JESUS HEALS A BLEEDING WOMAN AND RESTORES A GIRL TO LIFE (Luke 8,40)
Jesus did know who had touched Him; He wanted the woman to step forward and identify herself. Jesus wanted to teach her that his cloak did not contain magical properties, but her faith in Him had healed her.
He may also have wanted to teach the crowds a lesson. According to Jewish law, a man who touched a menstruating woman became ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:19). This was true whether her bleeding was normal or, as in this woman’s case, the result of illness. To protect themselves from such defilement, Jewish men carefully avoided touching, speaking to, or even looking at women. By contrast, Jesus proclaimed to hundreds of people that this “unclean” woman had touched Him – and then He healed her. As God’s creation, she deserved attention and respect.