Mark 5:25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.
This is one of the comparatively few miracles recorded by all three synoptic writers. The account by Mark is more vivid than that of Matthew or of Luke, and contains a number of graphic details the other evangelists omit.
Mark 5:26 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.
As the chronic condition of the malady became more and more apparent with the passage of time, and her funds were exhausted in a futile attempt to relieve it, the woman no doubt became more and more discouraged.
Mark 5:27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
I am so glad that someone told her about Jesus and how He cares about people. They told her of how Jesus even healed people who suffered from terminal diseases.
My dear friend. If you are impressed with Jesus, tell people about Him. Act like Him in the way you treat people. People are the most valuable object in His sight.
Possibly this woman had planned for some time to reach Jesus, but His absence on the Second Galilean Tour seems to have made this, for the time being, impossible.
When she learned that Jesus had returned to Capernaum she hastened to the shore of the lake, where He was teaching and healing. But she searched for Him in vain.
She felt assured that if she could only go to Him, she would be healed. In weakness and suffering she came to the seaside where He was teaching, and tried to press through the crowd, but in vain. Again she followed Him from the house of Levi-Matthew, but was still unable to reach Him.
Now, with the slow progress Jesus was making in the direction of the home of Jairus, she finally overtook Him.
How would you evaluate her physical and emotional condition?
Her sickness had lowered the vital supply of blood in her body, and she was very weak. She was discouraged after the many vain attempts to secure healing at the hands of the physicians.
Also, the nature of the disease, bleeding itself, together with the ritual uncleanness involved, was embarrassing.
She felt hesitant to present her request orally to Jesus, particularly in the presence of so many strangers, lest He inquire as to the nature of her affliction, which He seems to have done on previous occasions.
This poor lady had some difficulty issues to handle. But listen to the victory she eventually gained.
Mark 5:27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.
According to Luke, the woman touched “the border” of Jesus’ garment.
Luke 8:44 She came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
She was not the only one who was made whole when she touched His the border of His garment. Many who only touched “the hem” of Jesus’ garment “were made perfectly whole” (Matt. 14:36; cf. Acts 5:15; 19:12).
Matthew 14:35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick,
Matthew 14:36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Let’s return to Mark who relates the story in detail:
Mark 5:28 For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
Mark 5:29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
She was aware of the current of power that flowed from Christ into her now she touched His garment. She knew that it had entered her feeble body and brought healing.
The priests had told her that her incurable affliction was a divine retribution for sins in her life.
Mark 5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
How did Jesus know that someone touched Him? Jesus was conscious of what had happened the moment the woman touched His garment. The record does not state whether Jesus knew in advance that this woman would touch Him.
The will of the Father answered the unspoken plea of the woman through Him. It should be remembered that all Christ’s miracles were “wrought by the power of God through the ministration of the angels”.
Power. Gr. Dunamis. Dunamis is often translated “miracle,” as in Mark 9:39, or “mighty works,” as in ch. 6:2, 5, 14.
Who touched my clothes? Later, possibly as the result of this incident, many touched “the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole” (ch. 6:56).
Mark 5:31 But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
Mark 5:32 And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
“He kept looking.” Jesus seems not to have identified the woman immediately, probably in order to give her the opportunity to speak first. Several reasons may be advanced for Jesus’ not letting the woman slip away quietly, unnoticed:
(1) As with the faith of the centurion (see on Luke 7:9), Jesus wanted the faith of the woman to be an example that others might follow.
(2) He desired her to carry away the lasting joy of knowing that she had been personally noticed and recognized by Jesus.
(3) He wished to erase from her mind any superstitious thought that healing had come about as the result of a mere touch (see on Mark 5:34).
(4) For her own benefit He desired her to acknowledge the blessing she had received. To be “saved” from the her disease, but without being “saved” from the disease of sin would prove only of temporary benefit.
Mark 5:33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
Probably she now felt that her previous fears had been well founded.
Mark 5:34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
Jesus would have the woman understand that it was faith that had brought healing to her tortured body, not the surreptitious touch.
To have the people regard Him with superstitious awe would thwart the very reason for which His miracles were performed.
However imperfect the woman’s faith may have been, it was, nevertheless, genuine faith, a faith proportionate to her limited knowledge and understanding of the will and ways of God.
Go in peace. The woman was to depart in “peace” of body and “peace” of soul, in the joy of acceptance with God, as testified to by her new-found health.
LET US RECAP
On the way to the ruler’s house, Jesus had met, in the crowd, a poor woman who for twelve years had suffered from a disease that made her life a burden. She had spent all her means upon physicians and remedies, only to be pronounced incurable.
Can you imagine the joy of this healed woman as she walked to her home? Do you think she kept the good news for herself?
This is the Jesus we serve. If you need healing, please go to Him.
NEST TIME
The healing of the daughter of Jairus who died