The Untouchables
Exactly who are we following here?
I believe I’ve mentioned my youthful ignorance of all things maternal. Topping the list of things I didn’t know about children?
They’re gross.
I've wiped away more snot than I knew mucus membranes could produce and changed blowout diapers that triggered my gag reflex, all while maintaining an adoring smile. I even once brushed a live cockroach off my son’s t-shirt, calmly directing him to please step outside. He doesn’t remember that—I can’t forget. Just recalling it gives me the heebie-jeebies.
In all those moments and more, I never hesitated to scoop up my kids or give them a big hug. But one incident made Garrison almost untouchable.
While my husband was ordering food during an afternoon pub outing, I was left alone with my 3-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter in the kids' play area. As we waited for lunch to arrive, Garrison suddenly had an urgent need to use the bathroom. As a woman, I couldn’t go in with him, so he ventured into a public toilet for the first time while I stood outside the men’s room, waiting for him to finish his business.
“Maaamaaa!”
This was no ordinary cry. Ignoring all decorum, I rushed into the "gents only" washroom and found my son stuck in a urinal. "I only saw a stand-y toilet," he explained, and in an instant I understood why. The stalls had floor-to-ceiling doors, which, to his inexperienced toddler’s eyes, looked like solid walls. He simply assumed the urinal was his only option.
With his naked rear end in the basin—and I'm not altogether sure how this happened—he was covered in pee and other unidentified biohazards, from his hands and arms to pretty much all of his clothing. To make matters worse, he had pooped in the receptacle.
I’m not gonna lie; I really hesitated to pick him up. For an uncomfortably long time. He may remember that.
That’s one of my favorite stories to tell and I hope it made you laugh. But let's shift gears and dive into Leviticus's deep (some say tedious) waters. I know it’s not everyone's inspiration, but trust me, it'll be worth it.
Understanding the Levitical law outlining ritual purification for menstruating women provides critical insights into the story of the “Woman Subject to Bleeding,” found in the Gospel of Mark.
And before anyone tunes out, thinking this is a girls-only topic, remember: these accounts were written by and for an all-male readership back in the day. So, gentlemen, stay with me—this one's for you too!
Instead of presenting Leviticus 15:19-33 in total, I’ve outlined in bullet points the regimen that ancient Israeli women followed each month.
During her monthly period, a woman was considered unclean for seven days. Anyone who touched her became unclean, as well.
Anything she lay on or sat on during her period was unclean.
Those who touched her chair or bed also became unclean and had to wash their clothes and bathe with water.
When a woman had a prolonged discharge outside her period, she was unclean, the same as during her period.
Anything she lay on or sat on while the discharge continued was unclean.
Those who touched her chair or bed became unclean and had to wash their clothes and bathe with water.
After her discharge stopped, she had to wait seven days before being ceremonially clean.
Additionally, menstruating women were forbidden from entering the Temple and participating in religious activities.
It’s a lot to take in.
These rules may appear foreign to us today, and I've often overlooked them, unaware of the insights they offer into the lives of women in ancient times. I'm now fascinated by the meticulous care required to maintain a woman's ritual purity—for herself and everyone around her. From a modern perspective, it all seems incredibly repetitive and, frankly, exhausting. Yet, adhering to these laws was a normal part of life for Jewish women and their families.
For all intents and purposes, women of ancient Israel were untouchable for approximately a quarter of their childbearing years. By law.
The woman subject to bleeding.
Now, imagine being compelled to follow these regulations every day. For twelve years. This context sheds light on the lived experience of the woman Jesus healed from her 12-year ordeal, painting a fuller and hopefully more sympathetic picture of her circumstances.
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”… 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
—Mark 5:25-34, NIV
An exceptionally harsh fate.
Given the strict laws regarding blood, the unnamed character in Mark's narrative had endured an exceptionally harsh fate. I’ve tried to imagine her life—it must have been lonely, deprived of the simple joys of predictable human interaction. Even within her household, she was regarded as perpetually unclean rather than experiencing the temporary, monthly routine her sisters were accustomed to.
I've wondered, too, if her community actively kept their distance, worried about becoming ritually unclean if she inadvertently made contact with them or their belongings.
In addition to the isolation, her obligation to constantly wash everything she touched would have been a continuous reminder of her exclusion. This regimen, along with the physical weakness caused by her illness, would have taken a heavy toll on her body, as well as on her emotional and mental well-being.
Despite all this, she strikes me as surprisingly optimistic.
According to the Bible, she had gone from doctor to doctor, likely meeting a quack or two along the way. Can you imagine the variety of unproven and ineffective remedies she was offered in her day? Mark 5:27 says she had "suffered a great deal" under the care of those practitioners and had spent her life's savings in the process.
And yet, she continued to search for a cure.
How was she not cynical?
What confidence! "If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed." (Mark 5:28b). Not “I might,” but "I will."
As an untouchable, she made her way through a bustling crowd, intent on reaching Jesus’ clothes. Confirming her faith, after grasping His cloak, "she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." (Mk 5:29) . She then immediately turned around to leave.
It’s clear to me why she tried to slip away unnoticed after receiving what she came for. She had broken the law. Our twenty-first-century lens frames her as faithful and courageous. A first-century Jewish citizen may have seen her in quite a different light: as reckless and lawless. How many people did she defile in her determination to be healed, including Jesus Himself?
She had to have been terrified when Jesus insisted she reveal herself and step forward, and rightly so. As a revered rabbi, he symbolized the very law she had flouted concerning a woman’s ritual purity (Niddah).1 He could have taken her to a priest to face the consequences of her actions or, at the very least, publicly shamed her for her defiance; both actions were within His right and perhaps seen as His obligation in the eyes of some.
Yet, instead of condemnation, Jesus rewarded her with the declaration that her faith had cured her.
A closer look at Jesus’ response.
“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (Mk 5:34, NIV)
“Daughter.” Did you know she's the only woman in Scripture whom Jesus addressed in such familiar terms? With few human connections, calling her daughter shattered rock-solid social barriers, offering inclusion and cementing her place in God’s family. For her, there was no greater gift than that of belonging.
“Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Why did Jesus say this, particularly the second part? Jesus knew she was physically healed—He was confident His power had done its work. So, was it redundant for Him to charge her to be freed from her suffering if she was already well?
I don't think so. He knew as many of us have experienced that stopping the source of pain is just the beginning. Some injuries leave physical scars that bother us on cold, damp days for the rest of our lives. Some injuries leave emotional scars that stubbornly remain, as though our circumstances have not changed.
After enduring twelve years of segregation, she no doubt had significant emotional healing ahead of her. His words sent her on her way with an unexpected vision of freedom. I imagine she pursued that freedom with the same enthusiasm she demonstrated in reaching Jesus, but we don’t know; her response is undocumented and, in my opinion, irrelevant.
We are often taught that Mark’s anonymous woman is the heroine of the story and an example to be followed. But I’d be surprised if anyone in that crowd thought she’d done a good thing. Perhaps the real story was Jesus' surprising response when faced with a law-breaking, unclean woman.
As always, we are called to imitate Him. And in this case, He embraced the untouchable.
I bet the call is to imitate that.
That’s all I have for today.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question below. Don't hesitate to share with friends too! Plus, if you'd like to receive Simple Sheology directly in your inbox, subscribe now for free!
I live in Nepal, and it is still that way for women here. It is called "Chaupadi".
Wow… so much to unpack here! Absolutely LOVE your insight! As I read the whole chapter I was surprised when Jesus said to the woman “go in peace and be healed of your disease.” The text said that she felt that she had already been healed. Her healing wasn’t just physical but also spiritual and emotional. She had been separated from her spiritual community for 12 years. We don’t know if her family was supporting her or if they had abandoned her because she was always unclean. She risked so much by even approaching Jesus.
What really blew my mind was how the healing of Jarius’ 12-year old daughter is before and after the healing of the women who had been bleeding for 12 years. 12-years in the Jewish text typically symbolizes the 12 tribes of Israel. In the case of the woman, she might have been an alienated Jew because of her bleeding.
The story at the beginning of chapter 5 is the healing of the demoniac - a gentile. Associating with a gentile made the Jew ritually unclean. Then you have the healing of the woman, who by touching Jesus, made him ritually unclean. Jarius was with Jesus when the woman was healed and he had been waiting for Jesus to come to his house to heal his daughter. Jarius was a synagogue ruler. Jarius knew that since she had touched Jesus, that Jesus was now unclean. Jarius’ friends arrive and tell him that Jarius’ daughter was dead.
Jesus responds by telling him to not be afraid (seems odd to me). Was Jarius afraid of Jesus now being unclean and not being able to touch his daughter to heal her? Had Jarius just lost his opportunity for his daughter’s healing because some woman was selfish in wanting to be healed and touched Jesus’ cloak?
Jesus arrived at Jarius’ house and then touched a dead body, Jarius’ daughter. Which again made Jesus unclean.
Three healings associated with uncleanliness - Gentile, alienated Jew and religious Jew. All of which Jesus healed and showed everyone that loving/healing people was more important than following the Law. 😮🤯
Keep your insights coming! You have so much to share!! Love you!