Close Encounters of the Saving Kind

There are numerous women in the Scriptures we can look to for inspiration and examples of godly living. They are an absolute joy to learn from. Several years ago, I wrote a piece titled, “Grace and the One who Took My Place.”  It connects 11 women from the Bible +1 (you and me) to the saving grace of Jesus.  Written in anonymous first person style, readers challenge their memory to connect the story to the specific woman in the Bible. Among all the extraordinary narratives of otherwise ordinary women, there is one that seems underrepresented in books and sermons, possibly due to the sensitive nature of her circumstances.  Below is an excerpt about this woman from the writing just mentioned. As you read, try to see through her lenses.

There is a mural painted by Daniel Cariola, called “Encounter,”  located in the Encounter Chapel of Duc In Altum; a building dedicated to the public life of Jesus in Magdala, Israel (https://www.magdala.org/duc-in-altum/). I don’t recall how I stumbled across this mural, but it continues to have a draw for me like a moth to a flame.

The unexplainable pull of this scene resulted in two framed 5″X 7″ prints: one for the work office and one for my desk area at home. But why the enthrallment over a mural of a bunch of feet? I believe it is because of the faith demonstrated by the person’s hand among them. The stories that brought these feet together, and more importantly, an amazing faith, a saving faith, will be our focus.

We may not be able to relate to the specific suffering this woman endured, but we can connect to the desperation she must have felt. Being “unclean” in ancient Israel was an ordeal with intense instructions for dealing with the issue (read Leviticus chapter 15). Following the arduous steps of addressing the unclean condition was the obligation (with more steps) of becoming cleansed. When no longer defiled, the individual counted off seven days before being ceremonially clean, at which point a sacrifice was made by the priest to atone for the person’s impurity (Leviticus 15:28-30). Verse 31 recounts how the Law strictly requires that the Israelites keep apart from anyone who was unclean, lest they themselves become defiled (Leviticus 15:31).

For a week or longer (depending on the defiling condition), no contact with anyone was permissible. I don’t know about y’all, but when schedules are busy or require traveling, I become increasingly unsettled if separated from my husband and son for more than a day or two. Human nature craves companionship and comfort from those we love, so imagine being cut off for weeks or months. Add to that the ‘avoidance’ issue where people dodge and shun you like a filthy, contagious, unwanted outcast.

Multiplying this nightmare by 12 long years finally gets us into the realm of this woman’s suffering. What she must have endured is beyond comprehension: shame, rejection, isolation, loneliness, pain. Also consider the financial losses from pouring all she had into medical costs for physicians, who were of no help. The Gospel of Mark provides a detail that Matthew (9:20-22) and Luke’s (8:43-48) Gospels do not. Mark records that she suffered tremendously at the hands of these doctors and got worse as a result (Mark 5:26).

This woman’s struggle seems much like Job’s. The book of Job is one of the hardest books of the Bible to digest. We are forced to come to terms with the heartburn of tragedy upon tragedy that befalls a godly man, as Satan tries to prove to God that Job is not the faithful servant God believes him to be (Job 1:6-12). Towards the end of his tremendous suffering, Job repented of questioning God’s sovereignty. I like to think that this is the part where Satan was kicked to the curb in defeat. Faith and God’s mercy ultimately restored Job, and he was blessed abundantly more than before the onslaught of calamity (read Job 42).

The backdrop of this woman’s situation is not provided, yet I can’t help but wonder if she, like Job, was married. Did she have children, a large extended family, close friends? Did they abandon her or blame her, piling on to her suffering? We don’t know for certain, but we can presume from the rigorous instructions that the Law of Moses details in Leviticus 15, that she was mostly alone because of her condition.

Her story in Matthew, Mark and Luke is almost a side note, as Jesus was traveling to the house of Jairus, a ruler of a synagogue. The 12-year-old daughter of Jairus was dying and while Jesus was showing compassion to this suffering woman, we learn that the child dies. Everything that Jesus did was significant. We can almost miss this woman’s story and her saving faith as we anxiously await Jesus to get to that little girl. There is great wealth in the intricate details in Scripture that provide powerful lessons for living. I must continually remind myself to slow down to not miss these treasures. From the amazing encounter with this woman, we are assured that Jesus loves all who belong to Him, showing no favoritism to adults or children, men or women, social or economic status. He gives freely of Himself, asking only for us to believe.

As essential as it was to this woman to be healed of her physical affliction, her faith, more importantly, healed her soul and sealed her as a child of God for all time. Jesus told her: “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace” (Luke 8:48). He says the same to us when we place our faith in Him. We may not get resolution of a physical ailment, financial burden or other hurt or request, but then again, we may. That is not the point, and I don’t wish to convey a “key to unlocking how to get what we want” message. Why God answers some requests…why He heals some and not others, is not for us to understand this side of glory. He is God and we are to trust in His sovereignty.

Jesus, not our petitions to Him, is the object of our faith. This woman teaches that faith may require fighting through the crowd, through the noise, the rejections, the lies of this world, whatever we have to do to get to Jesus. Nothing stopped her. Nothing should stop us. And if only the size of a mustard-seed (Matthew 17:20), faith should compel us to dive forward with an outstretched hand to the One who holds the keys (Matthews 16:19). Sweet sisters, we don’t even know this woman’s name…but God wants us to know at least part of her story, which is a humbling blessing. The Lord’s peace, His shalom, is available to us as it was to this woman. We just need to believe and receive.