The Third Week Of the
Lent (
The Haemorrhaging Women: Faith & Hope
By:
Elias Bejjani*
(John 6:68): “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal
life"
Whenever we are in real trouble encountering devastating and harsh conditions
either physically or materially, we unconsciously react with sadness, anger,
confusion, helplessness and feel abandoned. When in a big mess, we expect our
family members and friends to automatically run to our rescue. But in the
majority of such difficult situations, we discover with great disappointment
that in reality our heartfelt expectations do not unfold as we wish.
What is frustrating and shocking is that very few of our family members and
friends would stand beside us during hardships and endeavour to genuinely offer
the needed help. Those who have already walked through these rocky life paths
and adversities definitely know very well the bitter taste of disappointment.
They know exactly the real meaning of the well-know saying, "a friend in
need is a friend indeed".
Sadly our weak human nature is driven by inborn instincts that often make us
side with the rich, powerful, healthy and strong over the poor, weak, needy and
sick. Those who have no faith in Almighty God find it very difficult to cope in
a real mess.
Meanwhile, those whose faith is solid stand up with courage, refuse to give up
hope, and call on their Almighty Father for help through praying and
worshiping. They know for sure that our Great Father is loving and passionate.
He will not abandon any one of us when calling on Him for mercy and help
because He said and promised so. Matthew 11/28-30: "Come to me, all you
who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find
rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
One might ask, 'Why should I pray?' And, 'Do I have to ask God for help; can't
He help me without praying to Him?' The answer is 'no'. We need to pray
and when we do so with faith and confidence God listens and responds (Mark
11/:24): "Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for,
believe that you have received them, and you shall have them"
Yes, we have to make the effort and be adamant and persistent. We have to ask
and knock in a bid to show our mere submission to Him and He with no doubt
shall provide. (Matthew 7/7 & 8): "Ask and it will be given you. Seek,
and you will find. Knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks
receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened".
On this second Sunday of Lent in our Catholic Church's Eastern Maronite rite,
we cite and recall the miraculous cure of the bleeding woman in Matthew
9/20-22, Mark 5/25-34, and Luke 8/43-48. As we learn from the Holy Gospel, the
bleeding woman's great faith made her believe without a shred of doubt that her
twelve years of chronic bleeding would stop immediately if she touched Jesus'
garment. She knew deeply in her heart that Jesus would cure her even without
asking him. Her faith cured the bleeding and made her well. Her prayers were
heard and responded to.
Luke 8/:43-49: "A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had
spent all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by any, came behind
him (Jesus), and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately the flow of
her blood stopped. Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When all denied it,
Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes press and jostle you,
and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 8:46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch me, for
I perceived that power has gone out of me.” When the woman saw that she was not
hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared to him in the
presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was
healed immediately. He said to her, “Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made
you well. Go in peace.”
The woman's faith cured her chronic bleeding and put her back in the society as
a normal and acceptable citizen. During that era women with uterus bleeding
were looked upon as sinners, defiled and totally banned from entering
synagogues for praying. Meanwhile, because of her sickness she was physically
unable to be a mother and bear children. Sadly she was socially and religiously
abandoned, humiliated and alienated. But her faith and hope empowered her with
the needed strength and perseverance and enabled her to cope successfully
against all odds.
Hallelujah! Faith can do miracles. Yes indeed. (Luke17/5 & 6): " The
apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord said, “If you had
faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be
uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you". How badly do
we today need to have a faith like that of this women?
Let us all on this second Lent Sunday pray with solid faith.
Let us ask Almighty God who cured the bleeding women, and who was crucified on
the cross to absolve our original sin, that He would endow His Holy graces of
peace, tranquility, and love all over the world. And that He would strengthen
the faith, patience and hope of all those persecuted, imprisoned, and deprived
for courageously witnessing the Gospel's message and truth.
Holy
Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 8,40-56.
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for
him. Just then there came a man named Jairus, a
leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his
house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying. As
he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been
suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she
had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched
the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her haemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus
asked, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds
surround you and press in on you.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; for I
noticed that power had gone out from me.’ When the woman saw that she could not
remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in
the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been
immediately healed. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go
in peace.’ While he was still speaking, someone came from the leader’s house to
say, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.’ When Jesus
heard this, he replied, ‘Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.’
When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except
Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. They were all
weeping and wailing for her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but
sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her
by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got
up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat. Her parents
were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.
Second
Letter to the Corinthians 7,4-11.
I
often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation;
I am overjoyed in all our affliction. For even when we
came into
Additional
Related Pieces for this Sunday
Woman
with Issue of Blood
The
Woman Who Was Healed by a Touch
Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48
This sick, anonymous woman must have been emaciated after a hemorrhage
lasting for twelve years, which rendered her legally unclean. She could not
throw herself, therefore, at the feet of Christ and state her complaint. Her
modesty, humility, uncleanness and pressure of the crowd made close contact
well-nigh impossible, hence her eagerness to touch in some unnoticed way the
hem of His garment. Who was this woman of faith? The primitive church, feeling
she was entitled to a name, called her Veronica, who lived in Caesarea
Philippi, but in the gospels she is enrolled in the list of anonymous female
divines. There are several aspects of her cure worthy of note—
She Was Cured After Many Failures
What this poor woman really endured at the hands of
the medical men of the time is left to the imagination. What a touch of reality
is given to her story by the knowledge that she had suffered many things of
many physicians and was no better but rather “grew worse.” Where men failed,
Christ succeeded. Down the ages men and women which no agency could reclaim
have been restored by Christ. What is not possible with men is blessedly
possible with God. Her disease was of long standing yet she was swiftly healed,
for as soon as she touched the hem of His garment, “straight-way the fountain
of her blood was dried up.” If a person suffers for a while from a complaint
and seeks no medical advice, but in the end goes to the doctor, he invariably
says, “You should have come to me sooner.” But it is the glory of Christ that
He can heal those who come late to Him.
She Was Cured With the Utmost Rapidity
Mark’s favorite word, “straightway,” which he uses 27
times in his gospel, is in most cases related to Christ’s rapid cures. How
swift He was in His relief for the suffering! As at creation, so in His
miracles of healing, “He spake and it was done.”
Spiritual parallels of His instantaneous power can be seen in the conversions
of Matthew, Paul and the dying thief. Many of us, too, can testify to the fact
that He can transform character in a moment of time. The term Jesus used in
addressing the nameless sufferer suggests that she was still young, though
wasted and faded by her malady which made her look older than she was. But the
nature of her disease and the age of the one afflicted made no difference to
Him in healing the sick and saving the lost. As Jesus passed by the withered
fingers of the woman brushed the border of Christ’s sacred dress, and all at
once her thin body felt the painless health of her girlhood return. A strength
she had not known for 12 years renewed her being, and she knew that Christ had
made her whole.
She Acknowledged Receipt of the Benefit Bestowed
As soon as the woman touched Christ’s garment, He felt that “virtue had gone
out of Him,” and turned about and said, “Who touched me?” The disciples mildly
rebuked Jesus by saying, “Thou seest the multitude
thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who
touched me?” Perhaps her touch had been unnoticed by the eyes of those around,
and she must have been one of many who touched the Master that day as he
proceeded on His errand of love, but a touch of faith could not be hidden from
Him. Quickly the Physician saw the patient, and
trembling with self-consciousness but too glad and grateful to falter, she
confessed to her touch of His robe. “She told him all the truth.” She
experienced that open confession is good for the soul. What a glow of gratitude
her countenance must have had, as she publicly stated that her burden for
twelve years had rolled away!
She Was Commended for Her Faith
The crowd who listened to her confession also heard
the Saviour’s benediction, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath saved
thee; go in peace.” As a true daughter of Abraham (Luke 13:16), her faith is
crowned by the Master. Hers was not faith without a touch, or a touch without
faith. Believing, she appropriated and was healed. “Daughter,” was an endearing
term for Jesus to use. Some tender insight of His own must have prompted Him to
use it. As Theron Brown puts it so beautifully—
The restored sufferer would never forget the friendly benignity that assailed
her with one indulgent epithet or the sympathy in that endearing term by which
the Messiah of Israel recognized her as His own.... She cherished her debt to
the Man of Galilee.
She Has a Place in Legend
It is said that this woman who was healed of her
plague walked with Jesus as He went to His cross, and that seeing His blood and
sweat, she drew out her handkerchief and wiped His brow. Later on, as she
reverently caressed the piece of linen, she found the image of the
blood-stained face of Jesus imprinted on it. Face cloths for the Roman
catacombs alleged to hold the impress of His features were called Veronicas.
About a.d. 320, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea and a
dependable historian records that when he visited Caesarea Philippi, he heard
that the woman healed of her issue of blood out of gratitude for her cure had
erected two brazen figures at the gate of her house, one representing a woman
bending on her knee in supplication—the other, fashioned in the likeness of
Jesus, holding out His hand to help her. The figure had a double cloak of
brass. Eusebius adds this explicit statement as to these figures, “They were in
existence even in our day and we saw them with our own eyes when we stayed in
the city.” The well-known Sankey gospel hymn recalls
and applies the story of the nameless woman whom Jesus healed—
She only touched the hem of His garment,
As to His side she stole,
Amid the crowd that gathered around Him,
And straightway she was whole.
It is encouraging to know that His saving power this very hour can give new
life to all who by faith take hold of His skirt (Zechariah 8:23).
© 1988 Zondervan. All Rights Reserved
Gill's
Exposition of the Entire Bible
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/9-20.htm
And behold a woman which
was diseased..... This affair happened in the streets of
(x) Ib. Issure Bia, c. 6. sect. 7, 8. & in Misn. Nidda, c. 4. sect. 7.