A Portrait of Jesus

A woman healed of hemorrhage

Mark 5:24b-34, SV

And a large crowd started following and shoving against him.

And there was a woman who had had a vaginal flow for twelve years, who had suffered much under many doctors, and who had spent everything she had, but hadn't been helped at all, but instead had gotten worse.

When (this woman) heard about Jesus, she came up from behind in the crowd and touched his cloak. (No doubt she had been figuring, "If I could just touch his clothes, I'll be cured!") And the vaginal flow stopped instantly, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her illness.

Jesus asks: 'who touched touched me?'And suddenly, because Jesus realized that power had drained out of him, he turned around and started asking the crowd, "Who touched my clothes?"

And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd jostling you around and you're asking, 'Who touched me?'"

And he started looking around to see who had done this. Although the woman got scared and started trembling -- she realized what she had done -- she came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

He said to her, "Daughter, your trust has cured you. Go in peace, and farewell to your illness."

Mark 5:24b-34, NRSV

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.

She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'"

He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.

He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

Go backReturn to Jesus as healer

Resources for Further Study

Books and Articles by Marcus Borg

FaithFutures Foundation: integrating faith and scholarship

Living the Questions, a progressive 12-week DVD and web curriculum to help participants discover the relevance of Christianity in the 21st Century and what a meaningful faith can look like in today's world. Features Marcus Borg and 14 other scholars and pastors.

New Testament Gateway, created by Dr. Mark Goodacre, University of Birmingham, UK

The Jesus Seminar, created by Dr. Mahlon Smith, Jesus Seminar Fellow and faculty at Rutgers University

Virtual Religion Index, created by Dr. Mahlon Smith, Rutgers University

Westar Institute, official Jesus Seminar site; includes churches open to the scholarship of the Jesus Seminar

Biblical references are from The Scholars Version translation (SV), published in The Five Gospels, © 1993 by Polebridge Press and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. The images include portrayals of Jesus from a wide variety of traditions and experiences.

© 1997-2005 "A Portrait of Jesus" web site created by Cam Howard based on the work of Dr. Marcus Borg.

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