There are ten miracles that are recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke but not recorded by John. Last week we reviewed the first five of these remarkable events. The sixth is recorded in Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:42-48.
Matthew’s record is most succinct. “A woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe, for she said to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be made well.” Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Have courage, daughter,’ he said. ‘Your faith has saved you.’ And the woman was made well from that moment” (Matthew 9:20–22).
That poor lady. She had been “suffering from bleeding for twelve years (and) endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse” (Mark 5:25–26).
The Gospel writers don’t give much detail, but if she was endlessly menstruating, then she wasn’t just debilitated, she was also rendered ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:25-30). She was disqualified from entering the temple. Like a leper, no one could touch her. She was suffering. Alone.
With her bank account dwindling, her health waning, her strength declining, and her hope vanishing, she “heard about Jesus” (Mark 5:27). Maybe she heard about His power to heal, and maybe she heard about His compassionate ways. She reasoned, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well” (Mark 5:28).
While Jesus was pressing through the multitudes, “the crowds were nearly crushing him”(Luke 8:42), so it must have taken every ounce of the woman’s strength to reach Jesus. I suspect that she nearly missed her chance, but she “approached from behind and touched the end of his robe” (Luke 8:44). With the tip of her outstretched finger, she brushed the trailing hem of his coat.
Instantly her bleeding stopped” (Luke 8:44). After twelve years of misery, instantly she was made well. She felt young again. Strong. New.
Jesus knew it too. “Immediately Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ” (Mark 5:30). He didn’t need to ask. He knew.
One of the disciples, probably Peter since he often spoke first, must have thought that Jesus had lost his mind. “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” (Mark 5:31). A jillion people had elbowed Jesus, jockeying for a position closer to the travelling teacher. “ ‘Someone did touch me,’ said Jesus. ‘I know that power has gone out from me.’ When the woman saw that she was discovered, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she declared the reason she had touched him and how she was instantly healed” (Luke 8:46-47).
“ ‘Daughter,’ he said to her, ‘your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction’ ” (Mark 5:34).
We can cast “all (our) cares on him, because he cares about (us)” (1 Peter 5:7) and “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
All Scripture quotations, except as otherwise noted, are from
Holman Bible Publishers’ Christian Standard Bible.
