The Personal Love of Jesus

In human relationships, exclusivity is a sign of intimacy and deep, personal love. I expect my husband to love me in a unique way that he loves no one else. As the only daughter of my parents, I know I hold a special place in their hearts. Best friends use the word “best” to signify the special, close connection they’ve found with one another.

God tells us that he loves the whole world (John 3:16). He loves billions and billions of people who live not just now but throughout all of history. God is infinite in nature and infinite in his capacity to love, but my human mind is limited. I can’t conceive of this type of love.

God’s canopy of love that covers humanity is not only wide, grouping us into a faceless crowd, but it is deep and personal. I know this logically, but it has always been easier for me to see myself as one insignificant piece of a large crowd for which Jesus died.

But then I met this woman, and the love Jesus showed her brought my head knowledge into my heart. Her story is evidence of the deep, personal love Jesus holds for her but also for me and you.

I met this woman, and the love Jesus showed her brought my head knowledge into my heart. Her story is evidence of the deep, personal love Jesus holds for her but also for me and you. Click To Tweet

This woman was sick for twelve years. Her bleeding condition forced her into a type of quarantine. She was required to remain socially distanced from strangers and acquaintances as well as close family and dear friends. Every day, she worked diligently washing clothes and linens. Her existence was one of unending waiting for health and restoration.

She spent all her money on medical procedures that made her condition worse. I assume she was tired all the time, in part from iron deficiency and in part from her ongoing emotional and mental distress.

Did she have anyone to talk to? Anyone to care for her? Other women would visit her from time to time, but after a few days, they would return to their regular life, their families, their places in society. A constant stream of women, coming and going. Always going.

How much longer could she live on the fringes? She couldn’t do it anymore. She was desperate.

Word of Jesus reached her, and she believed that he could heal her condition. She was commanded to live apart, to maintain physical distance between herself and others, but she plunged into the crowd anyway. Knowing she would face judgment and disdain if others realized her condition and proximity, she acted quickly, stretching out her arm to graze the edge of Jesus’s clothes.

She knew, immediately, that she was healed. Instantly. I imagine her turning to leave before she was discovered, relief and gratitude filling her whole being, only to hear his words call out behind her. “Who touched my clothes?” The whole crowd denied it, and fear and dread overcame her. He knew. What would he do to her?

Jesus had been on his way to help someone else in an emergency. A little girl was dying and time was of the essence. Other people, other stories, other suffering surrounded them, but Jesus locked eyes with this one woman.

Trembling, she fell at his feet and confessed her story. She held her breath in anticipation of his response.

“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

When she had grown accustom to distance and neglect, he paid attention.

Where she expected reproach, she received acceptance and freedom.

Part of why he addressed her in this way was to publicly declare her well and thereby allow her back into societal life. But I also believe he did this to look in her eyes, to show her the depth of his care and love. With that love, he did more than heal her physical ailments. His love heals us in mind and spirit.

This is the same personal, deep love that he carries for you and me.

This Easter Sunday many of us will be worshiping with other believers from our living rooms, beds, and backyards. More than ever, we may struggle to feel seen, known, and loved.

God’s love, displayed in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, is a personal invitation to you, friend. Look upon his face and know that for those of us who place our faith in him, he also calls us son and daughter.

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:22-24

The full story can be found in Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, and Luke 8:43-48. Information about the laws concerning her condition are found in Leviticus 15:25-27.