The Significance of “12” in Today’s Gospel

When reading today’s Gospel, the number 12 showed up twice and I thought that was peculiar. The hemorrhaging woman waited 12 years for healing and Jairus’ daughter was 12 years old.

Then I researched what 12 meant biblically and came to find that the meaning of the number was fullness of time and completeness, and was symbolic of God’s divine power.  

There’s a parallel with both of the stories in the Gospel. Both women needed Christ’s miraculous power to heal them and give them new life, wholeness, and completeness. With simple faith and persistence, they both were resurrected from the illnesses they faced by Jesus’ divine healing power. 

Not by medical or wordly intervention. Not by anything else but Jesus Christ.

I think there’s a few lessons in this passage about the topic of healing: 

1. God desires our wellness, wholeness, and completeness because we are His daughters and sons.
2. Jesus is our ultimate healer and physician when the medical interventions and our own strength fail.
3. We may have to wait for the fullness of God’s time to be healed. 
4. Persistent and simple faith are the precursors to healing.

So if you are waiting for healing, if you've exhausted the medical system's treatments, and if you still haven't found the wellness and wholeness you need to live a full life, perhaps reflect on and pray with these lessons given to us in today's Gospel... and maybe 12 months, 12 years, or some other 12 will be your special number too for the miracle you are asking for!