This is the third of four episodes where Jesus brings rest out of chaos. We are introduced to a chaotic scene. Jesus is responding to a desperate request from Jairus to heal his daughter but has crowds pressing against him as he tries to go to his house.

In the midst of this there is a woman whose life is in chaos through illness. A hemorrhagic illness would make ordinary life impossible and she would be unable to keep her clothes clean and be viewed as unclean by the religious leaders and therefore not to be touched. She had been unable to find a cure and was made worse by the efforts. She was so desperate that she took a massive risk by trying to touch Jesus’ clothes in the crowd whilst trying to remain anonymous.  

We have an interweaving of stories with seemingly conflicting priorities. Should Jesus make healing a 12 year old girl the priority over a woman who has had a disease for 12 years?   The child was the daughter of an important religious leader whereas the woman was unnamed and would be deemed as unclean and therefore excluded by the religion. However, Jesus makes a point of stopping to speak to the woman. She is important to him even in the midst of the other pressures.

The woman only touched the cloak of Jesus and was healed. Clothing has significance here and throughout the bible.

In Genesis, the response of Adam and Eve to the knowledge of good and evil was to make clothing as a covering for sin. God then made the first sacrifice of animals to create suitable clothing for them. Sacrifice was needed to make a covering for sin.

For the nation Israel, God instructed them to put tassels on the corner of their clothes as a reminder to follow his commandments. The woman may have touched the tassel on the cloak of Jesus.

The prophets spoke about being clothed with salvation, robed in righteousness. This, however, expressed an inner cleansing and not a superficial washing or covering of something rotten.

The religious used distinctive clothing as a way of showing an outward observance, a separation from the environment that contaminates, away from anything unclean. Jesus calls these people hypocrites covering up evil hearts. They say one thing and do another, putting burdens on others whilst excluding themselves, making their clothing grander, extending the tassels. The religious used the law to benefit themselves and lost sight of God.

By following Jesus we are not under the law but do we need to be clothed as protection from an 'unclean' environment? Is our environment to blame for our sin? Jesus states that in him we are clean. In Jesus we are made clean. He will wash any contamination away. Our spiritual clothing is not to separate us from our environment but to demonstrate the goodness of God.

Why did Jesus stop the woman and speak to her? Why did he make her visible?

To call her 'daughter', part of his family. Jairus’ daughter was not the only one with a loving and concerned father. To let her know that she was included in his family and not excluded by religion. To let her know that she was pure in his eyes. To let her know she can wear clean clothes. To let her know that the chaos is replaced by peace. To let her know that this is what faith is all about.