He would have so gladly died to take her place, to seize her pain, to see her healthy again. When others had given up, he continued to call everyone he knew to call and did everything a father knew to do. As he stood by her bed day and night, he watched her go from bad to worse to deathly ill. He and her mother had hoped that it would come and go, but feared it might be worse. He could remember exactly when his little girl’s sickness started.
She was not only healed, but loved, welcomed, embraced - cared for by Jesus. And when he saw her, he said, “ Daughter, your faith has made you well go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:34). Instantly, she was healed - and she knew it (Mark 5:29).Īnd Jesus knew it too. Hoping to avoid embarrassment and rejection (she didn’t have any money left to offer him), she pressed in, reached out, and touched just the edge of his garment. She had heard rumors about Jesus, that he had healed people like her. When Jesus found the woman, she had slipped into the crowd around him, her one last-ditch effort to be cured. She could feel the life slowly draining out of her, leaving her empty, lonely, and heartbroken. Even those who loved her were out of words to say to try to encourage her. Twelve years she had suffered now, and she was out of money, out of options, almost out of hope. The treatments had only left her worse than before (Mark 5:26). She did remember all the doctors who had tried to help her, and all the money she had given them. She couldn’t remember when the bleeding had started, when her life had been upended by this disease. Those who had feared the man found him clothed and his right mind - in others words, they found him cared for by Jesus. His scars remained, but he was whole again. With a word, the demons fled from the man. Jesus knew exactly why this man was hurting himself, and he knew how to care for him - like no one else could or would. “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” (Mark 5:8). Jesus wasn’t disgusted by his appearance, or intimidated by his violence, or confused by his condition. When Jesus found the Gerasene man, everyone else had abandoned him (Mark 5:3–4).
Their horrible shackles and chains worked for a time, but in his self-destructive rage, he always broke out of those too. He couldn’t count how many people had tried to stop him. Each night, he would finally fall asleep, and then wake up with more pain, more scars, and even more impulses to abuse himself. Day after day, he would search for the sharpest rock he could find and then dig it into his arms and legs until he couldn’t bear it anymore. He couldn’t remember when he had started hurting himself. Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.
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