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 to touch his cloak and was miraculously healed. Was Jesus upset, insulted or bothered by her actions that were shrouded in secrecy? 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 much more in the process.
How does one progress from seeker to believer? What does it take to grab and catch Jesus’ attention? Why does Jesus want us to meet Him all the way and not merely midway, to know Him personally and just know about Him?
Faith is Not a Thankless, But a Tireless Exercise
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 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. (Mk 5:25-26)
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
But then one day, after scavenging for food, the survivor arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to me!” he cried.
Early the next day, however, the man was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.
It’s been said, “A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a person. Kites rise against, not with the wind.”
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, 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 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. 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 or make her better, 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 with the moving crowd, she had to move up, get free, wiggle through, cut in and remain anonymous. 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, not withstanding the fear of being chased, cornered, caught, chided and cursed.
Faith is Not a Timid, But a Triumphant Experiment.
27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At 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 8:15). 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 ((Mt 9:2, 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. The last thing the sensitive and considerate woman wanted to do was defile Jesus by touching Him; in fact, believing that touching His clothes was sufficient to heal required more faith! 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 creative contact with Jesus, rising above the clamor of the crowd, the misgivings of the disciples and the surprise, despair and panic on Jairus’ face (Mk 5:22). 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) and 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
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 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. 34 He 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) in order to grow and mature in faith.
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, thereby strengthening His faith and resolve. Of course, she had her doubts and trembled with fear (v 33); after all, everyone knew 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 declared her freedom from her misery (v 34) before the on-looking crowd.
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. Are you merely standing around? Have you asked Jesus to be your friend, companion, and Savior? Do you give up easily, get discouraged quickly and 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 and live a life of faith and freedom?
Victor Yap
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