Matthew 9:18-26
Luke 8:40-56
Mark 5: 25-28
"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 5:29-31
"Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "
Mark 5:32-34
"But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
What Can We Say About this Woman?
1. She was DESPERATE . . . And willing to RISK EVERYTHING.
"Daughter, you took a risk of faith . . . Mark 5:34a (The Message paraphrase)
-She was desperate PHYSICALLY
-She was desperate FINANCIALLY
-She was desperate SOCIALLY
-She was desperate SPIRITUALLY
Leviticus 15:25-27
"'When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening."
Leviticus 15:31
"'You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.'"
2. She had some KNOWLEDGE of God
Numbers 15:38-40
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God."
3. ANONYMITY was her main wish . . .
but TOUCHING Jesus was her only HOPE.
2 Chronicles 16:9
"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."
Psalm 34:15-18
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry . . . The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Isaiah 53:4-5
"Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed."
4. Her BIG REACH resulted in a BIG REWARD!
. . . Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague." Mark 5:34 (The Message paraphrase)
Publisher's Note: David Stauffer is the Senior Minister of Gateway Church in St. Albans. He is also a Gulf War Veteran.
Stauffer and his family reside in Scott Depot.
Gateway Church is located at: 422 B. Street, St. Albans, WV 251777
The church phone number is: 304-727-8919
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