Jesus Heals a Hemophiliac (Part 1)
Mark 5:21-34 reads:
"Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.' So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him. Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was not better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, 'If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.' Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, 'Who touched My clothes?' But His disciples said to Him, 'You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, "Who touched Me?"' And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.'"

Jairus, one of the synagogue rulers in Capernaum, came to Jesus and fell down at His feet as an expression of profound respect. This is what Matthew referred to when he mentioned the word "worship" in 9:18.

In Mark's account, Jairus said - "My little daughter lies at the point of death." In Matthew 9:18, however, he stated - "My daughter has just died." Is this a contradiction? I don't believe so since there is a possible explanation. Jairus must have left home knowing that his daughter would die at any moment, but, due to the content of the message that was brought to him in Mark 5:35, one may infer that she was barely alive when he departed. Thus, Jairus certainly made both of these remarks. The first was true when he left his home, and he feared that the second was true by the time he reached Jesus (though he did not know it to be a fact until the messengers arrived). Despite the emotional distress Jairus was under, his strong faith was exceedingly clear as he spoke to Jesus - "Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."

Jesus was willing to go with Jairus and "a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him." Jairus, a man of high social rank, found Jesus among common folk, and they were naturally curious to see what Jesus would do for this man.

Mark then tells us of "a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years." To suffer in this manner for so long proves that her affliction had no known cure during that age. She "had suffered many things from many physicians." Medicine was not much of a science in that day. Many of the practices were very crude and generally based on guesswork. This was primarily due to the great ignorance of the human body and its functions. The most ridiculous experiments were made in the hope that a remedy might accidentally be stumbled upon. One with a baffling and continuing affliction, like this woman, was sure to suffer a great deal as the "experiment" of many doctors.

Tragically, "she had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse." Her agony wasn't restricted to physical pain; her pocketbook also suffered. We will continue studying this narrative in our next lesson.