Tag Archives: bleeding

MARK’S GOSPEL…THE TALITH – 15

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Mark 5:21, 24-25, 27-29 NIV

[21] “When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 

[24] So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. [25] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years…

[27] When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, [28] because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” [29] Immediately, her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.”

This beautiful story, so packed with symbolism and meaning, is often robbed of its significance if we do not understand the “tallit”.

The Israelites were simple in their understanding and use of language. They did not function in abstracts. They expressed their thoughts in pictures of everyday life. The things they saw, did, and used formed the basis of their understanding of spiritual truth. Hence, for example, God was, to them, not some elevated,  invisible Being with attributes of wisdom, grace, etc…however we, with our westen-orientated philosophical minds perceive God, but the one who was  “el”.  In their language, “el” was illustrated by an ox head and a shepherd’s staff, symbolising the one who had strength and authority.

So, God used “pictures”, symbols to teach them spiritual truth. In the early days of God’s association with Israel, He instructed His people to sew tassles, “tzitzit”, on the corners of their outer garment to remind them of the place of God’s “Torah” in their lives.

Google explains…

“In the Bible, tassels (Hebrew: tzitzit) are a tangible reminder of God’s commandments for the Israelites, symbolizing obedience, covenant, and their unique identity as God’s holy people. Worn on the corners of their garments, these fringes with a blue cord were a constant visual prompt for the Israelites to remember and obey God’s laws rather than follow their own desires.”

In Jesus’ day, the outer garment, called the “tallit”, was a kind of all-purpose poncho, used as a covering by day and a blanket at night which eventually devolved into a prayer shawl.

Google again,

“In the Bible, the tallit refers to a fringed garment, also known as a shawl or mantle, worn by Israelites to serve as a reminder of God’s commandments. The concept originates from God’s instruction to Moses to have the Israelites attach fringes (tzitzit) to the corners of their garments to remember God’s laws, as found in Numbers 15:37-40.’ “

Each tassel had five knots, symbolising the five books of Moses, and four spaces, reminding them of the four letters, YHWH, in God’s name.

The corners of the garment “kanaph”, on which the tassels were attached, were known as “wings”… so, Malachi prophesied that …

Malachi 4:2 NLT

[2] “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings (Hebrew, “kanaph”). And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.”

Now, let’s put this explanation into our story of the woman with the bleeding problem. Probably with Malachi’s prophecy on her heart, she wanted to touch the tzitzit on thae “kanaph” of Jesus’ tallit, believing she would be healed…

…so it happened, exactly as she believed! Her action was not some random idea that, if she touched Him because of His reputation as a healer, she would be healed. She placed her faith squarely in God’s word, believing that Jesus was the one Malachi prophesied to be “the Sun of Righteousness” who had healing in His 

Notice how Jesus responded to her action. He called her, “Daughter!” and linked her standing in Israel to her faith. 

Mark 5:33-34 NIV

[33] “Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. [34] He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Jesus recognised her as a member of the children of Israel, a true daughter of Abraham because…she believed in the truth of God’s word. 

This is a clear teaching of Scripture…

Galatians 3:26, 29 NIV

[26] “So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith… 

[29] If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Gods Word is never a hit-and-miss record of events but a carefully-woven tapestry of God and people, every detail a part of the whole. How important, then, that we read it all, trusting the Holy Spirit to be our Supreme Teacher, tying every detail together to give us understanding and to grow our faith in the author of this infallible and divinely-inspired book.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE POWER OF THE TALITH

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THE POWER OF THE TALITH

25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in pe Mark 5:25-34 

Despite this seeming interruption, there is a strong connection between these two miracles. Both stories focus on an aspect of the Messiah that is highlighted in Malachi 4:2. Encapsulated in the tassels (tsitsit) of the prayer shawl (talith) is the symbolism of everything that Messiah stood for; God’s name YHWH; God’s Word; God’s nature; and His unity in diversity. Everything that God is, was represented in the tassels.

When the woman with the issue of blood crawled through the crowd to get to Jesus, she had only one thing in mind, “Touch the tassels, touch the tassels.” according to Malachi 4:2, the kanaph – the corners of the talith – came to symbolise Messiah’s wings – the protective covering of God’s presence which represented restoration to wholeness – tekkun olam, fixing everything that was broken to the vanishing point.

The woman wanted to position herself to receive all the benefits that the tsitsit on the kanaph of the talith represented. She fastened her faith in the promise of Malachi’s prophecy.

There was an instant connection with the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus as she touched the tassels, and divine energy surged through her body, restoring everything in her body that was malfunctioning. Jesus knew it, felt it and used the opportunity to reassure her that her faith, although risky because she had violated the Torah by touching someone who was tahor – clean, had made the connection with God’s compassionate power. She had acted on Jesus yoke – His mercy and compassion – and it had paid off.

Jesus also used the opportunity to pave the way for permission to go into the room where the dead child lay. If the people around Him believed that He was tamai – unclean – , He would be permitted to enter her room, otherwise not. They did not know that He could never become tamai because everything He touched became tahor. Once again in the child’s presence, he used the talith to reveal His Messiahship.

An Agonising Interruption

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AN AGONISING INTERRUPTION

So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.

When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she had been freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realised that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ His disciples answered, and yet you ask, “Who touched me?”’ But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at His feet and, trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth. He said to her, ’Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’ (Mark 5: 24-34).

An intriguing story – two stories in tandem. There are some amazing similarities and contrasts in these two healings. One character, Jairus – an important man, a synagogue ruler – had a name. The other – an unknown woman with an embarrassing condition – was nameless. Jairus’s child was twelve years old. The woman had suffered her condition for twelve years, as long as the little girl had been on earth. Both conditions would have made Jesus, the rabbi, unclean had He touched them. Both produced miracles with equal ease.

Did you notice how He treated an important man and an unimportant woman with equal compassion and equal dignity? Jairus must have been angry and on tenterhooks while Jesus dealt with the woman. Hadn’t he got in first? Wasn’t his need far more urgent than hers? Why couldn’t she wait? In any case, what right had she, who was “unclean”, to come pushing in through the crowd? Now she had made everyone whom she touched unclean as well, including the Teacher. What a mess she had created by her appearance!

The woman, on the other hand, was terrified. She thought she could just creep in, touch Jesus and melt into the crowd, and no one would know what had happened. But Jesus didn’t do things that way. The moment He felt the power go from Him, He stopped everything. Why didn’t He just let her go and not embarrass her by calling attention to her presence? Ah, but Jesus was Jesus. Her little story fitted into a much bigger one.

He usually cautioned people who had been healed not to talk about it. Now He was making a fuss about who touched Him. Why was He so inconsistent? He had a reason. Jesus always had a reason. He was on His way to the house of Jaius where a dead child lay. It was forbidden for a rabbi to enter a room where there was death. What if the crowd, which He made aware that an “unclean” woman had touched Him, thought that He was unclean? There would have been no problem for Him to enter the room of the dead child then since He was unclean anyway.

He had a second reason for calling her to own up that she had touched Him. For twelve years she had been an outcast of society, shunned by everyone, confined to her house, perhaps even abandoned by her husband and children. After all, they did not want to live with an “unclean” person and be perpetually unclean as well. No matter what she tried, nothing helped her condition. She was trapped in a loveless situation until she was full of self-loathing.

Did you notice how Jesus called her “Daughter”? To Him she was not an unclean and shunned woman – the lowest of the low; she was God’s beloved daughter. He must have known who had touched Him but He wanted her to have the reassurance that, not only was her body healed but her heart as well. She was fully accepted as a member of God’s covenant family.

If the people thought that Jesus was already unclean, no one would have tried to stop Him from entering the room of the dead child. Hence the woman’s condition and Jesus’ insistence that she own up, paved the way for Him to raise the little girl from the dead without interference. Brilliant, don’t you think?

By the way, Jesus made a point of touching many unclean people but He never became unclean Himself because He always made the unclean clean! That’s how it was with Jesus! Brilliant again!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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