He’ll Heal Your Uncleanness | Mark 5:24b–34
And a great crowd
followed him and thronged about him. 25 And
there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered
much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better
but rather grew worse. 27 She
had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and
touched his garment. 28 For
she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the
flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her
disease. 30 And
Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately
turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples
said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who
touched me?’ ” 32 And
he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But
the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and
fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has
made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
One can only imagine the suffering this woman endured. While the exact nature of her illness is a
mystery, many commentaries agree that she had some sort of a uterine discharge. Such an ongoing hemorrhage would have ill effects
on her health, not to mention the social stigma and personal disgust she suffered
as she invested every penny in search for a cure. However, the treatments that the physicians
suggested not only failed to help, but made the matter worse (v. 26), whatever
that might mean.
She would be considered perpetually unclean in the Old
Covenant community (cf. Lv 15:19–33). Such
a mark would have set her apart like a leper, part of her ongoing suffering. She would not have been able to participate
in worship or daily life in Israel. Yet,
she hears about Jesus (v. 27), and she comes to Him.
She comes in fear and
faith. There may be several reasons
why she’s fearful—since she was unclean, perhaps she feared the crowd
approaching her, or perhaps she even feared meeting Jesus face-to-face (see v.
33). Even so, In Matthew 9:20, we read
that she seeks to touch the fringe of His garment, probably the tassels (see Nm
15:38–40; Dt 22:12). This isn’t because
she superstitiously believed that His clothes must have a magical quality to
them; she knows He has the power to heal, and she was healed in that very
moment..
He responds with control
and care. It’s likely based on vv.
29–30 that Jesus and the woman simultaneously knew that the healing occurred. He knew someone had touched His garment in this
crowd in faith, so He stops the crowd and begins looking back and forth.
Even in a crowd, Jesus can perceive the touch of an
individual. To those coming to Him suffering
for years with the unclean discharge of sinfulness, He says the same thing that
He spoke to the woman: “Your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be
healed.” Know the comfort of these
gospel words!
