Never Less ThanExemplo

I love the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years! What woman among us hasn’t felt the wretchedness of rejection and hopelessness? What woman hasn’t wondered, “why would God even care about me?”

In Mark 5:25-32, we have a story of just how much God values and esteems His female image-bearers. He singles out one lone woman from a crowd of curiosity seekers, heals her physically and spiritually, and then places her center stage to tell about it.

The woman we meet in Mark 5 has been called “the woman with the issue of blood.” She was defined by what was wrong with her. Perhaps you’ve felt that way a time or two in your life. We tend to compare what we know to be wrong about ourselves with what we don’t know to be wrong with others. Let me hug you right now and remind you we’ve all got something. Resist the tendency to define yourself by what you imagine to be wrong with you and embrace the truth of what God says is right with you.

For 12 long years, this woman had been bleeding; we can assume it was vaginally. She is physically, financially, socially, and spiritually drained when we meet her. In biblical days, certain situations and conditions rendered a person ceremonially unclean. A woman was considered unclean during her monthly cycle. What does it mean to be called “unclean”? It means the person is untouchable. Let that sink in.

Sometimes we can feel the same. Abandoned by friends and deserted by a spouse, forgotten by family. Unseen by society. But she was not forgotten. She was not alone. This daughter of Abraham was close to God’s heart and foremost on His mind. So God the Father orchestrated His Son’s journey to pass her way.

The woman broke all the rules when she heard Jesus was coming. She pressed through the crowd and reached for the hem of His garment. Immediately, she was healed. The power left Jesus. He knew it.

Mark wrote:

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Mark 5:32-34. NIV

“Daughter, your faith has healed you.” Sometimes one single word in Scripture speaks volumes. Daughter was a term of endearment she would not easily forget. No matter what you’ve been through or what you will go through in the future, hang on to this truth: You are God’s daughter whom He loves.

As with this woman and the others we meet in the New Testament, Jesus viewed their needs as portals through which deeper spiritual needs might be met. His miraculous healings were the chain cutters that set women free from physical, emotional, and spiritual disease and sent them toward physical, emotional, and spiritual health. He ministered to their immediate needs and gave them an eternal perspective and great significance. Just as He does for you and me…His daughters.