DESPERATE PEOPLE DO DESPERATE THINGS (PART III)

“Jairus and the Woman with the Issue of Blood”

By Akin Ojumu

Symbolism is the hallmark of the Old Testament. From Genesis to Malachi, the Book of the Law and the Prophet is rich in types and shadows of things to come.

Among these types and shadows are the laws governing the clean and unclean. As symbols, these were meant to demonstrate the corrupting effect of sin. They are types and shadows of how sin stains and defiles. God established the laws of clean and unclean as a constant reminder to the people of their uncleanness and sin.

Menstrual discharge is classified as a defilement under the laws of clean and unclean. Like the semen discharge, it’s a type and shadow of the defilement that sin brings upon the sinner. Not only is the woman defiled by her menstrual flow, but anyone and anything she comes in contact with is also considered defiled and unclean.

Leviticus 15:19-22

“When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.”

At the end of the menstrual period, the woman is required to observe a cleansing protocol which involved waiting for seven days after the last bleed. She is required to bring a sin and burnt offerings. Only after she has observed these rituals is she considered clean.

Leviticus 15:28-30

“But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.”

Now, I want you to imagine what life is like under this rule for the woman with the issue of blood who experienced continuous menstrual flow for twelve years nonstop. Because her bleeding never stops, she is never going to be ceremonially clean. She is permanently ritually defiled and unable to touch anyone without passing on that defilement. Hers is a life lived in misery and wretchedness.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired, the woman goes everywhere looking for a cure. She seeks help from all sorts of physicians and consults with charlatans. After subjecting herself to all manners of quackery, none of them could cure her hemorrhaging. In fact, it gets much worse. On top of all that, she is brought into financial ruin because she had spent all she had.

The miraculous healing of this woman with the issue of blood is a miracle sandwiched within another profound miracle. Two remarkable and unforgettable miracles that demonstrate the divinity of the Lord Jesus are divinely orchestrated to occur almost concurrently. In His sovereign plan, God connects the fate of two people with nothing in coming save their desperation for a divine intervention in their situation.

These are two people from different backgrounds and different stations in life. Jairus is a leader of the synagogue. The woman with the issue of blood is ostracized from the synagogue. Jairus is filthy rich and influential. The woman is filthy poor and inconsequential. One is respected, and the other is rejected. One lives in honor, the other in dishonor. For twelve years, Jairus’s daughter has been the joy and delight of his life. For twelve years, the woman’s hemorrhage has brought her only sorrow and despair.

As different as these two people may seem, their shared pain and suffering brings them both to the feet of Jesus. In their misery, the fate of the religious ruler and the societal outcast collides at the feet of Jesus. Propelled by their faith, they each come to the One with the answer to their adversity. By divine providence, the lowly woman would soon become a source of strength and encouragement to the noble Jairus.

To be continued.