Dwelling in God’s word: lifting the veil of silence

Have you ever heard stories of violence or abuse from your community or from within your family? These stories are often hidden and rarely talked about. People who have suffered abuse, violence or controlling behaviours are often silenced and ashamed.

Consider what it is like for a Christian woman and her children who are experiencing domestic abuse. How can we respond as Christians in these difficult situations?

Jesus was a great healer. His ministry to people on the edges of society, who were marginalised or excluded from their community, gives us a good starting point for thinking about how to see, hear and respond to abuse and violence in intimate relationships.

This study looks in depth at one Bible passage examining how Jesus responds to a woman who is an outcast and dealing with hidden hurts.

Read Mark 5:24-34.

Do you have a story of waiting a long time for something?

In this story, a woman waits 12 years for healing. Think about and share what you think it would have been like to have a seemingly incurable condition like the woman did. Her condition kept her excluded from worship and most social contact.

What do you notice about her behaviour?

This woman desperately wants Jesus to heal her, but she does not want her situation to be noticed. She is scared, she is overwhelmed. She is powerless. The flow of blood she has been experiencing for so long means that she can’t go to worship or participate in her community. Her courage in reaching out to Jesus is enormous, but the enormity of touching Jesus makes her tremble.

Re-read verse 30. How does Jesus respond? What moments of connection occur in this passage?

With a large crowd pressing upon Jesus that day, it’s natural that many people would have touched him. But he identifies the touch of the woman, a touch that signifies a need for healing. No-one else is aware of what has happened to the woman. But Jesus stops and searches for her (verse 32).

Jesus looks deeply into the hearts of people. He stops and notices. He sees their hurts. Jesus does not play by rules of power, social standing or violence. This is a revolutionary approach, and he models that the suffering of abused people should not be ignored.

Another example of Jesus stopping, noticing and freeing someone who was oppressed by suffering is the account of him healing a woman bent over by an evil spirit for 18 years.

Read Luke 13:10–17.

In both texts, healing begins by noticing, stopping and taking the time to recognise and talk with the woman.

Re-read verses Mark 5:27,33.

What acts of courage are evident from this passage? What does it mean for the woman to be recognised by Jesus?

Which parts of this passage might also apply to someone who has experienced domestic violence?

How can we find courage in this passage to respond to the challenge of listening to and believing stories of domestic violence in our communities?

Jesus shows us the importance of being sensitive to the needs of others and to people’s hidden hurts. Jesus models the actions of stopping, listening and believing – and he shows us the power of healing.

Where these hidden hurts are due to domestic violence, we need to listen to the stories of those being harmed to become helpful bystanders and to show that God’s love and healing are real.

Prayer:
Loving God, as your daughters and sons, we come before you. May we see and believe those who live with fear, injustice and violence, especially those wounded by current or past domestic violence. We pray we will recognise abuse even though its signs are often disguised, and even though the voices of those who suffer often go unheard. As sisters and brothers in Christ, may we challenge all oppression and violence through the strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen