In the midst of the story about Jairus pleading for his child’s healing, Matthew 9:20–22 records Jesus’ encounter with a woman who had been suffering from a chronic illness. While Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ house, in the crush of a crowd, a woman touched the fringe of his garment. She sought a small measure of God’s mercy through Jesus to heal her of the bleeding she had suffered for twelve years. Not only had her body been worn down by the illness, but all her resources had been spent on treatment (Mark 5:26). If we examine the cultural context of that society, the woman’s struggle was not only to fight through the crowd to demonstrate her faith, but also to wrestle with a deep question: “Am I worthy?”
That question arose because the Torah observed by the people then declared that any woman with a flow of blood was unclean (Leviticus 15:25). Having bled for twelve years, she had endured long days of suffering—not only physically but also mentally, socially, and spiritually. Mentally, she was surely discouraged because her body did not improve despite consulting many healers. Socially, she was isolated and impoverished in relationships. Spiritually, her longing to worship and reconnect with God must have been intense. Yet again she faced feelings of shame rooted in the uncleanness that haunted her as she sought to approach Jesus. Thus it is not surprising that Luke 8:47 says she was afraid and trembling when her act became known.
In that fear she confessed what she had done. Interestingly, Jesus’ response exceeded her expectations. According to the Torah, those touched by an unclean person also became unclean (Leviticus 15:19). For a rabbi who was a man, becoming unclean was unpleasant because it required undergoing purification. But instead of reacting with anger at being contaminated, Jesus showed no anger. Rather, He commended the woman’s faith in God.
In this story, Matthew brings together two realities that seem opposed: uncleanness and holiness. In the woman with the hemorrhage, uncleanness meets the holiness of the Teacher. What occurs is not holiness defeated by uncleanness, but uncleanness swallowed by holiness. That which was deemed unclean is redeemed by the holiness of Jesus. Before Him, those labeled unclean and unworthy by an overly legalistic religious and social system are nevertheless precious souls, worthy of restoration. Jesus freed Himself from the chains of legalism and lived out the Torah according to its essence—love. He did not ostracize people because of their condition. Instead, He embraced and redeemed them.
Today, acts of ostracizing others still often appear, though not in the same extreme form as Israel’s avoidance of bleeding women. “Deeming someone unclean” now can appear as excluding another person through rigid social boundaries. Humanity’s fall into sin has produced social structures that are frequently unjust. When we marginalize someone because of ethnic group, culture, social class, gender, skin color, or appearance—acting as if one group is superior to another—we are, in effect, treating that person as unclean. Even when we refuse to welcome someone back into our hearts because of past wrongs or wounds they caused, we still treat them as unclean.
The encounter between Jesus’ holiness and the woman’s uncleanness shows us that what the surrounding culture considers unclean must be embraced and redeemed. This aligns with our calling to be salt and light in the world. We are called to season what is bland and to illuminate what is dark. To do this, we must dare to “go” into places judged bland and dark—into what is considered unclean. Those who have been redeemed by Christ’s holiness no longer maintain the rigid legalistic social boundaries erected by society; rather, they transcend them. We will look upon the marginalized and excluded with full love and compassion, not with disgust or rejection.