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NASB | Mark 5:33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Mark 5:33 And the woman, though she was afraid and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. |
Subject: If we told Jesus the whole truth... |
Bible Note: Dear Brother Kalos, That particular question appears to have been written in an effort to extract a principle from the narrative of Mark 5:24b-34. As you know, we do not draw doctrine from narrative except in those moments of narrative where teaching is taking place. On the other hand, the question might have been written in an effort to draw application from the passage. To properly critique the question itself I'd need to know the surrounding teaching of which it is a part. Nevertheless, it presupposes something about the event in question. It assumes that the profluvious woman was healed due to her confession of the "whole truth" to Christ. Not only had her healing occurred prior to her account to the Lord, we also cannot find any such causal connection in the passage. Mark's purpose in writing this Gospel was to lay out a strait-forward account of the works and words of Jesus to Galilean Christians. The Galileans had little knowledge of the Old Testament, consequently Mark appeals to it far fewer times than the other gospels -- only once, if memory serves. Consequently, the question we should be asking regarding passages like this in Mark's Gospel is "What does it tell us about Jesus?" This particular woman was probably from Capernaum (v21). She had an affliction of unstaunche blood-flow for a dozen years (v25). She sought healing from many physicians, at great cost and pain, but to no avail; indeed, the malady only worsened (v26). She had confidence in Christ's ability to heal (v28), and touching His garments (v27), the disease was gone (v29). Christ supernaturally knows that this has taken place (v30), and asks the question, "Who touched me?" Certainly this question wasn't asked in an effort to obtain information, because He looks right at her (v32). Instead, the question afforded the opportunity for the woman to testify regarding her healing (v33). Christ blesses her and affirms her faith (v34). So, what do we see of Jesus in this passage? Off the top of my head, here are few thoughts: 1. Christ's healing is always accompanied by the kind of faith that seeks Him out. 2. Christ's healing is superior to all of the ministrations of the world, which only worsen our condition. 3. Christ has authority over disease. 4. Christ knows those who come to Him in faith. 5. Christ is the only real source of relief from suffering. There are other things we might say regarding faith, but I think these things are the primary points we can make regarding Christ from this passage. Of course, the full picture is only available by reading the context of the events before and after this one. We must seek to understand what Mark is saying about Christ in the passage, section, and book, integrating the whole. So, I'd have to venture that the Bible study question you posted misses the point of Scripture: It isn't all about us, rather, it is all about Him! That's my two mites... hope they help. In Him, Doc |