Given by Rev. Madison Shockley June 27, 2021
The passage today is about touch and ultimately, power. The woman was not allowed to touch or be touched as she was unclean. Having been through this pandemic, we too have been denied the ability to touch or be touched. The woman in the story takes back her power. After suffering for years, she came to Jesus and touched his clothes and was made well. In this story, there are four people, two with power and two without. Jesus has spiritual power and Jairus had earthly power. The unnamed woman and little girl had no power. Names equates power. Jairus knew he could walk up to Jesus and ask for his daughter to be cured. The woman did not feel she could ask Jesus to heal her. She had to sneak up and take the cure. Touch is to join someone in their status. The powerful person would lose some power if they touched someone lower. The lower person would gain power by the touch. Jesus knew that power left him when the woman touched him. He seeks her out to reward her for her faith. We need to have faith like the woman. Once she took control of her body, she could take control of her life. Jesus treated everyone as equals. We need faith to do the same. All people deserve the power of equality and control over their own lives. The power is in our faith.
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