Stories

Her story needed to be told…and yours does, too. The gospel writers give us few details, but Jesus listened to every word…Her story needed to be told…and yours does, too.

If you’ve got a few minutes, I’ll explain.

For the past several weeks, I’ve been drawn to the story of “the woman with an issue of blood.” I’ve read it repeatedly in all three synoptic gospels, but the account in Mark 5:21-36 seemed especially meaningful. I felt Jesus had something to reveal, but I couldn’t quite see it.

Finally I tried a new-to-me practice….praying with imagination…visualizing myself as this unnamed woman…what is she seeing, hearing, thinking, feeling?

The epiphany, when it hit me, was unexpected. Jesus wanted me to see that, like this woman, I had spent most of my life content to gather spiritual crumbs from the floor….yet all the while he has been offering me a seat at a bountiful banqueting table.

I haven’t fully lived into the life Jesus has for me because sin distorts and shame whispers that I’m only worthy of a relationship based on “doing for” Jesus…but not of a relationship based on “being with” Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong…I’ve deeply rejoiced that I’m “one of the many.” But I’ve remained uncomfortable with the notion that Jesus sees me as his “one and only.”

And yet, miraculously, this story seems to communicate that each of us is Jesus’ favorite.

Martin Luther described sin as the state of being “curved in on oneself.” Tim Keller writes that some lean toward self-loathing, while others are inclined to be self-satisfied; but both are self-absorption.* Somewhere in between is the spiritually healthy way of viewing ourselves. We find it when we tell our story to Jesus, and realize we are both fully known and completely loved. And that is when we move from being self-absorbed to Jesus-obsessed.

But I’m getting ahead of the story…enter it with me now…Jairus, an important man, seeks Jesus on behalf of his very ill daughter. As Jesus turns and walks with Jairus, the crowd presses in upon them. An unnamed woman reaches out, touches Jesus in desperation, then tries to slip away unnoticed.

Yet even while living within the limitations of time and space, Jesus stops to seek out the one who has reached out to him.

I imagine the woman feels extremely self-conscious as she observes Jairus’ skyrocketing anxiety over his dying child while Jesus patiently searches the crowd. She didn’t mean to block the way of someone else’s healing! Was Jesus was upset with her for interrupting?

In that culture, Jairus is the important one - the one who shouldn’t have been kept waiting. Yet Jesus pauses to converse with a woman from the margins of society.

Jesus knew her story needed to be told. And so does yours.

Jesus’ demeanor leads the woman to share what is in her heart and on her mind. Mark writes that she tells Jesus the “whole truth.”

Maybe this includes the pain she has endured, the money she has wasted, the isolation she has experienced, the growing desperation and hopelessness, the bitterness and resentment that have taken root as she watches others participate in things she cannot.

Though this encounter takes place in public, I sense it is an intimate conversation.

Two thousand years later, casual Bible readers may still refer to her as “the woman with an issue” but Jesus called her Daughter, giving her an identity to claim. He celebrated her by saying, “your faith has healed you.” Jesus then helped her with next steps, “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Amy Julia Becker writes:

When Jesus tells this woman to go in peace…he offers hope for her continued healing…this woman is invited to participate in her own healing and…is invited to participate in God’s larger vision of a world restored to beauty, goodness, and truth.**

Wouldn’t you love to hear the rest of this Beloved Daughter’s story? Perhaps one day we’ll hear of relationships restored and new friendships formed, of sacrificial service and love lived out.

I long to hear of the many ways her faith flourished - of how the faith of others flourished - as she re-entered community free from the shame that had kept her isolated and ineffective.

By telling the truth, by speaking her story to Jesus, this beloved daughter is drawn by her Deliverer to experience an exodus from her exile and meaning in her moments.

We can do the same.

For the last few years I’ve been learning to pause and sit with Jesus to tell my story - whatever it might be on any given day - to review the consolations and the desolations with his gentle guidance.

I’m no longer trying to fly under the radar, hoping I’m not a bother, believing Jesus has more important things to do. Instead, I’m learning to rest in the relationship.

Apparently, Jesus wants me to celebrate that spiritual growth!

Amazingly, my strivings cease when I remember I’m held by the embrace of mercy and grace. I’m no longer just “one of the many.” Like each of you, I am a “one and only” to Jesus. I am…you are….a Beloved Child…wanted, pursued, valued.

When I sit with Jesus in this way, my identity is renewed. He reminds me that I bear his image and his words beckon me to live into his design.

Sometimes finding freedom from my afflictions seems challenging. It appears too difficult. But Jesus is an ever present help. The question is, am I willing to participate in my own healing? Am I, in the words of the Apostle Paul, willing to work out my salvation with fear and trembling?

A bit later in this story, our attention returns to Jairus who is now on the verge of despair due to the delay. Jesus says to him “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

I have a feeling those words are also meant for the Beloved Daughter who told her story and was encouraged to live out of her relationship with Jesus. I believe those words are meant for you and me, too.

“Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

“Go in peace. Be freed from your suffering.”

Your story needs to be told.

Jesus is ready to listen.

Talk to him today.

*The Songs of Jesus, p.111.

**For much more on this Scripture passage, I highly recommend “To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, And Hope” by Amy Julia Becker.