Yes, I believe that was the day when the woman touched his robe. A poor woman who had suffered a discharge of blood for twelve years, convinced that Jesus could cure her, but being, by her affliction, unclean, and so not daring to approach him directly, she came up behind him as he talked, and stooped to touch the hem of his robe, hoping not to be noticed. Though I swear he could not have felt her touch, Jesus interrupted himself-
“Who touched me?”
The poor creature, about to scurry off into the crowd, froze at the sound of his voice, then turned and fell at his feet, to beg his forgiveness, and to pour out her sad story. Jesus raised her up, smiling at her:
“Your Father sees your suffering, and he sees also your faith, which gives him joy. By your faith, your affliction is taken away”.
She looked dazed, and made no move, until Jesus said, gently-
“You are cured, daughter. Go in peace, now”.
She wept then, tears of joy, and walked away. She didn’t hurry. She looked, for all the world, as though she had come to the end of a long, weary journey.
Towards noon, as we were walking back to the town, we were passing by a field of barley. Some of us, being hungry, plucked ears of corn, and began to rub them in our hands, and so to nibble the grains. There were in the small crowd some Pharisees, and I recalled two of them from the day the man was let down through Matthew’s roof. When we began to rub the grains of barley, these Pharisees set up such a clamour of protest, complaining triumphantly that what we were doing was a labour, and so being against the law, of a Sabbath, was a profanation of the holy day. Jesus looked at them knowingly, and said-
“Read the scriptures; the story of how David ate the showbread in the temple”.
He paused with a kindly look, yes, a kindly look at these creatures whose only purpose in listening to him was to find damnable fault, and then said-
“Man was not made for the Sabbath- the Sabbath was made for man. Then the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath”.
At this, they could hardly contain their outrage and their delight. Had Jesus’ reply stopped at the scriptures, that would have vexed them enough, but to add what to their minds was conceit bordering on blasphemy was simply putting more fuel on the fires of their hatred. Eventually, one of them asked-
“So you say that we may observe the Sabbath unless it inconvenience us?”
“I say”, replied Jesus,” that if you observe the Sabbath to the very letter of the law only because the law dictates it, then your actions bring you no credit, and your Father no pleasure. However, if you honour your Father in heaven whenever you feel so to do, whether in thought, word, or deed, then such conduct can only bring you closer to the Kingdom of Heaven. A moment given out of faith and love brings more satisfaction to the Father than a whole lifetime of Sabbaths observed under the law”.
“An interesting hypothesis” observed the Pharisee. “Will you attend the synagogue today? It would be interesting to hear you extend your theory”.
“I will be pleased to do so, if the priests will permit me”.
We walked on towards the town, but I noticed that the Pharisees hurried on ahead. In the afternoon, after a small repast of baked fish and goat’s milk, we went to the synagogue to find that the Pharisees had baited their trap. The synagogue was filled to capacity, and the priests were waiting for Jesus to arrive.
The moment we crossed the threshold, the Pharisees almost dragged the priests to Jesus, clamouring of how they had arranged for Jesus to expound his theory of observance, or otherwise, of the Sabbath. Jesus said nothing, but simply sat close to the table. After a short introductory period of formal prayer from the priests, Jesus was invited to speak. He rose, stood before the table in a moment of silent prayer, then turned to face the congregation, and began-
“I have told you before, that God is our Father, and we are his children. Now you know that children are not always mindful of their own wellbeing, safety, health, and suchlike matters. So you, their parents, have to instil in them a set of rules, which they must obey. ‘Do not play with fire or near water; do not climb in ruined or unfinished buildings; do not leave the house after dark; do not run in cornfields- the list is endless, or so a child will tell you. A child will also complain of the rigidity of the rules, and of the penalties incurred by breaking them, but if children obey the rules? Why, they grow in safety, comfort and health, until they reach maturity, when they have acquired the knowledge to judge for themselves, without being answerable to their parents at every check and turn.
Unfortunately, we children of the heavenly Father do not reach our relative maturity until we enter the gates of heaven, and so for our own good, our Father desires that we obey his rules, his laws, all our earthly lives. However, if we will listen to his voice in our hearts, if we will think as he thinks, and not of ourselves but of others, if we can glimpse and know for however short a time the right and the wrong, the just and the unjust, the virtue and the evil, the honourable and the despicable, if we can try to see as he sees, then in those glorious moments, we are beyond the need for rules.
Rules, again, are like fences enclosing sheep or goats, because they do not have the wit to remain in a safe place. If we could learn to stay within the fold of righteousness instead of straying along the ways of sin, then the thorny hedges of rules would no longer be needed”.
At this point, a man approached the table, and spoke to Jesus-
“Rabbi, is it permissible for you to heal on the Sabbath?”
As he spoke, he pulled back his right sleeve to expose his hand, which was wasted. The skin was sallow, wrinkled dry and scaly. Although he was no more than thirty years old, his hand looked like that of a man more than twice his age. After he had shown Jesus his hand, he shot a sideways glance to where the Pharisees sat, and I knew they had put him up to this. Jesus knew it, too for he saw the glance. He looked also at the Pharisees- slowly, for some seconds. They could not hold his gaze. Jesus looked again at the man before him. He looked long and hard, as though he were looking into his heart. The poor man looked afraid, like one who, starving, had been caught stealing bread, and knew he would be gaoled, flogged, or worse. Eventually, he dropped his gaze, and murmured-
“I meant no harm, Rabbi. They said you could cure me- that I might work again-
“Calm yourself” said Jesus, softly. “All will be well with you”. Then he addressed the Pharisees, his voice a loud, harsh bark-
“If one of you had a lamb which fell into a pit on the Sabbath, would you pull it out or would you leave it to suffer through the long night and day? No! If it were your lamb, you would save it as soon as you saw its plight, night or day, Sabbath or no!
Then in a voice like thunder, a voice vibrating with anger and pain, he cried-
“THESE ARE MY LAMBS and I will not rest one moment, while even the least of them calls for my help, while even the meanest of them is menaced by SATAN’S WOLVES and JACKALS!”
Still his eyes bore down on the Pharisees who were looking wretched. Then he turned back to the poor soul before him, who was now looking quite bemused, not knowing whether to hope or not, to stay or flee. His arms hung by his sides, his hands covered by his sleeves. Jesus said, softly-
“Stretch out your hand”.
The man slowly raised and stretched out his arm. As he did so, Jesus put out his own hand, and brushed back the sleeve, to reveal the hand completely restored, wholesome and sound. The man turned to show the congregation and when they saw it, they erupted in cheering, shouting, praising God, and not a few jeers at the Pharisees, for the gossips had versed the crowd well in what was afoot.
I learned later that this incident it was that finally decided the Pharisees to commit themselves totally to Jesus’ destruction. At this point, Jesus ceased to be a personality, a mere controversial figure, a faith healer; he became a threat to authority, a leader of malcontents, an enemy of the state, and with him thus were classified all his followers.