Something about Cuthbert’s sensitivity to others allows him to hear the Holy Spirit speaking through a husband’s distress. There is no doubt that his life of disciplined prayer, praise, worship and work has transformed him into an effective bearer of God’s healing presence. This is nothing to do with ‘works’, and everything to do with cultivating the good soil of which Jesus speaks, that allows God’s grace to grow and flourish, with the resulting benefits to the world around. And his sensitivity to the Spirit allows him to ‘see’ what is about to happen. We call it ‘prophecy’. Cuthbert is on his way to becoming fully human.
Jesus, of course, is the ultimate bearer of full humanity – completely aligned with God and hence creation. That he can sense power going out of him when the woman touched his cloak means both that Jesus felt the Spirit’s activity at work, and that the Spirit in him responded to the woman’s faith without Jesus actively performing the healing. This is the judgement of God at work – bringing healing, restoration and joy.
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