Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The Bible reading for this week is the account of Jesus stopping to heal a woman with haemorrhaging whilst he was on his way to attend to Jairus’ daughter.  A twelve year old is dying and yet Jesus stops to talk to a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years.  Why?  Once again, we are struck by the fact that Jesus was not in a hurry.  Like the account of Lazarus, Jesus does not rush around; even to get to a dying person.  He is Lord of time and considers there to be something much more important to address than meeting deadlines.  Jesus wanted to meet, engage with and heal broken relationships.  The woman had been labelled as an ‘outcast’ for the past 12 years because of her medical condition.  No doubt, she was referred to by a range of derogatory terms by the people who saw her.  Jesus changes all of that.  Jesus gives her a new name: ‘daughter’.  For Jesus, the overriding concern was to restore people, all people, to full dignity in God.  Similarly, he wants to do the same with us.  He wants to restore all of us by giving us the title of ‘children of God’.  To Him, this was much more important than rushing around meeting deadlines.