Mark 5:21-43
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.
The woman had suffered, living with the shame of ritual uncleanness, bankrupted by medical bills – and still she had the audacity to hope as she drew near to Jesus. Her body might have been broken, but her soul was kept alive by her fierce hope. There was no visible sign of change in her circumstance, and despite her best efforts her condition grew worse. And yet she had the audacity to hope as she approached Jesus. She had lived with this condition for as long as the other ‘daughter” in the story had been alive. And when she reached out, she was healed.
Advent itself is an exercise in audacious hope – waiting in darkness for the light to dawn, expecting that God will break into our broken world with shalom. Where do you need the audacity to hope this Advent season? Where do you feel spent, drained, isolated? You’ve invested everything – time, energy, creativity, passion – tried every method, sought every resource, and still see your efforts worsening rather than improving the situation. The discouragement can be isolating, leaving you feeling ritually “unclean” in your profession, calling, family or other relationships – as though you don’t belong.
But Advent calls us to the audacity of hope. To hear about Jesus and push through the crowd of doubts and disappointments. To reach out, believing that God can bring wholeness to our weary souls. To reach towards the same Christ who stopped and asked, “who touched me?” The one who noticed a desperate woman in a pressing crowd; sees you.