A woman suffers from chronic bleeding for twelve years, making her ceremonially unclean the entire time. According to Jewish law, this condition restricts how she functions in society and prohibits her from participating in religious practices. She spends all her money on doctors, but none of them help. Instead, her bleeding gets worse.
In desperation, but with great faith, she believes Jesus can heal her.
In fact, she senses she needs only touch his clothes. She worms her way through the throng and stretches out her hand to brush the hem of his robe. When she does, healing power leaves him, and her bleeding stops. Her body is restored.
Though she thinks she does this in secret, Jesus is aware that healing took place. He stops and demands to know who touched him. Unable to escape, she comes forward in fear to confess what she did.
Jesus affirms her faith, pronounces her healed, and sends her away in peace.
Do we have this kind of faith?
[Discover more about the bleeding woman in Mark 5:25–34 and Luke 8:43–48, as well as the Old Testament instructions about this situation Leviticus 15:25–30.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
