The Woman with bleeding

The woman described in this scripture had suffered from a bleeding in twelve years! Nobody could fathom what she had gone through in sufferings and disappointments.

Instead of the suffering diminished with time, it got worse and worse as the years past. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors. These words describe the disappointments she had gone through. When one doctor could not help her, she would visit another one. But nor could this one change her situation. Financially it must have been challenging because of the expenses from visiting a doctor. Before going to another one, she had to work and save her income to be able to afford it. Therefore, she had no money to buy things like new clothes, shoes and other daily needs.

At the end she had used everything in her possession without being helped.

Unclean

Besides the physical sufferings, she had another problem. She was unclean. In Leviticus 15:25 it says: “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.

The one that was unclean could not participate in the religious and social life, and anyone who touched her, would also become unclean. She was therefore a lonely woman that could not serve God together with other people.

Hearing about Jesus

The transformation that would change her life started when she heard about Jesus. Even though she had no social life, she managed to get the news people were talking about. And people talked about Jesus. In Matthew 4:24 we can read about Jesus. “News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them”.

She heard about these rumors, and now she came up behind him with one intention; to touch Jesus. “Because she said, if I could only touch His clothes, I would be healed”.

The cloak

When Matthew describes what happened, he writes: “Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.” (Matthew 9:20).

The woman only touched the edge of Jesus’ cloak. It was not a random act or by accident, it was a deliberate act. The reason for this we find in Numbers 15:37-40.

The Lord said to Moses “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “Trough the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord. That you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God”.

The cloak was a reminder for God’s people to keep God’s commandments and regulations and do what was right. When they did it would go well with them, and they would be free from the ailments other people had. In Exodus 15:26 Moses spoke: He said “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you”.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that God’s promises are related to Jesus; For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

The woman with the bleeding knew the scriptures, and when she heard the rumors about Jesus, she knew that Jesus was the one that would fulfill God’s promises. Therefore she came from behind the crowd, and touched the edge of his cloak. Because the cloak represented God’s commandments, regulations and promises. When she did so, a power went out from Jesus, her bleeding stopped immediately and she was healed from her suffering!

Testimony

When Jesus noticed a power had gone out from him, he turned around to look for her. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.

In front of the crowd she told him the whole truth. She told about her bleeding which made her unclean, she told about her suffering and that no one could help her. She told about the rumors she had heard about Jesus, and her knowledge of the cloak, and that God’s promises were “yes” and “amen” in Jesus. She gave testimony and people listened. When Jesus heard her testimony he said: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering!”.

Because of her faith and testimony many came to Jesus with their sickness and ailments: And wherever he went into villages, towns or countryside they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. (Mark 6:56).

Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday, and he does the same. The miracle in the woman’s life happened because:

1. She heard about Jesus.

2. She believed God's promises.

3. She came to faith in Christ.

God is not a man that he should lie. Whoever takes him at His word and act in faith on it, will not be put to shame. The power that went out of him 2.000 years ago is the same today. It is therefore up to us whether we reach to him for his healing power.