Tuesday
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him. . . .
A large crowd followed him 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.” 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 ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
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 healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
(Mark 5:21, 24b-34, NIV)
The Gospel of Mark, which emphasizes the actions of Jesus more than his words, as we noted earlier, chronicles the public ministry of Jesus and shows how the healing of the sick and the driving out of evil spirits characterized his work. From the beginning, Jesus demonstrated his willingness to violate the social practices of his day in order to bring healing and restoration. Mark tells us how Jesus, in a compassionate response to the leper who begged him to be cleansed, reached out and touched the man. Immediately the leper was healed. That act of touching the leper is a very important detail because it clearly shows Jesus’ willingness to be “defiled” according to Mosaic law (Mark 1:40-42).
The Gospel writer’s description of Jesus’ life shows him to be a preacher who lived what he taught. Both in words and in deeds Jesus was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. His “manifesto” from Isaiah’s writing, which served as an announcement concerning his public ministry, described healing the sick and preaching to the poor. Healing the sick meant contact with many in society who were considered “unclean” and with whom no physical contact was allowed. Yet Jesus often touched these people.
Today’s verses tell us of an incident where a bleeding woman reaches out and touches Jesus. Like the leper, her bleeding condition makes her untouchable, yet in her desperation she comes to Jesus believing he can heal her. Jesus’ tender response to her is moving; it involved both physical and spiritual healing. “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering,”
The gospel of the Kingdom of God, as preached by Jesus and lived out in practice through his encounters with a tax collector, a Samaritan woman, a leper and a bleeding woman, is a holistic message of shalom relevant for all areas of life, both spiritually and physically.
Prayer
Creator God, the God of Peace who brings healing and restoration to our broken lives, we praise you. Thank you for the compassion of your Son, our Messiah, who healed the leper and the bleeding woman and offered both the gift of eternal life. Amen.