Jesus heals a woman with internal bleeding

Day 15 Friday, March 22, 2019
Healing a woman with internal bleeding
Mark 5:25-34

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
Immediately her hemorrhage stopped;
and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”
And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you;
how can you say, “Who touched me?’ ”
He looked all around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear
and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Whether it is the authors’ intent, or a fluke of the translation,
we the readers are left with the impression that the hemorrhaging woman “stole” this miracle!
We read that her faith was such that she knew that just by touching his clothes,
the healing power of Jesus would make her well.
Jesus, knowing some of his power has been expended, asks who touched his clothes?
Is Jesus upset?
Remember the traditions of the Hebrew people in that age.
Women were second-class citizens, and a woman with an illness had even less status;
one with a bleeding illness would be considered un-clean as well.
In calling her out in front of the crowd,
Jesus is bringing her from the margins (shadows) into the light.
As she kneels before him in humility,
he uplifts her as an example to the community of a faithful person to be emulated.
This is revolutionary because as a woman with a disability,
she would have been shunned and ostracized.
It’s a dramatic moment,
but I don’t think it’s one filled with frustration or anger on Jesus part,
but one of revolutionary love.
(Thanks to Pastor Robert for the help and clarification of this passage)