Mark 5:25-26 (NET) - Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had . Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse.
The account of the woman with the hemorrhage never fails to move me.
Here was a woman who not only suffered physically, she also suffered a malady which made her "unclean" in the eyes of the law as well.
Mark's account of this woman tells us that the physicians were not able to help her.
Now that she had spent all that she had, they were likely unwilling to treat her as well.
Mark 5:27-28 (NET) - When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, for she kept saying, "If only I touch His clothes, I will be healed."
Here was a woman with tremendous faith.
She believed that all she needed to do to be healed was simply to touch His clothes.
All this in spite of the fact that the practitioners of medicine had not been able to help her in twelve years.
Mark 5:29 (NET) - At once the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Think for just a moment about how this must have felt.
One moment you are bleeding and have been doing so for twelve years. The next moment, you touch His clothes, the bleeding stops and you feel within your body that you are healed.
But it was not just the woman who felt this, Jesus felt it as well.
Mark 5:30 (NET) - Jesus knew at once that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"
In my heart, I believe Jesus knew who touched Him. I believe He asked this question for the benefit of those around Him.
This question is like the one God asked in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve disobeyed Him.
Genesis 3:8-9 (NET) - Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"
God is all knowing. He did not need to ask the question. He knew exactly where Adam and Eve were hiding.
He asked this question to draw out a truthful response from them.
Jesus did likewise.
Mark 5:31-33 (NET) - His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing against you and you say, 'Who touched Me?'" But he looked around to see who had done it. Then the woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
I can almost see the look of love and kindness on His face when he addressed her.
Mark 5:34 (NET) - He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease."
I can almost see the look of relief and gratitude on her face as well.
Along with her magnificent faith, I take away two other things from this account as well.
The first is that Jesus referred to her as "Daughter" which denotes a relationship of a deeper nature perhaps as a result of her faith.
The second is that Jesus felt power go out from Him and that it happened as a result of someone not touching Him but merely touching His clothes.
So many people minimize Jesus.
They say He was a good man or a good teacher or was someone with good ideas.
Yet when you read this account in Mark, you have to realize that He was so much more.
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeet.byethost3.com on Friday, October 1, 2010.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I'll be back here on Friday, October 8, 2010.
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