JMJ
“Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole: go in peace, and be thou whole of thy disease.” -Mark 5:34
The story of the hemorrhaging woman is one of my favorite stories from Scripture, because it gives us a great example of what faith can do. Mark 5:25-34 tells the story of a woman who was bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all she had on doctors and physicians, but no one had been able to heal her. Because of her ailment, she was deemed “unclean” and was therefore a bit of an outcast in society and couldn’t touch others without making them unclean as well. For twelve years she suffered this way, until she encountered Jesus.
When she comes across Jesus in the crowd, the woman says, “If I shall touch but his garment, I shall be whole” (Mark 5:28). This is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful moments of faith we see in Scripture. This woman has been looking for answers, for healing, for hope, for the past twelve years. Most people wouldn’t blame her for giving up hope that a life without this affliction is possible. And yet, aside from how many times she has been disappointed and let down, she comes with what some might call a “radical” amount of faith in Jesus. She has so much faith that she knows that even touching His garment is enough to heal her. When she does get close enough to reach His garment, she is instantaneously healed from her disease. What twelve years of doctors and physicians couldn’t do, Jesus accomplished in one small act of faith.
If you haven’t already, you should watch this clip from The Chosen of this story. It’s beautifully done, and paints a good picture of the faith of the hemorrhaging woman and her determination to get to Jesus. The crowd she pushes through to get to Him is important, because it shows how big of a role our faith plays. Jesus was getting pushed and touched and reached after by the whole multitude around Him - even His disciples are surprised when Jesus stops and asks who touched His garments, but Jesus could feel the power leave Him as this woman was healed. This is a beautiful illustration that how we approach Jesus matters. When we approach Him with great faith, we are inviting Him to do great things. This is exactly the childlike faith we are called to have.
Jesus responds to the woman, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole: go in peace, and be thou whole of thy disease.” (Mark 5:34) Her faith was an integral part of her healing. Some may have laughed at her or called her crazy for thinking that Jesus could heal her when she had been trying to get help from physicians for years. Some even tried to stop her from touching Jesus because she was unclean. But she still chose to have faith that Jesus could help her. Persevering in her faith, even when others tried to stop her from doing so, is what allowed Jesus to work the miracle of healing her.
As I’ve been praying with this passage over the past few months, one of the things that has come to mind is how much Jesus desires us to have a radical faith in Him. This term can often get misconstrued as something that’s too big or crazy, but the Latin root of the word is “radix” which means “rooted” (thank you to the priest who talked about this in homily earlier this week). It relates to the origin or very core of something. When Jesus extends that invitation to us to have a radical faith, He is inviting us to have faith all the way down to our roots, our core, to have faith in all things instead of just where it’s easy or convenient for us to trust Him. Imagine having a faith rooted all the way to the core of who we are that nobody or anything could prevent us from believing that Jesus will take care of every aspect of our lives. We get a glimpse of that in this miracle account, and it’s an eye opener to the type of faith Jesus wants us to have.
A lack of faith opens the door to worry, anxiety, and feeling the stress of trying to control as much as we can. We’re human, and we’re fallen, so we are inevitably going to fail at having perfect faith in our lives. But I hope and pray that each one of us is able to take one step further in faith in each day of our lives. Have faith, and have it radically. Let it spread all the way down to your roots. Don’t let the world tell you otherwise - put your faith in the Lord, trust in His promises, and live your life in the freedom He longs for you to have.
Stay close to Him and have faith!
-Brandy
Scripture quotations in this post are taken from the Douay-Rheims translation, unless otherwise noted.