For the Love of Womenنموونە

Jesus Heals Women:

When Jesus walked the earth, medical treatment was rudimentary. Even more so for women. Women’s unique anatomy was poorly understood, and many maladies were wrongly attributed to a “wandering uterus.” That Jesus recognized the physical needs of women and chose to heal them is deeply meaningful.

As Jesus is going to Jarius’ house to heal his sick daughter, the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years (possibly suffering from endometriosis) courageously approached him hoping to be healed. There are so many layers to this story.

In ancient Jewish culture, when women were menstruating, they were supposed to sequester themselves because religious leaders believed menstrual blood made them and anything they touched, unclean. According to the rules, this woman should not have been out in public and certainly should not have attempted to touch a rabbi. If she had been more or less continuously bleeding for twelve years, that also means she had endured twelve years of social isolation. Scripture tells us she spent all that she had seeking a cure, and her condition became worse. A combination of her faith and her desperation most likely compelled her to risk everything in the hope of a miracle.

Jesus surely understood that she had violated religious rules by touching him. However, when she acknowledges what she had done, he does not rebuke her but tenderly affirms her: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” In so doing, he commends her self-advocacy, provides for her physical needs, and thus breaks the stigma of her long-standing disease.

Even today, women’s health needs are often misunderstood and mistreated. It can take an average of seven years to be diagnosed and treated for endometriosis. (And there is no cure for this disease.) Jesus’ attentiveness and care for girls and women cut through both cultural ignorance and religious barriers to demonstrate women’s inestimable worth.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see the needs of women around me and care for them as you did. When I am suffering from sickness, help me to believe that I am worthy of healing, even if I am ignored, shunned, or mistreated.

©Dorothy Littell Greco, For the Love of Women: Uprooting and Healing Misogyny in America