I wonder if I may be reading too much into this story, but I can’t help but think that the reason the woman was so secretive about seeking healing from Jesus wasn’t because she was being shunned by her neighbors, but because she was hiding her affliction from them. It was a very intimate ailment; besides the physicians the only person who would know of it would be her husband, if any. She could easily rationalize lying about her ritual impurity by thinking, “what they don’t know can’t hurt them.” However, she obviously could not ask to be healed because that would be admitting her deception.
This would be a profound case of “the justification of the unrighteous”. Jesus heals her despite her living a lie, and only after she is already healed does he ask her to “come clean”, so to speak.
I wonder if I may be reading too much into this story, but I can’t help but think that the reason the woman was so secretive about seeking healing from Jesus wasn’t because she was being shunned by her neighbors, but because she was hiding her affliction from them. It was a very intimate ailment; besides the physicians the only person who would know of it would be her husband, if any. She could easily rationalize lying about her ritual impurity by thinking, “what they don’t know can’t hurt them.” However, she obviously could not ask to be healed because that would be admitting her deception.
This would be a profound case of “the justification of the unrighteous”. Jesus heals her despite her living a lie, and only after she is already healed does he ask her to “come clean”, so to speak.
Amen. Great sermon Jason.