The Story of My Life 3
A Touch of Faith: The Story of the Bleeding Woman
by Daniel Carandang
written by Ashley Petallano
Every person has a story. For
the past blog entries, we’ve seen different lives from different
points-of-views but united one common factor- God. As a human, Jesus
encountered a number of people, each of them with a story to tell.
This time, let’s take a look
at the tale of the bleeding woman.
Jesus spent the majority of
His life serving the people around Him. Although He is God, He chose to put us
first. The Son of God was not indifferent, uncaring and insensitive. He took time for people, He
sacrificed for them, He ministered to them, and He felt compassion for them.
“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.”
Mark 5:21
There will always be those
type of people with the so-called celebrity
status. At school, we’ve seen them- girls frolicking over them or guys
drooling at the sight of them. Of course, people would always flock whenever
their favourite actor is in sight. Girls would definitely squeal their guts out
when they spot One Direction nearby.
Jesus never failed to cause a
stir. People sought Him. You can say He was a part of the Most Wanted in His
nation. A large crowd gathered because Jesus was a
celebrity to them primarily because of His reputation as a miracle-worker.
“Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came,
and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet. 23 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. 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed
around Him.”
Mark 5:22-24
Despite being associated with the synagogue (who had
people who were persecuting Jesus), Jairus humbled himself. Jesus agreed to
come with him. The crowds pressed further, hoping to catch the Son of God’s
attention. He was about to do another miracle, which somehow caused great
curiosity with the crowd. Jesus had no guards nor bouncers, so we can be sure
that His personal space was greatly invaded.
“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.”
Mark 5:25
When we trip and scrape our knees, we don’t lose
gallons of blood. Minor injuries from our clumsiness only result in minor blood
loss. However, that was not the case for this woman. She was hemorrhaging; her
body bled more than it’s allowed. Light-headedness and weakness are effects of
constant blood loss.
We usually get sick for three days. A week is already
worse for us but this woman did not only endure seven days of hemorrhage, she
bled for TWELVE YEARS. Can you imagine yourself suffering such sickness for
twelve long years? One week is already torture to some of us but this woman had
to endure for twelve years. No rest, no
breaks.
More than the physical suffering, it also meant being an
outcast.
Surely, some of us have had our share of peers who possess the
dreaded bad odor. Our first response is to avoid them as much as possible to
get away from the smell. When we have sore eyes, people stay away from us. Some
of them refuse to look at us in the eye, with their fear of contracting the
disease. This woman’s sickness also made her an outcast for reasons deeper than
sore eyes or odor. It is written in their Law:
“‘When a woman has a discharge of blood for
many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that
continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge,
just as in the days of her period.”
Leviticus 15:25
Girls those days had it rough. During your period, you
will be isolated, because in their culture, if you touch blood from a dead
animal, or body. You will be declared unclean, and you will have to go through
a process of purification before you can mingle again and worship in the temple.
On top of her struggles with her condition came the troubles of her isolation.
It’s pretty obvious that she had a hard life.
This woman went through great lengths to change her situation.
“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.”
Mark 5:26
There were none of the advanced medicines we had now during those
days. Doctors weren’t quite knowledgeable in curing during the 19th
century due to the lack of information. She spent all the money she had to find
a cure but apparently, she got worse. She reached her limit yet reached no
result.
How would YOU feel?
You may not have bleeding, but perhaps you're feeling just like
the bleeding woman. Perhaps, you are in a situation that in your eyes is
already HOPELESS. Some of us have family members that are impossible to
live with. It’s like we’re waging a war every single day. Or there are others
experiencing financial difficulties or diseases just like her.
Like the bleeding woman,
you've tried every single solution you could think of, you tried to change things on your
own, you’ve asked help from people and instead of it getting better, it just became
worse.
Are you in an IMPOSSIBLE situation?
Worry not.
“Your greatest
limitation is God’s greatest opportunity.”
“When she
heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His
cloak, 28 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.”
Mark 5:27-29
Unbelievable! After suffering for 12 long years, her diseases
vanished in an instant.
“At once Jesus realized that power had
gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched My
clothes?”
Mark 5:30
Jesus’ power is like dynamite. In the blink of an eye, He managed
to heal a woman who suffered for a long time. You see, it’s vital for us to
realize that the word IMPOSSIBLE can never find its place in Jesus’ vocabulary.
It doesn’t exist.
There is no situation too difficult
for Him to change
There is no problem too hard for Him to solve
There is no need too big for Him to provide
for
There is no sickness too grave for Him to heal
There is no heart too hard for Him to soften
Do YOU need His power today?
“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
5:31-34
What is faith?
Faith is trust God and His Word.
The
woman could very well be feeling hopeless and was quite DESPERATE, but when she
heard about Jesus, she acted on the
truth about Jesus that she received. Perhaps she heard
that that demons revealed Him as the Holy One of God (1:24), that these
very same demons bow to His word and power (1:25), that Jesus healed
many who were ill with various diseases—even lepers, & paralytics.
She might have thought: “If
He could do it to them, then surely He could do it to me as well!” In spite of the high risk of humiliation she will receive when
caught being in contact with people, she
STILL came up behind Jesus to touch His cloak —and she experienced His power!
GENUINE FAITH results in ACTION.
Now there will be times that even if
you believe, God in His infinite wisdom
and perfect love will still choose to maintain your situation. And just
because it did not change, does not mean that God cannot. Just because God chooses not to change your
situation, does not mean He does not have the ability to do so. Many
times, He will allow trials because He wants to mold you into a better person
for His greater glory.
God in His love for us, is molding us, wants us
to know Him in a very real way, to have a deeper revelation of Who He is, and a
deeper level of intimacy and dependence on Him.
We will never know that God is Healer… if there is no need for
healing.
We will never know that God is Provider… if there is no need
for provision.
We will never know that nothing is impossible with God… if
there are no impossible situations that only God can change.
And we will never know that God is Lover and Father… if there is
no real need for genuine love and acceptance. But you need to trust Him; you
need to have faith in Him. Faith in God
will enable us to experience His power.
After she was healed, the woman might
have celebrated, looked forward to a brighter future. She might have had that
long-deserved future but we can be assured that trials came her way still. We
can only hope that her faith in Christ continued to carry her throughout her
life. The same should be applied with us.
Troubles may come our way but let our faith in Christ never waver for He
is bigger than our problems. We should continue to fight and shine for His
glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment