AN ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS-THE HEALER
Part 1:
She faced another day alone, afraid bordering on hopelessness, not knowing how her day would begin or end. She got up ever so slowly to combat the dizzy feelings and weakness in her body. She cleaned up as much as she could and grabbed her Tanakh (Hebrews Bible). She read “Isaiah 53:4-5”, and she felt a kinship with the Man of God Isaiah referred to in verse three. “He was despised, He was rejected by others, a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity and as one from whom others hide their faces; He was despised and we held Him of no account."(NRSV). She empathized with this Man of God and she too felt sorrow and despised. She felt ostracized from her community and her family. She would have given anything to get her life back before this illness.
“Before this illness, she was young, vibrant full of life and a virtuous Jewish girl until she experienced a tragedy. She was engaged to a nice Jewish man who died from a terrible accident and after the "Sitting Shiva" ritual (week-long mourning period) she became ill. Cataclysmic changes in her life occurred. The stress of her loss and depression took a toll on her health. Her dreams deferred, family and friends abandoned her and her money depleted. She was alone or so she thought.
She was expected to stay home and perform her household duties until she got sick." She had been hemorrhaging for twelve years. Every month trudging to a medical man (naturalist) for the relief of her illness was costing her financially. She had seen so many healing men over the years and no one could help her. She was relieved from fulfilling her household duties. She did not prepare, cook or serve food and she was unable to go to the marketplace. She had to abide by the Purity Laws (according to this law a woman had to be confined until after her menstrual period because she was considered impure or unclean.) Anyone who touched her was also considered unclean. If this law was violated she would be "cut off" from others. (See Leviticus 12: 2 and 15:19-33
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