My Daily Bread

I haven't been very good about reading the Bible lately. I go through times where I can't get enough, and then I go through times when I can't seem to take a moment to sit and read.

But this morning, while I was eating my breakfast of re-heated homemade taquitos with fresh salsa (thanks to my sister and her hubby who made the taquitos for us the other night), I opened that wonderful book.

True to His nature, there was no "Where have you been?"....rather is was "Look what I have for you today!"

I read no more than 5 verses and I got stuck. I got stuck reading the same verse over and over again. It was the verse He wanted to show me today:

"But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." At once the woman was made well." Matthew 9:22

What was it about this verse? Normally, it would be the miraculous healing that would catch my eye. This time, though, it was the word "Daughter." How have I never seen that before?!

Jesus turned to a woman who was a total stranger to him - to a woman who was sneaking up behind him to touch him - almost as if to sneak a healing out of him. She was a woman who had been plagued by disease for 12 years, and had likely been ostracized from her community because of it.

Jesus turned to her, and he did not call her "woman". He did not call her "Miss" or "Ma'am". He did not call her by her common name like everyone else.

He called her Daughter.

My, how one little word can speak such volumes! Daughter...not merely a word to address someone, but a word to express relationship. He turned to an apparent stranger who was coming to him in faith, and he called her "daughter."

How would that look like today? What would your reaction be if you approached a man on the street, and he immediately took to calling you his daughter? It wouldn't go over very well, would it? In fact, it would be downright unacceptable...you might even doubt the man's sanity. Personally, I'd be looking for the nearest safe place to escape to!

"Daughter" is a very personal and meaningful word, and not one to be used among strangers or in the wrong context.

Not only does this exchange between a woman and Jesus express the relationship between them, it clearly describes just WHO Jesus is. If she was "daughter", then Jesus is left to the "Father" role. Indeed, he and the Father are one. Jesus, the Father in flesh, came to earth to heal and save and set free.

Think about it! Read that verse for yourself. Close your eyes and try to picture the scene. Try to picture the look on Jesus' face as he turned to her and addressed the woman who was coming to him for healing. See the faces of the disciples who were following and watching closely to see how Jesus would handle the approaching woman. See the face of the woman as she tried to sneak in a simple touch of Jesus' cloak.

What do you think was the more meaningful moment? That moment when she realized that her disease of 12 years had been healed...or the moment Jesus the Christ turned to her with love and compassion in his eyes and called her "Daughter"?