One of the great figures in British history is Lord Horatio Nelson who was blinded in one eye early on in his naval career. During a battle, his commanding officer sent a signal to Nelson to break off the attack. Nelson, sensing a chance to win, raised his telescope to his blind eye and remarked he could see no order to discontinue and pressed on to victory. From this action we get our phrase, “turning a blind eye” meaning a deliberate move not to see what is patently obvious. It’s something we do in our time. There are many among us who are homeless, struggling with poverty, obviously in need, yet we turn a blind eye to their need. We prefer to see them as somehow deserving of their fate. To do this means we don’t see them as beloved children of God, instead we choose to see them as something less than this.
In our reading today, we see how Jesus sees others. He arrives at a village and is met by a very important person, Jairus, a local leader in the synagogue and therefore a man of great status. He begs Jesus to cure his daughter and Jesus agrees. While on His way, a woman reaches out to touch His cloak so she can be healed. Jesus stops to find out who this is. It’s a woman who has been bleeding for years and so would have been seen as “unclean” and therefore shunned by others in the village. Jesus then restores the woman, not simply to health but, by removing her uncleanliness and declaring her healed, He also restores her to life. It’s a remarkable story as this woman is the opposite to Jairus in every sense. She has no name, no status, and no place in the village. Yet, despite this, Jesus sees her and takes the time to restore her.
In our world, we tend to be naturally drawn towards those we feel are more important than others; those who we feel may advance ourselves through being associated with them. We want to move up to a higher social circle and have more important friends. We see life as a competition that we might “win”. If we only ever seek to see important, influential, affluent people, we ignore others who we feel may hinder our “progress”. We close our eyes to others who may make us “unclean” by association and in doing so create an army of bleeding women, pushed to the margins and excluded. Jesus saw that everyone mattered to God and so everyone mattered to Him. So must His church. We have to see everyone regardless of their status and bring them in, give them the respect God has given them, and restore them to their place in life alongside of us.