Read Mark 5: 25-29
Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. [Mark 5:29 NIV]
This must have been a wonderful, amazing experience for this poor woman. The past 12 years had been like a prison sentence. Her life was on hold. She had this discharge of blood which made her ceremonially unclean according to the Old Testament law. Not only was she anaemic and weak, she was isolated from her family, friends and neighbours on account of this chronic condition (See Leviticus 15:25-28). Any furniture she touched would have to be thoroughly cleansed.
By touching Jesus she was, in effect, rendering him unclean. By pushing through the crowd, she was affecting all those who unwittingly came into contact with her. There was no cure for her condition. She had tried a list of physicians - interestingly Mark states quite candidly that 'she had suffered much under many physicians' [Mark 5:26 ESV]. There was no National Health Service which we take for granted in the United Kingdom. So as well as having to endure all the dreadful useless remedies, these physicians charged her so much for their useless interventions that she was now bankrupt. According to William Barclay's Commentary, the Talmud offered at least eleven possible cures for her ailment. She had probably tried them all and this had taken all her savings. She was now desperate. She needed help urgently.
We live in a world where there are many people who are in a similar situation to this sad woman. The lesson of the story is that Jesus is there for the broken-hearted and those who are in despair. There are many who have tried all sorts of remedies - and I am now thinking of much more than cures for physical ailments. We live in a sad, broken world and there are many who are in a sad situation. Even those who have become celebrities are often living empty lives. They have been able to afford all the extravagance and luxury in their lavish lifestyle but still they feel miserable. They have tried all forms of escapism such as drugs and alcohol and promiscuous sexual indulgence. They still feel empty and unfulfilled.
The real cause of this woman's problems was sin. God did not create mankind to suffer pain and heartache. It was the entrance of sin into the world which brought all this misery and suffering. And yet we love our sinful ways and our selfish lifestyle. It was only when this poor lady was desperate and had nowhere to go that she turned to Jesus.
She had faith that Jesus would heal her when other helpers had failed. This was a hard bitter lesson for her. It took an earthquake for a jailer in the town of Philippi to ask Paul, "What do I have to do to be saved?" (Acts 16). It took years of suffering, stigma and isolation for this woman to turn to Jesus.
And so desperation and a feeling of helplessness are not necessarily bad things. These experiences may lead us to turn to the only One who can help. God has to allow things to break up our self-sufficiency and complacency so that we will realise that we need Jesus in our lives.
[Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash]
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