Matthew 9:18-26 (NKJV)
While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.
Jesus is on his way to heal this ruler's daughter and gets interrupted. But Jesus is never annoyed by interruptions. We need to see them as an opportunity to minister. The story is told about the man who was devoutly praying to God for his ministry and how he would go and do whatever God wanted him to. Then he is interrupted by a telephone call from some annoying person in his life and complained how this was interrupting his prayer time. There God was answering his prayer even before he had finished praying it with an opportunity to minister!
By the way, Jesus wants to eliminate idea that somehow it was the touching that was effective. He says It is her faith that made her well. It is the touch of faith in that results in salvation. It is not faith in a creed but in the person of Jesus Christ. Notice too how Jesus responds personally to her; he affectionately calls her “daughter” and encourages her. We have a personal relationship with Jesus too. He responds personally to us.
After the healing of this woman, Jesus continues with his original mission to raise this ruler's daughter from the dead.
23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land.
Is there more to this story? Is there any symbolic meaning in this? Perhaps.
In Leviticus 15 and 18 and elsewhere we find out that for a woman with an issue of blood, it is required that she stay outside the camp because she is ceremonially unclean. Anything that she touched, where she sat, etc. was declared unclean. Now, this woman mixing in with the crowd is not abiding by these laws. Can we infer from this the woman’s nationality? It is almost certain that she was a Gentile who had no regard for the ceremonial laws. Lets go further then. Who is it that Jesus is called upon to raise from the dead? We learn from the other accounts in Mark and Luke that she is a daughter of Zion, a title of Israel.
So symbolically we see Jesus Christ is on his way to raise the daughter of Zion, and incidental to this mission, a Gentile woman receives her healing by faith. I find the allusions there fascinating. One day the Lord will touch Israel and bring her back to life. He has not abandoned His plan for His chosen people. (Romans 11). God has a future plan for the nation of Israel. Meanwhile, in this parenthesis in time, God has extended His plan of salvation to include Gentiles who are coming to Him by faith today.