The Woman With an Issue of Blood

"Touch of Faith: A Transforming Encounter with Christ"

Text: Mark 5:21–34

Introduction

This morning, I want to speak to you about the incredible story of a woman, who commits a desperate touch of faith.

I love the Gospels. We get to see the ministry of Jesus. We see his miracles. We see his interactions. We see how he deals people. With rulers, With his disciples, with those who are outcast, with the religiously pious, with those who are known sinners. We learn so much about the heart of God as we see the hand of God at work in Jesus Christ.

Today, I’d like to take us to Mark 5. I Love Mark 5. In it we meet people who face what seem like impossible situations:

A man possessed by a legion of demons. Mark 5:1-20

-Naked in the tombs

-They chained him

-He would cry out and cut himself with stones.

-Jesus overcomes the legion and displays his power over the oppression of the enemy.

A father desperate to save his dying daughter. Mark 5:22-24, 35-43

-The Father was one of “the rulers of the synagogue - Jairus was his name. His name and position would have carried both prestige and gravitas to the general public.

-He comes and falls at Jesus feet and begs him to help his little daughter who lieth at the point of death. “

And a woman who has suffered with an issue of blood Mark 5:24-34

-This is the one we will look at today.

Each of these hopeless stories becomes a testimony to the power of God and heart and Plan of God, and of Jesus Christ.

There is no situation so hopeless that Jesus cannot heal.

This is not a prosperity message. I will not stand here this morning and proclaim that God will always heal our physical infirmities. But there is a problem that we all face or have faced that God has promised to help us with if we would only reach out to him in faith.

Maybe you’ve come here today carrying a heavy burden — pain, fear, loneliness, sin.

Maybe you feel like you’ve exhausted every option and nothing has worked.

Friend, this story shows us the tremendous example of a woman who thought she had done all she could about her situation: But one touch of faith changes everything. And If we have time I hope to show how she receives more than just physical healing.

I. A Helpless Condition (Mark 5:24–26)

Look at this woman’s situation.

She is suffering physically. The Bible tells us she had an "issue of blood" for twelve years — a continual, debilitating hemorrhage. Every day she would have lived with weakness, pain, and exhaustion.

Word Studies in the New Testament Chapter 5

Had suffered (παθοῦσα). To be taken, as everywhere in the New Testament, in the sense of suffering pain, not merely subjected to treatment. What she may have suffered will appear from the prescription for the medical treatment of such a complaint given in the Talmud. “Take of the gum of Alexandria the weight of a zuzee (a fractional silver coin); of alum the same; of crocus the same. Let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that has an issue of blood. If this does not benefit, take of Persian onions three logs (pints); boil them in wine, and give her to drink, and say, ‘Arise from thy flux.’ If this does not cure her, set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let some one come behind and frighten her, and say, ‘Arise from thy flux.’ But if that do no good, take a handful of cummin (a kind of fennel), a handful of crocus, and a handful of fenugreek (another kind of fennel). Let these be boiled in wine and give them her to drink, and say, ‘Arise from thy flux!’ ” If these do no good, other doses, over ten in number, are prescribed, among them this: “Let them dig seven ditches, in which let them burn some cuttings of vines, not yet four years old. Let her take in her hand a cup of wine, and let them lead her away from this ditch, and make her sit down over that. And let them remove her from that, and make her sit down over another, saying to her at each remove, ‘Arise from thy flux!’ ” (Quoted from Lightfoot by Geikie, “Life and Words of Christ”).

She is suffering socially. According to Levitical law (Leviticus 15:25-27), she was considered unclean. No contact with others. No place in society. No ability to worship in the temple. No ability to marry and have children.

Under the Law, this woman lived in isolation and separation — and though Scripture does not record that she had to cry out 'Unclean' like a leper did, she would certainly have been regarded as defiled by everyone around her. She bore that shame daily.

This issue was now twelve years old. It may have felt like her entire life.

She is suffering emotionally and spiritually.

-Imagine knowing that everything you touch becomes unclean.

-She bears the responsibility of isolating herself and follow purification rules

It was often the case that a woman who had any issue of blood was judged as having sinned when they came of age and did not properly practice the Levitcal Law concerning this issue.

She is suffering financially. Verse 26 says she "spent all that she had" on doctors — and instead of getting better, she only got worse.

Please hear me today: Every human solution had failed her. Every door was shut. Every hope seemed gone.

🔹 MacLaren says: She is a picture of the human soul trying every worldly remedy for its disease, but finding no healing apart from Christ.

I can’t help but think that their are people in this room today who can relate. Maybe you feel a little like her.

You’ve tried solutions — self-help, success, relationships — but the wounds are still there.

II. A Hopeful Resolution (Mark 5:27–28)

Verse 27 tells us something changed: "When she heard of Jesus…"

Faith was born in her heart.

Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Somewhere she heard a testimony — about a demon-possessed man restored, about lepers made clean, about the blind receiving sight.

And she said, “If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.”

It was evidence of her faith.

And that faith moved her to action. Weak, pale, exhausted, terrified — she risked everything and forced her way through the crowd.

She knew the law would forbid her from touching someone while unclean. But she was desperate.

🔹 MacLaren reminds us: Faith that is real dares everything to reach Jesus.

There are so many things that stop us.

Our Lack of Urgency

Our Lack of Self-worth

Our Pride

Our Sin

Our Unbelief

Let me ask you: What would it take for us to push past your fear, your pride, your comfort — and get to Jesus?

III. A Healing Encounter (Mark 5:29)

Look at verse 29: "Straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague."

Instantaneous. Complete. Permanent.

The healing was real — and she knew it. The power of Jesus is real, and she experienced it.

I struggle to imagine what is going through her head at this point in time.

Excitement?

Relief?

Shock?

Doubt that it could be true?

Imagine if this was the end of the story...

If she snuck out to the edge of the crowd. Her mind Processing everything that happened: The power of this man Jesus. His garment. I touched it. It healed me. How incredible. What if I was caught. I wouldn’t have been healed. I should stay hidden. The clothes of Jesus, such power.

III. A Heart Revealed (Mark 5:30-33)

The heart of the Woman:

If I’m being honest, I don’t know the extent of this woman’s faith.

There are a few things we do know.

Her faith was approved. It was enough. Jesus will proclaim that it is the reason for her healing. I don’t mean to diminish this at all and we will look at this verse in a moment.

Textually, she had declared her hope was to but touch the hem of Jesus Garment. Some commentators discuss how it is likely that her faith was somewhat superstitious and slightly misplaced and that it was still enough for Jesus to heal. I read other commentators that I respect discuss how her faith was selfish and merely out of self preservation. This I find more plausible.

The more I considered these ideas the more I have to admit that their are many superstitious people today who visit churches.

There are many people that look to Christian things for selfish ambitions.

They think they will receive good by the hand of God because they set aside their Sunday Morning.

They think their kids may learn some good morals going to and their family would benefit from adopting the lessons contained within the “Word of God”

They may think that they can sneak a blessing, or a help from God.

This whole world is searching, looking, aware that their is something lacking in their greatest of needs.

Friend, if this is you today I pray this last verse we will look at will sink in to your heart.

For clarity, I tend to believe her faith strongly placed in Jesus and that her humility and faith is displayed in her desire to but touch him secretly, she was ultimately seeking him because of her need, but that is not a bad thing, friend, we must recognize our needs,

Whatever the intricate details of her heart specifically, I’m not sure it is the priority for us to see in this storyy, for it is easy to get lost in the motivations and intentions of the woman.

Jesus stops everything. He turns and asks, "Who touched my clothes?" The disciples must have missed the moment. They say, “Master, the crowd is pressing all around You — and You ask who touched You?”

But Jesus wasn’t asking about a bump or a brush. He was asking about a touch of faith.

🔹 MacLaren points out: Many thronged Him; only one touched Him in faith.

The woman, terrified, comes trembling before Him and tells Him everything. She expected rebuke — but she received compassion.

Jesus looks at her — and for the only time recorded in Scripture — He calls a woman "Daughter."

No longer an outcast. No longer alone. Now declared family.

Galatians 4:7 says, "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son [or daughter]; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

He says to her, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace."

Friend, the heart of God is so much more than meeting your physical needs, it is so much more than giving you physical healing. I believe one of the reasons Jesus didn’t let her get away was so that he could say this to her, and give us this example.

Physical Healing in all honesty is temporary.

This is salvation — this is restoration — and this is forever.

Jesus didn't just heal her body — He healed her soul.

Conclusion

Maybe tonight you are like this woman. Maybe life has drained you. Maybe you’ve tried every solution and failed. Maybe you’re scared, exhausted, and ready to give up.

Maybe your primary need you are ready to cast at the feet of Jesus.

Friend, don’t just brush past Jesus tonight. Touch Him by faith.

Come boldly. Risk everything if you must. Bring your pain. Bring your shame. Bring your fear.

One touch of faith changes everything.

But friend please recognize that what he wants is so much more than to meet the needs we find ourselves struggling with.

He wants to call you daughter, son.

He want’s you to know that he has accepted you, that you are whole, that you can go in peace.

"Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace."

Don’t just recognize the power of Jesus’s garment, but recognize his heart for mankind.

IV. Lessons from Her Story

What can we learn tonight?

A. Faith Must Be Personal and Bold

It’s not enough to crowd around Jesus. It’s not enough to watch others. You must reach out in faith.

B. Faith Connects to Divine Power

Healing did not come by her effort or by ritual — it came through faith.

Ephesians 2:8–9 – "For by grace are ye saved through faith."

C. Jesus Knows and Cares for Every Individual

He stopped everything for one desperate woman. He will stop for you too.

Hebrews 4:15 – "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities."

D. Faith Brings True Peace

"Go in peace." Not just a physical healing — but deep, abiding, eternal peace.