Luke 8 v 48. “Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.””
The woman who touched the edge of His garment was considered ceremonially unclean according to the Jewish law (Leviticus 15 vs 19-27). So both this woman and the one who wept at his feet in Luke chapter 7 would have been regarded unfit to have contact with ordinary people. This may be a reason why the woman with the blood issue was so secretive – fear of the people around her. She was ill and alienated, because people would have thought she would contaminate them with her “uncleanness”.
So then, as regards the woman in Luke chapter 7 the issue was that she was morally unclean, while the woman in Luke chapter 8 would be physically unclean. Both needed healing in different ways, or if you like, salvation. Salvation or healing for the woman with the blood issue meant that she could once again reintegrate with society.
Luke wants his friend Onesimus to see that Christ has the power to perceive the character of the woman in the first instance, and also the fact that power had gone out from him to heal someone who touched his garment in the second instance. Christ knows all things. He knows you too and the great need you have at this very moment for his intervention in your own life.
Why did Jesus call her out and make her tell her problem in public? Because the power that healed her was not some impersonal power, but rather a person who wanted to interact with her. She was healed because she had a genuine faith in Him, Jesus, a personal Saviour. It was not mere superstition. We cannot have genuine faith in Christ without meeting Christ as a person. There is no room here for a faith in superstition, like relics or garments with a magical power. Nor was her faith in Christ allowed to remain a deeply personal matter that simply benefitted her. In other words you cannot come to Christ merely to have your personal problems sorted out. Christ did not come from Heaven merely to save our marriages, or even our addictions. He came to save us and to enter into a deep spiritual and personal relationship with us. You cannot treat the salvation Jesus offers simply as a cure. So Jesus insisted the woman come forward and before all those people she admitted she was “unclean”. She needed His help, His salvation. She confessed him publicly as the Saviour who gave her life back to her.
Did Jesus rebuke her for her secrecy? No, He did not! Did He withhold his power from her? No He did not! Did He save her? Yes, He did. He healed her. She had now met Him personally and His words to her were the words we all need to hear. “Daughter” – the personal connection – “Your faith has healed you”. That means “Your trust in me was not misplaced. You are healed, “Go in peace” – be whole, be reintegrated into society. You have experienced my power”.
His word of welcome, assuring acceptance, is what we all need to hear and feel. And, of course, His welcome is for us too. Put your trust in Him now, for your soul and your daily struggles.
But what about Jairus’ and his daughter? We will follow their story tomorrow.