September 10, 2014 Stop the Bleeding Mark 5:25-34 Read A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed. Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, Who touched my robe? His disciples said to him, Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, Who touched me? But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over. (Mark 5:25-34) Reflect This woman had a seemingly incurable condition causing her to bleed constantly. This may have been a menstrual or uterine disorder that would have made her ritually unclean (Leviticus 15:25-27) and would have excluded her from most contact with other people. She desperately wanted Jesus to heal her, but she knew that she would cause Jesus to be unclean under Jewish law if she touched him. She was afraid of what the repercussions would be. Sometimes we fear that God responds angrily to our problems, to our failures and uncleanness. But God is never looking to let us slink away with just enough of his forgiveness. Jesus is God in the flesh. What Jesus did for that woman, God does for each of us. Respond We should never allow our fear to keep us from approaching Jesus. He desires to look you in the eyes, call you his child, free you from sins grip, and give you peace.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 09:45:51 +0000