Nevertheless, I’d like to mention Eusebius, the historian, just to get your attention. Eusebius wrote an history of early Christianity in about 325 AD, so he goes back nearly to the beginning. He says that this woman was from Caesarea Philippi, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, where her house could to be found over two centuries later. Take note – that man’s history was as far removed from the actual event as your life is removed from Washington’s crossing of the Potomac. Eusebius says in this day there were plaques and monuments in Caesarea about this miraculous healing. He says that at the door of her house were two bronze statues. One was of a woman on bended knee stretching out her arms in a beseeching manner. And on the other side was an image of the Lord Jesus, stretching out His hand to help the woman. Then, said the historian, there was a strange plant coming up out of the soil at the foot of the second statue – growing up only as high as the hem of the tunic on Christ. The leaves of that plant were harvested every summer, and after drinking the tea brewed from those leaves, various diseases could be cured. Remember the date of Eusebius – about 300 AD, just about the time that Catholicism with all its fables began to develop. Another historian, named Theophylact, later concurred with Eusebius, but added that in the days of Julian the Apostate the statues were destroyed. Perhaps I should add that Eusebius grew up in Caesarea Philippi. Surely, the man was an honest and competent historian. Amen? Undoubtedly he was in no way trying to promote the Caesarean tourist industry. In actuality, there is no credible reason to think that this woman was not from Galilee, where the miracle took place.
As is often the case, the more simple the story, the more beautiful the story. I would like you to consider this woman’s condition, her faith, and her blessing.
Think first about her CONDITION.
This poor lady was sick – sick to the point of poverty, exhaustion, exasperation, and nearly death. Undoubtedly she was anemic through her constant loss of blood. Probably it would be said today that her immune system was weak. As a result she may have caught every virus and disease which came through town. Perhaps she didn’t have much more day-to-day energy than what was necessary to fix her own food and make her bed.
Adding insult to injury, according to Old Testament law, her malady rendered her ecclesiastically unclean. Leviticus 15 says “when any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean.” When someone had an open wound – a spider bite, or a scratch from a rose thorn – as long as that wound refused to heal over, he was ceremonially unclean and forbidden to enter the Tabernacle. Every seat upon which he sat, every bed upon which he laid, every dish or cup that he used was to be considered contaminated. “Whosoever toucheth any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the even: and he that beareth any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.” “And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean. And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and give them unto the priest: And the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD for his issue.”
Without getting into the grizzly details, the same laws applied to women, and Leviticus specifically describes them. “And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.” “Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.” As living in this “unclean” condition for more than a decade, this woman probably lost all but her closest friends, and even her relatives probably avoided her. To be touched by a person like this rendered that second person unclean. Such a person was forbidden to visit the temple or the synagogue, until they took the proper steps to be cleansed. If we assume that this was a godly woman, who longed for the Lord and the Lord’s Messiah, perhaps you can see how this was an especially heart-breaking problem.
And herein is the application for the 21st century. This woman was considered not much better than a leper – she was a spiritual leper. He was an untouchable. She didn’t live in a colony of her peers, because this was not a contagious disease. But it’s a wonder that she wasn’t forced to live outside the city walls. Perhaps she did, but she broke the local by-laws which forbade her from the crowded streets. We don’t know the cause of her sickness, but she may have been born with it. This weakness may have been lurking in her chromosomes and genes. Perhaps it was a serious case of Von Willibrand’s disease, or some sort of hemophilia. Perhaps some time in her early teens, or 20s, or perhaps much later – it became undeniable. Had she been married and abandoned? With a little thought, perhaps we can see how lonely, desperate, grieved this woman was.
As you meditate on her, note that In many ways this lady’s condition reminds us of the effects of sin. Sin in a sense is also a blood disorder. And it is not a disease that medicine has nearly eradicated – except in the third world. Sin is not something that we contract only if we were raised in a bad neighborhood, It doesn’t infect us only if we bump into a person who was a sinner before us. Sin is something inherited from our parents; something born in us as human beings. “There is none righteous” and sinless, “no not one.” There are dozens of scriptures that we could read – from just about every book of the Bible. Together they show, illustrate, declare, prove and otherwise condemn us all in our sinfulness. But there is no scripture so appropriate to this message than Isaiah 64:6: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” This poor woman was like a leaf from the preceding year which had spent a winter under the snow. She was nothing but a shell of the woman that she once was. She has no color, no chlorophyl, no life, no strength left. She is ready to be blown away by the next gust of wind. “And (likewise) WE are ALL an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, will take us away.”
In thinking about this woman what came first? Did the blood defile her or did she bleed because she was defiled by the disease? And in our case, which preceded what? Was it our sin, or was it our sinfulness, that came first? Do we sin and become sinners, or do we sin because we are sinners? The Bible clearly shows that we are born sinners, and we prove it by our wicked deeds. This poor lady was an outcast from society because of her problem. And if she was unfit for earthly society, how could she expect a better society in Glory? If she couldn’t worship in the Jerusalem Temple, how could she expect to worship in Heaven?
And she was suffering in so many ways. Medicine was not something unknown in Jesus’ day. We have a lot of ancient accounts of physicians and medications. Both among the Jews and among many other ancient peoples. In regard to this woman’s symptoms there was a whole slough of folk medicines and scientific medicines. Some of these included various gums and tree saps, alum, saffron, Persian onions, and cummin. Some were eaten, while others were mixed with drinks, applied as salves; used in all sorts of ways. And many that were ingested made the recipients horribly nauseous and sick. This lady had “suffered many things of many physicians.”
“And she had spent all that she had.” I found it interesting that some expert wrote that doctors proscribed saffron for problems like this. I am told that saffron is a very expensive spice, so much so that I will may never taste it. This woman had been buying the most expensive medicines available, “and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse.” In some cases the medicines made her more uncomfortable than her malady. This disease was inveterate and stubborn; the only cure appeared to be fatal. I wonder if she had tried the fashionable twelve step programs for physical recovery. Had she gone to the AA meetings and taken the pledge? Had she tried acupuncture or hypnotism? Had she spent all her substance visiting Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung to have her mind probed? Men go to great lengths to rid themselves of the symptoms of sin, but rarely deal with the sin itself.
Sin is not a mind problem, and it doesn’t respond to psychobabble. Alcoholic’s Anonymous can never cure a drunkard; the best that it can do is cloak the sin. Sin is so stubborn a stain that there isn’t a remedy or a cleanser on the face of the earth. Sin responds only to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This lady was in deep trouble, and likewise, so are we.
But she had an amazing FAITH.
When she had heard of Jesus, she came up in the crowd that was surrounding Him, hoping to touch Him. I wonder what exactly it was that she had heard about the Lord Jesus. Our scripture comes from one of the early chapters in the gospels. It is found in first chapter of Mark for example. But already the Lord Jesus had healed dozens of people. Was this what she had heard? There was a demon-possessed man. Had it crossed her mind that perhaps her problem was caused by some sort of Satanic being? After that Jesus healed Peter’s Mother-in-law, and the there were multitudes of other sick and possessed people who came to Jesus to be healed. There were even rumors about Christ raising the dead. There were people cured of their diseases all over Galilee and outcast lepers similar to herself. These things certainly must have caught her attention.
WHAT had this woman heard about Jesus? Did she hear that He was compassionate and truly concerned about the problems of women like her? Had she heard that when the disciples tried to keep babies and their mothers away from Him, Christ put everything else aside and suffered the little children to come unto Him? No, I suppose that came later. Had she heard that in Him was a friend to the friendless, unlike anyone who had ever lived? Had she heard that He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, thus fulfilling scripture? Had she heard that some said that He was the Son of God? Had she heard that He told the man born blind, but who had been healed, that He was the Messiah? Had she heard that He is the “Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world?” Had she heard what He said, and what He did, to the woman taken in adultery? Probably not all of these, because some of them were yet in the future.
Whatever she had heard, it was sufficient to spark her faith. She thought, “If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole.” She had no doubts about the ability of the Lord to help her. Her only doubts were probably about herself. Some might call what she did “a bold act.” She stealthily pushed her way through the crowd and surreptitiously touched the edge of His tunic. Some might call what she did a bold act, but I think that it was more of just the opposite. Rather than call out, “Thou son of David have mercy upon me” she silently crept up behind Him. She probably considered herself as completely unworthy of His aid. In fact it was even more than that. What she did was a criminal act. It was probably punishable by death – the deliberate contamination of another person.
By putting her hand upon Him she was making him just as defiled and unclean as herself. At least that is what the law declared. The law said that if someone sat on the same seat on the bus as this lady did, they too would be unclean until the evening. By reaching out and touching the Lord, she was making Him unfit to visit the Temple or to serve God. That is – if he was an ordinary man. But the well of the righteousness, the tower of the grace, and the spring of the power of God are inexhaustible. Did she know that the Lord Jesus deliberately touched the diseased bodies of lepers? Did she know that He could have healed those people with a word, but that He deliberately identified with them by laying His hands them? Did she relate this to the act of a man at the altar who put his hand on the head of his sacrifice? Did she understand that to touch the Saviour by faith was absolutely essential?
But then again, wasn’t this just an act of superstitious garbage? Who but a fool would think that a touch could heal – especially to touch a piece of His clothing? And who but a religious fool would believe that faith in Christ could deliver a person from sin? In fact who but a fool would believe in sin at all? Who? The woman who is smart enough to read and believe her Bible. It is the act of a genius to be a fool for Christ. Yes, Virginia there is healing in touching and in the touch of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yes, “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Here was a woman of great faith.
And the Lord BLESSED this faith and touch.
Immediately her disease died and her symptoms ceased. Preachers, writers, and all kinds of speakers can get into habits and patterns. The writer of the Book of Mark had a little foible in his gospel. He loved the word “eutheos” (yoo-theh’-oce), translated “straightway” or “immediately.” Over and over again, Mark speaks about the speed and immediacy of the Lord’s deeds. Immediately after she touched the Lord Jesus this woman was cured. Straightway she felt stronger and more energetic. Instantly she knew that her issue of blood had ended.
But the Lord Jesus also instantly knew what had taken place. I believe that He knew everything about this lady and her malady. Nevertheless, He stopped and said, “Who touched me?” The disciples were dumbfounded, because they were all so tightly crammed into the tiny street that everyone was being bumped and jostled like a herd of stampeding cattle. The Lord asked the question in order to provoke the woman to come forward. It wasn’t that He didn’t know; it was that He wanted her to step forward.
She thought that she was in big trouble. She may have thought that she’d be jailed or stoned to death for contaminating the holy man. But she had much more to learn about the Lord Jesus. When she confessed everything, the Lord Jesus said, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
This great story is given to us in all of the Synoptic Gospels, and there is little difference between them. I wish that I could say that one of them conclusively proved that this lady was a born again, and became a disciple of the Lord Jesus. I wish that in later chapters we could clearly see her with the other ladies sitting at the feet of Jesus soaking up the lessons of the Kingdom of Heaven. I can’t say with absolute assurance that this woman is in Heaven today. But I can say that there is a good likelihood.
And I can say that in her healing there is at the very least an illustration of the healing of the greater disease of sin. When Christ declares a man or woman forgiven, they are forgiven. Christ Jesus has that authority as the Son of God and as the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of many. Yes, He can forgive sin. When sinners like this woman reach out to the blood stained hem of the cross of Calvary…. When sinners reach by faith, whether weak faith or strong…. When sinners repent of their sin and cling to Christ, they too will be healed of their sin. When sinners turn to the Christ of Calvary by faith, they too will hear the words of Jesus: “Son, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace.”
Have you ever by faith heard these words? Let me introduce you to the Saviour? He is just as loving and caring today as He was toward this lady.