"THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD"

MATTHEW 9:20-21

A. "AND BEHOLD A WOMAN WHICH WAS DISEASED WITH AN ISSUE OF BLOOD TWELVE YEARS CAME BEHIND HIM AND TOUCHED THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT; FOR SHE SAID WITHIN HERSELF, IF I MAY BUT TOUCH HIS GARMENT, I SHALL BE WHOLE"
  1. Background to this heart touching event:
    1. Our Lord was on His way to the house of Jairus whose daughter was at the point of death
    2. Many followers pressed on the person of the Lord - for there were many in the procession
  2. In the crowd was a very sick woman:
    1. Had an issue of blood which medical science was powerless against
    2. But her faith in Jesus caused her to seek His help
B. THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD
  1. Is as other beneficiaries of heavenly grace, nameless: - maid of Naaman 2 Kings 5:1-9; Peter's Mother-in-law - Acts 8:14-18; Jairus daughter - Matt. 9:18-25; Syro-Phoenician woman - Matt. 15:22-28
  2. She was cured after many failures:
    1. What this poor woman must have endured for twelve years - against which medical science was powerless
    2. Efforts of the physicians consumed all her living - Mark 5:25-34
    3. Her simple but steadfast faith in the Great Physician made her whole, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague" Mark 5:34
  3. She was cured with the utmost rapidity:
    1. Mark used the word, "straightway" which he uses 27 times in his gospel and is in most cases related to cures wrought by Christ
    2. How swift He was to bring relief to the suffering; as at creation, so in His miracles of healing, "He spake and it was done" - Ps. 33:9; said the Centurion, "Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed" - Matt. 8:8
  4. She was grateful:
    1. Humble gratitude is a mark of deep appreciation lacking in so many beneficiaries of heavenly grace; Examples: the nine lepers who failed to return to the Benefactor to give thanks - Luke 17:14-15; the debtors who were forgiven, but failed to show pity on their debtor - Matt. 18:23-33. Ingratitude is the curse resting on the world today
C. A TIMELY AND MIGHTY LESSON ON FAITH
  1. Our Lord warned against the lack of faith in the last days:
    1. Said He, "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth" - Luke 18:8
    2. Faith - Bible based faith - Rom. 10:14-17; Christ centered faith - was that of the Centurion - Matt. 8:8-12
  2. The faith of the woman with the issue of blood:
    1. Saw in Christ the great compassion of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - Jesus recognized that and called her "Daughter" of Abraham" - Luke 13:16; 8:48
    2. Was meek and lowly - wanting only to touch the hem of His garment; said the Centurion, "I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof" - Matt. 8:8
  3. God's people are in need of the faith of the unnamed woman of our opening text:
    1. The faith that will lay hold of the great compassion of a merciful Saviour Examples: The father of the demon possessed son - Mark 9:19-24; the widow at Nain, to whom the Lord gave her son back from the dead - Luke 7:11-15; Bartimaeus - Mark 10:46-52
    2. The faith that appropriates God's gracious promises to His people, says the Lord "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not" - Jer. 33:3
    3. Oh for such a faith as possessed the woman that was cured from the incurable issue of blood - what we would see if that mighty faith dwelt in our lives.


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