Matthew 9:18–26 recounts the stories of a bleeding woman and a young girl, and this narrative has become a focal point of homilies, sermons, religious art, songs, and social movements. Varying interpretations of this passage abound throughout church history, and although many of these interpretations typically express more than a simple correlation between faith and healing, they do not always account for the intricacies of Matthew’s narrative. Therefore, in this essay, I will first examine the major ways that writers have interpreted Matt 9:18–26 in the Patristic, Medieval, Reformation, and Modern periods. I will focus on writers such as Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, Calvin, Luther, Chris De Wet, Mary D’Angelo, Annette Weissenrieder, Ruth Oke, Elaine Wainwright, John Nolland, and Walter Wilson. Then, I will explore the passage through historical-grammatical and intertextual means. In particular, I will examine Matthew’s uncharacteristic use of salvation language in the context of a healing narrative, his distinctive emphases and terminology compared to the other synoptic accounts, and the impact of the immediate context on the pericope. I will also explore the possible intertextual connections between Matthew 9 and Leviticus, as well as the implications of first-century purity laws on Jesus’s miracles in the passage.
I ultimately conclude that none of the major interpretations are sufficient on their own for understanding the richness of Matt 9:18–26, and I suggest that Matthew’s account of the bleeding woman and young girl discloses something about the nature of the kingdom brought about through the work of Christ. More specifically, I argue that the story of these two women reveals that the newness of the kingdom brought about through Jesus is defined by healing and restoration that has physical, spiritual, social, and relational dimensions, both in this life and in the life to come. The richness of Matt 9:18–26 reveals a glimpse at what the kingdom of God looks like on earth and in heaven, revealing that God’s kingdom is defined by the healing of physical maladies, the elimination of suffering, the reversal of cultural taboos, the restoration of life, the forgiveness of sins, the gift of salvation, the reversal of the curse, and the defeat of death. These stories also indicate that faith in Jesus is the means to participating in these aspects of the kingdom. Admittedly, the stories of the bleeding woman and young girl are stories of faith and healing as many interpreters claim. However, they also represent the essence of Jesus’s ministry and serve as examples of what the kingdom entails, a reality that is absent from many interpretations but can provide boundless hope for the believer who has suffered greatly for many years.