We can reach out to Jesus in our weakness, and He won’t turn us away. On the Tuesday edition of Live the Promise, listen as Susie and Liz Curtis Higgs unpack the story in the gospels of the woman healed from bleeding.
“Two thousand years ago, if you had some kind of physical ailment, it was assumed that sin was the cause. Here’s this poor woman who’s been bleeding for twelve years… 4,380 days in a row. Not only is she sick, but when a woman was bleeding she was unclean. Anything she touched would be unclean; anywhere she sat would be unclean. You were not welcome.”
This anemic, impoverished woman finds her way to Jesus. And that’s when her story takes a turn.
“This woman is a woman of faith. She comes up behind Him in the crowd… she says, ‘If I just touch His clothes, I’ll be healed.’ She is satisfied to touch His clothing.” Liz points out that according to the Old Testament law, she would not be allowed to touch people. “She broke the law to reach for grace.” Instantly, her blood flow stopped.
Liz says there’s a reason this woman is anonymous. “What a gift that He gives to her that day. It would have been lovely if anybody had leaned over to Jesus and said ‘What’s her name?’ It isn’t that God forgot to include it in His word – He’s deliberate. God in His kindness gave us this story so we can write our name in the margin.”
What can we learn from this sister in faith?
• The object of our healing is not an item of clothing, holy water, or a fellow believer. It is Jesus Himself Who heals and restores.
• Healing is relational, not just physical.
• Jesus calls us forward in order to demonstrate our need.
• We either fight the healing Jesus offers, or we embrace it.
• Jesus’ timing is perfect.
Key Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Mark 5:21-34; Hebrews 11:1, 6
Theme Song: Sinking Ships (Rescue Has Come) by Lincoln Brewster
