12 years a slave

Without trying to be mysterious I will tell you who the loneliest woman in the Bible was, the woman with the issue of blood.

Mar 5:21 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. 

Mar 5:22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, 

Mar 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. 

Mar 5:24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. 

Mar 5:25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, 

Mar 5:26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 

Mar 5:27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 

Mar 5:28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 

Mar 5:29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 

Mar 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? 

Mar 5:31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 

Mar 5:32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 

Mar 5:33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 

Mar 5:34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. 

Mar 5:35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? 

Mar 5:36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. 

Mar 5:37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. 

Mar 5:38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. 

Mar 5:39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. 

Mar 5:40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 

Mar 5:41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. 

Mar 5:42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. 

For 12 years this woman had an issue of blood, which meant that she had to isolate because the Jewish law states that a woman in a menstruation period should segregate or using a harsh phrase - be cast out until her period is over. 

Lev 15:19 "When a woman has a discharge and the blood is her monthly menstrual discharge from her body, then for seven days she is to remain in her menstrual uncleanness. Whoever touches her will remain unclean until evening.

But for the woman with the issue of blood, her case was such that there was no end to her discharge. This meant that she not only spent all that she had on doctors, she also could not mingle. She was in prison for 12 years - enslaved to the plague!  

How she knew that touching the helm of Jesus' garment would heal her is a story of love, however it is interesting that at first glance, the solution to her problem meant she had to do something unlawful or even unfair. I will explain. Jesus was on his way to heal the dying daughter of Jarius, and this 'unclean' woman came and touched Jesus. According to the law, this meant that Jesus was immediately unclean, and an unclean person should not expect to get anything from God, let alone go and heal a dying person by the power of God. Which means she had inadvertently hijacked the healing that was mean for Jarius daughter. But then when you meditate on the story further, you will realize that the woman actually cared not to make Jesus unclean, she had heard of Jesus and must have believed that if he laid hands on her, she would be healed, but she did not want him to touch her, so she said to herself, I will just touch the hem of his garment, (that way I won't make him unclean) and I will get my healing. Glory to God, she immediately got healed.

Jesus was not bound by the law - instead Jesus came to show that the Son of man was lord of the law (as well as of the sabbath). In fact, perhaps the woman with the issue of blood had heard that Jesus had touched a Leprous man and healed him as recorded in Mark 1: 40 - 42

Mar 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 

Mar 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. 

Mar 1:42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. 

Jesus was not testing God when he did those things, he was proving a point that the man created in his image and likeness is above all diseases. Because not everybody is on Jesus' level yet, I strongly support keeping people with communicable diseases isolated.

It is important to note that the only creatures Jesus called unclean or foul are demons. Those are the only unclean that He cast out

He said: John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 

We, often out of fear and pride have casted out those who we should have prayed deliverance for. Sometimes, it is wisdom, other times it is a lacking of love.

So let no one deceive you. 

For instance, God told the Israelites don't go to Egypt, and that was an instruction for that time, it in no way means that even today Egypt is prohibited. To buttress, when Herod wanted to kill baby Jesus, Joseph took his family to Egypt at the instruction of an angel. The lesson there is obey God even in your choice of the places you choose to seek help from.

It is important to understand that Jesus came to fulfill the law. He understood the dynamics of the law more than Moses himself, for He is the root of Moses.

The first law to be given to humanity was given by God himself. He came to Adam and told him do not eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil... That was a law.

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

I daresay that by God giving that law, God fed Adam with the foundational portion of the knowledge of good and evil...which was simply: to obey me (God) is good and to disobey is evil. That was lesson 1.

Lesson 2 was this, that although you know not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - that you can identify good from evil, doesn't mean that you have the ability to choose good every time. 

Once God gave Adam that instruction on good and evil, Adam experienced what it means to be a god. For that is what the knowledge of good and evil does, it makes you a god. 

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

But you can be a good god (choosing good) or a bad god. But also, your 'godship' is limited because you can't live forever unless you eat the tree of life.

Only with Jesus Christ can anyone eat of the tree of life, how long shall you continue to kick against the pricks?.

Jesus said in a revelation to our favorite Apostle Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 

And how do we overcome? 

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 

Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

Confession: As a Christian, I am a remnant of Mary's seed, Jesus Christ. I keep the commandments of God by His Grace and Truth. I plead the blood of Jesus Christ, He is my Lord and Saviour and the Son of God, thus, I love not my life but His life.

God knew Adam and Eve were not ready for the responsibility that comes with being a god. Thus, he told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In essence, that tree is good...all things made by God is good. God is good.

Eve was not aware of this, so the tree of knowledge of good and evil looked good to her, that is why it was easy for satan to tempt her.

That is also why it is said 'Adam was not deceived', we can only guess for now why he chose to disobey God, and my best guess is pride. 

You see, the lesson about that instruction was simply this, even though you know good from evil, it is still very important that you ask God to keep you from temptation and deliver you from evil (a prayer of humility from the Lord's prayer) because you now know that just because you know the difference between good and evil doesn't mean you have the power to always choose good. 

And that is why Jesus was perfect. The same test that Adam faced, Moses and the people of Israel faced it too. When God gave them the law (which was as well a bite from the tree of knowledge of good and evil) to help them identify what God wanted from them - good and evil, a shadow of things to come, 

He said to them I have set before you life and death, choose life. 

Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 

Deu 30:20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. 

Their response ought to have been to humble themselves and say 'Lord help us to always choose life, keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil (cue in the Lord's prayer). But their response was that they would obey God 

Exo 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. 

We know what happened to them.

Let us bring it home, a person may know that pornography is wrong because watching it means endorsing fornication or adultery. And it is also clear that watching it is satisfying the lust in a person. If there was no demand for it there will not be a supply for it. If it did not exist a person may have expressed the lust in some other way. Yet, despite your knowledge of good and evil, you still binge on it. Humility is required to beat the lust, to say to God keep me from temptation of lust and deliver me from its evil. It is an added advantage to ask and receive the forgiveness of Jesus as well. It is now clear that in this life as one-party battles lust a neighbor battles another vice e.g. greed. So be quick to forgive the greedy actions of your neighbor towards you as well...cue in the Lord's prayer (forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.) Do not cast out the neighbor as some do, wisdom is profitable to direct us all, forgive, pray for the deliverance and operate in the wisdom of love. We shall overcome!

When the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus, a pharisee would have cast her out for the 'crime' of not isolating to the extent of touching and being in a crowded area, she knew this, yet are miracle was in the disobedience of the law...Selah...and so she was afraid. But Jesus responded with love, and she was made whole, a slave no more. 

Jesus is not physically here, but He knew we would need Him, so He sent His Holy Spirit to be with us as we navigate this life, to help us be humble before God like He was and to release the power we need to choose life and good. Amen.