Touch of Faith

Reference

Mark 5:21-34

Open your Bibles to Mark 5:21-34

21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.

We are going to pause on this part of the story.
Just know that Jesus is now heading to the home of Jairus concerning his daughter.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

Thronged means “a densely packed crowd of people”.

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.

Leviticus 15:25-30, “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27 And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 28 But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 30 And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.”

You may think this unfair but the purpose of this was to guard against sicknesses.
This is not the same as the monthly cycle for women which did still include uncleanness but only for seven days.
This woman had been bleeding for years as an indication that there was a health issue.

This is why she was considered to be unclean and the rules Leviticus points out followed.

She had been seen by many physicians who couldn’t help her.
She spent all the money she had, now she is broke and can’t afford any other physicians.

Every time one would see her it made them unclean so they likely wouldn’t have seen her for free.

She is now facing the facts, she will now live out her days in exile unless a miracle happens.

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.”

This woman has heard about all that Jesus has done. The miracles He’s done.
Remember that anything or anyone she touches becomes unclean.
The crowd was great and thronged about Jesus.

The crowd was packed tightly around Jesus.
Bumping into one another.

This woman gets close enough to Jesus that He is within reach.

She reaches out and she can’t quite reach Jesus, but she can touch His clothes.

“If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”

Faith, as we’ve talked about many times, is amazing.

Matthew 21:22 “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Matthew 17:20 "He said to them, “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
1 Corinthians 2:5 “So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

This woman believed so hard, so strong, that all she needed to do was to touch the clothes of Jesus.
Understand this, she hadn’t seen Jesus do anything.

She had only heard reports.
She was not an eye-witness to the miracles of Jesus.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
John 20:29 “Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

This woman believed Jesus was the Christ and that He could do the impossible.

She literally was living out the scripture:

Matthew 19:26 ““With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

She was healed by her faith!

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?’”

Tons of people pressing in on Jesus and when this woman touched Him, He knew!
How did Jesus know? We can give the church answer of “because He is Jesus”.

Let’s get deeper than that.
Jesus knew this woman had touched Him not because of a physical touch but instead because of a Spiritual touch.

Jesus likely had people bumping into Him, touching Him, pulling at Him.
This woman’s touch was different.
Understand that she didn’t physically touch the body of Jesus. She didn’t touch His skin or any part of Jesus that He could have felt a touch.
She touched His clothes, His garments.
The same garments that everyone else was touching, and pulling, and trying to gain His attention.

The disciples are asking Jesus like, “Really? Who touched you?”

The disciples were probably surrounding Jesus helping to get Him through the crowd.
They were being bumped into and pulled at just the same as Jesus, probably worse.

Because people were trying to get through them to Jesus.

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.”

The woman fell down before Jesus in fear and confessed “the whole truth”.

This means now everyone there knows that she was unclean, has made them unclean, made Jesus unclean.
The heart of this woman and the fear she has before Jesus isn’t physical fear.

The fear is a heart issue, which is why she confessed herself and told the whole truth.
This woman admitted her sin before Jesus.
What sin did she commit you ask?

She knowingly went into a crowd of people, which was not permitted according to Leviticus 15, the law that God handed down concerning her situation.
She knowingly put others at risk.
She knowingly and willfully broke the rules, broke the law, and sinned!