Jesus Heals the Daughter of Norana 

While Jesus and his apostles traveled through Phoenicia (now Lebanon) in 29 CE, they stopped at a friend’s home for a few days. While Jesus rested, a woman with a sick daughter approached the apostles, pleading for Jesus to heal her. The apostles repeatedly tried to send her away, saying they would not disturb their Master. But this woman, Norana, insisted, saying she would not leave until Jesus healed her child. The child then fell to the ground in a violent convulsion.

Jesus heard the commotion, rose from his bed, went outside, and spoke to Norana. He praised her for her faith and said her daughter was cured, and indeed she was. Jesus asked Norana not to tell anyone about the healing, but she and her daughter went to several villages proclaiming what Jesus had done.

In June of 29 CE, a believer named Karuska, living near Sidon in Phoenicia, invited Jesus and his apostles to stay at his home. Jesus accepted the invitation, thinking this would be an opportunity for him and his apostles to relax for a few days. He asked everyone not to reveal where they were, and all complied except for Karuska’s servant. She slipped away and told Norana, who lived nearby. Norana’s twelve-year-old daughter was often sick, afflicted with terrible convulsions. She had heard that Jesus healed others and wanted to take her daughter to see him, hoping for a cure.

When Norana and her daughter arrived at Karuska’s home, she asked the first two apostles she saw, James and Judas Alpheus, if she could meet with Jesus. Norana was a gentile who spoke Greek and the Alpheus brothers did not understand. Someone nearby interpreted, and she was told, through the interpreter, that Jesus was resting and could not be disturbed. Norana told them she would not leave and would wait until Jesus had finished his rest.

The apostle Peter overheard and tried to persuade her to leave, saying that Jesus was weary and had come to Phoenicia for a period of quiet and rest. Norana replied: “I will not depart until I have seen your Master. I know he can cast the demon out of my child, and I will not go until the healer has looked upon my daughter.” Belief in possession by demons was common in that day, but this was not a case of possession; the girl suffered from a physical ailment, a nervous disorder.

Then Thomas tried to send her away, and Norana said: “I have faith that your Master can cast out this demon which torments my child. I have heard of his mighty works in Galilee, and I believe in him. What has happened to you, his disciples, that you would send away those who come seeking your Master’s help?”

Next, Simon Zelotes insulted her, saying: “Woman, you are a Greek-speaking gentile. It is not right that you should expect the Master to take the bread intended for the children of the favored household and cast it to the dogs.”

But Norana refused to take offense. She replied kindly: “Yes, teacher, I understand your words. I am only a dog in your eyes, but as concerns your Master, I am a believing dog. I am determined that he shall see my daughter, for I am persuaded that, if he shall but look upon her, he will heal her. And even you, my good man, would not dare to deprive the dogs of the privilege of obtaining the crumbs which chance to fall from the children’s table.”

Suddenly, the little girl was seized with a violent convulsion and the mother cried out: “There, you can see that my child is possessed by an evil spirit. If our need does not impress you, it would appeal to your Master, who I have been told loves all men and dares even to heal the gentiles when they believe. You are not worthy to be his disciples. I will not go until my child has been cured.”

Jesus heard all of this through an open window and came outside. Much to their surprise, he said: “O woman, great is your faith, so great that I cannot withhold that which you desire; go your way in peace. Your daughter already has been made whole.”

Norana was overjoyed when she saw that her child was cured. When they were leaving, Jesus asked Norana not to tell anyone. But she and her daughter ignored this request and proclaimed the healing throughout the countryside, so much so that Jesus left to avoid being overwhelmed with demands for healing. Healing was not his mission; his mission was spiritual.

Jesus greatly enjoyed the gentiles’ keen sense of humor. It was this sense of humor displayed by Norana, as well as her great and persistent faith that so touched the Master’s heart and appealed to his mercy.

The next day, commenting on the cure of Norana’s daughter, Jesus said to his apostles: “And so it has been all the way along; you see for yourselves how the gentiles are able to exercise saving faith in the teachings of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. Verily, verily, I tell you that the Father’s kingdom shall be taken by the gentiles if the children of Abraham are not minded to show faith enough to enter therein.”

After this incident, Jesus and his disciples went to Sidon where the gentiles gladly received the gospel message.