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Rules for a woman who was menstruating Photographs,
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The Woman with the issue of blood
What the story is about Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her.
She came up behind
Jesus and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. The Jesus asked “Who touched me?” When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace”.
The story occurred in Capernaum, where Jesus was living at the time. (See
Capernaum:
the synagogue). Capernaum (the village of Nahum) was on the northern shore of the
Sea of Galilee, on a main highway. It was probably only a small settlement at the time, with several rows of houses along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. The apostle Peter had a house there.
In the story, Jesus was making his way towards the house of one of the leaders of the local synagogue. He was surrounded by a large crowd of
people, among whom was a woman who had been suffering with a prolonged menstrual flow. Strictly speaking, she should not have been among other people. According to the laws of ritual purity, she should have been at home during her menstrual period, living quietly (see Leviticus 15:19-31). These laws worked very well for healthy women who had a menstrual period of five – seven days. It was a time out for them, when they were relieved of their normal duties and could rest.
But the woman in this story was not healthy. Her menstrual flow had lasted twelve years, so the purity laws had become an impossible burden for her. She could not go out, she could not touch members of her family, she could not enjoy a normal life, and she was constantly debilitated. It is not surprising that she had used up all her money on doctors, or that she was prepared to flout the Law when she heard that a wonder-worker called Jesus was in the street outside her house. Doctors in 1st century Palestine used a wide range of herbal cures to help their patients. Many of these were effective, and gave relief to the sufferer. Surgery was only ever used as a last resort, because the patient often died of shock during the operation, which was performed without anesthetic. But the woman hoped that Jesus could do what the doctors could not. She pushed her way through the crowd, until she was close to Jesus. Then she reached out and touched the fringe on his shawl. Matthew mentions several times that Jesus’ clothing had the fringe which was part of the required clothing for a devout Jew (see Numbers 15:37-40). He was showing that Jesus was someone who respected the Law, and who should not have been executed as a criminal.
The woman felt an immediate transformation within her body, and knew that she was cured. At the same moment, Jesus felt power go out from himself. He looked around, and asked who had touched him. Peter pointed out to him that he was so closely surrounded by people that he was constantly being touched by
them, but that was not what Jesus meant. He looked around at the people near him. Even though she was
shaking with terror, she came forward and told Jesus the truth. He was gentle with her, calling her ‘daughter’. He told her that it was her own faith that had cured
her, and he blessed her.
ACTIVITIES AND
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Focus Questions for the gospel
passages
Dozens of extra ideas at Activities for Bible Study Groups and Schools
Rules for a woman who was menstruating Photographs,
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| Bible Study Resource for Women in the Bible: The Woman with Prolonged Menstruation | |||||||||
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