We left off when Jairus, the official of the synagogue, made a request of Jesus to heal his 12 year old daughter. Jesus starts out toward his house, and this is where we’ll pick up:
Mark 5:24-35
24 And He went off
with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.
The word pressing here is the Greek word SUNTHLIBO, and it means to press upon. Luke uses a different word, SUNPNIGO, which means to crowd around, but is also used for weeds that choke the growth of a plant. I think we need to get a picture of how big and troublesome these crowds were, and that they were keeping Jesus from going to Jairus’ house. Now along comes a woman:
25 A
woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,
26 and had endured
much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was
not helped at all, but rather had grown worse --
She had done everything she could do herself to solve her problem, and it had only gotten worse. She had seen all the doctors, and had spent every penny she had. Finally, somebody tells her about Jesus:
27 after hearing
about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.
28 For
she thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will get well."
This brings up an interesting point about our prayer life. We often pray for people we know to have their problems removed. But this woman turned to Him AFTER she had exhausted all her own resources. Sometimes God is using problems in people’s lives to bring them to the point where they have to turn to Him. (No extra charge for that little point!)
One other thing to know: this woman was considered unclean. She was not supposed to be out among people. If He failed her, she would have been in serious trouble. That’s the kind of faith He wants us to have – so strong that if He were to fail us, we would be in major peril! Of course, as we know, He didn’t:
29 Immediately the
flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of
her affliction. (IMMEDIATELY – it’s a miracle!)
30 Immediately Jesus,
perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned
around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My
garments?"
One question I’ve always had about this passage – what made the power go forth? Usually, Jesus heals people by His action, but here she is healed without Him doing it. It was her FAITH that did it, as we’ll see in a minute.
31 And His disciples
said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing in on You,
and You say, "Who touched Me?'"
You have to love the disciples. Remember how big the crowd is, and how hard they are pressing in on them. Can’t you just picture them saying this? What a bunch of smart___es! Of course, Jesus just ignores them:
32 And He looked
around to see the woman who had done this.
33 But the woman
fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down
before Him and told Him the whole truth.
34 And He said to
her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be
healed (remain healed) of your affliction."
It’s interesting that this picture of the power of faith comes on the way to Jairus’ house. Now comes the test for Jairus’ faith:
35 While He was still
speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying,
"Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?"
We’ll get into the rest of this story next time. Don’t you love a cliffhanger? Feel like you’re watching 24?
One lesson to learn from this upcoming passage – God will test your faith! Is your faith strong like this woman’s was?