The Case Of The Ruined Woman Series

Introduction

A. The Bible is filled with impossible, hopeless cases.

1. Situations and circumstances appear in the Word

of God, and many of them appear impossible.

a. There seems to be no solution.

b. Storms, needs, deaths, sicknesses, and many other situations appear impossible to the human mind, yet the power of God handles them with ease!

2. This section of Mark’s Gospel is filled with several of those impossible situations.

a. There is a storm, then a man filled with demons, and then a dead little girl.

b. Jesus steps into each of these unimaginable situations and proves that He is more than capable of handling whatever happens.

3. During the next several weeks we will be looking at these “hopeless” cases.

a. We will learn that there are no hopeless predicaments with the Lord!

1) No situation is hopeless!

2) No storm is hopeless!

3) No sinner is hopeless!

4) No sickness is hopeless!

5) None of our lost loved ones are hopeless!

b. Nothing is hopeless with the Lord!

B. Our text describes yet another hopeless situation.

1. Jesus is on His way to house of a man called Jairus.

a. On the way there, He is surrounded by a great crowd of people.

b. They throng Him and jostle against Him from every side.

c. From the crowd a poor, weak, timid, dying woman reached out and touched Jesus.

d. When she touched Him, her life was instantly, completely, and permanently transformed.

2. There are people here today who need life transformations.

a. They need someone to radically change the situations you face in your life.

b. Those transformations can happen.

c. One touch from the Lord can change everything!

D. Let’s take a few minutes to consider this poor woman and her situation.

1. I wish we had time to examine every hopeless situation in the word of God today.

2. That task will take a few weeks to accomplish.

3. Today, we will consider the hopeless situation mentioned in these verses.

4. The facts of this story can help us when we face the hopeless situations in our own lives.

I. Her Suffering (v. 24-26)

A. Her Affliction (v. 25)

1. We are told that she was a “hemorrhaging woman.”

a. She was bleeding from some place in her body.

b. It could have been internal or external.

2. At any rate, she was a very sick woman.

3. The verb tense indicates that it was a continual flow of blood.

B. Her Anguish (v. 26)

1. A constant flow of blood whether internal or external would have caused unbelievable suffering.

2. Let’s take a moment to examine some of the areas in which she suffered.

a. Her Physical Anguish.

1) From the constant blood loss, this woman would have been weak and anemic.

2) She would have been pale.

3) She would have had no energy at all.

4) The least of efforts would have worn her out.

b. Her Medical Anguish

1) We are told that she “endured much” under their care.

a) An example of their “medical” techniques can be found in the Talmud.

b) There are eleven remedies prescribed in the Talmud—some potions, most superstitious nonsense.

c) Most of them involved mixing wine with various substances.

2) One remedy even called for the woman to carry an ear of corn taken from the dung of a white donkey.

3) It is hard for us to imagine the kinds of indignities and embarrassments the doctors put her through.

c. Her Social Anguish

1) She was almost certainly not married, because through simple physical contact, she would have made her husband ceremonially unclean.

2) If she had ever been married, her husband would have been probably divorced her.

3) She could not work around others because of the danger of defilement.

4) This reduced her to a life of begging scraps of food from a distance.

5) Her condition left her on the fringes of society.

6) In the eyes of those around her, she was no better than a leper.

d. Her Emotional Anguish

1) She has lived her life moving from one rejection to another.

2) She is lonely, isolated and desperate!

e. Her Religious Anguish

1) Under the Law of Moses, Lev 15:19; 25-27, this poor woman was considered unclean.

2) Anything or anyone that she touched was also considered unclean.

3) As a result, she could not mingle with other people.

4) Anyone who came in contact with her would be considered ceremonially defiled.

5) She could not worship in the Women’s Court of the Temple, because she was unclean.

f. Her Financial Anguish

1) The Bible tells us that she “ spent all she had”.

2) The doctors and their useless remedies had not helped her.

3) All they had done was drain her bank account dry (sound familiar?).