"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. " -- Mark 5:27-29
The woman has been suffering for years. No one can do anything with her. They're glad to take her money, but that's about all they can do. Nothing seems to work. Her real pain was not that she was ill, or that her illness isolated her, or that all her money went to the doctors. Her real pain was that she had been convinced that her illness separated her from God. It made her unclean.
In fact, that's the recurring theme throughout this section of Mark. Jesus uses the language of exorcism (healing that which is UNCLEAN) to calm the sea (the place where evil lived, to the ancient mind). Jesus heals Legion possessed by 6000 UNCLEAN spirits. The demons are cast out and into a herd of swine (UNCLEAN animals). They drown in the sea (the place where UNCLEAN spirits live).
Jairus asks Jesus to heal his daughter. By the time they get to the house, she is dead (UNCLEAN). Jesus goes into her bedroom anyway. He raises her to new life.
And there's the woman who is sick. Her illness involves constant blood loss. This makes her UNCLEAN. She is an untouchable one. To touch her was to beome UNCLEAN. Her state of perpetual UNCLEANNESS separates her from God. This is why she sneaks up on Jesus from behind. This is why she steals a touch from him. This is why she's afraid to admit that she touched him. She knows ... She has no business touching God ... She knows ... Her touch would have the affect of making Jesus UNCLEAN.
But the woman learned something amazing: Jesus has power and authority over all that is UNCLEAN. She learned what Legion discovered: Jesus overcomes all evil and makes you CLEAN! She learned what I pray we all could understand ... no matter how untouchable you think you might be ... no matter how UNCLEAN -- Jesus will touch you and make you CLEAN!
blessings,
pastor ellis
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