Day Eight-August 24

Happy Monday Family!
As you start this week off, I pray that you will go into your schools, jobs, friend groups, and homes with peace, joy, and courage to tell your story and the Story of Jesus.

Our theme verse for Jumpstart this year, as you may remember, is Mark 5:19. This verse comes from a story about a man who was demon-possessed but then encountered Jesus and was set free (we read about this story in Days 2, 3, and 4 if you want to go back for a refresher)!
Today, I want to move forward in this chapter. The rest of Mark chapter 5 tells two more stories of people whose lives were radically changed by Jesus, but for now I just want to focus on the story of the woman with the issue of blood in verses 24-34 (this is one of my very favorites!)

Before we dive in, I want to encourage you to look for yourself in this story. Maybe you think that you can’t relate at all to this woman, but there are still lessons we can learn from her. There is so much insight for us to gain about our own story by listening to other people tell there’s.

Okay, let’s set the scene for the story, shall we? Jesus just stepped onto shore after getting out of a boat, and was immediately met with a huge crowd of people. Like, so many people that Jesus couldn’t walk through this crowd without bumping into anyone. In this mass of people, there was a woman who had been constantly bleeding for 12 years. She spent all of her money going to see countless doctors and no one could help. She just kept getting worse. This woman was desperate, and I’m sure weak, tired, and in pain. Not only was she suffering because she was sick, but this issue made her socially unclean as well, meaning that she was supposed to stay away from everyone. So on top of being physically ill, I bet she was lonely.

Can anyone relate to this yet?

This woman had exhausted all of her options until she heard that Jesus was coming to town. So in her desperation, she weaseled her way through that crowd until she was close enough to Jesus to just simply touch his robe. She believed that alone would be enough to heal her. And boy, was she right! Immediately when she touched Jesus, her bleeding stopped and she was healed!

I want to pause this story and give some historical context… Back in the Old Testament in Numbers 15:37-41, it was commanded that God’s people were to wear blue tassels on the corners of their robes. This was to serve as a reminder to them of all that God had done in rescuing the Israelites out of Egypt, and that The Lord was their God, no one else. Scholars believe that since Jesus was a law-abiding Jew, that He would have worn these blue tassels on His robe, and that maybe that’s what this woman was reaching out for to touch.
Imagine with me, this desperate, sick, tired, lonely woman reaching out to touch Jesus, and, on Him, the very thing that was a reminder of God’s faithfulness and freedom. I love the idea of her, in her darkest moment, grasping to take hold of the promise that God is faithful.

And Jesus noticed her. 
He could feel His healing power leave Him, and knew that someone touched Him. Even though people were touching Him on every side, He noticed her. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”

This is a beautiful story. But this is the woman’s story. How can we apply this to our own?

This story is a testament that God is faithful. In our most desperate moments when we feel like we have nowhere else to turn, Jesus is there. He sees us. He has compassion on us. He will give us freedom. Like the man possessed by demons. Like the woman with the issue of blood. Like what you’re enslaved by now. Jesus brings freedom. And once you grab ahold of it, your life will never be the same. The plot of your story changes.

Just reach out to touch Him.