Miracles of Jesus: Jesus Heals the Hemorrhaging Woman

Matthew 9: 20-22
”And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. (21) For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." (22) But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour.”

Mark 5:25-34
”Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, (26) and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. (27) When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. (28) For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." (29) Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. (30) And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" (31) But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, "Who touched Me?"' (32) And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. (33) But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came 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 affliction."

boats following the casting out of the evil spirits from the demon possessed man. As they began to row away from the beach towards the northeastern shores of Capernaum perhaps they could see a crowd of frightened and superstitious Gentiles, standing at the water’s edge, breathing a sigh of relief that they had really left as they had asked. At the same time they could see the former demon possessed man once known as Legion standing alone on the beach, fully clothed and in his right mind, waving good-bye to his new LORD and Savior. His heart was now filled with the joy of being possessed by the Holy Spirit, and he had been given a commission to tell all of the surrounding cities what had happened to him.

leave, the Galileans could hardly wait for Him to arrive. Tonight we are going to use Luke’s account as our primary text. Look with me in verse forty, here the reader is informed that as Jesus and his disciple returned to the beaches of Capernaum they were warmly welcomed. ”So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.” What we find this evening is that the next two miracles have interwoven stories.

THE BACKGROUND OF THE MIRACLE

And as many had heard of the healing he had done, there were gathered to meet him those who had some sickness that they wished to be healed from. On this occasion they were met by a distressed man who had a daughter who was dying. Verse forty-one “And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, (42) for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.” Jairus even though he was head of the local synagogue came and made a request of Jesus. In the hour of his extreme need he came to Jesus. The text says that he reverently made his request for “he fell at his feet.” And he passionately made his case “he begged him to come to his house.” Casting aside all of his pride, this religious leader fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, desperate for one last lifeline for his little girl. Without a word Jesus sets out for this man’s house.
And on the way to help this man Jesus met another, who desperately needed his help, a woman who we are told had “….a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any” (v. 43).

We are told that this woman had “flow of blood” an abnormal bleeding from the womb. In the Mark’s account it is twice called “a plague” (Mark 5:29, 34) the word translated plague is a word that carries the connotation of “whip.” Notice the things that this whip drove from her life. First, it drove from her life strength and health. For twelve years she had steadily grown weaker and weaker. Secondly, it drove her from her husband and family. There is no mention of a husband, but if she had one, in a day when getting out of a marriage could be for as silly a reason as burning his breakfast toast and was as easy as handing a wife a hand-written notice of intent and saying publicly, “I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you.” He probably dumped her years ago. The fact is that she could not touch or be touched by anyone. According to the Law (Lev. 15:25-27) no one could lie on the same bed as she did and no one could even sit on the same chair as she had. Thirdly, it drove her from her friends - she was ostracized from Society. Three things in Jewish daily life could make a person ceremonially unclean; touching the dead, menstrual bleeding and leprosy. Finally, it drove her from her place of worship she had been excluded from Worship (for over twelve years).

In verse forty- three Doctor Luke says that she was “humanly incurable.” “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any.” In spite of all her previous effort she remained unhealed. She still suffered pain, all the different treatments she had tried had only succeed in making her poor, this verse says that “spent all of her livelihood on physicians.” She has gone to many doctors, and all the doctors had cured her of was her bank account. Individual after individual had raised her hopes only to dash them to the ground when they failed to help her. Mark tells us (5:26) that she had “suffered many things from many physicians,” searching for an accurate diagnosis. Twelve long years without remedy for her problem, and presumably she has by now decided, “There is no hope for my problem.” In fact she was worse instead of better. This poor woman was broke, cut off from family, society and even the church and in declining health. She probably could not have felt any lower. I suspect that she had to deal regularly with bitter-ness, with anger - anger against her circumstances, perhaps even against God who had allowed these circumstances to continue: loneliness, self-hatred, fear of the future, alienation from God.

Mark in his account tells (5:27-28) that “when” she heard about Jesus. In the Greek the definite article is before the name Jesus. Jesus was a common name in Palestine in those days. She had heard about “the” Jesus and when she heard she made a decision. It is at this low point in her life that this woman hears about Jesus and decides that he is different from all of those who have succeed only in robbing her of her money and more importantly of her hope. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). True faith demands a response. It’s not enough to hear the word, we must also believe it and do it. She not only heard about Jesus, she believed what she heard. She had decided in her mind that if she could but touch Jesus she would be healed. Matthew (9:21) says “For she said to herself, ‘If only I may touched the hem of His garment, I shall be well,’ literally she “said and kept on saying” and she acted upon it.

In order for to act on her faith she had to overcome some obstacles. She could have allowed those hindrances to become excuses. The first obstacle that she had to overcome was her physical weakness. It must have been difficult for her to get up out of bed, let alone fight her way through a crowd. The second obstacle that she had to face was her own hopelessness and despair. The third obstacle that she had to overcome was the press of the crowd around Jesus. She had to force her way through a crushing mob but in such a way that it did not draw attention to herself. She after all was a woman, she was a woman with a problem that rendered her unclean. She was a woman with a “female” problem that she did not care to proclaim before a large crowd. The final obstacle that she had to overcome was the social and religious stigma that said she dare not touch Jesus for is so doing she would make him unclean. But she did overcome these obstacles for finally she got with in reach of Jesus. By the way what is blocking you from the touch of Jesus this morning? Maybe instead of a crowd of people – it is finances, or pride or shame. What is it that is keeping you from reaching out to Jesus?

We are told in verse forty-four, she “…came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.” The woman came to Jesus secretly from behind because she felt unworthy to approach Him directly. Upon touching Jesus the woman was instantly healed. No doubt she intended to remain as inconspicuous as possible, allow the crowd to pass on, leaving her alone, unnoticed to return to her home and a normal life. With a touch of faith she draws power from Jesus, whereas the rest of the crowd, pressing around him on every side, touching him many times in the course of the journey, were not receiving anything from him.

We should fear only one thing this evening - that we will let him pass without responding in faith and reaching out to receive what he is offering.

Who Touched Me? (v. 45)

In verse forty-five Jesus asks, “Who has touched me?” Is it really possible that Jesus did not know who had touched him? Of course not! He knew what had happened and who had touched Him. He asked the question to bring the woman out of hiding.
Initially, no one admitted they had touched Jesus. But Jesus would not let the matter drop, in verse forty-six Jesus says, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." Mark’s account (5:29-30) tells us that “she felt” that she was healed. The word (ginosko) used there literally means “knows” (v. 29) - she knew and he knew.

Something worthy of considering here is the revelation that every time Jesus healed someone it cost him something.

The Disciple’s reply to Jesus question was something like, “You have got to kidding, just look at this mob, how could we possibly know?” In my imagination I can almost see Peter roll his eyes as he says, “Lord it would be easier to answer who didn’t touch you!” It seems an impossible question but perhaps more importantly it seemed to be a pointless question. What difference does it make?

Poor Jairus must have been exasperated beyond words at this interruption. Precious time was being lost as the life of his little daughter slipped away. He must have been thinking, “Come on Jesus, My daughter is dying, who cares that someone touched you!” As Jesus dealt with a problem that in Jairus’ eyes was not an emergency he must have question Jesus’ timing. In the same way that you and I often struggle to understand God’s timing. Ultimately we learn that faith means trusting in God’s care means accepting God’s timing!

In Mark 5:32 we are told that Jesus “ looked round about to see her who had done this thing” literally it says that “he looked penetratingly into the crowd.” He stops, turns around, and begins to scan the crowd, looking for her because she needs him and he knows it!! The woman had not expected to be detected, but when Jesus turned and asked the question, she knew that he knew. If this lady had taken a great leap of faith before, now the desire must have been to make a great leap of escape. Remember the penalty for deliberately making someone unclean is death!!!! It was a bad moment for the woman. Perhaps she thought she had done wrong in touching Jesus.

In verse forty-seven, “…when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.” She came forward trembling and fell at his feet and confessed that she was the one who had touched the hem of his garment. She had received much more than she expected, but much less than Jesus desired to give her.

Why did he insist on her public confession? It was not the miracle that Jesus wanted to make public, but rather the woman’s faith. He demanded for the benefit of others (as a testimony). Faith is not intended to be a “private” matter as some seem to think. How often have you heard someone decline to discuss their spiritual condition, justifying them-elves with the statement, “Well, my faith is a very personal thing…” Faith in Christ is not intended to be just personal. This was so important that Jesus refused to allow her to go without a confession of faith. Jesus still requires a confession. Elsewhere Jesus said in Matthew 10:32, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” Paul says that, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteous-ness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)

THE EFFECT OF THE MIRACLE (Luke 8:48)

The result was that in verse forty-eight, she is told "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace." Jesus was incredibly gentle with this woman. This is the only woman in the entire Bible that Jesus ever called “daughter.” Jesus rewarded her confession by telling her, “go in peace” the literal meaning of this phrase is “go into peace”. Paul says in his letter to the Romans (5:1) “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”