Mark 5:30-34 - The Compassion of Christ

Mark 5:30-34
30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Message: The Compassion of Christ

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

As Jesus is headed to Jairus to see his daughter, in the crowds a woman suffering from a bloody hemorrhage condition wants to get to Jesus, just to touch him. She knows that this is all she needs, to touch Jesus and she will be healed. This section of the passage provides further detail to the compassion of Jesus in healing this lady.

On this day, I continue to think about the horrific act of violence that happened the other day, in our country, at a high school in Parkland, Florida, where a young man, with firearms, went to a school he attended and had been expelled, with the purpose of hurting others. He had been hurt and had felt like he had been failed. His livelihood, evidently, was that school and being there, and I'm guessing that since he couldn't be there anymore, he wanted the administration and other people to experience his pain and anger. So, in an effort to achieve the most deaths, he shot and killed 17 people. What a huge number and yet not the biggest school shooting, but rather the 2nd biggest in deaths.

We are a people struggling to know how to deal with issues when they don't go as we had planned. My son is in the process of coming off of a drug that has controlled him for many years. He is struggling right now with anger issues and seeing how little things can set him off. He has no outlet for his anger anymore or he has no way to harness it as the drug was calming himself down and providing him relief. O God, help our country, our young people, us, to find comfort and solace and peace in You. Peace is found nowhere else.

This woman in the crowd had complete confidence in Jesus and him being the one that could bring comfort and healing to her. You rescued her God and you can rescue others. I hurt for this community, these families that now will have to experience their lives without a child that meant the world to them. Bring comfort to the families for their pain will not be momentary, but will be lifelong. Help people to heal. Thank you for the police chief that called on the community, the nation to pray. Help us to be a nation that does pray. As a nation, after 9/11 we did so much to guard ourselves from the terrorists that would come into our country and yet, we now continue to struggle with terrorists within.

And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” At first, I see this as an odd statement, like the power that enveloped Jesus, he had no power for the way it left him. Yet, I think Jesus knew what had happened, but his question was for the benefit of the woman who thought that perhaps she go unnoticed by Jesus. And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” The disciples look at it from my perspective - how could Jesus single out one touch when multiple touches were occurring. The question seems strange and unnecessary by Jesus.

And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. Jesus, in looking around for the woman, had compassion and interest. But the woman, at that moment, almost like the fear that Eve might have had in the garden when she and Adam hid themselves with loin cloths, realizing for the 1st time that they had done something wrong -- this woman, at this moment, wonders if she also has done something wrong. She has been noticed. Perhaps she thought she could just anonymously grab a hold of a garment and then get away, be healed, and no one would notice. But, she didn't flee from him when she saw Jesus looking around, instead she came before him, fell down and told him the truth. Does not Jesus have this effect on people? IT is like a child not running from his parent, but instead falling down before them. Yet, this woman had not done anything wrong, but she didn't know that. But perhaps her appearance in public, due to her uncleanliness and the rules related to that, was her fear. There needed to be an acknowledgement from Jesus. She told him the truth. It is not enough for her to steal a touch, her lips must acknowledge before Jesus her condition and what she requests. Her words are not detailed, but it is said she told him the whole truth. She confessed to him.

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” And Jesus remarks to results: one, that her faith has made her well. But, this is mentioned separate from the healing of her disease. He also calls her daughter, a word of affection. He wants to show all these people that this unclean woman is a not simply another woman, but Jesus has affection for her. Who saved her? Jesus. How did this happen? Through faith. And now she can go forth in peace. There is no more stain on her, no more blemish, no more uncleanness. She is clean and healed.

Promise: God is all-powerful. Yet, he is tender to those who trust Him. He is powerful, but also a loving Father. He has tender care for His children.

Prayer: Lord God, I love this story. I love the faith that this woman has and shows us. She has confidence in You, a confidence that I want to have daily in my life. Thank you for caring for me and desiring to be close to me and showing me continually that you do want what is best for me. Sometimes that best hurts, but in the long-term you are growing me. Help me to continually trust You no matter what occurs. And help me to encourage others. We are a people in need of grace, your grace. Thank you for healing me and making me whole.