DON’T JUST STAND THERE, DO SOMETHING! (MARK 5:21-34)
Yahoo! Health describes a bleeding disorder as prolonged bleeding due to inadequate blood clotting or coagulation. Normal blood coagulation, it seems, is a complex process involving as many as 20 different plasma proteins to form a substance called fibrin that stops bleeding. And when certain coagulation factors are deficient or missing, the process does not occur normally. Bleeding problems can range from mild to severe.
Some bleeding disorders are present at birth and are caused by rare inherited disorders, and some are developed during certain illnesses (such as vitamin K deficiency, severe liver disease), or treatments (such as use of anticoagulant drugs or prolonged use of antibiotics). Bleeding disorder symptoms include excessive bleeding, excessive bruising, easy bleeding, nosebleeds, and abnormal menstrual bleeding. The list from Yahoo! Health includes as many as 14 specific bleeding disorder diseases.
When Jesus was on the way to Jairus?house to heal his daughter, a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak and was miraculously healed. Not only was her method unorthodox in the Bible, her faith was unaware to the crowd, but her fear, apprehension and relief was understandable to Jesus. Though she was content to be healed, healthy, and hidden, Jesus asked and required more from her and yet gave and taught her more in the process.
How was the woman’s approach different from other seekers? What unconventional methods did she take? Why did Jesus want to meet her? Was he upset, insulted or bothered by her actions that were shrouded in secrecy?
Faith is Not a Thankless, But a Tireless, Exercise
25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She 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. (Mk 5:25-26)
One of the earliest and the most outstanding intellectuals, leaders and defenders of the Christian faith was Augustine, the fourth century writer of the “Confessions of Saint Augustine,?one of the most famous tell-all autobiography written. Young Augustine was a hedonist, a philosopher, an agnostic, and a rebel, but his mother Monica was a godly, persistent, and resourceful woman.
Augustine often laughed at her mother’s pious ways, mocked her faith, and deliberately defied her continual pleading for him to repent of his pagan lifestyle, to convert to Christ, and to live an exemplary life.
When Augustine wanted to leave the shores of Carthage, North Africa, for the bright lights of Rome, his mother feared the worst for her son, dreaded the outcome of his leaving, and often fled to the church for solace, prayer, and advice. In her despair, she would often weep uncontrollably for her son. One day a minister noticed her painful cries, and asked her why she was so bitter. She told him of his wayward son, but the bishop assured her with these words: “Go in peace; as you live, it cannot be that the son of these tears should perish.?
Augustine avoided his mother as much as possible and ignored her warnings time and again, but he could not escape her continuous prayers. Monica painstakingly prayed, wept, and looked for her son for 30 years until Augustine surrendered his life to Christ.
Life has its heartaches, and none is as heartbreaking as a rare, a stubborn, or an unspeakable illness that is dreaded for its physical onslaught, financial cost, and mental, emotional and physical toil. The Chinese saying, “Long-sick folks have no filial or obedient child by their bed.?
The Law had some specific instructions on how to deal with a woman who has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or beyond her period. The woman, her bed, and anything she sits on will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, and those who had contact with her and her belongings will be unclean and must wash their clothes and bathe themselves, and will be unclean till evening (Leviticus 15:19, 25-27).
The story of the woman with a bleeding disorder began 12 years ago. She had a degenerating disease and was an ongoing sufferer, and her visits to the doctors were frequent, expensive, and ineffectual. As health is more important than wealth, she spent all she had possessed, earned, and saved. Numerous doctors had attempted in vain ancient techniques, modern experiments and unconventional ways on her, regularly calling her in, changing her medication, and charging her again. The doctors could not heal her body, but she did not quit. She was determined in spirit to live on, press on, and battle on. Her illness or her troubles besieged her but it did not break her. No matter which doctor she visited, what diagnosis she heard, and how destitute she was, her resolve not to give up set her apart from others.
The fact that she got through to Jesus was a miracle in itself and a triumph of faith. Not only did the disciples surround him, a large crowd that had gathered by the lake was following him closely and beginning to press against Jesus to the point of crushing him (Lk 8:42). Not only did she have to keep pace, she had to move up, get free and wiggle through. All she had was the strength of a woman, a sick one too, but she managed to overcome her worry of suffocation from the crowd, separation from Jesus, and for her own safety.
Faith is Not a Timid, but a Triumphant, Experiment.
27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.?29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes??31”You see the people crowding against you,?his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, `Who touched me?? (Mk 5:27-31)
The theology student decided his academic pursuits were a travesty and that he should go forth and seek the meaning of life for himself. And in the course of his travels, he was directed to a distant peak in the Himalayas where a great sage resided. Arriving at the age’s austere cave after a trek of many days, the student prostrated himself and asked humbly, “O reverend Master, what is life??
“Life,?pronounced the wizened old man gravely, “is the scent of jasmine after a spring rain.?The student frowned, “But Master,?an Incan wise man I encountered told me life was a thorn like a needle of tempered steel.?The sage nodded, unperturbed, and said, ?My friend,) That’s his life.?(Adapted from James Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited)
Up to this point, though the woman with the bleeding disorder had heard of Jesus?miracles in Capernaum, Jesus had healed previously in two ways only: by His direct touch or His spoken word. He healed the centurion’s servant (Mt 8:8) and the paralytic by His word (Mt 9:7), and the leper (Mt 8:3) and Peter’s mother-in-law by His touch (Mt 8:3, 15). Further, the leper and the centurion had asked Jesus for help personally (Mt 8:2), and the paralytic and Peter’s mother-in-law were brought by others (Lk 4:38). None of the miracles was stealth-like or in secret.
The faith of the bleeding woman was undaunted, unprecedented, and unconventional. Not only did the woman with a bleeding disorder defy her disease so long, she designed a plan to reach the Savior. She thought to herself: “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.?Any part of Jesus?attire - cloak, textile, or edge - was good enough for her. Remember, the law said an unclean woman was not supposed to touch Him. Her words, insight and actions showed her unwavering faith in Him ?any part of Him. She should be at home, away from people, mindful of her bleeding condition (Mk 5:29). Her presence would horrify her personal doctor, offend the religious teachers, and invite the scorn of the crowd, but she figured that God could not be annoyed, offended, or tainted by genuine faith.
So the woman made plans, made chase and made contact with Jesus, rising above the clamor of the crowd, the misgivings of the disciples, and the surprise, despair, and panic on Jairus?face. She met Jesus at the lowest point of her life, and Jairus?too, but she never thought she was delaying Jesus?journey, disrupting Jairus?request, and dooming his daughter to her death. God is sovereign, wise, and omnipotent; and He is able to make all grace abound in all things at all times in every good work. (2 Cor 9:8), able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph 3:20), able to save completely those who come to God through Him (Heb 7:25).
Readers are not informed whether the woman had heard the testimony of Jairus, but her last words, “I will be healed,?and Jairus words, “she will be healed,?(Mark 5:23) were astonishingly similar to each other. However, her faith was indicated and identified. Jairus was never credited with the word “faith?in his interaction with Jesus.
Faith is Not a Torturous, but a Trustworthy, Experience
32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.?(Mk 5:32-34)
An elderly lady once went to a branch office in her town to buy stamps just before Christmas and the lines, like any festive occasions, were particularly long.
A kind bystander pointed to her that there was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. She thanked the stranger and said, “I know, but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis.?http://www.sermonillustrations.com/nti/matthew/10_40-42.htm
The sick woman’s aspiration to live and the action she took were rewarded by her acquaintance with Jesus, her acknowledgement before the public and His affirmation to her. Those who come to God by the side door must meet Jesus at the front door and not leave by the back door.
Jesus did not just introduce the woman to the crowd; he reassured her, taught and showed her how to live. It wasn’t her cleverness or her courage that Jesus saw, but her faith. As long as she stood behind Jesus or disappear in the crowd, she could only sample the gift but not meet the Giver, experience the healing but not meet the Healer, or taste the produce but not meet the Provider. She had to come before him, speak about herself, and testify of Him in His presence and to others (v 33).
Jesus did not request, suggest, or force the woman to speak up, yet the penniless woman volunteered to testify, and she told it gradually, gratefully, and grippingly to the disciples, the crowd, and Jairus. Of course, she had her doubts and trembled with fear (v 33); she was unclean. Apparently, her name was unknown, her life was a secret, and her actions were radical, but Jesus complimented her on her faith, invited her to share with others, and assured her freedom from her misery (v 34).
More importantly, she saw her Savior’s face, not his back; met Him, not feared Him or feared things; and heard His loving, gentle, reassuring voice. So Jesus instructed her to go and live in peace, not in fear, loneliness, and anonymity anymore.
God is not anyone’s personal healer or physician, nor is faith a mysterious force, an unknown power or nature’s gift. It’s been said, “Power in religion without personal relationship and public commitment is little better than superstition or magic.?Faith is a conviction and a commitment to the Savior who has the power to heal, save and forgive.
Conclusion: Albert Schweitzer said, “The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.?God’s door of faith is always open, friendly, and accessible to the sick, the hurting, and the weak. Don’t just stand there; ask Jesus to be your friend, companion, and Savior. Do not give up easily, get discouraged quickly, or go away empty. Jesus is the light that will brighten life’s darkness, dispel its coldness, and end its wretchedness. Won’t you let Him in, take the step to make Him Lord?
Victor Yap
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