NO HIDING
Opening Prayer
Savior, Healer, Comforter, King—you are all of those things, and more, Jesus. Thank you for making yourself known to me; help me to continue to grow in my understanding of who you are.
Read MARK 5:21–34
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman
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.”
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
When an old farmer was asked what he did when he went into the church to pray, he replied, ‘Nothing, I look at him, and he looks at me.’ Are you ready to meet with God like this?This woman faced a dilemma: she believed that she could be healed if she could just touch Jesus (see also 3:10; 6:56), but Scripture forbade contact with anyone in her state (Leviticus 15:25–33). So physical contact with Jesus was both the one thing she desperately needed and the one thing she must not do. This explains the sly way she went about things.
The fact that she was healed, and instantly knew that she was, may have added to her alarm when Jesus called her to identify herself, because it testified to the awesome power of Jesus.
Jesus insisted on knowing who had intentionally touched his clothing. The woman’s response was to come forward and tell him the whole truth. In this way, Jesus rehabilitated this woman into society: no longer unclean, she could be close to people again. More importantly, Jesus’ actions made this a personal encounter. He insisted that the woman was seen and known. Jesus was not content to be a holy battery discharging power anonymously.
Apply
You cannot come to Jesus hiding behind low self-esteem, shame, or a sense of unworthiness. Nor can you use him as a means to an end, a distant distributor of answers to your problems. Look Jesus in the eye and make the encounter personal.
Closing prayer
Thank you, Jesus, that you always receive me gladly when I come to you, ready to receive whatever I bring to you whether it be my praise or need.
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