This miracle is taken from the gospel of Mark 5:21-34 and can also be read in the gospel of Matthew 9:20-22 as well as Luke 8:43-48.
The crowd begged Jesus to leave that place (Mark 5:17) and breathed a sigh with relief as they saw Jesus’ leave. Whereas another crowd was waiting to welcome Him when He returned home to Capernaum. In that latter crowd stood two people who were especially anxious to see Him—Jairus, a man with a dying daughter; and an anonymous woman suffering from an incurable disease.
Though both miracles are important, but I want to focus on the miracle of woman who was healed. Though it was Jairus who approached Jesus first, but it was the woman who was healed first; so we shall begin with her.
There is a vast contrast between these two needy people which is not only striking at the same time reveals the depth and wideness of Christ’s love and mercy.
- Jairus was an important synagogue officer, and the woman was an anonymous “nobody”; yet Jesus welcomed and helped both of them.
- Jairus’ daughter who brought about happiness in his life for 12 years was seriously ill (Mark 5:42), and the woman was about to lose an affliction that had brought her 12 years of sorrow.
- Being a synagogue officer, it is assumed that Jairus was wealthy; but his wealth could not save his dying daughter.
- The woman was already bankrupt! She had given the doctors all of her money, and yet none of them could cure her.
- Both the wealthy Jairus and the poor woman found the cure at the feet of Jesus (Mark 5:22 and Mark 5:33).
The woman had a hemorrhage that was apparently incurable and was slowly destroying her. I cannot imagine the pain and emotional pressure on that woman. Firstly, being a woman in that era was a mighty disadvantage. I cannot consider her disappointments with the doctors, the many visits, lack of success at their hands and to add to that the poverty it brought her. I wonder how she endured as long as she did. But there was one added burden: according to the Law, she was ceremonially unclean, which greatly restricted both her religious and her social life (Lev. 15:19ff). What a burden she carried; I cannot fathom being in her shoes.
However, she let nothing stand in her way as she pushed through the crowd and came to Jesus. I wonder the excuses I would give if I was in her place to convince myself to stay away from Jesus. I might have said: “I’m not important enough to ask Jesus for help!” or “Look, He’s going with Jairus, so I won’t bother Him now.” “I tried for 12 years and nothing worked, how can I know if it will work now”. Another excuse would be I should have come to Him earlier and not as a last resort, after visiting all those physicians. However, she laid aside all arguments and excuses and came by faith to Jesus. I appreciate that.
I think what kind of faith did she have? Probably it was weak, and perhaps somewhat timid as she kept saying to herself that she had to touch His clothes in order to be healed (see Mark 3:10; 6:56). Obviously she had heard such reports of others being healed by Jesus (Mark 5:27), so she made this one great attempt to get through to the Savior. And man was she disappointed: Jesus honored her faith, weak as it was, and healed her body.
There is a good lesson here for me. Jesus’s actions tell me a degree of faith is needed and it need not be the same faith in all. Jesus responds to the faith no matter how feeble it might be. But one important lesson is faith needs to be put into action just as the woman did. She sought Jesus and touched his garments. I need to act on the faith I have, merely thinking I have faith is not helpful (James 2:18). When we believe and act, He shares His power with us and something happens in our lives. There must have been many in that crowd who did not witness any miracles for 2 reason, lack of faith or lack of action on the faith they possessed. It is one thing to throng Him and quite something else to trust Him.
Post the miracle the woman planned to slip away and get lost in the crowd, but Jesus turned and stopped her. Tenderly, He elicited from her a wonderful testimony of what the Lord had done for her.
Why did Jesus deal with her publicly? Why did He not simply permit her to remain anonymous and go her way?
- For one thing, He did it for her own sake. He wanted to be to her something more than a healer: He wanted to be her Saviour and Friend as well. He wanted her to look into His face, feel His tenderness, and hear His loving words of assurance. By the time He finished speaking to her, she experienced something more than physical healing. He called her “daughter” and sent her on her way with a benediction of peace (Mark 5:34). To “be made whole” meant much more than receiving mere physical healing. Jesus had given her spiritual healing as well! Jesus wants to speak to both you and me tenderly do we have the band width to listen to Him today.
- There is another reason Jesus dealt with her publicly not only for her sake, but also for the sake of Jairus. His daughter was close to death, and he needed all the encouragement he could get. Let’s put ourselves in Jairus shoes, the crowd was impeding their progress and now this woman had to further impede and stop Jesus! When one of Jairus’ friends arrived and announced that the girl had died, no doubt Jairus felt that the end had come. The Lord’s words to the woman about faith and peace must have encouraged Jairus as much as they encouraged her.
- Finally, Jesus dealt with her publicly that she might have the opportunity to share her testimony and glorify the Lord. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy … He sent His word, and healed them … Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Ps. 107:2, 20–21) No doubt some people in that crowd heard her words and trusted in the Savior; and when she arrived home, she already knew what it meant to witness for Christ.
In conclusion this miracle taught me a few things
- Jesus blesses the little faith that I have. I need to start exercising my faith, no matter how little it is. He will increase it. I need to act on that faith TODAY and NOW.
- I’m a nobody in this world but I’m as important to Jesus as the richest, most powerful person in the world, therefore I need to continue to build a relation with Him.
- I need to continuously testify to what the Lord is doing in my life, because “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).
