by Julie Price

In Mark 5:25-34 we read about the woman with the issue of blood. She had dealt with the same issue for 12 years; 12 long and painful years. There’s no doubt she had suffered greatly.

She had tried everything, seen every doctor, but to no avail. There was no one who could bring her even the slightest relief.  Then one day, she heard about a man…a man named Jesus, and she went to find Him. We need to camp here for a minute. Do I want to celebrate today that Jesus healed her? Absolutely! But Jesus wants you to see something else in this story today as well.

This woman suffered for 12 long years. She had to have moments of defeat, utter hopelessness, and despair. Everywhere she turned, there was no relief. To make matters worse, because of her condition, she was considered ceremonially unclean. This meant she wasn’t allowed to enter the temple section that was reserved for women. Nor could she be in public without making people aware of her unclean issues.

So on top of years of suffering physically with no relief, fighting moments of despair, she’s also humiliated and likely very lonely. She couldn’t go anywhere in public without announcing that she was unclean. She couldn’t go to the temple and sit with the other woman. There had to be at least some part of her that felt corrupted in her image when she thought about herself.  Seriously!

But still, this woman….