Matthew 9:20-22 "And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."
It might look like we are backtracking on our Bible verses this morning. The story of the woman with an issue of blood happened in the middle of Jesus going to Jairus’s house to raise his daughter from the dead. I skipped these verses last week to concentrate on the events surrounding the miracle of Jesus returning Jairus’s daughter to life. Today, we will consider this “other” miracle that transpired during that same time frame.
Mark’s account of these events makes it clear that a great throng of people surrounded Jesus. Jesus had already healed many while staying at Peter’s house. He had recently healed the man with the palsy, where a crowd of people again surrounded him. Word was getting out that wonderful things happened when Jesus was around.
Amid this multitude of people that were following Jesus to Jairus’s house was a woman who had been sick with a blood disorder for twelve years. Mark tells us that she had endured many different types of treatments and spent all she had on trying to find a doctor that could help her. Every treatment had failed. But she had heard that this man, Jesus, could do things no one else could.
She did not feel worthy of approaching Him directly. She came behind Him in the crowd. She had been given faith to believe that Jesus could heal her. That faith was so deep that she was convinced that He did not have to even know. She could just slip up behind Him, touch the hem of His garment, and slip away.
Dear ones, no matter how unworthy we may feel, we will never touch Jesus without having His full attention. Knowing that He is the only Begotten Son of God and our Redeemer is a blessing that defies words to describe it. We have all come into the world with an “issue of blood,” because it is tainted with our Adam nature. Jesus healed our issue of blood on the cross, and the Holy Ghost assures us of it as we follow after Him.