Fringe Benefits

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay, friends. We have kids that are like our oldest kids are all fairly close in age. So my oldest is turning 12 in 15 days. [00:00:10] Speaker B: Fifth grade. [00:00:10] Speaker A: Fifth grade. [00:00:11] Speaker C: My oldest is going to be a teenager pretty soon. [00:00:13] Speaker A: That's right. August is older than Elise even. Okay. But my kids go to public school and yours are homeschooled. And so I'm curious, as homeschool moms, do your kids come home with some of the crazy weird middle school slang? [00:00:30] Speaker B: Mine don't. [00:00:32] Speaker A: No. Okay. [00:00:32] Speaker B: No, they have like a homeschool co op that they go to, but like they aren't coming home with words that I don't know what they are. [00:00:39] Speaker A: Okay. [00:00:39] Speaker C: Mine, mine don't either. But my oldest just started school this fall, like public school for the first time. So this is all like a brand. This is a brand new world. [00:00:49] Speaker A: Oh, just wait. [00:00:49] Speaker C: So I'm anxious to learn some of the words because I don't know anything. [00:00:53] Speaker A: We're gonna have to have a follow up conversation. [00:00:55] Speaker B: You can't use a word if you [00:00:56] Speaker A: don't know what it means. [00:00:57] Speaker C: Oh, that's a good rule. [00:00:58] Speaker B: And so that way if they don't know it, start some interesting conversations because they do hear words, but. [00:01:03] Speaker A: And then they want to know the meaning. Meaning. I can see that going down some fun rabbit trails. [00:01:08] Speaker C: Do you know some of the slang, Cheyenne? [00:01:11] Speaker A: Well, I'm learning some of it. So I mean, I think probably some. I'm sure I am not going to use them all correctly. Okay. A few of them teach me especially like as it relates maybe to like threads, you know, to what you're wearing. A couple of them would be like, so cringe. Oh, you've heard. Have your kids use the word cringe? Thankfully. Okay. [00:01:34] Speaker B: But I would imagine it's bad. [00:01:36] Speaker A: Yeah, cringe is light. Cringe is bad. Cringe is like that's disgusting. I would never wear that, like you know, covered garments. [00:01:44] Speaker B: Okay. [00:01:45] Speaker C: That's pretty cringe. [00:01:47] Speaker A: And then like we're looking, if we're looking at a spectrum a little better than that, but still really offensive is to be like a. So middle, you know, and you just say it with like just disinterest and just like, like kind of like middle [00:01:58] Speaker B: of the road, like not great, not bad, just like average. [00:02:00] Speaker A: I mean, I think that's what it means. But it's like not good to be mid. Because nowadays you want. Exactly, you need to be, I don't know, more than mid. Mid. With some riz. I don't know, don't want to be mid. Ris. Right. [00:02:15] Speaker C: Don't want to be mid-30s. That's Rashad. [00:02:17] Speaker A: 30s. So. And then there's like. Like, Riz would be like, charisma. You've heard Riz has been around for a while, right? [00:02:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:02:27] Speaker B: Isn't there, like a candy that's like Riz or Razz? Razzles. [00:02:31] Speaker A: That's what it makes me think of. Isn't that like a. Yeah, yeah. Nice try. Okay. [00:02:35] Speaker B: I fell flat. [00:02:36] Speaker C: Whatever helps make the connection. [00:02:37] Speaker B: Is that cringe? [00:02:39] Speaker A: I have a feeling this whole thing is going to be cringe, so we're just gonna embrace it, you know? What's the other one that. Okay. Based Brian just, you know, shared with us. My kids have not said that one yet, but, like, really great. Cool. [00:02:54] Speaker B: So it's good to be based. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Based. Have you heard chewy? [00:02:58] Speaker B: No. Nope. [00:02:59] Speaker A: Okay. I just looked this up because I was like. I don't know how to even explain it again. Chewy. Chuggy, Chewy. [00:03:06] Speaker B: Okay. [00:03:07] Speaker A: C H e like Cheyenne, but U G Y makes me talking to loogie for some reason. I know it sounds terrible. Okay. Okay. This says bark Us used to describe something. Someone or something that is basic. Oh, basic is offensive, too. [00:03:22] Speaker B: That's like, basic. All right. [00:03:24] Speaker A: She's got. Stephanie is. She's. She's a little cringe. Okay, so what are. Something that is basic, out of date or trying too hard? Trying too hard is kind of, I think. Okay. Yeah. I was just looking up to see some of the other ones. I mean, skibidi. Oh, my word. My son. Okay, let me just. Let me just put it out there that, like, my kids, we do not have. They do not have TikTok. They don't have social media. They don't even have personal screen time unless it's, like, to read a book. So they are picking these up from their peers who do have TikTok and whatnot. And I can't say I'm very thrilled about it. Like, I don't really need to be up on the latest. [00:04:02] Speaker B: Does your husband know it because he's a school teacher. Does he like, you have your own dictionary. [00:04:07] Speaker A: Just be like, hey, Tyler, I know. He does. He does. Yeah. And he just, like, doesn't even want to talk about it, so. Oh, here's one more. Okay. Ick factor. Oh, okay. That one. [00:04:20] Speaker B: Yep. [00:04:23] Speaker A: I just. [00:04:23] Speaker C: I did learn one recently. [00:04:25] Speaker A: What did you learn? [00:04:26] Speaker C: Big backed. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. That's really offense. That's really. Eventually, like, if you, like, get, like, [00:04:31] Speaker C: too much food or something, you're like, big backed. [00:04:35] Speaker A: Well, I think it means fat. [00:04:36] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:37] Speaker A: But Like. [00:04:37] Speaker C: Like a fat. I think people use it more not to directly call someone fat, but to make. Maybe they're making fat choices. Like, you know what I mean? I don't know. Maybe I'm not using that word. [00:04:49] Speaker A: Okay, let's do one. Let's do one more. Okay. I can't even decide. I'm looking through these. I'm like, oh, yeah, okay. This is one that I was like. This meant a totally different word. What did preppy mean to you growing up? [00:05:02] Speaker B: Kind of honestly, like, the mean girls that were all in the crowd that had, like, this super, like, in trendy stored clothing. [00:05:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Like American Eagle polos that are like. [00:05:13] Speaker C: It's a little bad. [00:05:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Huh. Huh. Okay, so now when they say preppy, they mean something that's a lot more, like, specific. It says this Elise, again, had. Thankfully, she does not use these words, but she knows what they all mean, and my son will try using them. And she's like, mom, you tell him not to say that. Preppy, it says, used to refer to a particular aesthetic that involves girly, bright colored clothes and popular name brands like Lulu, Lululemon, and Stanley. And so, like. Yeah, and like, I think the other one is, like, those smiley face things. You know, the yellow smiley face. Like, I think of the Walmart. Like, I think of Walmart when I see a smiley face. But like, yeah, now they're like, cool in the preppy vibe of the. They're based. Anyways. Okay, all right. Why are we. [00:06:07] Speaker C: Okay, why are we talking about that? [00:06:11] Speaker A: Just a quiz. No, I'm not. [00:06:13] Speaker B: I failed. [00:06:14] Speaker A: No, just because. Okay, our scripture today is from the book of Mark, and I think that there's some, like, cringe factor maybe would be one word you could use. Cringe factor. Cringe. What was the other factor? Ick factor. Well, there's a little ick factor in some of what we're going to talk about today, but there's, like, a lot of, like, redemption in it too. And so don't worry, friends, we are not going to be using middle school slang throughout our whole. [00:06:44] Speaker C: Well, maybe we'll see. [00:06:57] Speaker A: Welcome to the Gospel Threads podcast, where we uncover gospel themes woven through all of scripture and explore what they mean for our lives today. The story that we're talking about today is from Mark 5, and it is a story of the bleeding woman. So we might also talk about periods. Friends, just to warn you or, I don't know, maybe give you a little [00:07:22] Speaker B: bit of a Bible talks about it. We're gonna talk about it. [00:07:27] Speaker A: So to start, can One of you guys give us just a little bit of background of what before we meet this bleeding woman. Like, what's going on in the story. [00:07:38] Speaker C: Sure, yeah, I can. So Jesus has been really busy and active in his ministry. He just healed a man with a demon and sent a bunch of demons into a herd of pig and they went over a cliff. So that just happened. And then he came back on a boat. And when he got off the boat, there was a leader from the synagogue there named Jairus. [00:08:02] Speaker A: J.Y. jairus. Jairus. Jairusa. We have heard it now. How many different times? [00:08:08] Speaker B: At least four different ways. And then what vowel you enunciate? [00:08:11] Speaker C: The ESV audio version says J Iris. So pick your favorite one. I think I'm gonna go with J Iris. Cause that's pretty fun. So he's this leader, and he comes and he's like, my daughter is dying. Please Jesus, come and save her and heal her. And so he's on his way to go heal this girl. It says that she's about 12 years old when he meets this woman. [00:08:35] Speaker A: Except that he doesn't exactly, like, meet her. And they're like, hey, this is so and so meet. So, you know, it's not like they were intro. They didn't have a proper introduction, really. It was actually a very undercover under. Undercover is a good word for it. Yeah. So, okay, let's. Can we get started? So, you guys, I really am a word nerd. And like alliteration. And I just saw alliteration in this story. So I actually, like, see in here kind of a little bit of structure. So I broke the passage down into, all right, her problem. Okay? Her plan, her pickle, and her profit. So can one of you guys read Mark 5, 25 through 26 for us? And this is her problem. [00:09:22] Speaker C: Yes, I will read that. Okay, so here is verse 25 and 26. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. [00:09:43] Speaker A: Thank you, you guys. I just have to say, I. When I read this about this woman, I have so much empathy for her. Like, I don't know what your, you know, period experiences, but I have had just since I was a teenager such painful, painful periods. And so I even had, like, a couple years ago, I had an ablation done. [00:10:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I had had that too before I had kids. Endometriosis with all kinds of stuff. And yeah, painful, like curl up into a ball on the couch for the first couple days. [00:10:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And I know this isn't like, her period is just a discharge of blood, so we don't know necessarily, like, how. How heavy the flow was, if this was, like, debilitating for her or if it just meant that she was ceremonially unclean, but it was life changing. I kind of imagine her. Yeah, I kind of imagine that it was pretty debilitating. And. Go ahead. [00:10:37] Speaker C: Well, what do we know about her? Like, what. What can we, like, pick up on from. From these couple verses here? [00:10:43] Speaker A: Well, I mean, I kind of think it's insinuating that she actually had quite a bit of money because it says that she had suffered much under many positions and had spent all she had. [00:10:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:54] Speaker A: So I think she came. She probably came from some money because it's not like women really had their own wealth in this day and age. So I think that she had. She came for money from her family, probably, and had spent all of it trying to get healed. [00:11:13] Speaker C: Can you imagine, like, having hope and then just being disappointed? Probably over and over again? [00:11:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:19] Speaker B: Well, I know with some of the stuff we've gone through with my husband's health issues, you go to doctors and physicians going, oh, you can help me. Like, you can figure out what's wrong. And then when they can't, it is so disheartening. You, like, unless you've gone through it, which a lot of us have. Right. Like, I think we sometimes picture a doctor as almost as like, somebody. I mean, honestly, we can make an idol out of them to say, you can fix this. And when they can't, your whole, like, world, in some ways, is just shattered. And I would imagine that's how she feels. Of every doctor you go to, you kind of like, well, maybe they're going to figure it out. Maybe they're going to figure it out. You know, the last one didn't work out, but now I have hope for this one. And so I just look at that and I put myself in her shoes of. She's gone through this for 12 years. [00:12:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:03] Speaker B: I mean, we just read that, like, the. The daughter that J. Iris, it says she was 12. Like, imagine, like her entire lifetime is this woman suffering. And I just think that's crazy that we have a 12 and a 12. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that's interesting. [00:12:17] Speaker B: And that's. [00:12:18] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:18] Speaker A: Well, and you got to imagine, I mean, this was, like, probably then. It's not like this. This was probably like her prime meeting fellas stage of life, you know, marrying age. That was a weird way to say it. I Guess that was cringe. [00:12:35] Speaker B: Arranged marriages, most likely back then or something. [00:12:38] Speaker A: But she probably. But I mean, like the. [00:12:40] Speaker B: Wasn't though, right? [00:12:41] Speaker A: I mean, it doesn't. How could her father. How could her father offer, like, arrange a marriage for her if she was constantly. Well, so I guess that leads us to. We should talk about the. Even just this. What does it mean for her socially that she was bleeding for 12 years straight? I think we can go to. Is it Leviticus? Is it 15? Leviticus 15 has the layer because she's [00:13:05] Speaker B: living under the Levitical laws at this point. And so looking at like in the Old Testament, in Leviticus of what the stipulations were of God's law, of what happens when you're bleeding or on your monthly period. I think it's Leviticus 15, we say 22. So this woman, it says whoever touches anything on which she sits has to wash their clothes. They have to bathe themselves in water. So her reality is, is that anybody that she touches, not only is she unclean, but they become unclean. [00:13:36] Speaker A: And so what does that mean, unclean? Because, like, I think. I think that when, you know, earlier in my faith, when I heard unclean, I would have thought like guilt, like, that they were somehow. God saw someone who was unclean as not worthy of, you know. Yeah. [00:13:54] Speaker B: Which is not. Which is. I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah. Because it's not that she's unworthy. So they had certain things that they had to do to come into the temple. And if you were unclean, if you had anything that the Bible would lay out as what's considered unclean, it means not that you had to feel guilt, but that you were not allowed to enter into the temple of where she would have been able to go to. So she, if she is a Jewish woman, would not have made. Able to go to the place of worship to offer sacrifices for people, to offer sacrifices on her behalf. And that's a big deal. Like, imagine if we were told, like, you can't come to church. Like, that would be devastating because you're on your period. [00:14:33] Speaker C: Even more so because God's spirit wasn't dwelling in all of his people at this time, it was dwelling in the temple. So to be close to God, like, you had to go to the temple [00:14:44] Speaker A: and to be with his people. I mean. [00:14:46] Speaker C: Yeah. Fellowship with other. [00:14:48] Speaker A: Other believers. Yeah. So this was very. This is very hard for her. And I think it's important to like, to realize that these laws for uncleanness, there were. There were multiple purposes, like some of it was for hygiene, like, for hygiene and safety. But some of it was because, like, blood was never a part of God's plan in Eden. [00:15:08] Speaker B: And I think that's a great point because this isn't God being mean, saying that she's unclean and not able to come into the temple. There were reasons as to why God didn't want, for variety of reasons to come into the temple in certain states. So I think that's really helpful that [00:15:22] Speaker A: you bring that up. So this is, like, symbolic. Like the temple is the dwelling place of God. And so this is a symbol of how uncleanness, unholiness cannot be in the presence of a holy, perfect, clean God. So it was just. It was meant to just keep that all of all. I mean, there's more than just this. There's all kinds of different things that can make some a person, quote, unclean and all. All of it was about a symbol, not necessarily their guilt. There were, of course, laws for that also. But here, in this case, it's not that she. It's not saying anything about her guilt or her sin. [00:16:02] Speaker C: So I have a couple other questions. So, Cheyenne, I know you've studied this passage a lot because you recently spoke on it. So I'm gonna throw some curve balls at you, and if you don't know, that's okay. But just to help us, like, really put ourself in her shoes, she. So today we have all kinds of products that are discreet to help us when we're dealing with this. [00:16:21] Speaker A: Are you gonna ask me my favorite one? [00:16:23] Speaker C: No, I'm not gonna ask me your favorite one. [00:16:25] Speaker A: I'm gonna answer. Okay, maybe later, but. [00:16:27] Speaker C: Okay. [00:16:29] Speaker A: No. [00:16:29] Speaker C: Do you know how they would have physically managed that? I don't wanna get too graphic, but, like, I'm sure it was probably a lot more obvious and not as discreet. [00:16:40] Speaker A: Like. Do you know, Stephanie? Do you know. [00:16:43] Speaker B: Well, I think so. There's verses in the Bible where it talks about our good deeds being regs. And that's usually the connotation of. It is. It's menstrual rags. So that leads me to believe that they had fabric that they would use to absorb the blood, which is very different than, like, the disposable types that we have here today. And so I would think that it's. It's. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's. It's actual fabric that would either need to be then, like, burned or thrown away or washed and reused. And I would imagine if she doesn't have any money because she has spent all she had on the physicians that haven't healed her. She would not have the option to throw it away and get new. She would probably be left with cleaning it herself time and time and time [00:17:29] Speaker C: again, over and over again. [00:17:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I'm trying to remember. I don't want to say something that's. That's wrong, but I feel like when I was reading Leviticus, so I didn't, I didn't, I didn't do that. I didn't cover that in my study or in my message that I use this story for. But I even think that they could go to like some kind of like, structure. Like some kind of structure. Some kind of place where they could go during their period too and then come back. [00:18:01] Speaker C: Vacation. [00:18:02] Speaker A: I know that's not nice. Vacation I'm on clean. I have to go be alone. Like that sounds terrible, right? I don't quote me on that. I need to go. [00:18:11] Speaker C: I need to look through that. [00:18:12] Speaker A: I've heard that before too though, because I remember thinking about it and being like, actually what a grace that would be. Like, man, when I'm. When you're not feeling well, to be able to like just go. To be removed. [00:18:23] Speaker B: Well, and logistically too, like in Liberty, because it talks about like the bed you sit on is unclean. Right. [00:18:28] Speaker A: Everything. [00:18:28] Speaker B: Like the beds, like the chairs you sit on, things you touch. And so like for your family's sake. [00:18:34] Speaker A: Yeah, you. [00:18:35] Speaker B: It would be easier. [00:18:37] Speaker C: I think some of it was a [00:18:39] Speaker A: little bit of a grace to. I do actually think, you know, the Bible is so full of passages that also are just like giving dignity and honor to women in a culture that. [00:18:50] Speaker B: That didn't. [00:18:50] Speaker C: Protecting them in a vulnerable. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Yes, yes. And so I think I remember reading in Leviticus and really seeing these things in a new light of like, how kind of the Lord to like give her some, you know, maybe knowing that we're moody on our periods, give us some alone time a little bit more. So I don't know, just, just seeing it a little bit that way. But for her, like, this is constant. Constant. This is constant being on the outskirts and not belonging and having to be like really kind of protective of other people and self protective and yeah, she, she, she was very much marginalized. [00:19:34] Speaker B: I wonder how like that she thought about herself. Because you would. Whenever you're like, if you go out, which I would think she would have to. Right? Like she would have to constantly be thinking of other people and feeling like a burden that I have to keep everything to myself because If I even touch somebody else, they're then unclean. And I can only imagine what that would do to her mental state as to how she viewed herself, which is really hard. [00:19:58] Speaker C: I have another question about that too, because as I was thinking about this woman, I also was thinking about the people that would have, like, leprosy during this time and how I feel like her experience was probably similar to theirs in that, like you said, she was marginalized. She would have been a little bit of an outcast, very isolated, because she couldn't get other people unclean by touching them. So do you guys know when a person with leprosy walked through town, they had to shout unclean, Unclean. So that people would know not to touch them? [00:20:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:33] Speaker C: Do you know if there was any type of, like, outward thing? [00:20:36] Speaker A: I don't think there was an outward thing that they had to do. [00:20:39] Speaker C: They just had to be really careful not to touch others. [00:20:42] Speaker B: Because I think leprosy is contagious by touch, too. [00:20:45] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a little bit more contagious by touc. [00:20:49] Speaker B: Know what she would have had to do. But the text doesn't say she is doing that. [00:20:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:53] Speaker B: Not to give away the story. [00:20:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:56] Speaker A: The other thing, I mean, okay, going back to, like, how she spent all of her money, like, you know, it's. It's so defeating when you're looking at. I'm looking at you, Steph, too, because I think you've probably experienced this more than us of going to doctor after doctor, like, door to door, making phone calls, and you're trying to find the right. The right answers and the right solutions and the right treatments and the right medication and the right whatever. And if it works, was worth all the money and all the work. And if it doesn't, you just feel like, why did I waste all that money? Like, I could have. What else could I have done? Like, what else could I have done with that money? And I. I imagine her thinking, like, what have I done? [00:21:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:33] Speaker A: Because here she had. She had money that she could have at least maybe lived comfortably or more comfortably in. In. In dealing with her condition. But here, now she's, like, not healed and broke, has no money and no husband to support her, because if she marries the guy, he's. They're not going to be able to have. They're. They're probably not gonna be able to be intimate sex, to be intimate, to have children. Like, I think we can assume infertility here for sure. And. Yeah, so she's just. She's alone. She's very Lonely, I imagine so. Okay, let's keep reading. Versus 27 to 29 is her plan. I. I really love this woman. Like, she just. I feel like. I feel like I'm just like her. She's such a planner. She, like, had this plan. She's trying to arrange for her healing, like, and trying to. Trying everything that she can. Right. She's going to be her own advocate. And then that has not worked. But she hears about Jesus and she's like, maybe. Maybe this will work. Like, I have one. One last plan. And so she's. She's desperate, right? And this wouldn't cost anything because she doesn't have anything at this point. And so she. Her plan is to touch his garments. [00:22:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Not even to go, like, talk to him, just. [00:22:51] Speaker A: I know. [00:22:52] Speaker B: Which is a. [00:22:52] Speaker C: No. No. [00:22:53] Speaker B: To touch the garments because it makes him unclean. So that's kind of like. [00:22:57] Speaker A: I don't know if it does, actually, because I think it's her. Her bed, her garments, her. If he touched her stuff or if they touched. If. [00:23:07] Speaker B: Oh, interesting. I guess I've never thought about that with the story, because I assumed that it would. [00:23:12] Speaker A: I think that's why she wants to just touch his garments, because then that way, okay, she won't make him, but she might, like, bump into other people. [00:23:18] Speaker C: This is a whole crowd pressing in on Jesus. So I feel like we can assume that she's kind of elbowing her way [00:23:25] Speaker A: through the crowd a little. I think she is probably technically making other people unclean around her, or she's at least risking that because desperate. But she's. So she's gonna try to touch his garment so that she doesn't make him unclean. She can just get in and out, you know, without being noticed. And the other thing. The other thing about this is, like, what do you wear. What do you wear when you're bleeding constantly and you don't. You know, I imagine part of her plan was also trying to conceal her condition. Condition and wear dark clothes or. You know, I would think she's. [00:24:05] Speaker B: She realizes time is of the essence. She's got to be quick before things start being noticeable to other people. [00:24:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So she really does have to, like, come up with a plan for how to get access to him. And probably this. Yeah, this crowd is a huge. Is a huge obstacle to her. To her plan. But it says. I mean, it says that her plan. Her plan worked immediately. The flow dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. So she. It must have been. She must have been able to feel. [00:24:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:36] Speaker A: So much better. [00:24:37] Speaker B: I can't imagine, like, what went through her mind that time, because I would imagine after, like, 12 years of having the hope and being like, but it didn't work, that you would almost kind of be like, shielding yourself for more pain and being like, okay, the physicians haven't worked. I'm gonna go touch Jesus's garment. But I would imagine, like, there's this aspect of her that, I mean, like, was hoping it would work, but kind of believed that it wouldn't. [00:25:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:03] Speaker B: And so, like, to actually, like, feel. [00:25:05] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. [00:25:06] Speaker B: That worked. [00:25:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:07] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. [00:25:08] Speaker A: Like, that. [00:25:08] Speaker B: I just can't. I think you're right. [00:25:10] Speaker A: I think you're right that she, like, had hope but wasn't necessarily believing that this for sure would work. I mean, she'd seen. I suppose she'd seen evidence of him healing other people. But there's probably in the back of your mind, too, of, like, I don't. I don't deserve it. Like, there are other people more deserving than I am. Like, Gius is. Exactly. [00:25:33] Speaker C: But it tells us. We haven't read it yet, but it tells us further down that, like, she was healed because of her faith and. [00:25:39] Speaker A: Oh, you're giving away something. I was gonna go to. [00:25:41] Speaker C: Okay, well, I. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Can we save it? Can we put a pin in it? Okay. Don't forget what you're gonna say, though. Will you remember? Yeah, yeah. Don't forget. [00:25:47] Speaker C: I remember. [00:25:48] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. Mental. Post it. Note. Got it. Okay, let's go ahead. Let's finish. Let's. Let's read 30 to 31. And this is her pickle, because. Okay. [00:25:58] Speaker B: Can I ask a question a second, though? [00:26:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:00] Speaker B: So we talked last week about the high priestly garments having different things. Is there something unique or special about her touching, like, the fringe of, like, the garment? Like, is there a reason that it says, like, where she touched? Or do you think it's just showing the story? [00:26:16] Speaker A: Yes. I didn't talk about this in my message, but I do remember reading about it, that the fringe on their garments, on a Hebrew man's garments, was meant to signify God's holiness. And so there's a. There's an aspect of this that she. This is actually really significant. Mic drop moment. Ready, guys? Yeah. She doesn't make him unclean. He makes her clean. So. But that's a little bit of, like, foreshadowing of what happens next, too, or at the end of the story, but. Okay, can we read 30 to 31? Her pickle? Yeah. I'LL read that because it seems like everything's good, right? Like, now she can go home. Yeah, she's healed. [00:26:58] Speaker B: The story doesn't end here, though. [00:26:59] Speaker A: But it's like, after, he could go save the dog. No, she's got it. She's an all pickle. [00:27:04] Speaker C: All right, here we go. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately, turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, you see their crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, who touched me? [00:27:23] Speaker A: Okay, so she has a. Yes, good word for it. Good word for it. She, like, has a decision to make here. Like, does she anonymously get out of. What's it called? Get out of dodge, you know, run away? Or does she. Does she admit what she did? And I just. I just think, okay, bringing it, like, [00:27:52] Speaker C: real [00:27:54] Speaker A: personal here, that we all have things that we're like, okay, I had this. I had this sin. Not that she was sinning by what she did, but I have this. I have this sin or this thing, and I think it's taken care. Like, I think I've. I think I've taken care of it. And now can I just, like, can I just tuck it away and just forget about it and just, like, move on? Can I just move on from it? Do I really have to bring it to light? Do I really have to come face to face with it? And what Jesus is doing here is not looking to condemn her and be like, who did that? Right. I think, like, that's how we can read it. Is like, oh, no, he's mad. [00:28:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:35] Speaker A: Like, I've been. I'm busted. [00:28:37] Speaker B: Right. [00:28:37] Speaker A: And, like, prepared for the worst. And so she has to decide, like, am I going to prepare for the worst? Because not only, like, think about the risks that are here. Not only, like, the risks of Jesus being angry and condemning her. She was just touching, like, she was in a crowd, pressing up again. I mean, like you said, Ally pressing up against a bunch of people. And so she. I mean, there's a crowd of people. [00:29:04] Speaker B: Well, at this point, he's powerful, so his retaliation would actually be one to be feared because she has heard everything that he's done, which is why she's going to him. So, like, the fear factor of, oh, my goodness, I'm busted is probably higher with Jesus than it would have been for somebody else, too. [00:29:23] Speaker A: Yeah. So the stakes are. The stakes are really high here. I think it's really important that we know the stakes are high. And she has a choice. She could still go off anonymously and just be healed and live her life and move on. [00:29:40] Speaker B: And the disciples kind of play into that. Like, they offer her that escape, like, Jesus, what are you talking about? [00:29:45] Speaker A: Like, we're in a crowd. [00:29:46] Speaker B: Of course somebody touched you. So she kind of even has this, like, shield that she could have hid behind you that the disciples unknowingly gave her. [00:29:54] Speaker A: Yes. Okay, so let's go on and read 32 to 34 to find out what she. What she decides. [00:29:59] Speaker B: Okay, I can read that. And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. [00:30:10] Speaker A: Okay, pause for a second. It told him what? [00:30:13] Speaker C: The whole truth. [00:30:14] Speaker A: The whole truth. Like, how many of us, too, like, when we're confessing something, we, like, kind [00:30:20] Speaker B: of leave out some parts. [00:30:21] Speaker A: Leave out some parts. Like, you know, and she came in fear and trembling, but she told him the whole truth, which is just like. [00:30:31] Speaker C: Don't you just want. I just want to go hug her. I know she's shaking on the ground, terrified and. [00:30:36] Speaker B: Yeah, isn't that what we're called to do when you're in a witness? Like, aren't you just wanted, like, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and [00:30:40] Speaker C: nothing about the truth? [00:30:42] Speaker A: Like, that's what she just did. But, I mean, but like, in court of law, you're being asked directed question, you know, and here she again to incriminate herself, essentially. She has all the options here to only tell part of the truth. To tell no truth and just go, she. And she tells. [00:30:59] Speaker C: She lays it all out there, the whole truth. [00:31:00] Speaker A: Okay, in 34. [00:31:03] Speaker B: And he said to her daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease. [00:31:10] Speaker C: I love that he calls her daughter. [00:31:12] Speaker A: Isn't that like, that affection and that like, just like using family language with her? [00:31:21] Speaker C: Yeah, because it would have been pretty, like, standard to call her, like, woman like that would have been pretty normal. But he chooses the more like, familial and intimate title of daughter. And it just sounds so gentle as you picture her just shaking and trembling. And he says, daughter. [00:31:39] Speaker A: Yes. Okay. And then it says, your faith has made you well. Which I think, like we talked about, she probably had some doubt that this was going to work. You know what I think the faith is that he's praising her for is not about her healing. I think that it's her faith. Don't you think it took more faith for her to come out and tell him the whole truth. Oh, that's a good point. So I know Allie, you were gonna talk about your faith has healed you. And I just think what we're seeing, I mean, the faith that made all the difference, I mean, yes, she was healed, but I think that deep down it was because she was assuming the best of Jesus. She was assuming that Jesus is who he says he is. And so if he healed me too, then he is worthy of me to tell him the whole truth. He's trustworthy, you know, And I think that's what our faith comes down to, is. Is trustworthy. Can we trust him with our sin knowing that he knows it all? There's nothing we can hide? And can we come forward with that? Can we trust that it's safer to come forward with the whole truth of our sin and our condition, knowing that he is worthy of that and that he will meet us with steadfast love and compassion? I just. I just love that, too. I just love. This is why. I just love that, this story. And then go in peace and be healed of your disease. I love that because we say go in peace all the time at the end of all of our messages, right? I think that this story says a lot about, like, just the faith and. And the dignity that God. God gives us. But I think something else that it says a lot about is, too, is, like, confession and how it's actually better for us. It's actually better. Like, what do we lose out on when we don't confess our sin, when we don't come to God and say, you are trustworthy and you are worthy of this. And I know you know it already, but, like, coming forward, Jesus's question to her of who touched. Who touched me reminds me of the question in the garden when God said, [00:33:51] Speaker B: that's what I was gonna say, reminds me, Adam and Eve, where are you? [00:33:53] Speaker A: Where are you? And it's not that God didn't know the answer to the question. He knew where they were. Like, they couldn't hide from him, just like she couldn't hide from Jesus. But it's this opportunity of, like, come look me in the face. Come, like, come forward to me. And it makes me think of one of my favorite verses in Hebrews is drawn near to the throne of grace to find help in time of need. Like, God wants us to come to him. One, to confess things to him, to confess our sin. But two, to find help, help in dealing with that sin, of, you know, being reminded that Christ has taken that from us, that we are forgiven and we are healed. But two, to help us as we're fighting that temptation further in our lives also. And to just to see this beauty of how Jesus calls us daughter and says, your faith has like, your faith has healed you. Like you're not a slave to that sin. You've been healed from that. It doesn't mean that you're not still gonna have trouble in life or, you know, for us. Sin, sin, struggle too. But I'm here. I'm here for you and for that and just thinking that. But okay. My kids have the hardest time grasping this because they're like, why do I need to say sorry? She already knows. Like, why do I need to confess it? But maybe to each other it's like, you already know what I did. Like they already know what I did. Why do I need to confess it? Oh my goodness. We're never gonna learn this lesson. That's tough. [00:35:14] Speaker B: But I feel like there's something to be learned in that. Cause I think I told my mother in law all the time, I am so thankful. Not that John has to apologize a lot. He's a great man, but she taught him as a young boy to not just say you're sorry, but what you're sorry for. So. My husband is so good and it's helped so much in our marriage and I've learned so much from him that when I apologize, it's not just I'm sorry, it's a. I'm sorry when I said this because I know it hurt you. Will you please forgive me for saying that I didn't mean to hurt you. Will you forgive me? And like that whole thing, it just orients your heart again away from yourself towards the person you're asking forgiveness from, which is ultimately the Lord. And so it's, it's again like you were saying all about that relationship. [00:35:52] Speaker A: Yes, yes. Because you could move on. Like, you know, you could, you could just move on. But I, when talking in the context of marriage, like how much bitterness and I don't just distance is created when you, when you're not confessing to one another like what you're describing to. Of like naming. Naming it and I don't know, acknowledging how it impacts. So I think there's just like so much freedom also to, just to confession. And it's not something that we talk about outside of like thinking about the Catholic Church or I don't know, like really juicy reality tv I think or jumbotron. [00:36:32] Speaker C: It's a little cringe sometimes [00:36:36] Speaker A: because in our society we're like, we shame the shamers, you know, like, I shouldn't say we, but that's. That's what tends to happen, is, like, there's no shame. Like, nobody should be shaming anyone else. And if you're shaming someone. But like. [00:36:49] Speaker B: And if you do, it's the really bad thing. [00:36:51] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:51] Speaker B: Like an affair, you know, exposed on the Jumbotron. [00:36:54] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. [00:36:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:56] Speaker A: But, yeah, just that react. Just that reality of what confession actually does for us, too. So any other little nuggets before we wrap up? [00:37:08] Speaker C: I just. I want to go back a sec. Because we talked about how she might have had some guarded hope coming to Jesus. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:17] Speaker C: But then Jesus tells her, your faith has healed you. And so we see this conflict of, like, this woman. Well, and it doesn't say that, you know, she. She didn't have hope and she doubted. It doesn't say that. But how often do you feel that tension in your own heart of, I have this doubt or this fear, but I also have faith in God and do I have enough faith to be saved or for this thing to happen? But it's not about how much faith or how much hope we have. It's about how big the One is that we have faith in how great he is. And it's okay to have that tension a little bit. We have that as human beings. But that doesn't mean that, like, because you have a doubt. [00:38:05] Speaker A: Oh, I'm. [00:38:06] Speaker C: I'm no longer worthy. I'm no longer saved. [00:38:09] Speaker B: Also, I forget, what disciple was it that's like, I believe, help my unbelief. Yeah, it's the same kind of thing. [00:38:16] Speaker C: Love that. [00:38:17] Speaker A: I pray that all the time. Yeah. That's so good. Stephanie, since you're like the homework guru, can you. Is there any homework that has come to mind to give to the listeners? [00:38:29] Speaker B: I love what you were saying about confession. I would love everybody to just, like, somehow, like, if you have to ask somebody to watch your kids, even for like, five minutes. But if you could just find five minutes or even two minutes out of your day to just right now, just kind of shut the door, lock yourself away, and just confess before the Lord. Because I think that is something that's not fun to do. It's kind of cringe like what you were saying earlier. But I think it's through the confession that we can really experience the restored relationship that we can have with God. And so I think that's what I would give as the homework to spend time in prayer, specifically confession before the Lord. [00:39:05] Speaker A: Can we close out with this verse? And it is the one that I quoted before. But Hebrews 4:16. It says, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.