The Noticer

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.  

Luke 13:10-13

Pain is all around – large hurts and small ones – but mostly hidden. We may not speak of our pain because someone else must have suffered more or longer. Sometimes we try to tell the world, and ourselves, that we don’t really hurt. Other people seem to be doing OK. Surely we aren’t weaker than they are. We forget that they may be wearing masks just as we are. Sometimes we have carried our pain for so long that we rarely notice it.

The bent-over woman in the synagogue had been looking at the ground for 18 years. She had to expend great effort to see the sky or other people’s faces. Being forced to look at the ground cripples the heart. She likely had forgotten what it was like not to be bent. But Jesus noticed her bentness, called her to him and healed her body and her heart. He reintroduced her to the sky.

Jesus noticed. Jesus noticed people no one else did. He noticed sick and handicapped people. He went out of his way to enter into fellowship with those who were rejected by people with status.

Jesus knew what it was not to be noticed or to be rejected. Even as he went about relieving the suffering of others, many people ignored him. Others rejected him and plotted to kill him. He later was to know the excruciating pain of flogging and crucifixion.

We can suffer no pain that Jesus doesn’t notice. Other people may not notice or care, but we can trust that Jesus does. Whatever our pain, Jesus already has noticed it. So we may as well walk over in prayer and ask him to touch us.

God’s peace,

Katie