Faith-stretching
Opening Prayer
Lord, I thank You that “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psa. 119:105).
Read Mark 5:21-34
[21] 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. [22] 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. [25] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. [26] 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. [27] 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.” [29] Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. [30] At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” [31] “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” [32] But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. [33] Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. [34] He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
How did Jesus respond to these two pleas for help?This poor woman was desperate. She had suffered for 12 long years and the people who should have helped relieve her suffering had only added to it (26), impoverishing her in the process. She had lived with the demands of the ceremonial cleanliness laws set out in Leviticus 15, which isolated her from human touch, fellowship and friendship. She wasn’t even able to sit down in public without making a bench or chair ceremonially unclean (Lev. 15:26). Yet desperate people do desperate things. She would have known that her pushing through this large crowd would have made anyone who brushed against her ceremonially unclean. So when Jesus challenged the person who had touched his clothes (30), she had every reason to be afraid (33). But Jesus wasn’t angry or afraid of becoming unclean; he is greater than any disease or infection. Yesterday’s study saw Jesus free a man from demons that had ensnared him. Today we see a woman set free by Jesus as she took a risk and simply reached out to touch him. Can you see the pattern? Jesus sets people free. And he’s still in the people-freeing business today.
Apply
What do you need to reach out to Jesus for today? Do it now in faith that he will answer you.
Closing prayer
Loving Lord, You know my needs better than I do. Help and heal me according to Your wisdom and love.
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