Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.”
Mark 5:34 (emphasis added)

People would have feared this woman if they knew who she was. She had a disease of the blood, or an issue of blood that caused bleeding. In Leviticus 15 it is clear that women with issues of blood for many days at a time other than their monthly period or had a discharge that continued beyond their period would be unclean as long as they had the discharge. Blood is serious stuff to the Lord: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life” (Leviticus 17:11). This woman had had this issue for twelve years (Mark 5:25). Anyone touching her would also become unclean and need to undergo a ritual bath and wait until evening to be clean. Should anything happen to them during that time, they would die separate from the Lord – unclean and apart. They feared unclean people. They feared to take a chance of dying in uncleanliness. And it was a pain to have to take a ritual bath for something that was someone else’s problem.

Unclean people were set apart, so that they would not spread their uncleanness. For diseases, this was a health precaution. For issues like this, it was a spiritual precaution. In either case, they were provided for. They had dwellings. They were comfortable on the most part, but they were apart – though it must be said that some places of disease were pits and not comfortable at all. She had lived a long time alone. Or had she? There is very little information about her in the bible. She doesn’t figure again in the narrative. It is almost like she wasn’t a part of the main community – which makes sense while she had the issue of blood. But if she had had it for twelve years, she must have been known in the town. There were only about a thousand people living in Capernaum and Jews would want to know who she was so they could avoid contact. Why did she have to force her way through the crowd when they all would have willingly gotten out of her way? Why wasn’t the leader of the synagogue concerned that Jesus had contact with her, since Jesus would now be ritually unclean and if they went to his home then himself, his sick child, and everyone Jesus came into contact with physically would also be unclean. There is no evidence that there is any of this concern. Why?

All of this narrative works if this woman is a Jew. She could have heard about Jesus through word of mouth through the window of her home from neighbours or relatives. Word certainly would have spread in the camp outside the town for those who were unclean because Jesus’ healing ministry was so profound and widespread. She would have hidden herself in a disguise or voluminous clothes so that no one would recognise her before she got to Jesus. It was a good reason for her fearful attitude when Jesus asked to know who touched Him. It all fits fine and I have no problem with it.

But I have recently heard a different theory that makes a LOT of sense. I heard it from an old recording of Dr. Vernon McGee (1904-1988), host of the radio program Thru the Bible which began broadcasting in 1967 and is still active today. Dr. McGee raised the idea that the woman was a gentile, not a Jew and it makes total sense. None of the Jews would particularly have known her since they would have lived apart anyway. There was a population of gentiles in Capernaum – not always the case in Israel. Since Jesus owned a house in Capernaum and based His ministry there, she would have heard about Him. Nowhere in the Word does it say that Jesus exclusively healed Jews, although it was unlikely there would have been many gentiles healed because they generally didn’t pay attention to Jews and their religion. We have records of Jesus healing and dealing with a few though, so it isn’t totally out of the realm of the possible.

Even a gentile would know that the Jews were picky about purity, so she would have been nervous about telling ‘all the truth’ as Mark puts it in verse 33. She would also have been nervous being a gentile woman in a thronging crowd of Jews, but it was the perfect cover for getting to Jesus. Also, Jewish women would have been on the periphery of the crowd. Not many would have had the courage to get to Jesus through a wall of men. Also, it mentions in the accounts of this incident in the other gospels as well as here in Mark that she had suffered many things by many physicians, but there is no mention of her going to a synagogue or the temple to try and get help from Yahweh or the priests. Again, Jairus the leader of the synagogue in Capernaum doesn’t seem to know her at all. In typical Jewish treatment of them at the time, all but Jesus ignores this gentile woman. As you can see, there is a logic to it. I really have attached to this idea and quite like the added dimensions that it brings to the story. BUT as I said, there is little real information about the woman in the Word and all this is speculation and peripheral to the real issues of the situation.

The real issue is the healing and Jesus’ behaviour. She was healed through touch by the Lord and not by Jesus. Jesus’ presence was incidental. More a catalyst or point of contact than active participation. Jesus didn’t know it was happening until it had happened. Have you ever prayed for someone for healing? I have. I felt the healing power pass. It was like wind. I wasn’t the source. I wasn’t less in any way for it having left me. It was as if a fan got turned on for a moment somewhere behind me and the breeze passed by. Was it like that for Jesus? Probably similar. It mentions that He perceived that power had gone out from Him (verse 30). We know the Holy Spirit dwelt in Jesus (Luke 3:21-22). To perceive something is to become aware of it. To come to realise it. It is a gradual thing, not instantaneous. A ‘hey… did it… yeah it did’ process. When Jesus knew that is what happened, He stopped. He did not stop when the healing occurred. He did not stop when the woman approached. He did not stop when she touched Him. He stopped after the fact. After the healing. After it was all over.

Jairus was pretty cool in all this. Doesn’t complain. Doesn’t tap his foot in irritation. He lets Jesus do what He wants. He already had the assurance that Jesus was coming to his home and he would have been impatient, but he is remarkably understanding here. Jesus for His part stopped because He was told to. Remember, Jesus did nothing that the Father didn’t show Him to do and said nothing that the Father didn’t tell Him to say (John 5:19 & 12:49). Jesus had no more supernatural knowledge in Himself than we do – fully man, remember. He chose to be totally dependent on the Holy Spirit for guidance. The Holy Spirit told Him to stop and that it was alright. Jesus also must have felt the urgency of the moment. Perhaps even wondered if it was okay since the girl was so near death, but the Holy Spirit knew it was fine. Knew the girl was actually already dead (verse 35) and that the Father was going to be glorified by the series of events about to occur (verse 40-43). So Jesus, always trusting in the Holy Spirit, stopped.

People ask if healing is still for today. If it passed when the bible was sealed as 66 books and the twelve apostles (plus Paul and a few more originals) died. Others believe God can heal today, but only does it when He wants to. According to His whim or will – depending on who you talk to. But here, Jesus wasn’t even a participant. The woman got healed independent of Jesus’ wants or desires. Would He have healed her right away had she talked to Him? Or would He have (if she was gentile) lovingly chastised her first like He did with the woman in Matthew 5:27? We know He would have healed because we do not have a single instance where Jesus did not heal anyone who asked. Not once in all the time He was healing multitudes. Not one. That is significant because from Genesis to Revelation Yahweh is referred to as the God who heals (Exodus 15:26, Jeremiah 17:14, James 5:15, and Revelation 21:4 for example). Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and Jesus always felt compassion and sought to heal (Matthew 14:14).

This wasn’t the only time in the Word that a man of God was simply the point of contact for the Holy Spirit. In 2 Kings 13:20-21 a dead body is thrown into a tomb, touches the bones of Elisha, and the man is raised from the dead. The Holy Spirit seeks to heal us. He responds to our faith, not the words of the person praying for people to be healed. It is our human, rational, logical minds that need the words. The Lord only needs faith. That doesn’t mean that only faith is needed. The Father does what the Father wills. We seek to do His will and work in alignment with His will. But it is the Father who determines the times, places, and events. Look at the ministry of Jesus and you see that clearly. Jesus only healed people who had faith, but Jesus didn’t heal everyone. Maybe not everyone had the faith to be healed, I don’t know. But I DO know that we get what we pray for when we pray the will of the Father for His glory (John 14:13-14), and we don’t get what we pray for when we pray what we want for and in ourselves (James 4:3).

So Jesus stopped and looked around until the Holy Spirit pointed the woman out. He wanted to know the story. He COULD have got it from the Holy Spirit. But Jesus seems to have wanted to confirm it from the woman or perhaps to the woman. It’s relatively easy to receive healing in the heat of the moment. You hear the Word about healing. Your spirit is in tune with the Holy Spirit. You know God heals. You know you want to be healed. You know Jesus wants you healed. You know that healing was released for all time at the cross through Jesus’ wounds. So you exercise your free will and faith and receive what Jesus is offering. You accept your healing. But what about after? What about when you are all alone and it’s two weeks later? You feel pain or stiffness. Some physical sensation. Or maybe you just get to thinking about it. Maybe you hear a sermon on healing being not for today. Maybe you hear those faith people are nuts. Maybe you see a bad example of ministry and start to wonder if you’ve been swindled.

“The farmer sows the word. The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them” (Mark 4:14-15). The enemy has a vested interest in keeping you down. In stealing from you anything and everything that he can (John 10:10). Doubt can kill a healing. I’ve seen it. Failure to walk in the healing you have received inevitably leads to regression because faith is how the Lord works. Lack of faith inhibits the ability of the Lord to work in our lives (Matthew 13:58 and Mark 6:5). This is not God CAN’T as in being unable, but God WON’T because we have free will and the Lord will not violate His own law. Jesus listened to her and then confirmed the healing to her. Something that she could cling to in dark moments of the future when the enemy would come to try and steal it from her. When she felt an out of season cramping. Or noticed spotting. She could look back and hear His voice telling her she was healed.

Jesus was torn open so that we could walk in healing (Matthew 8:16-17, 1 Peter 2:24). Jesus always stops to hear our story and confirm to us that we indeed were healed. Jesus always wants us to accept healing. We believe by faith. We can receive by faith. It is for today and always. It is a work of the cross and that was accomplished once for all of time for all of creation (Romans 6:10). We do not have to fear the return of sickness. Sickness has no place in the life of the redeemed (Galatians 3:13), so don’t give it one. When we take communion, we take bread and fluid to be the body and blood of Jesus. By taking it, we are blessed. When God blesses the bread and water of His servants, He drives sickness from them (Exodus 23:25). Take communion over your sickness. Have faith in the Lord and receive by Faith what He did on and through the cross. Do not fear, but go in the peace of God knowing that your healing was accomplished, is accomplished, and always will be accomplished. No recurrence, no return, no rejection of what He did. We can be cured. Glorify the Lord, for He is mighty and can do great things. Yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Isaiah 6:1

The Hebrew word for train (shuwl) means to hand down, a skirt, or by implication a bottom edge. In the Law, the Lord commanded a fringe on the hem of the garments to remind His people to keep His commandments (Numbers 15:38-40 and Deuteronomy 22:12). It was also found on the robes of the priests (Exodus 28:33-34). The hem was a reminder of what the Lord wanted for us and what the Lord can do for us when we are obedient to His will. It was a symbol of authority and power. This is what the woman with the issue of blood grabbed (Luke 8:43-48). This was probably what people were trying to touch as they thronged Him (Luke 6:19). Healing came from that, because the Holy Spirit wanted to remind them that there was healing and power in the authority Jesus had been given. As Isaiah shows us, the Father also has a hem. It is full of His power and authority. It comes down from Him and fills the temple, spilling out everywhere around Him. I am so grateful for that hem. There are times I feel beaten down. When I don’t feel that I can raise my head, much less my body. But I can always reach out, reach up, and grab that hem. Grab it and hold onto the lifeline that I have been given. To take hold of the truth of the Word and not let go. To take strength from His Laws and statutes. His constancy. His unchanging nature of love and correction by which we interact with Him. To feel His glory as it fills the whole earth. No matter what is going on with me and what is around me, I have a hem to hang onto. To remind me of who is above me and who has me. Yahweh of Armies, the Holy One. How can you fear when THAT is who is on your side?

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.