Matthew 9:22: “Jesus turned, and seeing her He said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well.”
As far as I am aware, there was only one woman in the Bible that Jesus called daughter. Surprisingly, it was not Mary, His mother—the one who carried, nurtured, and loved Him. It was not the Samaritan woman at the well, who offered Him water to drink. It was not the woman with the alabaster jar, who poured out her most precious possession for Him.
It was someone unexpected.
It was someone who reached out to Him in faith.
It was a woman burdened by pain, rejection, and suffering.
It was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve long years.
Can you visualise walking the dusty roads of Galilee with Jesus of Nazareth—braving the crowd just to touch the edge of His cloak and to hear Him say, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has healed you.” “Take heart” taps into the deep human longing to know we are loved—and worthy of love—regardless of our circumstances. This same phrase was used in Matthew 9:2, where Jesus, seeing the faith of others, said to the paralysed man, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And again in John 16:33, when Jesus encouraged His disciples as they faced hardship: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
What does Jesus do when He sees the desperation and humiliation this woman faces? He honours her faith by healing her instantly.
For years, I only focused on her need for physical healing. I was unaware of how deeply she also needed emotional healing—how much she longed for acceptance. As a young girl, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, which led to a hysterectomy at an early age. How I wish I had been in that crowd—able to reach out and touch the hem of His garment and be healed!
This woman knew she needed healing and was desperate for it. She also knew that receiving healing would require facing shame and being seen in her vulnerability. In her culture, women with such conditions were deemed unclean and forced into isolation. For twelve long years, she carried this burden.
Jesus saw her at her point of need. That’s why He did more than heal her physically—He restored her emotionally with just one word: Daughter. In calling her “daughter,” Jesus banished her loneliness and isolation. He brought her back into community. Before a watching crowd, He deemed her wanted and welcomed. She was the only woman Jesus ever called daughter. And I believe she was the one who needed to hear it the most.
Take heart, daughter.
What if today, you allowed Jesus to heal the illness that no one can see? What if you let Him replace the shame and humiliation you’ve experienced—both in private and in public? This woman had nothing to offer. No wealth. No status. Nothing to bring to Jesus but her faith.
And yet, Jesus gave her not only the healing she longed for—but the acceptance her heart had been craving for years.