Elder Linder

In the New Testament, we find one of the most touching stories of healing in scripture—a woman who had suffered from an issue of blood for twelve years. For twelve long years, this woman had lived as an outcast. Under Mosaic law, her condition rendered her perpetually unclean. This wasn’t just a physical ailment—it was a sentence of isolation.

She couldn’t enter the temple to worship. She couldn’t touch another person without making them ritually unclean. Even the chairs she sat on or the beds she slept in would become contaminated, capable of transmitting impurity to others. Any sense of human connection, intimacy, or belonging had been stripped from her life.

The account adds another poignant detail: she “had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse” (Mark 5:26; see also Matthew 9:20, Luke 8:43). Can you imagine the desperation, the loneliness, the growing despair as year after year passed without relief? She had tried everything, spent everything, and only grown worse.

Then she heard about Jesus, and something stirred within her. With remarkable faith, she believed that if she could just touch the hem of His garment, she would be made whole. This wasn’t mere superstition—it was a profound expression of faith. The hem or border of Jewish garments held special significance, meant to remind Israel of God’s commandments (Numbers 15:38-39). In reaching for His garment’s hem, she was reaching out in faith to the power of God Himself.

What courage it must have taken to press through that crowd! Every brush against another person would have made them unclean. Yet she persisted, driven by faith, until she touched His garment. The response was immediate: “straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague” (Mark 5:29; see also Matthew 9:22, Luke 8:44).

But Jesus wasn’t content to let her slip away anonymously healed. He stopped, asked who had touched Him, and waited as she came forward “fearing and trembling” (Mark 5:33; see also Luke 8:47). Then came the moment that must have meant more than even the physical healing. Jesus called her “Daughter.”

This encounter is beautifully portrayed in this scene from “The Chosen”:

While the biblical account is powerful in its simplicity, I’m moved by how “The Chosen” dramatizes this encounter. When Jesus calls her “Daughter,” she responds with words that capture twelve years of isolation: “I’m no one’s daughter anymore.” But Jesus, with tender authority, tells her, “Look up. Yes, you are.”

Think about the power of that exchange. After twelve years of looking down—at her feet, at her shame, at her isolation—the Son of God commands her to look up, to see herself as He sees her. When the watching rabbi notes her long suffering, Jesus declares with divine authority, “She is clean.” In that moment, she received not just physical healing, but restoration to community, to belonging, to divine family.

“I know,” He tells her, words weighted with understanding of every moment of her twelve-year struggle. “My daughter, I know it has been a fight for you for so long. You must be exhausted.” Then, echoing the biblical account, He says, “Go now in peace. Your faith has made you well” (Mark 5:34; see also Matthew 9:22, Luke 8:48).

The immediacy of her healing—that moment when “straightway” everything changed—stands in stark contrast to her twelve years of suffering. This contrast teaches us something profound about God’s timing. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught, “Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.” Her story reminds us that while God’s timing may not match our desired timeline, His power to heal—both body and soul—is absolute.

Today, you might feel like this woman—isolated, suffering, desperate for healing. Perhaps you’ve spent years struggling with physical ailments, emotional wounds, or spiritual burdens. Take courage from her example. The same Jesus who felt her touch among the pressing crowd knows your needs. The same Lord who called her “Daughter” knows your name. And the same God who healed her immediately after twelve years of suffering has power to heal you, in His time and His way.

I testify that Jesus Christ is the master healer. Whether our wounds are physical, emotional, or spiritual, He has power to make us whole. Like this faithful woman, may we press forward through whatever crowds of doubt or difficulty separate us from Him, reaching out in faith to touch the hem of His garment.