Mark 5:24-34 If I just touch Him . . .
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: January 24, 2018, Mark 5:24-34
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
So Jesus went with him. A huge crowd kept following him and jostling him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years. Although she had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all of her money, she had not been helped at all but rather grew worse. Since she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe, because she had been saying, “If I can just touch his robe, I will get well.” Her bleeding stopped at once, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her illness. Immediately Jesus became aware that power had gone out of him. So he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples asked him, “You see the crowd jostling you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done this. So the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came forward fearfully, fell down trembling in front of him, and told him the whole truth. He told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed from your illness.”
(Understanding the Text) Jesus and the disciples had landed once again on the Galilee side of the lake. The crowds gathered quickly. Among those who gathered was Jairus the synagogue leader and a woman who had had a continuous period for twelve years. This shows the variety of people who gathered around Jesus. There was a religious leader and a woman considered unclean who was not allowed to enter into a religious institution because of her condition. She would not have been able to marry which means that she would have had poor self esteem because of her double outcast place in society-ineligible for relationships both physical and spiritual. This explains her idea that she could not approach Jesus to ask for healing in front of the crowd-that, and the fact that her condition was embarrassing. Just touching a religious man may have made him unclean for a certain time-I don’t know for sure. If this is the case, there is another reason for her to be unobtrusive about touching Jesus.
I always wondered how she knew immediately that she was healed because I was thinking in terms of the blood flow which would still feel wet on the rags that she was using to absorb it; however, I had forgotten about the cramps that are associated with this kind of bleeding. She would have suffered from severe cramping at times while at other times, the pain would have been more low-level, but when the cramping stopped, there would have been a wonderful feeling of relief. Also, the tiredness associated with the cramps and blood loss would have been gone.
Many times we think of crowds keeping people away from Jesus, but in this case, the crowd may have given her courage. She thought that no one, including Jesus, would notice that she deliberately touched Him. No one would yell at her for touching the rabbi and “accidentally” being healed. She had heard the stories of all the others who had been healed and the Holy Spirit had convicted her to go to Jesus for healing, but when she got to Him, she could not approach Him directly, yet the Holy Spirit was still convicting her to go to Him, so she convinced herself that just touching Him would heal her. Her faith allowed the process to occur.
(Revelation of God) When the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something, and we make the first tentative steps towards accomplishing it, but we lose courage, He does not give up on us. He tries to find another avenue that we are capable of achieving with our limited abilities. When the woman who had come so far as to get near Jesus could not make herself push forward to ask for help directly, the Holy Spirit convicted her that simply getting close and reaching out and touching Jesus’ clothes was enough. She listened to that conviction and was healed. If we follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance as far as we can, He will find a way to heal our disease.
(Application) Sometimes, we think that we are insignificant. We believe that we are lost in the crowd around Jesus. We think that we are not important enough to be part of His inner circle. We tell ourselves that it is enough to touch His robes. We do not realize that Jesus is aware of us and drawing us to Him even when we do not have the courage or confidence to approach openly. Jesus refuses to allow us to simply touch His outer garments. He gives us attention and acknowledges us. He heals us. He gets us to respond to Him and start a dialogue. It all begins with faith.
(Understanding the Text) There is a contrast in attitude between Jairus and the woman. Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet and begged urgently, but his only fear was for his daughter, not his temerity in approaching Jesus. The woman fell at Jesus’ feet in fear. She was trembling because she feared condemnation for what she had done. Jesus gave both believers what they needed. The woman did not need only healing of her body; she also needed healing on her mind. By forcing a confrontation and then calling her daughter and affirming her faith and right to healing, he showed her that she was not a thief who had stolen a bit of crumbs from the Master’s table, but His child who had a right to sit at the table with the other sons and daughters. He returned her confidence in her position in life. Jairus needed something different. He needed to see that no matter what others said, whether they were mourners for his daughter or religious leaders, Jairus needed to have faith in Jesus. He would be faced with scorn from his peers when he chose Jesus; he needed to know that his faith in Jesus was correct even when people that he had always respected derided his belief.
(Application) Although Jairus thought he was displaying humility by bowing down to Jesus and begging, He was not as humble as the woman. He approached Jesus openly, expecting to be acknowledged without contempt. Whether he was rejected or not, the man expected to be given a certain amount of attention. He did not even consider hiding in the crowd. Life had treated him well, and his attitude showed this. The woman approached expecting contempt and embarrassment for herself. She believed that she was not worthy of attention. Neither attitude is wrong; the attitudes are just different. Some of us approach God in confidence because our life experience has shown us that we can. Others approach God tentatively because they have not learned to have confidence in their acceptance through their past experiences. While their attitudes in approaching Jesus were different, both Jairus and the woman had one attitude in common; they both had complete faith that Jesus could solve the problem. They totally believed in Jesus’ power. This faith is the one component necessary for healing from Jesus. When we trust Jesus, our healing begins.
(Prayer) I pray to have the faith necessary for healing. Bring me closer to You so that I can see Your power, love, and mercy. Teach me to trust You whether I am feeling unworthy or loved.