“Daughter your faith has made you well, go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” Mark 5:34
The Background
Weak, drained and almost hopeless in her situation the “woman with an issue of blood” mustered up the remnants of strength she had remaining in her and touched the hem of Christ’s garment for healing.
Talk about courageous faith!
She was determined to find healing in Christ and nothing, not even the swarming crowds surrounding Jesus could deter her from receiving her healing. She had suffered much, a chronic haemorrhage for more than a decade.
Scripture tells us in Mark 5: 26 that the more she sought out the help of physicians, the worse she became in her condition.
It only makes sense then that her demonstration of faith through touching the hem of Christ’s garment stands as a prime example of the faith we must follow as believers in Christ in our own journeys with the Lord.
Verse 30 depicts an interesting contrast however.
Jesus reacts in a manner which prompts us to believe that the woman’s touch left Him feeling somewhat uneasy. He asks, “who touched me?” despite there being a crowd that surrounded Him, and after some hesitation, the woman in verse 33 confesses to touching His garment.
Her response to Him was not one of confidence, it is possible that she was experiencing guilt for drawing from the power of Christ in the way that she did. She had already received immediate healing from Christ and perhaps thought that she would go unnoticed but that was not the case, Jesus was not done with her.
The process of restoration was incomplete, she had to have a proper encounter with Jesus. Her life had to come in contact with His Word.
You see, had the story ended in verse 29 this depiction of restoration would have been incompatible with the plan of salvation Christ has for us. The woman would have only received healing by her own works (the action of touching His garment).
She came to Jesus to have her primary suffering healed, however the Messiah desired a deeper encounter for her beyond just healing her physical pains. He wanted to restore her whole soul. That is why in verse Mark 5:34 Jesus declares the woman whole because her act of faith has come into contact with His word.
Perhaps, she had a greater need than her need to be healed.
Christ wanted to satisfy that greater need. The following excerpt from the Bible commentary, MacLaren’s Expositions illustrates this point beautifully:
“Again, her trust was very selfish. She wanted health; she did not care about the Healer. She thought much of the blessing in itself, little or nothing of the blessing as a sign of His love. She would have been quite contented to have had nothing more to do with Christ if she could only have gone away cured. She felt but little glow of gratitude to Him whom she thought of as unconscious of the good which she had stolen from Him.”- MacLaren’s Expostions: The Power of Feeble Faith
A book I love to read called Ministry of Healing puts it plainly when expounding on this chapter;
“True faith is that which receives Christ as a personal Saviour”- Ellen G White, Ministry of Healing (p. 62).
What It Means To You
Stolen power…
You may not realize it but we are often guilty of this very thing. It doesn’t matter who you are, Christian or non-Christian, we all steal power from time to time.
It is said that, “with great power comes great responsibility” and just like us, this woman, who is not named in the scripture, shuns away from the responsibility that comes with getting what she wants.
She grabs whatever power she can get, just like we do, but shy’s away from the responsibility that comes with her healing.
As Nombasa mentioned earlier, we know that this woman had sought her healing from many physicians. The Bible says that she spent all her worth on looking for a cure.
She trusted in her own strength and because the battle she fought was not merely one of flesh and blood her strength was insufficient.
But let’s leave her alone for a little bit. This woman has long since been healed but are you whole?
“He wants to forgive your past, bless your present and insure your future.”
Think about how much energy you’ve spent trying to obtain and overcome. If you’re human, after all this “hustling” you should be able to realize that you’re tired, some of us are even at the point of giving up.
Then there are those of us who pray to God for a thing. We only trust Him to handle the things that have conquered us after we’ve struggled enough with them. When He comes through we are back to being self-sufficient.
But you know what happens next right? Another problem comes, or the same issues comes back, this time ten times stronger.
We need a power greater than us, and it needs to be consistently present in our lives. We may steal power from God by needing Him only when we’re stuck but that power will run out soon enough if we do not have His approval.
Take it from me, go through the whole process of seeking God and receiving His full blessing and stop using your own strength. If you don’t, you will run out of steam and may end up worse that you were.
Don’t make life harder for yourself.
Jesus could have let the woman go. It is not that He was now short of power or that His power is limited but He knew that if He did not seal her healing with His word, then she would’ve just gone back into her old life and would have encountered another problem later. This time He wouldn’t be around.
God is interested in your yesterday, today and tomorrow.
He wants to forgive your past, bless your present and insure your future.
Whatever it is you’re looking for, if you really want to find a solution that will stand when everything else is shaking, you need to seek God for it and make sure you don’t leave His presence until He has insured it.
Its really that simple. Or is it?
Happy seeking.
This article was written by Nombasa Kumalo and Alroy Ndhlovu
2 comments
I love your work guys. truly inspiring. May God bless you abundantly, and grant you strength for this Ministry.
Nqobile, thank you very much. We are really glad to know that it has had a positive impact on you. Please keep praying for us.