Mark 5:25-34 is a passage that needs to fill our souls with gratitude as we catch a glimpse of the heart of God for women. He shows His love in a very profound way. If you relish the care Jesus displays in this story, you may be moved deeply enough to rest more securely in the knowledge of how valuable you are to Him. Remember, in Jesus’ day, women were not even acknowledged as people. Simply put, they didn’t count.
Refresh yourself with the story. It’s the one about the woman with the 12 year bleeding (ugh...just imagine having your period for TWELVE straight years)!! Now imagine that because of this gynecological problem your family had spent all the money they had and were totally broke (forget having gas money, seeing a movie, getting that prom dress, new school clothes, and did I mention no hopes for ever going to college)! Also think about how you’d feel if after spending every bit of savings that you had, you found yourself worse off then when you first started visiting your doctor. Simply put, this was the sad state that this woman found herself within in Mark 5. Can you say...desperate!!??
Here is what I don’t want you to miss when you look at this passage...the healing occurred amidst a throng of clamoring people. Imagine being at a Taylor Swift concert! People are screaming and pushing and trying desperately to see, right? The Bible tells us that people were pressing in on Jesus. It is safe to assume that there was shoving and audible crying out as people sought to get His attention.
Now get this...in the midst of this chaos, the heart of a hurting woman cried out to Jesus. The Scriptures state that Jesus is able to know a man’s thoughts (Matt 9:4; Luke 9:47) and therefore the heart cry of this woman would not have escaped His notice. When she touched His cloak, He felt the healing power go out from Him immediately!! He could have let it go. He could have moved on. But that was not His choice. He says some amazingly life giving words....“Who touched me?"
The beauty of the passage rests in Jesus’ intentional pursuit of this woman. He heard her heart cry for hope and healing and He desired to connect with her. Although the crowds continued to throng about Him and press in on Him, and the disciples encouraged Him to focus and keep moving, He would not let the faith of the woman nor her heart cry toward Him escape His notice. His desire was to seek her out and speak words of hope and healing into her life.
The depth of grace within this story rests in the simple yet profound truth; the compassionate heart of God stopped to connect with a scared, hurting and desperate woman. He took the time to look into her face, listen to her story, call her daughter, and thus affirm her worth, value and dignity. He wanted to know “who touched Me?”... “who is crying out to Me?”...and He is still asking those questions today. Be encouraged... reach out to Him... He hears your heart cry oh woman of God and He will stop and listen to your story.
