What is the meaning of the story of the woman with the issue of blood?

Answer

The account of the woman with the issue of blood can be found in Mark 5:24–34 and Luke 8:42–48. Although neither narrative is extensive, Mark’s version offers a bit more detail than Luke’s.

This woman’s story unfolds within a broader context. Jesus is en route to the house of a synagogue leader to heal his dying daughter (see Mark 5:21-24) when an unnamed woman interrupts His journey.

What we learn about the woman is, firstly, she suffered from a chronic bleeding condition that had persisted for twelve years. That is an extensive period. Secondly, she had exhausted all her resources on treatments from various physicians, yet nothing had alleviated her condition; in fact, it had only worsened (see Mark 5:25-26). Additionally, Jewish Law deemed her ceremonially unclean due to her bleeding ailment (Leviticus 15:25-27). This meant she was forbidden from entering the temple for Jewish religious rites. According to the Law, anything or anyone she touched would also become unclean. Her presence in the crowd surrounding Jesus implied that anyone she came into contact with would become unclean, including Jesus. However, after enduring twelve years of suffering, she was evidently desperate for a miracle. “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, thinking, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed’” (Mark 5:27-28).

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As soon as the woman touches Jesus, her bleeding stops, and she knows she has been healed. In an instant, Jesus does what no doctor in twelve years had been able to do. This demonstrates the power of Christ, but it also highlights an important aspect of Jesus and the Law. In Leviticus 15:31, God states, “You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.” In the Old Testament, the temple was where God dwelt among the Israelites, but in the New Testament, God dwelt among men in the person of Jesus Christ (see John 1:14). Through Jesus, the penalties of the Law are reversed, and the contamination of this world had no effect on Christ. The woman did not make Jesus (God’s dwelling) unclean—He made her clean!

Jesus immediately responds to the woman who touched His clothing and was healed. People were pushing and pressing into Him from all over, yet He stops, turns, and asks, “Who touched my clothes?” «And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? », (Mark 5:30). The disciples were incredulous, but Jesus knew that healing power had gone out of Him. We can’t “steal” a miracle from God. After the woman comes forward and explains herself, Jesus clears up any misconceptions about her healing, saying, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” «And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. », (Mark 5:34). God is moved to action by our faith, even when He’s in the middle of doing something else!

Jesus could have healed the woman and kept on walking to His original destination. Only He and the woman would have known.In what had taken place. But He didn’t do that. Jesus stopped what He was doing and acknowledged the result of this woman’s faith: her complete and instantaneous healing.