Jesus sees fully

 JESUS SEES FULLY

 

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

MARK 5.34

 

I am fully known.

1 CORINTHIANS 13.12b

 

Based on MARK 5.25–34

 

As Jesus was on His way to heal a little girl, He was interrupted by the touch of an anonymous woman. But this wasn’t just any woman — she was suffering from an illness that rendered her ceremonially “unclean” according to Levitical law. Anything she touched became unclean, so we can imagine how hard she would have searched for a cure. In fact, Scripture tells us she had spent all her money pursuing medical care, only to worsen instead of experiencing relief.

God intended these Levitical laws to impress on the Israelites’ hearts His utter holiness and their lack of holiness. Everyone would have experienced biological uncleanliness from time to time, underscoring their need for purification to approach a holy God. This makes sense as an object lesson, but the woman in this story leverages her invisibility for a shot at touching the fringe of Jesus’ garment. Such an act was not just unlawful — it was brazen.

The moment she touches Jesus — immediately — she is healed. She literally feels free from her suffering. And for a moment, she marvels at the miracle. After years of suffering, she is finally whole and healthy!

Well, not quite. Because although her body was healed, her spirit is still broken. Her identity has been shaped by years of disappointment, loneliness, and shunning. She was a nobody to everybody, but to Jesus she is somebody.

“Who touched my clothes?” He wants to know. On a merely human level, the woman’s touch would have rendered Jesus unclean. But Jesus is not defiled by the woman’s touch, He who created the ceremonial laws defines what is clean. But the woman didn’t know that.

Not surprisingly, the woman hangs back, clinging to her invisibility like a security blanket. If she’s discovered, she risks public shaming and ridicule. We can imagine she presses back into the crowd, staring at the ground to avoid detection. But Jesus pursues her. He keeps looking around to see who has done it, not because He doesn’t already know, but because He wants to offer her more than just physical healing.

“Seeing that she could not go unnoticed,” Luke 8:47 says, the woman falls to His feet, trembling with trepidation, and tells what she did and why. The crowd waits with bated breath.

“Daughter,” Jesus says. Daughter. This woman who had been suffering invisibility and isolation for twelve years hears a term of endearment reserved for one’s own family member. This is the only time Jesus directly addresses someone as daughter, and this one single word bestows the mantle of dignity upon this woman’s frail shoulders. His words prompt her to lift her gaze from the ground to discover the most surprising gift of all, belonging.

“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:34). Rather than rebuke her boldness, Jesus commends her faith and releases her of any culpability, blessing her with peace, and restoring not just her health but her identity, her dignity, and her visibility.

This is the love of Jesus — a love that pursues, a love that sees, and a love that offers the gift of being seen. We don’t have to hide anymore. Let us step up to Him and receive His gift of belonging to Him.

 

Prayer 

 

Lord Jesus, You are the God who sees, who knows, and who cares. Nothing escapes Your notice; no pain too insignificant; no hurt too obscure. Thank You that You make time for the unimportant people in this world, that You make time for me and that You welcome all to come and find our place of belonging with You. You know me fully, and You love me anyway. I’m so grateful for You. I love You, Lord.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

 

If you want to read more 

 

Lev 15.25–30, Mt 9.20–22, Lk 8.43–48