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| What story are you telling yourself? What words? |
Here we can call these scriptures a "twofer" meaning "two characters and topics" that we can discuss. The woman with the issue of blood and a man named Jarius will help reveal truths about faith here.
The incredible lesson that is focused on here is the very fact that the words we tell ourselves are a story that many times we hear repeatedly. These stories we tell ourselves have the power to literally create a belief inside us that transforms our reality.
Each of these scriptures share different accounts and were written many years after the fact but they do share interesting details and insights that we can learn from.
*Here is a very interesting fact that I have found and if you can find any different please let me know. It was given to me one day while I was studying these scriptures many years ago. This miracle that happened to the woman with the issue of blood is the ONLY miracle example that I can find in the New Testament where Jesus DID NOT initiate the MIRACLE himself. Think about that as you read on!
Matthew 9:18-26(KJV)
18 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.
It is interesting to note the belief and attitude this certain ruler had. Here his daughter is dead and he said to Jesus that if Jesus laid his hand on his dead daughter that she would come back to life. He told Jesus what he believed. He even spoke how it would happen.
19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.
20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
This woman with the issue of blood HAD to approach Jesus from behind because of her physical condition, the crowed all around Jesus, and the fact that Jewish law considered her unclean because of her condition and touching a man would get her in serious trouble.
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
Here is reads she "said within herself" so that means her inner thoughts. Her own voice that she was hearing in her head. That's what she heard. She created a thought. You do it all the time everyday.
The words she created or "said within herself" was "If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole" so she didn't say look at or see, she said the word touch. She created a really big "IF" in my opinion because of the difficulty that was before her in actually touching the hem of Jesus' garment.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Here Jesus told the woman what it was that made her whole. Jesus did not proclaim or take credit for the miracle although he RIGHTFULLY could have. I believe he was trying to make a point. He told her it was HER FAITH that made her whole. Her faith was that she was going to get her miracle.
23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
I wanted to talk about this for a minute here what Jesus said and I may address this as time goes by. Notice the MIND of Jesus here in what he says. In his mind he is NOT looking at a sick or dead child. He simply SEES her as sleeping. Just taking a nap and he is going to wake her up.
25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.
26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.
Mark 5:21-43(KJV)
21 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jarius by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet.
23 And besought hime greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
Here again, Jarius is literally saying or speaking the way in which HE BELIEVES that Jesus is going to heal his little girl. It pretty much goes exactly the way he mentions except Jesus does NOT lay his hands on the girl. He takes her by the hand as to help her up. None the less, Jesus is physically touching the girl as Jarius mentioned. Jesus did exactly as Jarius spoke and believed. What are you speaking and believing Jesus for?
24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
Here as I mentioned before you can see that the woman had to approach Jesus from behind and she had a tough time getting to Jesus because of all the people that were THRONGING Jesus. It would've been very difficult to reach Jesus.
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
Here is where I got the fact that she spent all her money. She had been dealing with this terrible physical condition for 12 long years and the got even worse instead of better the scripture says. She HAD to get a miracle from Jesus. She didn't have anything left to try. He was her only hope. So in her MIND it was a do or die situation.
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. and they were astonished with a great astonishment.
And he charged them straightly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
Luke 8:40-56(KJV)
40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.
41 And, behold, there came a man named Jarius, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:
42 For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
Here Jesus asked who had touched him. The fact is that MANY SICK people were touching Jesus and it was easy to see that so when he asked who touched him it seemed like a silly question to his disciples. The disciples could not see the miracle that had just happened but Jesus and the woman with the issue of blood KNEW that it happened.
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
Jesus explained to the confused disciples that someone SPECIFIC person had touched him and he knew it because he FELT the virtue or life go out of his body. Now here is a really cool thought, the woman with the issue of blood KNEW without a shadow of doubt she could be healed. She actually thought she was going to press through the crowd, touch the hem of Jesus' garment, get a miracle of healing and get away with sneaking a miracle away from the King of Kings without anyone noticing.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
Here Jesus told her not to worry about being sick and getting in trouble for touching him because she is now healed. He wanted her to FEEL good about what had happened and then reassured her that it was HER FAITH that made her whole. Her believing that she would get healed it what made her well. Jesus said that and it is a fact. Another question is HOW did her faith do that? What was it that was so special about her faith? I will endeavor to answer these questions and even add some more details that will inspire and show you how to have more faith.
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
I wanted to talk about the above scripture briefly. Jesus mentioned to Jarius that he should NOT fear but believe ONLY. This scripture reveals the mind of Jesus in a way that instructs us to not be double minded. Fear is an enemy of faith and I have heard it said that FEAR is the opposite of FAITH. They are like oil and water. They can not mingle when we are suppose to believe what Jesus says. Jesus constantly displayed his mental attitude of FAITH and believing or see something that wasn't there yet. How does one believe only and not fear when faced with such a situation? Hopefully before you complete this post you will be able to answer that question.
51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
Here is yet another example above of Jesus speaking things differently than what they appear. He did not see that young girl as dead even though she was. He saw her as simply sleeping and went as far as to instruct those around him to stop weeping. They could not see what he saw. He saw the future of her being healed as it was the present and spoke as it was already.
53 And they laughed hime to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.
Ok lets wrap this up...
Here we have two people in the gospels that speak of great faith. One a man who spoke his belief that if Jesus touched his dead daughter that she would come back to life and the other a woman with an issue of blood who touched the lowest part of his clothes and she would be healed.
Both of these people in the bible touched Jesus. We must seek to touch Jesus not only for what he can do for us but what we can do for him. I'm talking to myself here when I say that.
Also, both the woman with the issue of blood and Jarius spoke their miracle the way it would go. The interesting fact about the woman with the issue of blood was that Jesus did NOT initiate her healing. She thought she could sneak a miracle if you will, and get away without anyone knowing it.
Jesus said it was her FAITH that healed her. How did she have so much faith? There were many sick people in the crowd touching and thronging Jesus who were desperately wanted a miracle.
The people in the crowd were thronging Jesus to get his attention. Their faith was something different than the woman with the issue of blood. What built her faith and caused her to pull the life force out of Jesus was what she SAID WITHIN HERSELF. She was at her end, spent all her money and was only worse the scripture says. She was talking to herself and telling herself that all she needed to do was touch the hem of Jesus' garment and BINGO! she would be healed.
Her continual thought over and over is what created her faith to get her miracle even without having Jesus initiate the miracle.
What we tell ourselves over and over will make their way into reality. We can build our faith by what we say WITHIN ourselves. It is also true we build our faith in other ways, like prayer, meditation, Bible study, fasting, etc, but if the story or words we are telling ourselves is contrary to our desires in Christ then most everything else will not have as much power.
Just like Jesus told Jarius "Be not afraid, only believe." (Mark 5:36)
So dear friend, what are you saying within yourself? It's an important question to ask. According to scripture this example is legitimate proof that our inner world does have an effect on our outer world. And the potential is enough to get your miracle from God but not without him noticing.
He deserves all the glory!
