Mark 5:25
And a certain woman¹,
which had an issue² of blood
twelve years³,
¹) The word used here is used for a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow.
²) A flowing issue.
³) Denotes a year as a division or sectional portion of time.
Other translations:
And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, [AMP] And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, [ESV] A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years-- [MSB] And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, [KJV] A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. [NIV] And there was a woman in the crowd who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years. [NLT] Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, [NKJV]
Some further information:
An issue of blood.
A hemorrhage either from the bowels or the womb, probably the latter.
Now let us reflect on this
Jairus is not the only one who comes to Jesus for help.
There is also a woman who does that.
Who is she? Her name is not mentioned. We do read about her ailment. She is suffering from severe blood loss. For twelve years. This has seriously weakened her.
She has already done a lot, because in Luke 8:43 we read that she spent all her living on medical help, but she did not benefit from it; it had even gotten worse.
It costed her a lot of money, but it didn’t work. Markus even says that she suffered a lot on the part of the doctors. (Mark 5:26)
It was an extremely sad and hopeless situation for her.
There is no cure for her. That has become clear to her after all these years.
And besides that, there is also the aspect that her illness, according to the law, excludes her from all religious interaction. She is Levitically unclean.
So she is also an outcast and therefore very lonely.
She carries her cross alone!
This woman is the image of a helpless sinner who has become unclean because of sin and who has nothing, to help himself of his ailment.
Have you recognized your image in this woman?
It is hopeless. Whatever you try, nothing works.
Where could you go? Is there any advice? Yes, to Jesus!
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