Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We return to Mark 5:29-34 and the healing of a woman afflicted with chronic illness: “And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that virtue [power] had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the press, and said, ‘Who touched My clothes?’ And His disciples said unto Him, ‘Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, “Who touched Me?”’ And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. And He said unto her, ‘Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of the plague.’” A couple of divine attributes are winsomely displayed by Jesus here. First, He is omnipotent. His power healed this woman and was not at all diminished. The “virtue” (literally, “power”) that went “out of Him” did not even slightly decrease His almighty strength. Rather, this statement means that His power was efficacious, going forth from Him to accomplish this necessary task – a work that only divine omnipotence could perform. Second, Jesus is omniscient. He knew who had touched Him (verse 32). He was simply drawing out a full declaration of her faith. He was not embarrassing her: He spoke to her gently, using the tender expression “Daughter” (verse 34) – the only instance in Scripture of Jesus using this term of endearment to a woman. His statement to her – “Go in peace” – is a powerful benediction, a promise of His eternal best to her. She came to Jesus for healing, received that, and received far more. This lady’s experience of the goodness of the Savior is a picture of ours as well.