Bible Study series: Mark 5:24b-34. Power went out from him because she reached out in faith, which rose above her desperation.
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Scripture: Mark 5:24b-34
24b A huge crowd was following him and pressing him. 25 A woman, having an issue of blood for twelve years, 26 suffering greatly by many physicians, spending everything she had but in spite of this not benefiting at all, but instead getting worse, 27 hearing about Jesus, she, coming in the crowd, touched his garment from behind. 28 For she was saying, “If I just touch his cloak, I will be healed.” 29 Instantly her flow of blood dried up and she knew in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Instantly Jesus recognized in himself that power from him went out, and he turned around in the crowd and was saying, “Who touched my cloak?” 31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 He was looking around to see who did this. 33 And the woman, frightened and trembling, knowing what happened to her, came and fell before him and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be healthy from your affliction.” (Mark 5:24b-34)
Comments:
For those interested in a literary feature, the placement of this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) in the middle of the synagogue ruler’s story is called intercalation (“sandwiching”). It adds vivid storytelling (and I believe it happened this way too). In his ministry, Jesus had to pivot quickly to meet the hungry people’s needs—those hungry for God and his Son.
The reason 24b has a letter attached to it, the verse must be divided in the middle, so this is designated as a or b.
24b:
Mark informs his readers of the background. The crowd was pressing him. Mark’s readers were asking themselves: Why is this fact important? They are about to find out that everyone near him was touching him, but only one woman touched him in faith and got her healing.
25-27:
I couldn’t resist a string of participles, because that’s how the Greek reads. The main clause reads: “A woman … touched his garment.” All the participles add to the scene. She was desperate, which drove her forward. You have to reach out for your miracle. You cannot be passive and have faith.
For your information, in his version Dr. Luke does not go into the detail that she was suffering by the doctors, and was not benefiting from their treatment, but getting worse.
“blood”: what caused her inability to stop the blood flow for twelve years? A cyst? A lesion? We don’t know, but God did. Read the laws in Lev. 15:19-30 at my post:
Childbirth, Bodily Discharges in Leviticus 12, 15 from a NT Perspective
She herself was unclean. Anything she sat on was unclean. Anyone who touched her was unclean. If anyone touches her or anything she touched, then he shall have to rinse his hands, but if he does not, then he has to take a bath and wash his clothes. The rituals go on. I can understand the law from a sanitation point of view. Bodily fluids from a man (Lev. 15:3-6, 16-17) or woman can spread disease, without proper washing. Good law. Yet it is still remarkable that he did not mind one bit about her touching him. He was clean, and she was unclean. When the story finishes, she was made clean.
28-29:
She got her healing, instantly. The verb could be translated as “saved.” The verb is sōzō (pronounced soh-zoh and used 106 times in the NT). Here it is to be translated as “healed.” See v. 23 for more details on this rich word.
“affliction”: It is the Greek noun mastix (pronounced ma-stix), and it literally means “whip, lash” (Acts 22:24; Heb. 11:36); figuratively it means “torment, suffering, illness” (Mark 3:10; 5:29, 34; Luke 7:21). And in those verses, that’s all the times the noun appears in the NT.
Source for the definition: Shorter Lexicon.
In the context of diseases, the noun mastix means to be afflicted and tormented with diseases and bodily ailments. Anyone who has suffered from a disease, as common as a strong flu, feels afflicted or tormented in body.
30:
“power”: it is the noun dunamis (pronounced doo-nah-mees): It is often translated as “power,” but also “miracle” or “miraculous power.” It means power in action, not static, but kinetic. It moves. Yes, we get our word dynamite from it, but God is never out of control, like dynamite is. Its purpose is to usher in the kingdom of God and repair and restore broken humanity, both in body and soul. For nearly all the references of that word and a developed theology, please click on my post here:
What Are Signs and Wonders and Miracles?
“from him”: Renewalists believe that the healing power of God can flow out of a person. They can sense information in their body. Jesus was walking through another crowd, and when they touched him, healing came from him, and the people were healed (Luke 6:19). That is a remarkable phenomenon. Here the people do not seem to have the same level of faith in him. But she did.
Mark uses the imperfect tense, which means Jesus “was saying,” as if the action had a continuous quality to it.
31:
The disciples were using logic without discerning the sequence of events and therefore were surprised at his question.
“disciples”: Word Study on Disciple
32-33:
Her humility and fear and trembling are very moving to me. She fell before him. Wow. She had sneaked up to him, from behind, unseen by him. She must have asked herself: Is he going to scold me? “You! You made me unclean! Shame on you! Now I withdraw your healing! Leave my presence, woman!” She told him the whole truth. He found out about her uncleanness and desperation. Now he was going to scold her, right? No. Just the opposite. Jesus values active faith. O ye people who read these words in the commentary! Let your faith be active as it reaches out to Jesus!
In his comments on vv. 30-33, France writes:
Jesus’ sudden challenge takes everyone by surprise. The commonsense response of the disciples (to which Jesus does not even deign to reply) serves to heighten the peculiarity of his question; how can one ‘touch’ be singled out among a jostling crowd? The effect is again to set Jesus apart as one with supernatural insight, who can perceive the special situation of the one among the many. That supernatural insight does not, however, apparently extend to an instant recognition of the culprit, and the woman, who has already begun to make her escape, is obliged to return … and own up to her temerity. Her fear may derive not only from her awe in the presence of the miraculous healer and the general embarrassment of the situation, but also from the awareness that in touching Jesus without permission she has made him ritually unclean; if that is the case, however, neither Jesus nor Mark mentions the point.
34:
He calls her “daughter.” Let’s say she reached puberty at age twelve. When did she get her blood flow that did not stop for twelve years? At fourteen or fifteen years old? Twenty? Whatever her age, we have to add twelve years on to it. So she was at least in her mid-twenties, maybe in her thirties. So when Jesus called her “daughter,” he was showing, yes, authority, but also compassion. He saw himself as a minister-Rabbi to her. Another reason he call her daughter is to inform her that despite her disqualifying ailment, she really is part of his new and true family (see his comments at 3:31-35). He accepts her.
“faith”: the noun is pistis (pronounced peace-teace), and it is used 243 times. Its basic meaning is the “belief, trust, confidence,” and it can also mean “faithfulness” and “trustworthy” (Mounce p. 232). It is directional, and the best direction is faith in God (Mark 11:22; 1 Thess. 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:21; Heb. 6:1) and faith in Jesus (Acts 3:16; 20:21; 24:24; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:15; Col. 1:4; 1 Tim. 3:13). Believing (verb) and faith (noun) is very important to God. It is the language of heaven. We live on earth and by faith see the invisible world where God is. We must believe he exists; then we must exercise our faith to believe he loves us and intends to save us. We must have saving faith by trusting in Jesus and his finished work on the cross. True acronym:
F-A-I-T-H
=
Forsaking All, I Trust Him
Faith has to reach out. It is active, not static. It connects with the power of God.
Word Study on Faith and Faithfulness
“peace”: It speaks of more than just the absence of war. It can mean prosperity and well-being. It can mean peace in your heart and peace with your neighbor. Best of all, it means peace with God, because he reconciled us to him.
Let’s explore more deeply the peace that God brings.
This word in Hebrew is shalom and means well being, both in the soul and in circumstances, and it means, yes, prosperity, because the farm in an agricultural society would experience well being and harmony and growth. The crops would not fail and the livestock would reproduce. Society and the individual would live in peace and contentment and harmony. Deut. 28:1-14 describes the blessings for obedience, a man and his family and business enjoying divine goodness and benefits and material benefits.
With that background, let’s explore the Greek word, which overlaps with shalom. It is the noun eirēnē (pronounced ay-ray-nay, used 92 times, and we get the name Irene from it). One specialist defines it: “Peace is a state of being that lacks nothing and has no fear of being troubled in its tranquility; it is euphoria coupled with security. … This peace is God’s favor bestowed on his people.” (Mounce, p. 503).
BDAG, a thick Greek lexicon, has this definition for the noun: (2) It is “a state of well-being, peace.” Through salvation we have peace with God (Rom. 5:1). We have peace that has been brought through Christ (Col. 3:15). We are to run towards the goal of peace (2 Pet. 3:14; Rom. 8:6). It is the essential characteristic of the Messianic Age (Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:15). An angel greeted and promised the shepherds peace on earth for those in whom God is well pleased, at the birth of the Messiah (Luke 2:29). In the entire Gospel of Luke, Jesus was ushering in the kingdom of God.
Do I Really Know God? He Is the God of Peace
In this case, peace is related to wholeness. It is also related to the word “healthy.” It could also be translated “sound” “physically well” or “free” from your affliction. It can be translated as “undamaged” (BDAG). So it looks like her healing left her body undamaged and was complete.
In this pericope, both physical and spiritual healing or salvation is in mind. Her affliction excluded her from participation in Israel’s worship, but not in God’s new family. Further, for all we know, she either had been married but her husband divorced her, or she was never married because of her affliction. The text is silent, but let’s face it. She was not marriageable or worthy to remain happily married, by the standards of society back then. But Jesus made her “undamaged” goods.
“affliction”: see v. 29 for more comments on the noun mastix.
GrowApp for Mark 5:24b-34
1. She reached out to him in faith. Her faith was active, not passive. How about your faith? It is active and outreaching, or passive and idle?
2. How was her (and your) faith activated?
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14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
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