she could be healed. She knew that just a little of Jesus's juice would make her clean but she didn't want to draw attention to herself.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jesus asked the crowd "Who touched me?" He was asking her to step even further out in faith and take responsibility for what she did. And by holding her up as an example he continues to turn the world on its head in teaching a new way that God works.
Jesus raised three people from the dead - this girl, Lazarus and a widow's son. The most famous of these is Lazarus who had been dead 3 days. In that story he knew he would be late but purposefully came late to show God's power.
It might be interesting to note that Jesus isn't the only person to raise someone from the dead. One of the prophets from the old testament did as well. I will leave it to you to find the story :) (actually kind of surprised that it didn't show up in this story book as it is a good preview of Jesus.)