In Mark Chapter 5
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In Mark Chapter 5, the Bible gives us the story of a certain woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years. The Bible just tells us that she’s a certain woman with an issue. We all have issues in life. Many times those issues define us. We see someone, and we don’t call them by their name. We just call them by their issue. This, in many ways, dehumanizes people and just brings them into a category with others. The woman with the issue of blood was just a certain woman with an issue. The Bible lets us know she had spent everything she had trying to get better but instead grew worse. Many times, when we try to get away from our issues, we don’t get better and our issues just get worse. One day, the woman with the issue of blood heard about Jesus. She heard He was helping people and healing people. This caused something to arise in her heart that she hadn’t had for a long, long time. Hope that there was an answer for her issue began to spring up in her heart. Most of my life, I thought hope was simply a wish. I hope the weather is nice. I hope everything works out. I hope I can make it. When the Bible uses the word hope, it means, “having a confident expectation.” The woman with the issue of blood had heard of Jesus and had a confident expectation that he could help her. She said, “If I can touch his clothes, I will be made whole.” She pressed through all the difficulties that were before her. The large crowd did not deter her from getting to Jesus. When she touched Him, she felt in her body that she was made whole.
Even though, there was a large crowd around Jesus, Jesus knew somebody had touched him with faith. He asked his disciples, “Who touched me?” The disciples thought that was a very strange question for Jesus to ask them because there was a great crowd touching him at all times. Jesus had felt power go out of him into another person. The woman that was looking for Jesus now had Jesus looking for her. She came fearing and trembling before Him, bowed down, and told Him all the truth. Even though she had been made whole, she still had fear and trembling in her life. Jesus was getting ready to make an announcement that was going to change all of that. Jesus said unto her, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole; go in peace, and be whole of your plague.” It’s amazing to see the transformation that took place in her life. She was no longer just a certain woman who had an issue; instead, she was now a daughter defined by her faith. Her encounter with Jesus not only healed her physical body but brought her into a loving family. If all I’m defined by are my issues, then it’s hard for me to have hope. Jesus can flip the script and put it to where I’m no longer defined by my issues. Instead, I’m defined by my faith in Him. In Christ, we are more than conquerors; we are righteous, accepted, hopeful, forgiven, and all the other things the Bible tells us we are. This story can translate to our own personal lives. It can help us now to look at people differently and to not just define them by their issues. It can help us to see each individual as someone who needs help and hope. It can help us to see in our own lives that it is Jesus who can redefine us and empower us to live a life filled with hope.
This daughter was now told to go in peace, and we too can live in peace.
