He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Mark 5:34
One of my most significant early memories is going to court with my family at the age of six. It was something that we had prepared for for many months, and my brother and I had been fully briefed by my parents of what to expect. The reason for this unprecedented outing was not because anyone in my family had broken the law, but because we had decided to adopt a little girl. On that day in court, Charlotte went from being someone who I had known over the last year or so, to my sister – my sister who I would love, grow up with, and with whom my whole family would share our lives with. Even now, twenty-four years later, I can still remember the excitement of my sister joining my family. After the court appearance, my brother and I took our sister to school to show to all of our friends and teachers.
Family is extremely important to me. I am very close to all of my family, and love them all very much. We have been through good times and not so good times together, but we have always been there for each other, and have always loved one another. It’s great to have that unconditional love. The poor woman in our current Mark Marathon article, however, was an outcast; she was considered to be unclean because of her bleeding, and no-one would have wanted to go near her for fear that they, too, would become unclean. She must have had a rather tragic, lonely and unhappy existence.
Imagine her joy at meeting Jesus, then. Not only was she healed, but she was accepted by him and shown love, possibly for the first time for twelve years. She must have been overjoyed. Look at how Jesus speaks to her, though. He calls her “daughter,” and accepts her into his spiritual family. Once more, she belonged. She is told that she has been healed, precisely because she has had faith in him. She is told to go in peace and be freed from her suffering, effectively giving her a fresh start in life. It almost makes me want to weep with happiness for this poor woman.
Yet this love is extended to you and me, too. If we have the same faith as this woman, we will be healed all of our wrong doings, and be accepted into Jesus’ family. We can look forward to living in peace and free from suffering in God’s kingdom.
No matter what we might experience in this fallen world, we have so much to look forward to.
