How does the parable of the woman with the issue of blood relate to us?
“And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” Mark 5:22–34
The story of the woman with the issue of blood can be found in Mark 5:24–34 and Luke 8:42–48. Though neither account is very long, Mark’s account provides a few more details than Luke’s.
The story of this woman takes place within a larger story. Jesus is on his way to a synagogue leader’s house to heal his dying daughter (Mark 5:21–24) when an unnamed woman causes an interruption to His progress.
What we know about the woman is, first, she had a bleeding condition, and the issue had continued for twelve years. Second, she had spent all her money on treatments from many doctors, and nothing had helped; in fact, the blood issue had only grown worse (Mark 5:25–26). We also know that Jewish Law declared her to be ceremonially unclean due to her bleeding issue.
“And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean. Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation. And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.” Leviticus 15:25–27
This meant that she would not have been permitted to enter the temple for Jewish religious ceremonies. According to the Law, anything or anyone she touched became unclean as well. The fact that she was in the crowd pressing around Jesus means that each person who bumped into her would have become unclean too — including Jesus. But, after twelve years of suffering, she was desperate for a miracle. “When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” Mark 5:27–28
As soon as the woman touches Jesus, her bleeding stops and she knows she’s been healed. In an instant, Jesus does what no doctor in twelve years had been able to. This proves the power of Christ, but it also illustrates an important point about Jesus and the Law. God said.. “Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.” Leviticus 15:31
In the Old Testament, the temple was where God dwelt among the Israelites, but in the New Testament, God dwelt among men in the person of Jesus the Christ. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Through Jesus the penalties of the Law are reversed, and the contamination of this world had no effect on Christ. The woman did not make Jesus unclean — He made her clean!
“And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?” Mark 5:30
The disciples were incredulous, but Jesus knew that healing power had gone out of Him. We can’t “steal” a miracle from God. After the woman comes forward and explains herself, Jesus clears up any misconceptions about her healing. “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” Mark 5:34
God is moved to action by our faith, even when He’s in the middle of doing something else! Whats important to understand about this woman, is that she had gone 12 years, day in and day out with this affliction, losing copious amounts of blood which is more than draining and weakening the body. She was experiencing a spiritual attack manifested in her body physically. This is how the devil works. We experience things carnally, but they are spiritual first and manifest physically second, which means when something is acted upon spiritually the reverse is true as well, it can manifest physically based on your faith.
This woman paid all the money she had, heard all the diagnosis from many doctors and was given no relief for 12 years. That’s a physical manifestation, what you see, hear and experience informs how you think. But faith does not operate by carnal rules. It does not matter what you read, hear, see or experience, faith is beyond that. It comes down to what God has said and what you can believe according to what He has said. This woman got to the point that she didn’t need to talk to Jesus, or have him put his hands on her, being physically, emotionally drained, she said if she could just touch the very bottom of the garment that Jesus was wearing… The limitation of this women’s belief was that she decided that proximity was the answer, but there are other considerations.
“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.” Matthew 8:5–13
In this case, during the same period the Centurion needed nothing more than Jesus word. What this means is THE measure of faith is what matters. “according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3
This is the point, Jesus could have healed the woman and kept on walking to His original destination. Only He and the woman would have known what had taken place. But He didn’t do that, Jesus stopped what He was doing and acknowledged the result of this woman’s faith: her complete and instantaneous healing. This means, if you can believe for it, healing, in all its forms can be instantaneous.
The rules of engagement are on us…”And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20
“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:23–24
“shall not doubt in his heart” the circumstances are always loud enough to confuse us or shut down faith enough to allow doubt to creep in… if having faith of a grain of a mustard seed is all that is required, a grain of doubt will do the trick as well. This woman believed, period! The only limitation she placed was touching Jesus clothing….
We must guard rationalizing beyond the simplicity of what faith requires. If you can ignore what you hear, read or see and trust God, instantaneous can happen.
