28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.” 29 Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

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

31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say,‘Who touched me? ’ ”

32 But he was looking around to see who had done this.

Mark 5:28-32

The Hiding Woman (Mark 5:28-32)

I believe there is something surprising right in front of us in this passage. I want to to imagine what this woman looked like:

• She's been afflicted by this debilitating disease for 12 years
• She's spent all of her financial resources in attempts to get better
• Instead of getting better, she's getting worse

What does she look like? What does she smell like? How is she dressed? Do you see her?You might imagine that she is skinny, pale, and emaciated; her clothes look a little ragged, maybe even a little dirty from the dust and dirt on her journey to get to Jesus; she might even have that stench of not being able to care for herself. She probably sticks out like a sore thumb.

Yet, no one knows that she is sick because the woman is hiding.

Leviticus 15:25-27 states, 25 “When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, though it is not the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, as she is during the days of her menstruation. 26 Any bed she lies on during the days of her discharge will be like her bed during menstrual impurity; any furniture she sits on will be unclean as in her menstrual period. 27 Everyone who touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening." According to the Levitical law, this woman was prohibited from being around people. She would not have been able to make her way into the town square because of her ailment and the social stigma that surrounded her.Further, when Jesus asked 'Who touched me?', none of the disciples went. 'You know what, it's probably the skinny, pale, emaciated, sick-looking girl over there!' No...nobody knows that she's suffering because of her hiding.We can learn a lot from this woman.

So often, our first reaction to sin and suffering is insulating and hiding. We do not want anyone to know what is happening inside us.

The healing of this woman and our healing is wrapped up in our willingness to acknowledge our sin, confess it to Jesus, and believe in faith that he can make us well.Today, if you are hiding, the encouragement is to come out of hiding and come to Jesus.