Caught: Mark 5:33-34
We can’t always buy what we truly need. Deep down in our soul, we know this. Happiness cannot be bought; yet most of us sure try from time to time. Peace of mind cannot be bought, either. Friends cannot be bought. Eternal life cannot be bought. Relationship with God cannot be bought. Respect cannot be bought. Character cannot be bought. Come to think of it, apart from food, water, clothing, and shelter, what can we buy that we truly need?
The woman is found out. Although He knows what happened and who did it, Jesus calls out and asks who touched Him. He could have easily pointed at the woman and called her forward. Instead, He gives her an opportunity to choose to come forth on her own.
Put yourself in her shoes. If anyone knows you can’t often buy what you truly need, it would be her. She had spent all her money on one physician after another until it was gone without finding any kind of relief. Now, she is healed having arrived at the healing without asking and without paying for it. Worse, Jesus called her on it.
I can only imagine how she felt inside realizing she was caught. She couldn’t possibly pay Jesus if He demanded it. She had nothing left; that was why she was driven to act as she did. Can there be any wonder she came before Jesus in fear and trembling? Can there be any wonder she fell before Jesus in submission?
She tells Jesus the truth. She tells Him the whole story. She lays herself completely in the mercy of Jesus.
This is another reason why I love this woman’s story. She still has no name, yet she produces a wonderful model for being a leader. She accepts responsibility for her actions and comes forward. She tells the truth. She is willing to take whatever consequences happen to come her way. Here is an incredible witness in leadership indeed!
Jesus meets her where she is. He listens to her story, demonstrating He values her as a person. He calls her a daughter, communicating to this nameless woman she has a place in His own family. He acknowledges the power of God has made her well, but He extracts no fee for the healing. He tells the woman to go forth in peace.
The woman came forward in fear and trembling as she wondered what would be expected from her in exchange for the healing. Here is the power of God’s love: instead of demanding payment, Jesus continues to give. He gives her something no sum of money and no human could ever provide. She came to Jesus incurable. She walks away healed, belonging to a new family, and in peace.
We can’t always buy what we truly need.
