Introduction:
I know my title sounds somewhat oxymoronic, but it’s not, because Sonship in the kingdom is not a gender issue, it is a redemption and adoption position. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. To them that believe He gave them power to become the sons of God.
This is not trans-genderism either. Sonship in the kingdom is not an issue of gender, it is a redemptive and positional reality, received by adoption and inheritance through Christ.
The value of the believer is Christ IN me (my hope of glory), and the impact of the believer is Christ THROUGH me (diffusing the fragrance of his knowledge in every place).
Jesus boldly stated in Luke 12:15, that a man’s life, a woman’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things that they possess. This bold statement of Jesus reminds us that the truest worth and value of an individual is not in cars and houses and husband and wife and children and dresses and bank accounts, but in who Christ is in us, what truly makes us is not what is on us but who / what is in us.
Verse 25 - A certain woman:
Notice how Mark introduces her: a certain woman… no sense of identity, a nonentity, ordinary, a non-important person, a statistic, not of worth.
Verse 26: All the stacks against her
Not only was she a non-entity, she had suffered MANY things of MANY physicians and was not getting any better. She spent her fortune until she was spent and left in a worse condition. The stacks were completely against her… until she HEARD about Jesus!
Verse 27-28: The Revelation of Jesus changed everything
When (the moment) she heard of Jesus, her journey to transformation began. She made her way to Jesus because of what she did with what she heard of Jesus – she said to herself…
Faith (the personal conviction about God in Christ) comes by hearing and hearing and hearing… continuous hearing. She heard about Jesus and kept rehearsing what she heard to herself by saying (vs 28). This was how her faith was activated.
It is not faith if what you hear is not about Jesus. Faith is not positive confession, it’s not optimism. It’s not motivation, faith is saying what the word of God says about Christ and about you. You can say all the nice things about yourself and still not have faith, because faith only comes from and by the word of Christ, not from positive words. Only the word of God is living and powerful, only God’s word has and gives life. She activated faith from what she heard not about her condition, or the news in town, but what she heard about Jesus. If what you’re hearing isn’t about Jesus Christ, you CANNOT have faith.
Verse 29: The Revelation of Jesus brings INSTANT transformation
Immediately the fountain of her blood, her 12 year old long-standing situation instantly came to an end, because she heard of Jesus, believed Him and confessed Him. Here we see the principle of salvation, God salvaged her through her faith.
Verse 30: Virtue: God’s Inherent Nature
She touched Him and virtue flowed out of Him. Whilst others only thronged Him (sunthlibo, meaning a contact that produces pain, a repulsive contact or to afflict by contact), she TOUCHED Him (haptomai, meaning to attach oneself to, to adhere to, to stick to, to have a welcoming contact with strong sense of continuity).
Faith in her, made her touch different, it wasn’t repulsive, but welcoming to His divine nature and virtue.
Virtue or virtuoso is Dunamis, meaning inherent power, ability, force. Her faith provoked Jesus’s inherent nature of healing. Its wasn’t Jesus’ will that healed her, it was His nature that healed her. It wasn’t Jesus who willfully looked at her (for she came BEHIND in the press and touched the helm of His garment. She snuck up on Him from behind) to heal her, she touched His nature and pulled on His inherent power without His human will or permission. God’s nature will always do what it naturally does – good. God is good not because of what we have done or not done, God is good because it is His nature, and when His nature is contacted, it flows naturally! Faith provokes God’s nature, because faith alone pleases God. It is according to His good pleasure that we receive.
Religion and secular humanism will define virtuous as being successful, beauty, having means and wealth, to be rich in earthly affluence etc. even proverbs 30 have been attributed as the virtuous woman, or qualities of a virtuous woman. There’s nothing wrong with that, those are earthly metrics of hard-work. But is this the complete picture?
The woman in our text lacked many of the markers of "virtue" in today’s society's eyes. Yet, by the end of her encounter with Jesus, she epitomized true virtue. Yes, she had enough resources to visit many physicians for over 12 years, but her prolonged unwelcoming condition cost her everything, her family, friends, she was ostracized from society according to the Levitical law (Leviticus 15:19-30). Yet by the end of her encounter with Jesus, her identity was redefined. Real virtue is not what is on you, but what and who is in you.
Peter in 2 Peter 1:1-4 (4), said, we are called to glory and virtue, and we are partakers of the divine nature… So, if virtue according to Mark 5:30 is part of His divine nature, and we are partakers of the divine nature, then that means when the woman touched (haptomai) Jesus, she instantly partook of His divine nature, which brought about instant miracle. The reason Jesus turned to notice who touched Him, was because she yet being under the old covenant – before the death and resurrection of Jesus was already partaking of the benefits of the New Creation as stated by Peter in 2 Peter 1:2-4.
What does the nature of consist of: it includes grace, mercy, forgiveness, glory, health, healing, wholeness, joy, peace, favour, wealth, faithfulness etc. every good gift and perfect gift is part of God’s nature. God’s nature is not wicked, hateful, anger, malicious, bitter, painful, judgmental, condemning, etc. no. when we touch God, we receive His nature, therefore what should exude out of us is His nature not anger or wrath or bitterness or wickedness or condemnation or guilt or shame; only virtue should flow from those who are in contact with Jesus.
Verse 34: The Transformation from A Certain woman to Daughter:
So when the certain woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus, she didn’t just receive healing, she partook of His divine nature, His virtue. This touch transformed her from just a certain woman to Daughter, from with the issue of blood 12 years to whole!
In biology, children share their parents DNA, in the spiritual also, to be called a daughter by Jesus implied that shared in His divine nature as our Father. Jesus called her not a certain woman, but He gave her true identity, and called her Daughter of Abraham, qualifying her to share in the blessing of Abraham (before the death of Jesus) and by implication, sharing in the blessing of Christ (post resurrection).
This is the journey of how a mis-identified, non-entity certain woman with stacks and stacks of issues that were against her, encountered Jesus by hearing and continues hearing and confession, activated faith in Jesus, and her faith led her to Jesus, she engaged her faith by taking action to touch Jesus and instantly partook of His divine nature that instantly transformed her whole life, gave her a new identity and not only healed her but made her whole. She received her true identity as Daughter under the Abrahamic covenant, and her identity as son under the new covenant! Indeed, she was her Abraham’s daughter and Abba’s son!
Significance of the Healing: By healing the woman, Jesus not only addressed her physical ailment but also her social and religious ostracization. When Jesus referred to her as "Daughter," it was a term of endearment and inclusion, signaling her restored position within the community and her relationship with God. Being called a "daughter" or "son" of God. It's not just a title; it's an identity filled with Jesus' virtue.
Son of God: John 1:12; Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:5
Sonship in the kingdom is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. For as many as believed on Him, to them He gave the power to be called or to BECOME the sons of God. For in Christ, there is neither male or female, Jew or Gentile, slave or free.... Christ is our leveling place. There are no grand-fathers, we are all sons in the Christ. Before the cross and under the Law her new identity was called daughter, but post resurrection and under the new covenant, because she believed Christ, she is therefore, a son! this is not trans-genderism, it is redemption right and inheritance by adoption!
May your faith be activated at the hearing or reading of the word of Christ, the word of His grace that is able to build you up and grant you your inheritance among them that are sanctified.
My side notes:
[Jesus boldly stated in Luke 12:15, that a man’s life, a woman’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things that they possess. This bold statement of Jesus reminds us that the truest worth and value of an individual is not what is on them but in them. Society often defines a virtuous woman as that woman who’s got it all going on: she’s got a boo, she’s got children (2 boys and two girls), she’s got her own money, she’s got global connections, she religiously holds morning devotion with her family every morning, her stewards and staff love her, she’s got houses and lands, she’s elite, she’s got just about everything that makes for status in society. Well, that's about the human definition of a virtuous woman, but allow me to introduce to you this Sunday morning, the Christocentric definition of the virtuous woman, that is, a virtuous woman from the perspective of Jesus Christ who Himself is the embodiment of virtue. He is soooooo virtuous that a woman touches Him and what came out of Him was virtue, not anger, not bitterness, not malice, not jealousy or envy, not hatred but virtue. Let me redefine to you this Sunday morning, who a virtuous woman truly is, because
Virtue can only be defined with respect to the One from whom virtue exuded to transform a woman’s life. (A virtuous woman is one who when you touch her, what oozes or comes out of her is Christ like, the nature and character of Christ, the life and power of God in her that transforms lives for the better).
Partakers of the divine nature - 2 Peter 1:1-4 (4)
Virtue can only be defined with respect to the One from whom virtue exuded to transform a woman’s life. It was the virtue from Jesus in collaboration with her faith that gave her her healing and new identity as daughter - pre resurrection and son post resurrection. Jesus said, who touched me, for I perceive that virtue is gone out from me. So until you have partaken of this same virtue that was in Jesus, you are not virtuous. This woman was a nobody, but ended up become a daughter- a virtuous woman, just like Jesus was the embodiment of divine virtue. You are not virtuous because of the societal status and earthly acquisitions that you have, neither does yourself righteousness and good behavior make you virtuous. you are virtuous because you have partaken of the divine nature of virtue and inherent power of God, His virtuoso power and now you posses and exude the same. This is what it means to be a virtuous woman, to be like your Daddy, to have His DNA, His virtues and character, to share in His divine nature.]
