Encounters Along the Way – The Woman With An Issue of Blood

A large crowd followed and pressed around him and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.  She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,  because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:24-28)

This woman had a seemingly incurable condition causing her to bleed constantly which would have made her ritually unclean all the time and excluded her from most social contact. Being considered unclean would have been a disgrace to the family and they would likely have distanced themselves from her.

She had exhausted her resources and the doctor’s could not help her, in fact she was getting worse. She desperately wanted Jesus to heal her, but she knew that under the Jewish law, if she touched Him, Jesus would also be considered unclean.

Sometimes we feel that our problems will keep us from God, that we’ve done to much or gone to far. But His love reaches through to us, no matter how impossible or terrible we think the situation is. We should never allow fear to keep us from approaching Him.

Getting close to Jesus must have seemed hopeless to this sick woman, but she didn’t give up and fought her way desperately through the crowd in order to touch His robe.

Immediately after she touched his robe her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. The bible tells us that a great crowd was around Jesus, pressing into Him, touching Him, yet no one else experienced the healing that this woman did.

But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.  Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Jesus undoubtedly knew who had touched Him; He felt her touch of faith, her desperate intention to be healed. To let her slip away would have meant a lost opportunity for Jesus to teach her and the crowd valuable lessons.

First, there was no magical powers in His robe. Rather it was her faith in Him that had healed her.

Second, to protect themselves from such defilement, Jewish men carefully avoided touching, speaking to, or even looking at women. That is why when Jesus referred to her as “Daughter,” He was also restoring her to a position she was not allowed to fill because of the law. In doing this Jesus proclaimed to hundreds of people that this “unclean” woman had touched Him and had been healed.

Admitting our needs can be very intimidating especially when we already feel “unclean” or unaccepted. But Jesus came to restore and heal. That healing may be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, but regardless it will serve a higher purpose and bless us with peace of heart and mind.

Be Intentional about seeking Jesus for all your needs.

Praises & Prayers

Father, thank you for showing us how we should view people. No matter their circumstances they are valuable to You and have purpose. I pray that I will passionately seek You first whenever I am in need and that I will not hinder others from reaching out to You because of my own preconceived ideas; rather that I would help clear the way for them. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Messages from His Word

Luke 8:48

Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”