Gospel of Mark Study #16

“A Story Within a Story”

Mark 5:25-34

Study #16 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

Good books always have a main plot, and usually several subplots. That means they have stories within the story. Most movies and TV programs use the same technique. The problem is that sometimes the whole thing gets so complicated with all these rabbit trails and subplots that we can get confused and lose track of the main story line. Sometimes when Ramel and I watch TV or Netflix we need to pause the movie and discuss what in the world is going on. Maybe we are just not very bright… or do some of you have the same problem? 

TRANSITION:

In today’s study we have a story within a story. Last week we read about how Jesus was in the region of Capernaum, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. As He was walking along, He was accompanied by a large crowd. Suddenly a man came running up to Him and threw himself at Jesus feet. His name was Jairus, and he was the ruler of one of the local synagogues. He explained to Jesus that his precious little 12-year-old daughter was deathly ill, literally “at the point of death.” He begged Jesus to go with him saying, “Please come and lay Your hands on her, that she may get well and live.” So, Jesus started off with Jairus toward his house. Mark 5:24 picks up the story saying, “So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around Him.” This is where the camera switches to another scene. In that pressing crowd of people was a woman with a great need who had also come looking for Jesus. For the next 10 verses, verses 25-34, we have the story of how Jesus dealt with that woman and her problem while on His way to Jairus’ house.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 25: And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding [i.e., “who had suffered a hemorrhage,” NASV] for twelve years.

·         “...a woman was there...” We do not know her name, her age, or any details about her private life except for facts concerning her illness. At this point in her life, she had apparently come to be defined by her illness, at least in her own mind. That sometimes happens to people—terms like “mentally ill, paraplegic, cancer patient, leper, schizophrenic,” etc. tend to define a person’s life. But she was much more than her illness!

·         She had been suffering for 12 years with a hemorrhage problem (bleeding from her female organs). Her problem was a common one, but also serious. Had she lived in our time she would have gone in to the hospital for a complete hysterectomy and her problem would have been solved, but that was not an option for her. The Talmud (i.e., a rabbinical commentary on the Torah, the 5 Books of Moses) offered 11 different cures for this problem, including tonics and astringents. Beyond these there were superstitions and folk cures including carrying the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen rag in the summertime and a cotton rag in winter; or carrying a barley corn, which had been found in the dung of a white she-ass. This woman had probably already tried every possible remedy, but nothing had given her relief.

·         This ailment had not only ruined her health, but according to Leviticus 15:19-30 it had made her ceremonially defiled, meaning she was considered “unclean” and therefore was cut off from the worship of God in the Temple and from the fellowship of friends. 

Verse 26: 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.

·         “She had suffered a great deal…” Her great suffering must have included pain, tiredness, messiness, and anemia.

·         “... under the care of many doctors...” Think of her embarrassment at having to be examined repeatedly and having to explain the problem to male doctors because that is all they had in those days.

·         “She had spent all she had...” She spent it all on doctors’ bills and medicine.

·         “... instead of getting better she grew worse.” Hers was an incurable case, a “chronic ailment.” Some of the so-called “cures” made things worse. This is a sad but not uncommon story of medical impotence and incompetence. You might say that her physicians were “malpracticing” medicine! Sad but true.

Verse 27: When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak…

·         “When she heard about Jesus...” She heard about Jesus somewhere from someone. Who do you think might have pointed her in the right direction? The thought that Jesus might be able to help her must have filled her with hope. But notice that she came to Him as her last resort, having first tried everything the world had to offer to resolve her problem. So, it is with many of us. Whatever the problem, we try everything else first before turning to the Lord for help. Her problem was embarrassing, and she just could not face sharing it publicly before the crowd, so she decided on a secret strategy.

·         When she saw her chance, she made her move through the middle of the crowd to get close to the Master. This must have required great effort for a woman in her weakened condition. The crowd was moving along with Jesus, but she approached Him from behind, which meant that she had to move faster than the crowd, and that she had to push and shove to make her way up to Jesus.

·         This was clearly an act of faith. She came right up behind Him and touched the hem (i.e., the fringe) of His outer garment. Every devout Jewish man wore an outer cloak (tunic) with a fringed bottom with a tassel on each of the 4 corners in obedience to the command given in Numbers 15:38-40.

Verse 28: ...because she thought, “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.”

·         “...because she thought...” Literally, the Greek text says, “...for she kept on saying to herself...” that she only needed to touch his cloak to be healed. This showed great faith in the healing power of Jesus. She was not trusting in His cloak, but in Him.

Verse 29: Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

·         The moment she touched His cloak, immediately her flow of blood dried up. Her healing was immediate and complete. She felt the powerful effect in her body and knew in that moment that she had been healed.

·         Imagine the emotions that flooded through her in that moment—awe, joy, gratitude, and excitement all at the same time.

·         N.B. The touch of Jesus has a dramatic effect on anyone’s life.

Verse 30: At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched My clothes?”

·         Notice that Jesus also had an immediate reaction. He sensed that power had left His body, so He suddenly stopped and turned around in the middle of the crowd and asked out loud, “Who touched My garments?” This must have been that poor lady’s worst nightmare. She thought that she would be able to just slip away unnoticed.

·         Notice too that Jesus did not say, “Who touched Me?” because He knew exactly where and how He had been touched. He was always aware of what was going on around Him. So why did He ask the question? Did He not already know who it was that touched His garment? Yes, of course, but it was to get her to confess her faith in Him before others. 

Verse 31: “You see the people crowding against you,” His disciples answered, “and yet You can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

·         Luke’s account of this same miracle in Luke 8 says that Peter was the disciple who responded aloud to the Lord’s question. The disciples could not understand what Jesus was talking about. They thought His question very strange since Jesus was being pressed in from every side. What they did not understand was that Jesus could easily tell the difference between the casual touch of the crowd and that sick woman’s touch of faith.

Verse 32: But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

·         The NIV does not have the best translation here because it makes it sound like Jesus really did not know who had touched Him. But He did. He knew it was the woman, and He knew who she was. The NASV and KJV have it correctly, “He looked around to see the woman who had done this” (NASV), or “He looked round about to see her that had done this thing” (KJV). The Greek reveals that Jesus used a feminine pronoun.

·         “But Jesus kept looking around” After she touched Him, she froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Then she stopped and tried to melt back into the crowd, but her actions gave her away as she tried to scurry off to avoid embarrassment.

·         Do not be in such a hurry that you miss the precious truth here… Jesus can always spot a needy person, even in a crowd. He knows your need today!

Verse 33: Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came, and fell at His feet and, trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth.

·         In that moment she realized she had been found out. When she saw that she had not escaped notice she came up to Jesus fearing and trembling and prostrated herself before Him with her face on the ground. She was probably afraid partly because she knew she should not be mixing in the crowd with that type of medical problem. Also, she felt embarrassed because everyone was now looking at her; but at the same time, she was happy and trembling with excitement, knowing that she had been healed after 12 long years of misery.

·         On her face before Jesus in the middle of that watching, listening multitude, she told Jesus the whole long, sad story. She confessed it all to Him. She told why she had touched Him and testified how she had been instantly healed. Notice that this is exactly what it means to be a “witness.” She simply told her story and gave Jesus all the credit.

Verse 34: He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

·         Jesus, with infinite tact and kindness called her “Daughter,” showing that He was not angry with her, using a term of honor and endearment, for she was both a daughter of Israel and a daughter of Abraham. He said, “Your faith has healed you” (literally, “has saved you”) meaning saved from the plague of affliction from which she had suffered for so long. Her faith in Jesus’ ability to heal her had been so strong that she did not even think it necessary to bother the Master with her “little problem.”

·         We do not know the condition of that lady’s heart and soul, but the same thing is true of eternal salvation—our eternal salvation is by grace through faith (cf. Eph. 2:8-9).

·         Jesus told her to “Go in peace” (= the beautiful Jewish blessing of “Shalom,” which is life and health), and then He said, “Be healed of your affliction.” The verb tense He used indicated once and for all healing and complete restoration of her health. In other words, this was not just a temporary improvement but a complete cure. 

CONCLUSION:

What are the lasting and abiding principles from this wonderful story that we can apply to our own lives?

1.       Jesus has the power and authority to cure the incurable, to heal the unhealable, to solve the unsolvable, and to save the unsavable. He can resolve problems whether they be physical, financial, emotional, or spiritual. Nothing is too hard for Him.

v  Sin, like that woman’s disease, separates us from both God and man. It is ugly and shameful, and we try to hide in the crowd so that Jesus will not see us and so that others will not even realize that we have a need, but He sees and knows all.

2.      It always cost Jesus to heal people—i.e., it always took something from Him. He knew when the power had gone out of Him into that woman.

v  It also cost Jesus to save sinners. He went to the cross and gave all He had for you and me. He showed love toward that lady, and He showed His love for us on the cross.

v  Jesus was single-minded in purpose. Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

v  Universal Principle = You will never produce anything of great value unless you put your whole self into it. Jesus exemplifies that truth.

3.      The multitude usually does not understand what is at stake.

v  Even the disciples did not realize what it cost Jesus to heal people. They were insensitive to what He was going through. And the crowd just stood there and watched. For them this was just entertainment, like a reality TV show.

v  Only that woman, out of all those people, experienced Jesus’ healing touch.

v  I believe that Jesus is passing by you today. By faith you can reach out and touch the hem of His garment, and you too will be healed and saved. By faith, you can experience Jesus’ forgiveness and healing touch in your life. He loves you, just as He loved that woman, and He waits for you to come before Him just as she did.

4.      She needed to confess what she had done. Even though it was difficult and humiliating, there was relief afterward. After she confessed to Jesus, the terror and trembling were gone. In the same way, confession of Jesus as Savior and Lord brings healing, joy, relief, and peace.

v  Just as that lady went away healed, cleansed, and joyful, so you can meet the Savior today and go away healed, cleansed, and joyful. Coming to Jesus was difficult for that woman and perhaps even humiliating, but it was worth it.

v  Once she had told Jesus everything, the fear and trembling were gone, and a wave of relief flooded over her and through her. She made her pitiful confession and found the Master to be ever so kind and gentle (cf. Romans 10:9-10).

v  Right now, Jesus is looking at you with His eyes of love and is asking you to come to Him. Do not try to slip away into the crowd. This is your chance to meet the Lord Jesus face to face and experience His love and grace. Open your heart to Him right now. He can cure your brokenness and sin-sick heart if you will just reach out to Him by faith.