The Woman with the Issue of Blood

Being a woman in ancient Jewish society was a challenging experience. Having a menstrual disorder was even worse as it caused you to bleed constantly, making you untouchable and keeping you from entering religious spaces and other communal gatherings. Even at home, such a woman would not have been able to interact normally with people or things, as per the Levitical rules for ritual purity. Her very touch on objects or fellow humans would have rendered them unclean.

It's beautiful, then, that it was a touch that brought her healing. To even imagine that just a touch from this Rabbi, who was healing everyone in sight, could heal her was enough of a bold faith to draw power from Jesus.

The power that left him got Him to look around for the one who had drawn it out of Him. She was an unlikely candidate for divine intervention because of her health condition, yet in God’s eyes, she was as worthy as anyone who was ritually clean. It’s wonderful to see Jesus publicly acknowledge her, she who must have been ignored and invisible for twelve years, in front of a watching crowd and give her credit for such a bold act of faith.

Have you disqualified yourself from receiving healing from Jesus because of a defiled past, immoral choices or an embarrassing health condition? When you come to Jesus with a humble and repentant heart, He covers you with his grace, and you can stand upright before him, counted as righteous because of his blood that was shed for you. There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). So take that bold step to touch the hem of His garment and let his power do its work in you.