The Woman with the Issue of Blood Explained

[Music] If you have your Bible, turn with me today to Mark chapter 5, beginning in verse 25. Mark chapter 5, verse 25. I want to take a moment, like I do every week, and that's to glorify the name of Jesus above every other name. Today, we've gathered to celebrate one name, and that is the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Savior. When you leave this church, don't leave talking about a preacher or a band. Leave lifted up the name of Jesus, that He is highly exalted above all names. Are you down with that? We're gonna praise one name, the name of Jesus.

Before we totally jump into the message, real quick, I got a huge announcement for you. Next weekend, we are beginning a brand new series called "Summer in Rome." That sounds nice, doesn't it? Don't worry, we're not going to Rome, but all summer long, we're gonna be in the book of Romans. Alright, so June, July, and August, we're this is an expository sermon series, or we are going chapter by chapter the entire summer through the book of Romans, and this thing is gonna be wild. You do not want to miss it, I promise you.

Also, couple things I want to tell you about this series before we jump in. First of all, throughout this summer, I want to really encourage you guys, bring your Bible to church with you. Now, look, I know you got it on the app and you can scroll and do all that stuff. I'm talking about bring the physical copy of the Bible with you to church. There's something about having that tangible Bible with you. And just to kind of mess with you a little bit, all summer, we're not gonna put the verses on the screen. Alright, so we're going old-school. You see it, so you're not gonna be able to rely on the screen. So all summer long, bring your Bible. I'm a believer that when you open up that Word of God, that it's gonna speak to you, and you need to get familiar with that thing. You need to wear it out. Alright, so how many people bring in their Bible next week? You bringing it? Alright, I'm not gonna ask you has it today, that wouldn't be fair.

But in this series, also, really huge update. I know this summer is a time where people travel and they do all their stuff and all that stuff, but I'm still gonna challenge you, make church a priority this summer. Don't just treat God with what's left over. Make church a priority this summer. And one way that you can do that is we're going to be live-streaming the messages all summer long on Facebook. You're gonna be able to stream it, so you won't even be able to escape me. If you're on the beach, I'm gonna be showing up on your feed. Alright, so we're going live. Anybody excited about that? It's gonna be great. We're gonna reach people. Yeah, some of you are like, "Oh, darling." Should we keep it up for our team? Our creative team, our video team, all those people in the back, you are amazing. And because of their sacrifice, this church reaches far beyond the walls of Metro school every single week to the nations around the world. And we're so appreciative of their sacrifice and your generosity. Alright, so that's it for the Summer in Rome.

Now, we're gonna begin today in Mark chapter 5, and I'm preaching a familiar passage on the woman with the issue of blood. Mark chapter 5, beginning in verse 25. A woman in the crowd had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, but she had gotten no better. Verse 27, she had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe, for she thought to herself, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed." Immediately, the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. This is absolutely the incredible Father. We thank You for Your Word, and I pray that it comes alive to us today. I pray that it speaks to us and transforms us in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

This story that is so familiar, I believe has the power to absolutely transform your life and mine today. This woman with the issue of blood, she had been suffering for 12 years. She had been bleeding from the inside, a condition that was chronic, that likely could have killed her and taken her life. I want us today, as we unfold this message, I want us to lean into it, and I pray that we see the humanity of this text, because it's absolutely riveting.

This woman in the Bible, she does not have a name. The Bible doesn't give her a name, does it? Call her Sarah, Jessica, Amanda, none of that. This calls her the woman with the issue of blood. She had been struggling with this condition for so long and for so many years that she became labeled by her condition. Her identity was wrapped up in this crisis. Her identity was wrapped up in her situation, and she was literally dying and suffering every single day, bleeding from the inside.

This issue had separated her from the very people that she loved. The Bible says in Leviticus that a woman with this condition was considered ceremonially unclean. She was not able to have a normal, healthy relationship. This condition had literally affected every aspect of her life. She was cut off and isolated from the very people that she loved and the relationships that she held dear.

But not only did this situation isolate her relationally, but the Bible also says that it isolated her financially. The Bible says that she had spent all that she had on doctors, on cures, physicians. She was on every diet, every fad pill of the day. She was trying, and nothing was working for her. She had spent everything she had, and now she is absent and void of all meaningful relationships, and now she's also isolated from her security and her resources.

This woman, every day for her, was a struggle. What she faced and what she walked through was insurmountable. And I'm convinced that the enemy tried to convince her that she was the only one who had ever struggled like she was struggling. That's how the enemy does. He comes in our isolation, and he convinces us that we're the only ones who have ever been through this. We're the only ones who have ever struggled this way.

And I don't know about you today, but I just came to tell somebody that if you feel isolated, if you feel cut off, if you feel like there's a situation in your life that has been driving you away from people that you love, maybe it's an addiction. Maybe you can't put down alcohol. Maybe you can't get off drugs. There's something that has gripped your life, and it is causing you to be isolated from the very people who love you and from even your community who wants to support you. I want you to know today, you're not the only one. You're not alone. And there is no temptation that has taken you but that which is common to man. We all struggle with the same things in different ways.

But this woman was bleeding profusely from the inside. And on the outside, it looked like everything was fine. To the crowds, she blended in. To the crowd, she looked totally normal. In a group of people, you would never be able to pick her out and identify her struggle. But she was dying on the inside. And there may be some of you today as you sit in this room, and you look like everybody else. You look like life is great. You look like there's not a problem or a care in the world. But inside, you're dying. Inside, you're bleeding. Inside, you're losing faith and you're experiencing brokenness in your life right now. And you're trying to hide it. You're trying to mask it. You're trying to put on the facade that everything's okay. But even as you sit in this room today, there is something inside of you that is empty. There is something inside of you that is broken. And I just came today with good news to tell you that you are not alone. And one touch from Jesus can change everything in your life. And although you may have struggled with this habit, you may have struggled with this addiction, this depression, and anxiety, you may have struggled with it for decades, but one touch from Jesus can set you free in an instant. And if anybody believes the words coming out of my mouth, I just wish you would give the Lord praise and believe with me that He could deliver, He can heal, and He can set free.

There is power in this gospel. We don't do this because we're bored and we have nothing better to do. We're up here preaching this truth, declaring it loud, and all this stuff because He is alive. He is risen, and He's life-changing. And if you showed up in here today and you're dying on the inside, you're struggling with something that you don't want anybody to know about, you're committing sins in the cover of darkness that you think nobody sees and nobody knows. I want you to know that those things that are killing you on the inside, God wants to heal you today. God wants to deliver you and restore you in Jesus' name.

If you have your Bible, look with me really quickly to Leviticus 15. I want to show you some. This is this is wild. Look at your neighbor and help me preach. Thomas is about to get wild in here. It's about to get wild. I'm just gonna read to you really quick, verse Leviticus chapter 15, verse 25. It's a little graphic, but it's good for you. You'll be alright. Leviticus 15:25. This is talking about the Old Testament rule and law and how to deal with a woman who is hemorrhaging like she was. If a woman has a flow of blood for many days that is unrelated to her menstrual period, or if the blood continues beyond the normal period, she is ceremonially unclean. She's unclean.

Now, flip back with me to Mark 5. I need you to, I need this to set in for you. I need you to receive this word because this is powerful. This woman was isolated because of her condition. She felt totally alone. She felt like nobody could identify with her and her pain and her struggles. This woman was cut off from the people that she loved and everything that was familiar to her. And the Bible says in Leviticus that because of her condition, she was literally declared unclean. Meaning, if you keep reading in Leviticus 15, anything that she touched became unclean too.

And I want you to remember in Mark 5, as this woman is walking through the crowd, pressing through the crowd on her way to Jesus, every person that she touched on her way to Jesus, every person that rubbed shoulders with her, every person whose hand she touched, became ceremonially unclean at the same time. And the reason that this is important is because this woman believed that her struggle only affected her. Her issue only isolated her. But the truth is, is that the things that she were carrying affected not just her, but everybody who came into contact with her. Everybody who was within her influence was affected by the things that were burdening her soul.

And you might be in here with an addiction today, and you think it doesn't affect anybody but you. You think it doesn't matter. Nobody knows about it. Nobody sees it. I'm the only person that is being hurt by the by the patterns and the behaviors in my life. I would say to you, that is absolutely not true. Every person that you touch, interact with, encounter, is affected by who you are. But I'm telling you today that He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. And the Lord wants to deliver you, not just for you, but for the sake of those who are around you. For the sake of your children, for the sake of your parents, for the sake of the people whose lives you interact with. You think you don't, you think that your struggle, you think your situation only affects you, and that could not be further from the truth. Couldn't be further from the truth.

But there's, there's a reason that you're in here today. And I don't believe in accidents or coincidence. I believe that God has drawn you by His Spirit today to this place to hear this word because He has a plan for your life. He has a promise for you that only you can fulfill. And He wants to bring you out of this situation you're in to create you and make you into the man or the woman that you were destined and created to be.

Now, I want to also tell you really quickly that your brokenness and your weakness, that is the situation that creates the opportunity for the glory of God to be revealed in your life. It's the very things that you want to hide, the things you want to ignore and cover up, the things that you're ashamed of, your weaknesses, that's where God is working. That's where God wants to deliver you. That's where He wants to show up and be glorified in your life. He wants to show up in the messiness of your life.

Now, look, I'm gonna preach forever today, but I pray that this, this story unfolds to you. I want you to watch what Mark 5 said. This woman searched for a remedy. She searched for a cure in everything in the world. The Bible says that she went to all the doctors and all the physicians in the world, and she spent everything that she had trying to find a cure. But the Bible says that the doctors only made it worse.

Now, how this relates to you is simply beautiful and powerful. In our life, when we feel like we are suffering because of an addiction, a habit, depression, anxiety, when we are bleeding on the inside, when we are dying on the inside, when faith is slipping from our life every day, we have a human tendency to try to pacify our pain with things in the world. We try to cover up our struggles by running to the very places that have also inflicted us. And this woman tried to soothe her pain by investing in the things of the world, and the world only left her emptier and more broken than she was in the beginning.

And I know that none of you understand what I'm saying, but watch this. Some people who struggle in their life, their release, and they run to alcohol to medicate their pain. They drink themselves to a state of apathy where they feel nothing anymore, where they're numb. They run and try to escape and soothe their pain in the things of the world. But I want to let you know today that the world is not enough for you. And this world will never be able to pacify the pain that you're experiencing in your life. The void that is inside of you is something so great that only God Himself can satisfy it. And if you run to the world, if you look to alcohol, if you look to your next high, if you go from relationship to relationship to relationship trying to satisfy the brokenness that is within you, this world, like the physicians, will leave you worse off than it found you. Can I get a witness? Does anybody believe what I'm saying today?

Ecclesiastes chapter 2 was written by Solomon. The Bible calls him the wisest man to ever live. And he explained, he expresses the same situation. He talks about a void, a brokenness that was within his heart. And he said, "I looked to the world. I let's give pleasure a try." And so he built the finest houses, the finest vineyards, he had many concubines. If you don't know what that is, just look it up on your own time. But anyway, he looked to fulfill his brokenness and the void inside of him with everything the world had to offer. And at the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 2, he makes a profound statement. He says, "Everything that I worked so hard to accomplish, it was all meaningless, like chasing the wind. There was nothing worthwhile anywhere in this world."

I want you to know, if you're broken, if you're hurting, if you walked in here today with pain in your life, I want you to know the answer will not be found in anything in this world. But one touch from Jesus can change everything in your life. It is a supernatural touch. It is the promise of the gospel that in Jesus, all things are made new, and former things pass away. Jesus loves you with an undying affection, and today He wants to set the captives free. He wants to stop the bleeding in your life. He wants to see you rise up to become the person you were created and destined to be. Anybody thankful for a God who never gave up on you? Anybody thankful that in my worse, when He could have walked away, He didn't?

The physicians only made her worse. Some of you have friends that think their physicians. Friends that are no adults that surrounds you and they influence your life. Some of you have friends that know more about your marriage than you do. Some of you have friends that try to tell you all about your life and your career and your relationships and what you should and shouldn't do. And those friends are like the doctors. They're like the physicians. They offer you something. They'll tell you what you want to hear. They'll give you a little bit of advice so long as you have something to offer them. See, as long as this woman had something to give to the physicians, as long as she could pay them, they kept giving her more and more treatments. But the moment that her money ran out, they labeled her incurable and diseased and they said, "What you have is chronic, and there is no answer for this."

Some of you have friends, so-called friends, that are there for you only to take from you, to take, take, take. And the moment that you have nothing left to give them, the moment that you can't party with them, the moment you can't entertain them, the moment that you have nothing left to give them, they write you off and label you and turn away from you. I want to tell you today, those are not true friends. And God wants to deliver you from that situation.

And over the next few moments in this message, I'm gonna give you three critical keys on how to be made whole. Three critical keys. Right now, you ready? Anybody ready for three keys to be made whole? Alright. Number one, to be made whole, you gotta run with a new crowd. Look at your neighbor with a low attitude, telling me it's time to run with a new crowd. This woman with the issue of blood, the beginning, the catalyst to her healing was that she started running with a new crowd. She got into the crowd of people who were following Jesus. She didn't just get in any crowd. She got in a crowd that was following Jesus Christ.

Some of you need a change of environment. Some of you need to let go of some of the bad friends and the critics and naysayers in your life that only serve to drain you and to pull you down. You need to run with a new circle of people, new friends that are actually gonna edify you and lift you up. By the way, just so you know, one of those powerful facets of the New Testament church is the community. We say it here all the time, the best part of Vision Church is definitely not the preaching, and it's not the music. The greatest thing about this church is God through you, God through the people. Community is one of the most powerful aspects of the New Testament church. And if you are hemorrhaging inside, if you're dying on the inside, if you're struggling and overwhelmed with depression, if life has gripped you to the point where you feel faith is slipping away from you, I want to challenge you, your first act today, let it be to run with the right crowd, to get involved in the right community that is chasing after Jesus.

This woman, when she got in the right crowd, it pointed her to the only one who could save her and redeem her. And the power of the local church is that it will edify you, that it will lift you up, that people will hold you accountable, people will speak into your life when you are at your lowest points. The Bible says, "If a man walks alone and he falls, who will be there to pick him up? But if he walks with a brother, if he walks with a companion, and he falls, he'll be there to pick him up." And I just want to tell you really quickly, that's the reason that we do connect groups at Vision Church. Some of y'all think we do it just to be cute or trendy or whatever. If I, if you don't know now, you know, the reason that we do connect groups is because life is meant to be lived together in community, in relationship. Life is better together. We can share one another's burdens, we can share one another's joys and experiences in their life. We come alongside of you to encourage you when you're down, to lift you up when you're broken, to speak the truth to you in love when you need a friend who will point you back towards Jesus. I promise you, the hemorrhaging will never stop if you try to run this life alone. If you will start running with the right crowd, the Lord will show up in your life. And if anybody believes the words coming out of my mouth, I just wish you praise the Lord and thank Him for the power of the New Testament church, that life is meant to be lived together. It's meant to be lived together. There's power, there's power in it.

By the way, we have connect groups here that they serve all different types of avenues of your life. Marriage, men's group, women's group. We even have a recovery group that has started. If you're going through an addiction and you, you have an addictive personality and you need help, we have a group that's called Recovery, and it is for you. It walks you through the Beatitudes. It is powerful restoration. Get connected, get involved in the unity. That's the first step to stopping the bleeding. God wants to move in your life.

The second thing, really quickly, is, and this is real deep and profound, you got to follow Jesus. Look at your neighbor with a little attitude and tell him, "Follow Jesus." You got to run with a new crowd, and then you also got to follow Jesus. Now, look, you can be in the crowd and you can be in the church and not follow in Jesus. You can be here every Sunday, you can put on a lanyard, you can even stand on this platform and not follow Jesus. You can be in the right crowd, but if you don't press through that thing and get to Jesus, you're gonna be on the outside looking in. I don't know about you, but I don't want to, I don't want to be somebody who just goes with the flow, chasing people. So many people get in the right crowd because they're looking for the right person, looking for a hot girl or a hot guy or whatever. That sounds weird, but anyway, just God, you know, there's a lot of reasons that people go with a certain crowd. But we've got to be in the crowd following Jesus. You hear what I'm saying? Because you can be in the crowd following the wrong people.

Here's the power. When you're actually following Jesus, you're always in position for the miraculous. When you are, when this woman pressed up and she got behind Jesus, she was in position for the miraculous to unfold in her life. How do you get next to Jesus? Glad you asked. Real simple. Number one, you've got to read the Word. The Word is the living. The Word, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You want to know Him? Read His Word. Number two, pray. Talk to Him daily in communication and relationship with Him. And number three, get connected to the local church. Be a part of His body. If you're doing these three things, you will be following Jesus. And when you follow Jesus, you're always in position for the miraculous.

Now, look with me really quickly. Go back to verse 22 of Mark 5. This is absolutely incredible. I want you to watch this. This may not be on the screens, but just watch this. "Then a leader of the local synagogue whose name was Jarius arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet pleading fervently with him, 'My little daughter is dying,' he said. 'Please come with me and lay your hands on her, heal her so she can live.' Jesus went with him, and all of the people followed, crowding around him." This is awesome.

When this woman with the hemorrhage, with the issue of blood, when she got into the crowd that was following Jesus and she started to follow and pursue Him, watch what happened. Where was the crowd going? The crowd was not just aimlessly wandering around. The crowd was going towards Jarius's daughter. When you get close to Jesus through His Word, through prayer, through relationship with Him, your heart will begin to long for the things that His heart longs for. You will begin to experience compassion for the people and the situations that He has compassion on.

Now, watch this. The woman with the issue of blood in the crowd is walking with Jesus on her way to Jarius's daughter to pray for her healing and for life and vitality to swell back up in her life. You've got to see the power of this because while the woman was still hemorrhaging, while the woman was still bleeding, while the woman was still dying on the inside, she took her eyes for the first time in 12 years off of her own situation and she began to put her eyes on Jarius's daughter. As she followed Jesus, they made their way towards Jarius's house, and something supernatural happens when you begin to take your eyes off of your own situation and you begin to focus on the needs of others.

As this woman began to walk towards that precious daughter, as they set out to heal her, Jesus turned around and touched this woman, and her life was changed forever. And could it be today that as you sit in this place, overwhelmed with grief, overwhelmed with addiction, I just need you to know today is the day for you to take your eyes off of your situation, take your eyes off of your weakness, take your eyes off of your issue, and start to look around at others and say, "How can my life be a blessing to yours? How can I pray for you? How can I bless you?" And as you focus on ministering to others, Jesus will turn around and bless your life. Does anybody believe the Word of God today? Do you believe it?

I want you to look at this really quickly. Job chapter 42, verse 10. This is amazing right here. Job 42:10. Job is the guy who lost everything. Job had it all and lost it all in a day, in a moment. And all 41 chapters of the book of Job are talking about Job's suffering and him focusing on his own circumstances. But I want you to watch what happens in Job 42:10. "When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before." My God, this is absolutely profound. The Bible says the moment that Job took his eyes off himself, in the moment he was following the Lord and put his eyes on other people's problems, God turned around and restored to him twice what he had lost. This is incredible.

You know what I tell people when they come and they tell me that they have cancer or they have an illness that's chronic? I don't just start crying and we don't throw a pity party. You know what I tell them to do? I tell them, "I want you to start praying for somebody else who has cancer. I want you to pray for somebody else's children who are in need. I want you to take your eyes right now, and I want you to pray for somebody else." Be moved with compassion. Follow Jesus with as He goes to minister to somebody else, and watch what the Lord will turn around and do in your life. I've seen this principle unfold in many, many ways, and this is a spiritual principle that unlocks breakthrough in your life. If you're struggling, if you're in the struggle right now, take your eyes off yourself and start to pray for somebody else in need, and as you do, the Lord will meet you right where you are.

Number one, run with a new crowd. Number two, follow Jesus. And number three, as the band comes to help me wind this thing down, you've got to act on your faith. You have to act on it. It's one thing to have faith, but it's a whole other thing to actually act on it, to live this thing out. This woman who is in the crowd, she heard of Jesus and she believed that He could heal her. She believed that He could make her whole. But it wasn't until she acted that anything changed.

Now, I'm gonna read it back to you. Mark chapter 5, I want y'all to watch this. Holy Spirit, help us to come through. Mark 5:25. "A woman in the crowd had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. She'd suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so watch this, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe, for she thought to herself, 'If I touch his robe, I will be healed.'" Immediately, the bleeding stopped, and she could feel it in her body that she had been healed from the terrible condition. Now watch verse 30. "Jesus realized at once the healing power had gone out from Him, so He turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my robe?'"

Yo, this is profound. And I pray that you receive this today because somebody needs to receive this word right here. It's one thing for you to believe that He's a healer, and it's another thing for you to act like He has moved in your life. It's one thing for you to believe that He can take care of your situation. It's one thing for you to believe that He's a provider, and it's another thing to stop worrying and being anxious over the things that you cannot control. It's one thing to have faith, and it's another thing to act on it and live it out.

This woman was on the outside of the crowd, but something inside of her became desperate. She had tried things in the world, and they'd all left her empty. But something drove her to act on what she believed, and she pressed through the crowd, pressing through the opinions and the complaints of other people, she pressed through the crowd and reached out and put her faith into action. And the Bible says a theologically profound statement right here. The Bible says that when she acted on her faith and when she touched the hem of His garment, the Bible says that Jesus turned around. Look at your neighbor and tell him, "Jesus turned around."

I don't know if you see this. I'm talking to you about the architect of the universe. I'm talking to you about the one who breathed and put creation into motion. I'm talking about Jesus Christ. He was on a mission to heal Darius's daughter. He was about the Father's business. But one woman who put her faith into action caused Jesus to turn Himself around, and He received her and embraced her. When you put your faith into action, it captures the attention of your God. When you start to live by faith, when you start to act on your faith, when you start to put it into in your life, it is irresistible to your Creator. It catches His attention and it turns His heart towards you.

If you need a miracle, if you need God to show up in your life, if you need deliverance today, I challenge you to act on your faith. Begin to reach your hand towards Him. Begin to believe in the impossible. Begin to live out your faith. James said, "Faith without works, it is dead. It is meaningless." But oh my God, when you begin to act on what His Word declares to be the truth, you capture the attention of your Creator, and it is utterly irresistible to your God. Sir, today is the day that we start acting on our faith. I want to ask you, when was the last time that you actually acted on your faith? When was the last time that you actually stepped out in obedience? When was the last because listen, acting on your faith, it's risky. It's risky to act on faith because you could be humiliated, your pride could be disgraced. But if you will act on the Word of the Living God, He will meet you where you are.

Look, this book is either true or it isn't. It is either the greatest lie the world's ever been told, or it is exactly what it says it is, the Spirit-inspired Word of the Living God. And I don't know about you, but I choose to believe that this is His Word, His business, His inspiration, this is His Spirit as He brings heaven to earth to you. He wants to move in your life today. Why don't you stand up with me all over this place?

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