Mark 5:27 Commentary and Bible Study

But at last she hears of Christ. Her despairing heart is roused to hope again. Maybe she had heard of the paralytic lowered through the roof. ‘When he heals, he forgives sin at the same time’, she thought to herself. ‘Ah then, he is God. That is what I need: healing and forgiveness.’‘When she had heard of Jesus.’ That could be slightly differently translated, as some do, ‘Having heard of Jesus.’ She lived in Capernaum; she hadn’t just heard of him. Capernaum was no larger than 2000 people, and when the crowds were so great that he had to climb into a boat and push out from the shoreline in order to reach the whole multitude, you'd think that the whole city was there. She knew about his healings; there had been not just dozens, but thousands of them. Also she knew about his teaching: he teaches like John the Baptist – repentance and remission – and it built up in her mind. ‘So-and-so was healed and it has been three months, and there has been no relapse, but also if you repent you will be forgiven. I need forgiveness. All my twelve years of suffering are because I am a sinner. I don’t say I am worse than others, but I am a sinner.’ She knew she must get to him. Of course, you couldn't come close to this lady, because with the Jewish method of worship, she was unclean. She was haemorrhaging: that made her unclean. She couldn't worship in the local synagogue in Capernaum; she couldn't visit Jerusalem to enter the temple; people couldn't touch her, and she couldn't touch them. She was an outcast in many ways. That was a great cause of sorrow for her. She had to keep her distance. People had no doubt said to her, ‘Christ, or Jesus of Nazareth: you should go to him’, and she did, but she had a problem. How could she get close-up and address him. She wasn't allowed to. She was ceremonially unclean. In the Old Testament under the ceremonial law, a discharge of this sort made a woman ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:25). This law was intended to give Israel a physical picture of uncleanness which they could understand. With the coming of Christ, the ceremonial law was done away with, and Christ taught that there is no real uncleanness from eating certain foods (Mark 7:9; Luke 11:41; Acts 10:15), or from other elements of the ceremonial law (Colossians 2:16). It was a mistake for the people to attribute real uncleanness to what was only intended to be a picture of uncleanness. ‘If he is the Son of God; if he is the Messiah; if he is the holy one, I cannot confront him. I couldn't anyway because of the crowd around him, but I can't do that. People will shout to me to go away. How can I get through the crush?’ It is likely that she was a sensitive soul: ‘He's going to heal a dying girl. I cannot interrupt; I cannot get in the way. What shall I do? I am desperate to be helped by him, to be healed.’ So this was her plan. She came in the press behind, and approaching from behind, touched his garment. The outer garment of Christ, according to the custom for the men, would have been cut square, and the four corners of the garment would have had a tassel. That was the required dress: just a tassel. That's what she had in mind, surely: ‘If I can just touch that trailing tassel. I shall be healed.’