Her flow of blood was twelve years old. Sometime around the birth of Jairus’s daughter a disease that caused her to constantly bleed had come upon this nameless woman. But she was about to experience one of the most unique miracles of Jesus’s earthly ministry. I say unique because, on the surface, it seems to be a completely involuntary healing, something that surprised Jesus as much as the woman He healed. But I’m convinced it’s actually an amazing display of the eternally intentional Trinity at work. Allow me to explain.
The story is found in the ninth chapter of Matthew and the eighth chapter of Luke, and it has always made me think of electricity. If you’re familiar with the story, the connection is obvious. The woman touches Jesus on the hem of His garment and He feels power leaving Him. Like shuffling across a carpeted floor and touching a metal doorknob, she is zapped, but not with a painful shock, but with the healing she had desired for a dozen years. Do you see how this makes me think of electricity? You may have had similar thoughts yourself. Jesus adds an additional interesting layer to the moment by telling the woman it was her faith that healed her. Was something she possessed the cause of her healing, or was it the power of Jesus? The answer is yes, and a little lesson in common electricity might help us understand it better.
There are three main facets to a functioning electrical circuit, a power source, a conductor that comes from that power source and makes its way back, and a load (such as a light bulb or an appliance) through which the current flows. Remove any one of these and it doesn’t work. Take away the power source and there’s no energy. Take away the conductor and that energy can’t get anywhere. Take away the load and it’s just a short circuit that won’t last long. Yes, another trinity. And as I’ve written before, it shouldn’t surprise us to find these triplets in the world around us, since everything came from and is sustained by our Triune God. These are the subtle fingerprints of our Creator. So what does electricity teach us about this event, and how is the Trinity on display?
Why was this ailing woman there? Well, you may surmise that someone had told her where to go, and this may be true. But Jesus teaches that “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him.” (John 6:44) While there was a mass of people around Jesus that day, she had come to Him by the drawing of the Father. And here we can see the Spirit’s work in her as well. She knew that Jesus could heal her, and her recognition was tenacious. As Jesus had told Peter upon his accurate confession, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 16:17), and this by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, who “will take of Mine” Jesus said, “and declare it to you.” (John 16:14) She had “obtained” this faith in Jesus (2 Pet. 1:1) and it compelled her to push through that bustling crowd. It was her faith, but it was the gift of the gracious Trinity completing a glorious circuit.
“Who touched Me?” Jesus asked, a question that seemed rather odd to His disciples, being that they were in the middle of a pressing multitude. Did Jesus really not know who had laid a faithful hand upon the hem of His garment? Jesus never asks questions to gather information. It is similar to the question God asked in the garden, while the frightened couple huddled behind the trees. The One from whom we can never flee knew where they were as sure as He knew who had touched His hem. The question was meant to reveal one of His daughters to the crowd. He calls this stranger a daughter because He recognized the “family” likeness coursing through her. It wasn’t surprise He expressed at the woman’s faith but delight in seeing His Father’s working.
But why had He waited twelve long years to heal her? Surely He could have answered her prayer at the first crimson drop so many years before. He could have healed her as quickly twelve years ago as He was about to bring Jairus’s twelve-year-old daughter back to life again. We aren’t told why, nor did Job receive an answer for why such calamity had come upon him. But perhaps such stories are to remind us that these circumstances aren’t outside of His control. We rarely ask how this woman could live so long with such blood loss. But the answer is that the same God who finally brought her healing had kept her body functioning all those years. He was as present throughout the length of her suffering as He was in the quickness of her healing. Some people’s lives will bring glory to God through the way He sustains them over what seems like endless years, and others through how He heals them in an instant.
As you see the lightbulbs around you casting out their rays, and hear the buzzing and whirring of all the devices powered by their circuits, may you abide in the circuit God has placed you, (1 Cor. 1:30) knowing that He will sustain you until that power accomplishes all His plans and flows back to Him again in glory and endless praise. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ (Rev. 5:12) “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen!” (Rom. 11:36) The wait, dear friend, however long, will be worth it!
