He is Within Reach, by Paige Payne.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing Him he fell at His feet and pleaded earnestly with Him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay Your hands on her that she may get well and live. He went off with him, and a large crowd followed Him and pressed upon Him.
There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak. She said, "If I but touch His clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone from Him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched My clothes?" But His disciples said to Him, You see how the crowd is pressing upon You, and yet You ask, 'Who touched Me?'" And He looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told Him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."
the Gospel According to Mark (5:22-34)
[W]hen she reaches Jesus, she just touches one of the blue tassels that Jewish men wore at the corner of their garments. Instantly, she is healed.
Jesus stops and looks around. “Who touched me?” Peter points out the absurdity of Jesus’ question, because the people are crowding and pressing against him—making the crowd’s denial a little comical as well [cf. Luke 8:45]. (This gives us a glimpse of what it felt like to be Jesus—constantly being interrupted and touched). But Jesus says this wasn’t a normal touch.
Usually, Jesus looks first and then heals. But the woman’s actions force Jesus to reverse his normal pattern. He looks for her after he heals her. Jesus never heals without connecting with a person, never separates his power from his love. So he delays an emergency. Knowing she is about to be caught, the woman emerges from the crowd and publicly describes her life of pain and shame as Jesus silently listens. He commends her willingness to him empty and her confidence that his power would be for her. Finally, he blesses her: “Go in peace. Shalom to you for the rest of your life.”
Paul E. Miller (Loved Walked Among Us: Learning to Love Like Jesus, page 155). Bolded emphasis added.
This Gospel passage [Mark 5:21-43] reports how Jesus healed two women. These two women and their stories differ in various ways. One was a mature, grown woman; the other a little girl of twelve. One had become poor; she had spent all her savings in an attempt to be cured from a persistent haemorrhaging from which she suffered. The other, the daughter of Jairus, obviously belonged to a well-to-do family.
Then the problems of the two women also differed. The grown woman had suffered for twelve years from haemorrhages. Her condition was unpleasant, debilitating, but not lethal. A problem that a good gynecologist could fix today, it left her in a constant state of religious impurity. The problem for the daughter of Jairus was, to put it mildly, extreme. She became seriously ill and then died. Not even the greatest doctor today can bring back to life someone who truly died.
The two women also differ in the way they come in contact with Jesus. The grown woman encountered him because she went looking for him. She pushed her way through the crowd and touched his clothing. The little daughter of Jairus could not go looking for Jesus, because first she became seriously ill and then died. She came into contact with Jesus because he walked into her home and entered the room where she was laid out in death.
The way the miracles took place also differed. When Jesus brought the young girl back to life, he did so in a way that seems appropriate. He took hold of her dead hand and said, 'Little girl, I say to you, get up.' His powerful word of command raised her from the dead. In the case of the woman who suffered from haemorrhages, the way in which the healing took place can leave us uncomfortable. Healing power went out of Jesus, but he did not know who had touched his clothing. It can all seem a little magical. Over the centuries some Christians have been bothered by the fact that Jesus did not know at once who had benefited from his healing power.
In short, the two women and the stories of what Jesus did for them differed quite a lot. They varied in age and social status. Their problems were very different. The way they met Jesus and the way he helped them did not coincide. But behind all these differences there is a deep unity between the two stories. In both cases Jesus met the person concerned. He wished to identify the person who had touched his garment and been blessed by his saving power. He wanted to say to her, 'Daughter, go in peace.' He wanted to change a somewhat impersonal encounter into a thoroughly personal encounter. Then, in the case of the daughter of Jairus, he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and said: 'Little girl, I say to you, get up.' He was not going to bring her back to life without meeting her personally.
In both cases Jesus was there, giving life and restoring life. The woman's life was draining away through her recurrent haemorrhages. The little girl had lost her life. In both cases Jesus came onto the scene as life-healer and life-giver.
Gerald O'Collins, S.J. (Jesus: A Portrait, pages 73-74). Italics original, bolded emphasis added.
detail of L'hémoroïsse, by James Tissot
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