Scott Broberg Fig Tree Ministries

As mentioned in the detailed answers above - Emo Tenorio - the "truth" was that she had to tell Jesus it was her - someone considered 'unclean' that touched the tassel of his garment. 

There is real power in this story about "clean and unclean" - "holy and unholy" and our natural disgust response when we see something out of place (like muddy shoes on the clean carpeting instead of outside where they belong). 

The first point - the woman knew her bible. She knew that when the Messiah arrives there will be "healing in his"...tassel (Numbers 15:37-41). Malachi says "wings" (Mal. 4:2) - but the tassel is the location on the garment that shows where the corner is located. 

She didn't simply touch Jesus. She touched - through faith in the Holy Scripture - the point that God said there would be the power for healing! Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all knew our scripture that well! 

Her "faith" healed her.

The second point has to do with clean vs unclean. In the Torah (Genesis - Deuteronomy) God lays out clear boundaries for the people as clear object lessons for understanding that He is a Holy God and they are not. 

Ultimately, the unclean doesn't hurt God. He can't be defiled by a human - he created us. We are supposed to honor God as Holy and strive in our lives to become like Him - "be holy because I am holy" (Lev. 19:2). 

Unfortunately, those rules of clean vs unclean can become distorted by humans as they try mightily to become holy themselves. Eventually, people (particularly those who are self-righteous) are shunning other humans due to things that are beyond their control - like the woman in this story who wouldn't have chosen to have that condition. 

Some people in the 1st century were being pushed aside by the very people - the religious leaders - who were supposed to be out there bringing in the lost sheep (Ezekiel 34:4). 

The religious leaders are supposed to find a way to bring those on the margins back into the community instead of worrying about their own supposed righteousness. The unclean of someone else does not make you unclean. 

This is what Jesus demonstrates over and over throughout the Gospels. Those people who other religious leaders wouldn't touch because they were deemed unclean, Jesus goes right out and touches. 

And just like God - the unclean people don't defile Jesus! It works the other way around. They become clean (are healed) when they encounter Jesus. Jesus' power flows from him into them - not the other way around. 

We as a church must remember this. Who in our communities are considered "unclean" but are in desperate need of human touch and an encounter with Jesus? Who do we push to the margins that Jesus would be welcoming in? 

Many of us have a natural disgust response when we see someone "unclean" entering a sacred space - our churches or our communities. We must work against this - just as Jesus did - to welcome in those who need him the most.

November 18 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In the account cited in the question, Jesus had been surrounded by people who were crowding against Him, with many of them actually touching him or being in physical contact with Him.

In the case of one of those people, however, that contact was not just incidental, but purposeful. An elderly woman who had been afflicted with hemhorraging for twelve years sought merely to touch Jesus' garment, in the belief that that action would heal her. Despite the fact that she had not even spoken to Jesus, her faith in Jesus' healing power caused that power to flow forth from Him and heal her, just on the basis of that slight touch.

When Jesus sensed the transmission of that power, He stopped and asked who had touched Him. (In my opinion, Jesus, in fact, would have known who had touched Him, and also that the woman had been healed, but wanted her to come forward and give a public testimony of her faith, for reasons similar to His statement in Luke 12:8 regarding such an action.)

Even though the woman had not sought public notice of her action, when she saw that Jesus was aware of what she had done, she came forward and publicly told the "truth" to Jesus (which, in my opinion, would have included her own account of what she had done and why she had done it, as well as her testimony of Jesus having healed her). Jesus then told her that her healing had been a result of her faith, and that she should go in peace, and be free of her former affliction.

November 14 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Emo Tenorio Shomer

I humbly submit that there are many threads in this very short story that scripture records. The general story line: Jesus is en route to the house of a ruler of the synagogue named Jairus whose daughter lay dying. 
While traveling in haste they encounter a nameless sickly women who, having suffered years, was at the end of her rope. She now does a capital act in touching Jesus, thereby making HIM unclean for service, done in view of Jairus and his entourage. (Leviticus 15:25; Numbers 19:22)

Becoming now a Jewish legal case, Jairus yields the legal authority to the superior judge, Jesus. The TRUTH this nameless penniless women provides is her LEGAL BRIEF. The factual legal argument; the who and the what, or reasons for the doing. This Jesus is the promised fulfillment given four hundred years earlier in the last old testament book of Malachi about the coming future messiah. (Malachi 4:2) 

The “Son of righteousness” is the coming Messiah and “his wings” references the four corners of a Jewish prayer shawl, worn by Jewish men after their Bar Mitzvah 13th birthday. Prior to their exile and dispersion from the land of Israel, they were worn daily and raised over their head as a mobile prayer closet. (Psalms 91:4; Matthew 23:37)

The New Testament reference (Luke 8:43-48; Mark 5:27-34)

(Luke 8:47; Mark 5:33)
This daughter of Israel knew the requirements of both the Torah and Tanakh in regards to her prior condition and her actions before both Jairus and Jesus, hence the fear and trembling for what might come next. Mark gives us a bit more insight with this “told him the WHOLE truth” as recorded in (Mark 5:33).

The Lord blessed her for knowing the scripture, then acting on the promised prophecy "bring healing in His wings" by grabbing the tassel, which is what lays on His thigh. (Malachi 4:2; Revelation 19:16)


(Luke 8:48) “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace”
(Mark 5:34) “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering”

Bottom Line:
I humbly submit my opinion that in this new testament story sandwiched between a very busy time period, Jesus took the time to heal and acknowledge an unnamed, walking dead outcast from society, who willing proclaimed with her life that He was the promised Messiah.

The significance for us is that Jesus is never too busy to stop and help when even society’s nameless outcasts are willing to reach out and touch Him in truth and faith. The earthly limits of proper form or the decorum of political correctness did not stop Him from doing the will of the Father.

In the Lord’s freedom setting all captives free….........warrior on

November 14 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report