Matthew continues to recount his story in act two of the three that compose it. In the first act, a father has demonstrated a faith others are sure to call stupid, for what he asks of Jesus (to bring life back to the dead, even though this has never been done). But now in act two, the journey towards the dead is well under way, and on it, something ridiculous occurs. The History that sometimes acts as a razor against our beliefs finds a new character to widdle against. A woman who has suffered with what is likely some form of hemophilia for more than 12 years has made her own determination of what must be done to find life and health. She determines that Jesus is sure to be her cure. She has seen him cure so many others. She knows He can do it.
But this woman creates for herself an obstacle of unworthiness. As she examines her own life, the decisions she has made, the sins she has committed, the filth of the condition of her disease; she determines she is unworthy to ask Jesus for healing. She is embarrassed by the smell that must certainly accompany her presence. She does not wish to be brought to Jesus by her friends, as she does not want others to be so intimate with her personage in such plight. Besides, she can move. She just finds herself disgusting. And how many of us examine our lives, and our history of sins, and reach the same conclusion. We too are disgusting. We too have heaped so much sin and shame upon ourselves, we find that we are in no way worthy of the presence of God. We do not deserve to ask Him for anything. Even though we have seen Him act for others, we hold back our requests, believing our history is a barrier to His listening ear. But it is our holding back that is the problem. Self-created, but every bit real.
The woman of the story of Matthew, forgets, that ALL sin is disgusting to our God. It is the poo He must wade through to pull you out of it. And He does not hesitate to do the dirty work of reaching you, or the difficult work of pulling you through this pit to get you out of it. The condition she finds herself in, is not something that Jesus would have held His nose against, turned away, and left her to suffer and die in. It is the same condition He looks to relieve us all from. The goal of mercy, is not to simply forgive, and then return you to the cesspit of your sins. The goal of mercy, is to forgive you, and create within you a way out of the cesspit forever. Jesus understands how bad sin is, and wants to redeem you from it anyway. No matter how dirty the work for Jesus, it is still something He longs to do for you. Your unworthiness will never be matched by His greater love for you.
But in this pit of despair and unworthiness the woman has created for herself, she has not lost hope altogether either. Instead she comes up with a ridiculous idea. She will remain anonymous. She will move through the crowd quickly from behind, hopefully downwind, and will duck down and touch only the hem of His garment. It is not the robe she needs, as even in this state, she attributes no special power to the clothing. It is His contact with the clothing when she touches it, she imagines will do the trick. She will do this ridiculous thing all because she fears to ask Him face-to-face to heal her. She will do this ridiculous thing because she fears her own unworthiness. How many barriers do we place upon ourselves that our God would never ask, because we allow our guilt to outmatch our opinions about the love of our God?
If this sounds like a ridiculous idea, it is. If this sounds to you like it would never work, that, is another matter. Matthew continues his recollection in chapter nine picking up in verse 20 saying … “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:” The crowds were moving. The wind conditions were favorable. There were so many people there, she would easily be able to “get lost” in all the faces. No one would be paying attention to her. She could enter from a side street, get low, touch the hem of his garment, and disappear back into the crowd, going home healed.
Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” Her plan in her mind made sense to her. Her beliefs made sense to her, even if they never made sense to another living person on planet earth. Here is where faith gets ridiculous, but does not go wrong. Our relationship with Jesus is indeed a relationship, something that is one-on-one, not a group think exercise. Was this doctrine of hers, this idea that she had, Biblically sound? No. Not really. There is nothing in scripture about touching clothing to get healed, at least not until this story anyway. Is this idea something the modern Christian churches continue to espouse? No. We have long since abandoned the idea of relics, that if you but touch them, something good happens spiritually. Particularly because most relics are fakes. And further Jesus does not say to His followers; here is my robe from last week, take this around and use it to heal people. Jesus offers a Holy Spirit for that, which is much more effective anyway.
So, it is not that her doctrine is sound. It is not. It reflects a notion about unworthiness that is misplaced. It discounts the love the Savior has for her (at least before the incident is over). In summary you could say, she went forward with the wrong ideas, the wrong doctrine, but faith in the right God, in Jesus Christ. Matthew continues in verse 22 saying … “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.” Her healing happens despite the ridiculous ideas of her faith, and self-imposed obstacles. And as Jesus works with this woman, He begins to take steps to correct her thinking. He stops the momentum of his trip cold. The crowds stop. He looks right at this woman, though other texts have Him first question aloud who touched Him. His eyes burn with a love she could have never imagined.
When Jesus addresses her, it is not in the derogatory language she is sure she is worthy of. He does not call her a dog, or pig, or disgusting piece of filth, which she has seen herself as, her entire life. He does not look down on her in any way. In fact, in one of the rarest times in scripture, He calls this woman, “daughter”. Let that sink in folks. Jesus Christ names this woman daughter. A literal daughter of God. Not just a figurative title, or sweet sounding family style inclusive word. But a title that has deep meaning to it. Especially to her. In that tender word and tender address Jesus Christ shatters her ideas and self-created barriers about unworthiness. He calls her daughter instead. No matter what she has done, or smells like, or how she sees herself; Jesus sees this precious woman as His particular child and daughter. He is on His way to resurrect the daughter of another father, but on His way, He stops to insure this daughter of His is resurrected as well.
Jesus shatters the ideas of unworthiness as a barrier for her and for us. Her healing is the least of her blessings this day. She moves from hopeful worshipper to grateful daughter. Her testimony moves from theoretical ideas (some misplaced), to the personal testimony of a daughter of Christ. No one will ever be able to shake that word out of her head. It was personal. It still is. The beauty of this story is the absence of our influence on this woman. Had this woman been a member of the modern Christian church, and confided her plan in us, we would have soundly condemned it. Not for the unworthiness piece which most of us also contend with, but for the worshipping clothing piece which has no basis in scripture. We would have wanted for this woman to subscribe to ALL of our ideas about God; BEFORE she went to God for herself.
We would have created for this person as big a gauntlet spiritually as she created for herself. And most burdens just as ridiculous. Even though her ideas were not perfect ahead of time, Jesus still reached out to her. He rewarded her faith with healing. Not to uphold the idea of cloth touching for health, but so that she knows He cares about her. He destroyed her ideas about anonymity. Instead He calls her out in front an entire crowd. So that they ALL hear Him call her daughter, just as loudly as she hears it. To the crowd it will mean less. But to her it will mean everything. Jesus adjusts her doctrine through methods that Jesus deems effective. And you and I had nothing to do with it. It was all Jesus, and it worked.
Why do we in the modern church, believe it is our duty to “correct” the misguided ideas of our peers, who also believe in Jesus. Can’t Jesus do for them and for us, what He did for His daughter so many years ago? Jesus is effective at changing minds and hearts. You and I suck at it. If my friends from another denomination are wrong about something, let’s let Jesus sort that out for them. If we are wrong about something, let’s let Jesus sort that out for us. What works, is devout faith in Jesus. What does not work, is devout faith in our interpretations of scripture. That is what the Pharisees had, and they were all as sure about it as we are today. So sure, they missed Jesus and love entirely. And when you look around the modern Christian church, we are as certain about doctrine, and as lean with our love as they were.
An incorrect idea, or doctrine, can be corrected by Jesus Christ. If it is a problem for us, you can bet Jesus will be motivated to fix it. And if it is not a problem, Jesus is probably not too worried about it. So then, why are we? Love is what Jesus demonstrated that day, that ultimately undid the mistaken ideas. Jesus shows her that she personally matters to Him. He stops an entire procession to prove it. He calls her out to prove it. He calls her daughter to make sure she knows it. He gives her a gift that will ever be ringing in her ears. He gives her a testimony she will be retelling everyone for as long as she draws breath. She worships Him not because she has to; or some pastor tells her to, or because it is that time of the week in that time of the service. She worships Him, because her heart brakes with the gratitude of knowing Daddy. She loves her Daddy, and does not grow tired of anyone else knowing Him too.
It was a ridiculous faith. But it was grounded in Jesus Christ. And whether it was ridiculous or not, it found a way to receive the love of Jesus Christ, up close and personal to her. What is the level of ridiculous you are willing to risk to see Jesus Christ love you one-on-one?
And the play has one more act for the finale …
