This is the second post in a series on Matthew 9:18-22
To read the first one, click here: How to be a Disciple (spoiler alert: you already are one) Matthew 9:18
The Pastor Husband says, “You know a Bible study or small group is good if people stay to hangout afterwards.”
And for the first few weeks or so of the summer Bible study on Matthew, people didn’t really stay and hang out. It probably took a month and a half before that happened, and at that point, we were about half way through the summer. And that’s OK. For crying out loud, forced community is awkward.
It took women showing up even when, honestly, the community wasn’t quite there yet. But according to our financial advisor, you’ll get the highest return on your investment if you continue to invest. And I think the same applies to community.
It took someone being a little more open with a prayer request, and someone being a little more open with the struggles her child was having, and seeing each other as friends long before it was the case. To have community, it took vulnerability; these are the things of the Kingdom.
In anything, it takes showing up for days, weeks, or months sometimes.
Photo Credit: Joshua Lee Tolle
For the hemorrhaging woman in Matthew 9, it took twelve years before she got her chance to show up. It took brazen defiance and vulnerability.
If hope is elusive, these ancient and holy words are for you.
Chances are you’ve heard this story before. And the problem is just that- it was told to you as a story. But what if we read it not as a story, but as a historical account? One makes you feel good; one necessitates life change.
If we read it through the lens of this actually happened, it’s fascinating. It’s startling. Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, becomes irresistible.
So yes, you’ve heard these verses before, I promise. But the biggest barrier to truly knowing something is thinking you already know it.
Photo Credit: Joshua Lee Tolle
A Jesus so Irresistible
In Mark’s testimony we learn that this woman spent everything she had to be healed, but she wasn’t healed. She was broke and broken. Physically and emotionally exhausted. Outcast and hopeless.
As a first-century woman, her value was dependent on if she could have children. No children, no value. And since she was bleeding, the laws were that she had to be separate from her community because she was considered unclean. People would have known her as the unclean and cursed woman.
She would have been rejected by her husband, her family, her community. But she had heard of the Nazarene named Jesus, a carpenter who made an excellent fisherman and a Great Physician.
Her walking in was a brazen act of defiance and desperation. And like Jairus in the verses before, she too had come to the end of the rules and needed to come to the beginning of Jesus. Even just to the beginning of the tassel on His robe.
To be honest:
This was the woman’s last shot at being valued, her last shot at being restored to her community. And all of us want to be valued and in community. And if you are a Christian, we want to know what Jesus values in community, too.
Here is the Jesus-way of finding value in others:
1. As we will see in the verses to come (stay tuned!), Jesus honors this woman’s vulnerability and authenticity. She showed up, which really is a miracle in itself.
Get practical: who is showing up in your life? In your tribe? Who is vulnerable and authentic, despite the fact life may be crumbling? This humble posture is what Jesus values.
2. This woman’s vulnerability and authenticity gives us permission to be the same.
Get practical: Instead of “how are you?” ask “how’s your spirit?” or a personal favorite, “what’s the best and worst thing going on in your life right now?” Truly knowing and being known is what Jesus values.
3. Keep showing up and speaking life- despite your hardest trials and their hardest trials.
Get practical: The person in need of community was created in the image of God. They are uniquely gifted and placed in their specific context to bring the Kingdom of God: to bring hope, love, peace, and joy. When we see people this way, they all become so irresistible. This, my friends, is the Jesus way. No one has more social capital than anyone else. All are irresistible.
Pray for a Kingdom perspective and as you find it, may you have the courage to reach out to touch the tassel. Through this we find healing and are made whole. Through this we take our part in God’s story and heal others and make them whole.
The tassel that will restore, resurrect, make whole. May we be the tassel for those looking for community. Notice and know and be known. Honor others for showing up.
This is the Jesus way.