“Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” – Mark 5:29, NIV
“Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.” – Mark 5:29, NRSV
The way my story is told these days does a disservice to my suffering. I lived long ago with what today is euphemistically called “bleeding.” But it was so much more than that. If you read the account of my story in the Greek, the language it was first told in, you will see that I suffered from a pēgē of haima – a fountain of blood. Not just a flow of blood, but a gushing – an image of a violent, rapid river.
And, if you keep reading, you will see that the English words “suffering” and “disease” do not adequately describe the torture I endured. I suffered from a mastix, which in the Greek literally means “whip” or “scourge” or “plague.” I endured an affliction that caused me suffering akin to the pain and agony of being whipped.
The sickness from which Jesus’ healing power rescued me was a chronic affliction that tormented me. A malady that could not be easily seen by an outsider, so long as I kept my bleeding contained and clean. Still, my bleeding made me ritually impure. Not only did my neighbors not understand my suffering, but my faith community forbid me from joining in worship. I was in pain, sticky with blood, and isolated.
Yet, when I touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, the pain I had endured for so long, the hot stinging of my body whipping itself and the constant ache of plague, stopped. I immediately knew I was cured because I could feel the relief in my body. The agony of years of pain and loneliness was lifted.
You can never understand what that felt like, but if you hear my story – really hear it – you can come close.
Neglected Word 