Mark 5:21-29
The Greatest Physician
All of us have visited a doctor’s office at one time or another in our lives. When you go to the doctor you may have noticed somebody making notes in your chart. They record your temperature, pulse, and blood pressure. They record your symptoms as well as your diagnosis. They record any treatment they do. They do this so that any other physician will be able to see what you have already been treated for.
You see doctors encounter some strange cases each and every day. But no matter how strange the case, the doctor has a responsibility to keep it confidential. They won’t discuss your case with family, friends or foes without your consent. I have a couple of patient’s charts here with me today. I know, I know we are not suppose to read the file of another patient, but if you will allow me to today I want to go against HIPPA for your benefit and the glory of God. I want to break confidentiality today and open a couple of case files from the office of the greatest physician ever.
Every case this physician has ever treated, He treats with the same care, concern and compassion. He heals without surgery. He has never been sued for malpractice because He has never lost a patient. His calendar is never full. His waiting room always has an open seat. He even makes house calls. He is not concerned about whether you have COBRA, Medicaid, medical, blue cross blue shield. There is no co-pay or deductable cause He already paid it all.
Who is this great physician? You might call Him Mary’s baby, Job’s horse pawing in the valley, Ezekiel’s wheel in the middle of a wheel. Paul’s arresting officer. The Hebrew boys fire chief, Daniel’s zookeeper. He is my Lord and my King. He is my all in all. This physician’s name is Jesus the Son of the most High God. During the course of His ministry here on earth doctor Jesus encountered many strange cases.
One of His strangest cases is recorded for us in the verses we have before us today. In this case, Jesus the Great Physician doesn't touch the patient. He doesn't prescribe any medicines. He doesn't even make a diagnosis, but His patients are healed nonetheless. This text paints a picture for us of what happens when any sin sick soul visits the office of the Greatest Physician.
Why don’t you come with me as we step into His waiting room. As you can see, there are no magazines to read, no TV to watch. Everybody that is present in this waiting room is there with a serious need. The lame are here. The blind are here. I see blind Bartamus sitting over there. The broken hearted and down trodden are here. Don’t you see the ten lepers standing back there in a corner?
Look over there you will see a man possed with demons. Child the woman at the well and all five of her husbands just walked in. it’s good to see you Lazarus you look good for a dead man. Nicodemus how have you been? Peter just wheeled his mother-law in. the room is crowded, but guess what, there is a seat saved just for you. Is there anybody sick in the house today? Maybe your heart is broken; maybe your bills are due and you don’t know where the money will come from. I don’t know maybe you are lost in sin today, there is a seat saved just for you in this waiting room.
Today we want to focus our attention on just two patients in this waiting room. The first being Jarius’ daughter whom the bible says was laying at the point of death. Look at Jarius, franticly running to Doctor Jesus. Listen at him if you please. Can’t you hear the urgency in his voice? “My 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.”
Then we have this woman of our text today. The bible does not name her, it simply says, “A certain woman.” The bible does not give her age but simply says, “A certain woman. It does not list her race, but “A certain woman.” This woman could be you, you or even you. You see all of us are in need of healing for we all have issues of some kind. But if we look a little closes at these two cases you will find that they are totally opposites.
Even thought Jarius and this woman have come to Jesus with an issue, even though they met in the office of the great physician. Even though they both met at the feet of Jesus, they are so different. Jarius was a leading Jewish man; she was an anonymous woman with no position, prestige or power. Jarius was a leader in the synagogue. Her affliction kept her from the house of prayer. Jarius came pleading for his daughter. This woman came with a plea for herself. Isn’t it good to know that just as you can go to Jesus for someone else you can still call on Him for yourself?
The differences don’t stop there. Jarius’ daughter had been healthy for 12 years, and then died. This woman had been ill for 12 years and was dying. Jarius’ plea was public everybody heard what his request of Jesus was. On the other hand this woman’s plea was private. They both trusted Jesus. Jesus heeded the plea of Jarius.
He stopped what He was doing and begins to follow Jarius to his house. But alone the way to treat one patient, Jesus was interrupted by an emergency call. It was a certain woman. You do know that Jesus will stop whatever He is doing to come see about you. Your case is just as important as my case. If you don’t mind let’s look at three things about this certain woman; her Disease, her Determination and her Deliverance.
Jesus was on His way to make a house call when this woman interrupted Him. Notice Jesus was not annoyed or upset over this interruption even though it was not planned. That lets me know that we should not get upset when we have to stop doing our thing in order to help someone else. You may be on your way to church ready to walk out the door and somebody call you at the last minute wanting a ride.
Don’t look at it as an interruption but as a chance to be used by God. That soul called you because they believe you out of all people would stop by and help them. So we ought not to see people as an interruption or a bother but a chance to be used by God. You know that might be God’s way of keeping you from becoming selfish. It is never a waste of time to stop and help somebody.
Disease: 25-26: So here it is this woman has interrupted Jesus, and the bible says she had an "an issue of blood". This suggests that she was hemorrhaging or bleeding and it was not normal. Whatever the source of her bleeding was, it was a condition that was literally ruining her life. You see under the Jewish Law, this woman was to be considered unclean. Anything or anyone that she touched was also considered unclean.
As a result, she could not mingle with people in public. She could not go church. She could not marry. If she had ever been married, her husband would have been forced to divorce her. She could not work around others because of the danger of them becoming unclean. This reduced her to a life of begging scraps of food from a distant. Her condition left her on the fringes of society.
Imagine if you will not having any friends, not being able to hold a baby. Can’t you hear people whispering as she walks by. Imagine not being able to hold your head up and laugh for twelve long years? Yet this woman had endured that and more. For the text says she had spent all her money running from doctor to doctor trying this pill and that potion. Having X-ray, CAT scans, PET scans, and dog scans. But instead of getting better she got worse. Yes she tried every doctor in town, but the bible says she "suffered" under their care. Yes this woman had a disease but she was also discouraged, depressed, discomforted and in despair.
Her condition had robbed her of her health, happiness and hope. So it is with sin. Sin will rob you of your health, your happiness, your hope, and fill you with worry, weariness and weakness. Sin will slowly eat away at you until there is nothing left, but don’t you give up, because your help is in the hands of Jesus. This woman paints a clear picture of every person who does not know Jesus Christ as Savior. You see, the lost person is also defiled by a blood disease. It’s an inherited disease from Adam. I got bible on that, Romans 5:12, “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men.”
So I need to know right here are you sick in sin and are you sick of sin? Are you discouraged to the point where you think nothing will ever go right again? Are you dishearted to the point that you have lost hope? Are you saddened by the cares of this life? Are you hurting to bad to cry? Do you feel so weak that it seems that you will never get your strength back? Well I stopped by to remind you that there is a doctor in the house!!
Like this woman some of you have tried everything under the sun to rid yourselves of this blood issue. You have run to every therapist in the world. You have read every self help book. You watch Oprah, Dr. Phil. You have tried to stop seeing her and sleeping with him, but instead of getting better. Your condition has gotten worse.
She grew worse in spite of all the doctors he has seen. What that lets us know is not matter how many doctors you see, there are something only heaven can help!! All the efforts at self-improvement and religion will not help your condition! This poor woman was in a sad shape, but she wasn't even close to being as bad off as that person who is not saved by grace. Her issue of blood had her headed for the grave. But the issue of sin has you headed for hell, I got bible on that, Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” But I don’t care what your issue may be today; there is a doctor in the house.
He knows how to mend your broken heart. He knows how to regulate your confused mind. He knows how to remove that heart of hate and replace it with a heart of love. He knows how to deliver you from any addiction, attitude, and habit, hurt or hang up that has you bound today. Tell your neighbor God can take care of your issue.
Luke, a physician, wrote that she “could not be healed by anyone.” But here, Mark was not so easy on the doctors—he wrote that she “had endured or suffered much at the hands of many physicians.” Not for a day or a week, not even a month or a year, but for twelve long years she had suffered with this shame and the pain. She was in this sad shape. Is there anybody here that knows what it is to go to bed with pain, wake up with pain and be in pain all the day? I mean you have tried every herb, every pill but no matter what you try instead of getting better you just get worst.
Determined 27-28: Yes she had a disease, but she was determined. She was determined to get better so first she ran to every doctor in town. You know when you are sick you get in a hurry to get some help. You will spend your last dime, you don’t care about bills or any things else, you just want to get better, I got bible on that. Satan said to God concerning Job in Job 2:4, “Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he give for his life.”
So she spent every penny she had but instead of getter better, the bible says she got worse. She was about to give up all hope. You see from all the bleeding I’m sure her blood pressure had dropped. I’m sure she was weak by now. I’m sure she had made peace with her maker. I’m sure she had resigned herself to her lot in life. She was down to nothing. No money for food. Even if there was a cure, she could not afford it for the text says she had spent all that she had.
Maybe her case is your case here today. You are at the end of your rope. You have tried talking but that child still won’t turn around. You have tried loving him or loving her but they still want a divorce. You have tried all that you know and it looks like the more you try the worse it gets. Like Paul said you want to do right but no matter how you try evil is present. Is there anybody here about to throw in the towel today? I stop by to encourage you that this is your season! You may be at the end of your rope, but you got to reach up and tie a new knot and hold on!
But hold on, this is your and there is a doctor in the house. Maybe now you realize like this woman that Jesus is in the room. You may have made Jesus your last choice, but I need to tell you right here, He is still your best choice. He may be the last place you turn, but He is still the best place you can turn. No case is a lost case if you put it in the hands of the Great Physician. Somebody just got a blessing!!!!
The text says she heard of Jesus. Maybe she had heard how He had healed ten lepers. Maybe she had heard how He had feed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves. Maybe she had heard how He turned water into wine. Maybe she had heard how He had raised Lazarus from the dead. I don’t know maybe she had heard how He walked on water, calmed the raging sea. This woman had heard of Jesus somewhere and she was determined to get to Him.
Perhaps she had heard how others had been healed by touching His garments; you see the record is in Luke 6:19, “Many had touched Him and all were healed.” However it happened, somewhere she had heard about his man named Jesus. I don’t know what she had heard, but I do know she was determined to get to Him.
She had her mind made up. She was firm in her conviction. She had resolved it in her mind, if I can just touch the hem of His clothes. I don’t need Him to lay His hands on me like He did the blind man. I don’t need Him to call my name like He did Lazarus. I don’t need Him to speak a word in my life because He is life, if I can just touch Him. I know everything will be alright.
How determined are you to get to Jesus today? Yes you may have obstacles in your way. You may to press through the problem, the pain and pass some people but if you are determined to get better than don’t let nothing or anybody keep you away. You see the healing process begins with hearing. I got bible on that, Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard.” Skip on down to verse 17, “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” What have you about this heard man Jesus? Have you heard that He will be a friend in a lonely hour?
Have you heard that He can make ways out of no way? Have you heard that He will be a rock in a weary land, bread to a hungry man? Have you heard that He can save to the utter most? Have you heard that He is able to wipe away every tear from your eye? One reason some of your family and friends are not saved is because you have not said anything to them about the healing power of God. PREACH ANY WAY BARNEY!!!!!
Somebody walked in here today with an issue that you have struggled with for years. Somebody else limped in here today so burden down you can’t straighten up. Doctor Jesus is in the house but the question that needs to be answered right now is how determined are you to get to Him? Maybe you are more concerned about what people will think of you then you are about what Jesus can do for you. Maybe you are worried about how she will feel if you stop sleeping with her. Maybe you are more interested in being friends with the world then to being at peace with God.
If you are here with an issue today…let me put it another way, whatever your issue is today, today is your day to reach out and touch Jesus. But you got to have a made up mind. I don’t care what you say about me, I got to get to Jesus. I don’t care what I look like doing it; I got to get to Jesus. I don’t care how long I been in my mess, if I can just get to Jesus.
How many of you know that when the doctor says, no, Doctor Jesus can still say yes. How many of you know God can take total disaster and turn it into total victory. Did you come here today to get something from Jesus? Don’t let anybody stop you. Tell your neighbor move!!!
Even though she knew she was unclean, she was determined. Even though she knew that if she touched Him, He would be considered unclean, she was determined. Even though there was a crowd around Him, she was determined. Verse 28 says, “She said, if I may touch but his clothes. What this really means is that she kept saying it. She kept on believing. She kept encouraging herself with these same words over and over again.
She didn’t have anybody to encourage her, so she had to encourage herself. I believe God just helped somebody here today. Even if no one else will, you got to encourage yourself. Stop listening to negative folks who spit poison on everything. Surround yourself with people that will speak life into your situation and if you can’t find anybody, encourage yourself.
You see when you believe that God can fix whatever is wrong in your life, not matter how many times you may feel like giving up; you will keep on encouraging yourself. No matter how much folks look down on you because of your issue you got to keep on encouraging yourself. Tell yourself, “If I can just touch Jesus, I know everything will be made whole!!” This woman was determined.
Look at her faith in contrast to that of Jarius.’ He believed that if Jesus came and touched his daughter she would be healed. This woman believed that she would be healed just by touching Him. But the reality of the matter is you don’t have to touch Him and He don’t have to touch you in order for you to be healed, I got bible on that too Psalm 91:1, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” God’s shadow has just as much power as His touch. Both Jarius and this woman exhibited great faith.
She demonstrated great courage by approaching Jesus in that crowd. As she elbowed her way through the people, she was causing ceremonial defilement for everyone she touched. She was taking a great risk, for if she had been recognized, she would have been subjected to public humiliation and ridicule and possible retribution. A crowd like that might have gotten worked up and stoned her to death. For her, it was a risk worth taking. She knew what Jesus could do for her if she could just get to Him! What risk are you willing to take?
When she was near enough to Him, she reached out a trembling hand and touched His garment. The word "touched" means "to cling to or to adhere to". In other words, she held onto Him until she got what she came after! That’s a word for somebody here that is going through right now. If you will just hold on to His unchanging hand I know everything will change in your life. Come here Jacob…..!!
I don’t care how hard the wind blow, hold on to Jesus. I don’t care what people say, hold on to Jesus. I don’t care how you feel, hold on to Jesus. She held on for dear life and immediately, she received what none of the doctors could give her. Immediately she received what Walgreens, Osco, CVS, or Wal-Mart could not give her. Instantly, she felt the change in her body. She knew things would be different from there on out. Tell your neighbor don’t let go.
Miracles happen when you touch Jesus. That husband will straighten up when you touch Jesus. That child will come home, when you touch Jesus. That desire for drugs or alcohol will dry up like this woman’s issue when you touch Jesus. Hate has to go when you touch Jesus. Backbiting got to leave when you touch Jesus. Christians will act like Christians when you touch Jesus. Come here lame man…Lazarus where are you? Job what do you have to say? Tell your neighbor just one touch is all I need.
Deliverance: We are told that she had enough faith in the person, power and provisions of Christ to risk it all believing that just a touch would be enough. This passage makes it clear that her body was healed at the time she reached out to Him. Instantly this woman was made well for the first time in twelve years. Notice not only did her bleeding dry up but she was made whole. Jesus gave her peace. Anybody here know that God will do exceedingly abundantly above what you think or ask?
She was more than a hemorrhaging body; she was a needy woman. Jesus came to an abrupt halt and demanded, “Who touched Me?” True faith never goes unnoticed by God. He turned and pronounced her healed; not that He did not know, even though there was a crowd pressing in on Him, He knew she had touched Him. He was asking this question for two reasons. One, to give her a chance to testify. You know if God has saved you, if God has healed your body, if God has delivered you from any addiction, depression, any issue you may have had He wants you to testify. I got bible on that for you, Psalm 107:2 “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” Do we have any redeemed in the house today?
Has God done anything for anybody here today? If He has saved your soul stand on your feet and say so! If God has taken the bottle out of your mouth, stand on your feet and say so! If God has taken you out of the pit of sin, you ought to stand on your feet and say so!! If you are still lost today, God says, to you all you got to do is reach out and I will do the rest.
The other reason He wanted this woman to say so was for Jarius’ sake. Ya’ll remember him don’t you? He is the other patient; his daughter was dying, well by now he has gotten the news that she is dead. Jarius may have resented the woman, because she kept Jesus from getting to his daughter. Like Martha concerning Lazarus, Jarius may have said, “Lord if you had been here my daughter would not have died.
Just as Jesus reassured Martha, He used this woman’s testimony to reassure Jarius, I am the resurrection and the life.” Jarius’ problem was not the woman, but himself. This woman’s issue was not the issue, but her faith was. Your issue is not that you drink, do drugs sleep around or do all manner of evil. Your real issue is your faith. Jesus had this woman to give her testimony both for her sake and for the sake of Jarius. The fact that God has helped others ought to encourage somebody here to trust Him more.
By him seeing what God was able to do for this woman restored his failing faith in the power of God. Hot word for somebody!! You may be feeling like all hope is gone, but when you see what God has done in somebody else’s life it ought to strengthen your faith.
So she came forward trembling with fear, fell down at His feet, and told the whole truth. He gave her a fourfold response: He called her “daughter” (an intimate and endearing term), assured her that her body was healed (by her faith, not His clothes), sent her away free from all anxiety (go in peace), and healed (Gk. sozo, “saved,”) her soul. Between the healing of a demon-possessed man and the raising of a dead girl, this woman’s situation could be considered a lesser concern by human measurements, but not by Christ. He stops for everyone. You missed your shout right there!!
As this woman walked through those years of suffering, every step she took was along a path of grace that was leading her steadily closer to her encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ the great physician. When she arrived at the intersection where their paths met, she had the faith to believe and receive from His hand the healing she desperately needed!
As we travel the pathway of life, we are brought into contact with Jesus through the grace of God. When we are at that crossroads, all you got to do is reach out. Is there anybody here that can say like the old hymnologist of old, “Father I stretch my hand to thee, no other help I know.”
Now is the time to exercise Faith in God so that He can save you from whatever issues you have that is slowly killing you and dragging you straight to hell. This is your season all you need is faith to believe it and you shall receive it.
Yes she had a disease, but just one touch. Yes she was broke and poor, But just one touch. Yes she was cursed, but just one touch. Yes she had gone to every doctor in town, but just one touch. Yes she had gotten worse, but just one touch. Yes she had tried everything the doctors had to offer, but just one touch. Jesus is the great physician who can heal with just one touch. He touched His disciples. He touched the ear of a soldier and he was healed. He touched the man with leprosy and he was made clean.
He touched Peter’s mother-in-law and the fever left her. He touched the eyes of two blind men and they came away seeing. Is there anybody here that needs just a touch from God? Look at this woman now, she came to Jesus diseased, but she left delivered. She came to Jesus broken and bleeding, but she left whole and well. She came to Jesus bleeding, but she left covered in the blood of the Lamb. She had a blood issue and it took blood to cure what was wrong with her.
What can take away my sins nothing but the blood of Jesus? What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus? There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s vein, sinners plunge beneath its flood and lose their crimson stain. If you know God is able says yea!!!
