by Nathan L. Morrison
Synopsis: A web search on “I’ve got issues” yields 194,000 results—including books, movies, blogs, etc. While all struggle with “issues,” i.e., personal characteristics, or traits, that are causing some kind of problem, we must not be dominated or defined by them.
Many times in life, we get defined by our “issues:” I am an asthmatic. I am a diabetic. You can say, I am. . . insert any issue or condition you may be facing. Sometimes our identities get lost in the description of our issues. While such information may be important to doctors and care providers, we must not let it be what defines us. You are not your issues! You are more than that. You are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). He loved you so much that He sent His Son to die for your sins, and give you hope of sharing eternity with Him (John 1:29; 3:16; 14:1-6)!
Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48 offer an account of an unnamed woman who, for all time, is associated with her “issue.” Nevertheless, she finds compassion, healing, and a new identity in Jesus Christ. Many people today need the healing found only in Jesus, the Great Physician!
In Luke 8:40-42, Jairus, an official of the synagogue, implored Jesus to come and heal his dying twelve-year-old daughter. Along the way, an interruption happened that didn’t seem to bother Jesus (Luke 8:43-48; Mark 5:25-34)! The gospels of Mark and Luke both detail the interruption that took Jesus’s attention. An unnamed woman, who had suffered from a blood hemorrhage for twelve years [who had spent her livelihood on physicians (Luke 8:43-44 and Mark 5:25-29, cf. ESV & NKJV), but none of their treatments worked, and she only grew worse], touched the border of Jesus’s garment and was immediately healed! Some things of note in this account:
She is unnamed—and known for all time by her “issue.” If she followed the Law of Moses, then her life over the previous twelve years would have been spent in isolation and included lots of water because she would have been counted as “Unclean!”
Leviticus 15:19-24 has the laws governing a woman’s normal cycle, where she would be unclean for seven days and made clean the eighth day. Leviticus 15:25-33 clarifies that a woman with a discharge of blood outside the normal cycle is subject to all the rules of normality, but also would be considered unclean until it was resolved. Anyone who touched her, involuntarily or voluntarily, needed to wash and would be unclean until evening. Anything on which she sat or slept was counted as unclean, so also anyone who touched those objects. Leviticus 15:31 says, “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them” (NASB).
This unfortunate woman experienced a long-term illness; she had seen many doctors, suffered much at their hands, and spent all her money (Mark 5:26). She not only “could not be healed by anyone,” but also had grown worse. Because of the crowd, she should have been shouting, “Unclean! Unclean!” because anyone she touched, or who touched her, would need to go bathe and be unclean themselves until evening. Anyone she touched, or touched her, would have been annoyed at the massive inconvenience, since they would have had to stop what they were doing to go wash and isolate themselves as unclean until the evening! Imagine the jostling (Mark 5:31; Luke 8:45) required to reach Jesus because she had heard of Him and thought to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well” (Mark 5:28).
What faith! She was aware of Jesus and His power, recognized her need for Him in her life, and knew that she needed to contact Jesus. Nothing would keep her from Him!
She came to Jesus seeking to just touch Him and be healed. She snuck up behind Him and stooped down to just touch the fringe of His cloak (Luke 8:44)! The New English Translation Bible (NET) says, “edge” while the New King James Version (NKJV) says, “border.”
Numbers 15:37-41 says that all the male (“sons of Israel”) Jews had to wear tassels on each corner of their garments, and each tassel had to have a thread or cord of blue to signify their obedience to God’s Law and to be holy. Many Jewish communities still observe this practice. Over the years, other colors were added to signify an individual’s authority and status within their community, such as royalty, nobility, rabbi, teacher or healer. Here, this woman most likely touched the tassel on the edge, or border, of Jesus’s robe.
When she touched Jesus, He didn’t become unclean but made her clean! Jesus has the healing ability to take what is unclean and make it clean!
We also have a need to “touch Jesus”: We have an illness of sin (Rom. 3:10, 23). Sin will bring about death—we are dying without Christ (Rom. 6:23). Peter said now through Jesus Christ let no one be called “unholy or unclean!” but that “in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:28, 34-35). Don’t let your issues or any other thing impede you reaching Jesus, the Great Physician!
Luke and Mark both introduce the woman by her issue of bleeding for twelve years (Luke 8:43; Mark 5:25-26). Despite her great faith and other positive traits, this woman was defined almost entirely by her “issue,” by her problem, by her pain. The same thing can happen to you and me! When your “issues,” problems, and pain threaten to overwhelm you and try to define you, don’t allow them to! Go to God in prayer and give it to the Master Healer (1 Pet. 5:6-7)! By grabbing the edge of Jesus’s robe (perhaps His tassel), she was grabbing hold of the symbol of Jesus’s authority and commitment to God, including the promises of His word! This is a beautiful picture of prayer: When you are in danger of being swallowed up or defined by your issues, go to God in prayer (Phil. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:6-7). Through faith in Jesus, grab hold of the promises of God and don’t let go!
Another lesson: This woman knew her value in God’s eyes! She refused to be stopped from her objective, i.e., contacting/touching Jesus (Mark 5:28)! In both accounts, this woman was not the Lord’s primary focus—He was on the way to heal Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter who was dying. Both women in this story faced tragic circumstances: One was twelve years old and dying! The other had been suffering for twelve years in lonely isolation! Doctors had failed. Both ladies needed Jesus. From a first century societal standpoint, Jairus was a respected synagogue official, but the unclean woman would have been considered “riffraff”
The unclean woman made her way through the crowd and touched Jesus! Although it interrupted the procession on the way to an important man’s house, Jesus took the time to point her out. He said, “Who is the one who touched Me? For I was aware. . . God’s salvation and healing are only for those who desire Him—she sought Him! As God knows who is testing Him and who is sincere, He knows those who desire Him. Jesus knew who touched Him. He asked for her benefit. She had to overcome her own fears and the intimidation she might face from the crowd. In response, she came”trembling” and fell down before Jesus and confessed the “whole truth!” (Luke 8:45-47; Mark 5:30-33)
If we humble ourselves to God, He will exalt us (1 Pet. 5:6-7). Her diligent efforts to “touch Jesus” allowed her to receive God’s blessing and be called, “Daughter” (Mark 5:34; Luke 8:48). Lifting her beyond her “issue” and declaring in the presence of all her inherent worth, Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction” (Mark 5:34). Our loving Lord transformed this woman’s identity! No longer “Unclean,” no longer “not enough,” no longer excluded from society, no longer defined by an “issue”—she was a daughter of the King!
The world will try to make you feel small, worthless, and not worth God’s time because of your “issues.” Jesus wants you! He says to come unto Him for rest (Matt. 11:28-30). When we come out of the world, God promises, “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:18). You matter and are of value to Jesus. He died for you to be lifted up from your “issues” and for you to be called a “Son” or “Daughter” of the King!
When you feel your “issues” (whatever they are) defining you and feel that all anyone sees are your problems and pain, remember: You are not your issues! You are a child of the King! When you obey the gospel, you are adopted into the family of God, not because of how special you are or because God needed you, but simply because God wants you—issues and all (Rom. 8:14-17). [Like this unnamed daughter of the King: don’t stop! Don’t give up! Reach out and touch Jesus today and you will receive His blessings, salvation, and healing for your soul! He is the Great Physician (Matt. 9:12). Seek to “touch,” i.e., contact Jesus” and thus be healed from sin. Accept His invitation (Through obedience to the gospel). Confess Him as Lord (Live your lives in submission to Him). Only Jesus could save the woman and Only Jesus can save you (Acts 4:10-12)! Don’t fall for the false “cures” of the world, but obey the gospel in baptism for the forgiveness of your sins and go to God in prayer to find victory over the issues of life!
Jakes, T. D. When Women Pray: 10 Women of the Bible Who Changed the World through Prayer. Nashville: FaithWords, 2020 (Note: This article was adapted from author comments on page 59).
Robinson, Rich. “The Tallit and Tzitzit: Their Biblical Symbolism and Significance.” JewsforJesus.org, January 1, 1994. https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter-sep-1993/the-tallit-and-tzitzit.
