When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 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 5:21-34 (NIV)
This is another reminder that the faithfulness of God is not measured by our circumstance. For 12 years this woman had seen dead end after dead end. I can’t imagine the pain and disappointment. Maybe she had been to countless people for help, to no avail. In my short time on this earth I have not experienced suffering for anywhere near this length. Sure, there have been pockets of difficult times, but nothing of this magnitude. Can you imagine yourself getting no answer for 12 years? The disappointment, depression that can set in. If, after a while you begin to see yourself in terms of your condition.....
“Well, Ive been like this for a while, so this is just how it is.”
“I’ve been struggling with _____________ for years, and it’s just something I’ll have to deal with.”
Yes, suffering brings great growth. Yes, we need to ask questions during the suffering, such as what God is trying to reveal to us. But this is in the midst of our pursuit of Jesus, not aside from it. I would like to imagine that the feelings of lowliness and disappointment were still somewhat present with this woman as she approached Jesus. She was basically “unclean”, and if people knew her condition she possibly could’ve have been prevented from even approaching Jesus. She lived her life watching others have the freedom to live as they wished.
What strikes me is she approached Jesus with an expectancy that is rarely seen. No question to him, just a resolve to be near Him. “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” She was convinced that Jesus could bring what she desperately longed for. She approached him with expectancy. What would happen to our faith if we had expectancy? In our prayers? In our conversations? In our dreams for what God will do through us?
God delivers a miracle to affirm a faith that was already there. Don’t you remember Jesus’ words, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Nothing. Not removing years of pain. Not removing shame from sin. Not doing something unbelievable in your midst. I wonder, is the reason we don’t see great things of God in our lives because we’re not really expecting them? There’s a difference between a wishful hope and a resolute expectation.
And now look at Jesus’ response. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
Wait. “Your faith.” We might look at this and think Jesus is instead referring to His power. Isn’t that what is really at work here? But what we’re seeing is the continual work of Jesus: to display God’s power THRU people. All the power is from God. The channel that it flows through is humans. Jesus puts the weight of the woman’s faith front and center. The power of God meets her faith at a powerful intersection. And so it is with us.
“Well, Ive been like this for a while, so this is just how it is.”
“I’ve been struggling with _____________ for years, and it’s just something I’ll have to deal with.”
Yes, suffering brings great growth. Yes, we need to ask questions during the suffering, such as what God is trying to reveal to us. But this is in the midst of our pursuit of Jesus, not aside from it. I would like to imagine that the feelings of lowliness and disappointment were still somewhat present with this woman as she approached Jesus. She was basically “unclean”, and if people knew her condition she possibly could’ve have been prevented from even approaching Jesus. She lived her life watching others have the freedom to live as they wished.
What strikes me is she approached Jesus with an expectancy that is rarely seen. No question to him, just a resolve to be near Him. “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” She was convinced that Jesus could bring what she desperately longed for. She approached him with expectancy. What would happen to our faith if we had expectancy? In our prayers? In our conversations? In our dreams for what God will do through us?
God delivers a miracle to affirm a faith that was already there. Don’t you remember Jesus’ words, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Nothing. Not removing years of pain. Not removing shame from sin. Not doing something unbelievable in your midst. I wonder, is the reason we don’t see great things of God in our lives because we’re not really expecting them? There’s a difference between a wishful hope and a resolute expectation.
And now look at Jesus’ response. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
Wait. “Your faith.” We might look at this and think Jesus is instead referring to His power. Isn’t that what is really at work here? But what we’re seeing is the continual work of Jesus: to display God’s power THRU people. All the power is from God. The channel that it flows through is humans. Jesus puts the weight of the woman’s faith front and center. The power of God meets her faith at a powerful intersection. And so it is with us.
Are we challenged in our faith by this woman?
What is it that we seek from Jesus?
Are we coming close to Him to tell Him? To ask?
What is it that we seek from Jesus?
Are we coming close to Him to tell Him? To ask?
“Give us, gracious Lord, the faith to come right up to you, to touch you in the crowd, to say what it is we need and want you to do for us.” N.T. Wright
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