Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A Healing Journey: Walking Out of Isolation

Scripture:  Mark 5:24–34

If you have battled chronic illness you understand something about the suffering that shrouded the life of the woman in our text. Twelve years of seeking treatment for a menstrual disorder that no one could cure left her penniless and still sick. The nature of the illness made her ritually unclean, thereby isolating her from the reach of healing social interaction. She could touch no one without also making that person ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:25–27). Prohibited from temple worship and locked into isolation by an incurable condition, this woman takes a risk. She pushes beyond her fears to get to Jesus. She believed that if she could “touch his clothes,” she would be “made well” (v. 28, NRSV). 

She was right! Her healing was immediate and her isolation reversed when Jesus draws her into the eternal family of God with these tender words, “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (v. 34, NRSV).

Many things can cause us to feel isolated and alone. It may be an actual health condition or it may be subtle whisperings in the mind. No matter how long we have been locked into our debilitating situation, this woman invites us to take a risk today. She encourages us to refuse to sit as victims. She beckons us beyond our fears, through the life-crushing crowd, to Jesus. Like her, we may not have a fully developed faith, but if we will take what we have and touch “his clothing,” a healing exchange will occur. 

Today visualize the woman in our text pressing her way to Jesus. Follow her and touch Him with your need. He longs to make us whole!

Consider listening to “Oh, it is Jesus,” by the Soweto Gospel Choir, available here:


Prayer: Lord open my ears so I may hear your Voice of Truth that can set me free.

 The Reverend Joanne Browne Jennings

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http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/