Pass Over to Another Side

Whenever the Scriptures speak of Jesus passing over to another side something new and important happens.

Mark 5:21-22 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto Him: and He was nigh unto the sea.
22 And, behold, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw Him, he fell at His feet.

Lord, give us that kind of humility.

Mark 5:23-24 And besought Him greatly, saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death: I pray Thee, come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be healed and she shall live.
24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed Him, and thronged Him.

As Jesus is going to Jairus’ house to minister to his little girl, something else happened on His way there.

Mark 5:25-26 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.

This woman had some kind of problem with an issue of blood, but spiritually speaking this has to do with something that is draining the life from this woman. This woman would represent the church. We’ll come back to this after we finish reading.

Mark 5:27-34 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched His garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the press, and said, Who touched My clothes?
31 And His disciples said unto Him, You see the multitude thronging Thee, and You say, Who touched Me?
32 And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth.
34 And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith has made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

After this, it gets back into the story of Jairus’ daughter, but I am more interested in this woman with the issue of blood so we will take Jairus’ daughter another time. Let’s go back to verse 25: And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years. Most often in the Scriptures when it talks about a particular woman, it is usually mystically speaking of the Church. So this woman is plagued with an issue of blood. The life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:14). Something is draining the life out of this woman, and so it is in the Church. Why isn’t the Church stronger today? Why doesn’t it have the authority it should have? Why does it not measure up to what the Scriptures say the Church should be? There is something draining the life out of the Church.

This woman had this condition for twelve years. Twelve is a governmental number. There were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles; twelve is a government number when you view it in a spiritual way. So this is an assault that is coming against the very government of God by attacking the Church and draining the life out of it. Mystically this is what this portion of Scripture is talking about.

The woman had the issue of blood for twelve years, had gone to many physicians, and spent all she had. Even so, the problem had only gotten worse. Then she heard about Jesus and saw Him coming. In verse 28, she said, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole. The interesting thing here is that the verb “said” is an imperfect verb, which means she said it over and over again, “If I can just touch His clothes, I’ll be whole. If I can just touch His clothes, I’ll be whole. If I can just touch His clothes, I’ll be whole. If I can just touch His clothes, I’ll be whole.” She was being driven by twelve years of drainage, so she is repeating it over and over.

And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague (verse 29). We often use this particular portion of Scripture as an example of appropriation. We talk about impartation as giving a blessing, but appropriation is when you take a blessing. So this is a good example of appropriation. All the time she is repeating this, “If I can but touch His clothes, if I can but touch His clothes,” she is appropriating in her spirit. And straightway – That is a key word in Mark’s Gospel. Straightway means quickness. Well, the woman had been waiting twelve years. Why should it take twelve years or even twelve months or twelve days to begin earnestly seeking the Lord for fulfillment of His Word?

It reminds me of Isaiah 62:1-2: For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace ... In other words, I’m going to keep saying it ... and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest ... We’re going to keep Jesus up late at night ...until the righteousness thereof goes forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns. Then it talks about all the blessings. And the Gentiles shall see Thy righteousness, and all kings Thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. More blessings in verse 6: I have set watchmen .... This is something the Lord does. He needs some people who will intercede. He needs some people who will proclaim the Word. He needs some people, some watchmen, who can see what the Lord is doing and say it over and over and over again. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silent. This is something that should be worked deep into our spirits, just like that little woman with the issue of blood: “If I can just touch His clothes. If I can just touch His clothes, I’ll be healed. I’ll be healed. I will be whole.” And give Him no rest, till He establishes, and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Isaiah 62:7. Even when Jesus is passing by and does not seem to notice you, keep speaking your faith.

Now let’s go back to Mark 5:30. And Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the press, and said, Who touched My clothes? Now, Jesus knew that the healing power or strength, virtue, or whatever it was, He realized that something of His spirit had been drawn forth and worked a miracle. But according to this, He did not know who did it. So He said, “Who touched Me?” But His disciples said, “There is a multitude around You and You are asking who touched You?” In verse 32, we see the imperfect verb again, And He looked..., which means He kept looking and He kept looking. “I’m going to find who it was.”

I tell you, you bombard the throne of grace like these watchmen who are set to not hold their peace and this little woman who kept saying, “If I can touch His clothes,” you get His attention and God says, “Who is that?” And He keeps looking until He finds you. And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing. The more exact translation from the Greek would be: He kept looking. He just kept looking 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 thy plague. The Greek says, Go into peace. It is like peace is another realm. Go into peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Then the Scripture breaks here and gets back to Jairus’ daughter. But there are some interesting things here. This woman knew what she was after and she kept voicing it. We assume that she actually touched the Lord’s clothes, but whether she touched His clothes or not her spirit reached out and appropriated what she needed.

Now, I would like to look at this at both sides. The Church needs the faith of that little woman. That means those of us right here in this room need the faith of that little woman. We need the persistence. Most people are not persistent because they don’t know what they are supposed to have, what lies ahead, and even if they see it they don’t see it and want it enough to be persistent to get it. Sometimes it might take more than twelve years. “I’ve had enough of this life being drained out of me!” When are we going to say no more futility and start speaking against it? But the woman kept reaching in to draw the thing that she needed. There is a faith there that appropriates and we need that kind of faith to appropriate.

There has to be a spiritual awareness that we come into, because most of us I dare say do not have any idea what we need or what we should be and don’t have a revelation of what we have been called to be. We are not bombarding heaven to become the thing that God wants us to be because we do not have any idea what it is, don’t know anything about it. So God has to wake us up with about twelve years of life being drained out of us! What I’m saying is there has to be the faith, the revelation to know what you need, the faith to reach out and take it. Learn how to move in the Spirit. Learn how to exercise your spirit. Learn awareness with your spirit just like Paul said in Romans 1:9: For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit.... We must become aware of our spirit and learn how to function with our spirit so that it is our spirit reaching to touch the Lord.

Now, we do not have Jesus standing here in a little crowd so we can see Him, but He is here. His presence is here. His life is here and we must learn how to reach out and touch Him with our spirit. If we cannot touch Him, we can touch what belongs to Him; touch His clothes because they carry His presence. Jesus is clothed with the Body of Christ. Reach out and touch the presence of the Lord that is within the saints and receive what you need.

Like the woman with the issue of blood the church has been drained of its life by spiritual forces. Many have spoken of the futility they feel that drains them of their spiritual life. It is satanically designed to keep the church from becoming what God wants it to be. It is time to be like the woman in our text. Keep voicing your victory. “I’m going to touch Him; I’m going to touch Him; I’m going to touch Him. And when I do I am going to be whole. I’m going to touch Him.” Next thing you know the Lord is saying, “Somebody touched Me with a persistent faith. I’ve wondered if I would find that kind of faith” (Luke 18:8). The woman in Luke 18 went to the unjust judge and said, “Avenge me of my adversary.” She kept going and kept going and kept going until the judge gave her what she wanted. Also in Luke 11:5-9 the man who went to his neighbor’s house beating on the door in the middle of the night cried out, “Get up! Get up! I need bread! I have a visitor that has come a long way.” The neighbor replied, “Leave me alone. I’ve already gone to bed. My children are asleep.” The man kept knocking and because of his persistence the neighbor got up and gave him all that he needed. Jesus ended the story by saying, And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Lord, teach us to be those who will not give You any rest until you make Your church a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:7). We will keep speaking judgment upon the futility. We will keep rejecting the works of the enemy. We will keep rejecting our own fleshly nature that opposes us, and we will keep crying out to You until You make us a praise in the earth. It is time to pass over to another side, the side of persistent faith! Amen.

Back