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Woman with the Issue of Blood

Overview

The healing of the woman with the issue of blood is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels and serves as a profound fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah's identity and authority. The woman's faith in simply touching the edge (fringe) of Jesus's garment and being instantly healed connects to multiple messianic prophecies.

Prophetic meaning

As per We are unable to be healed by our own righteousness. But we are healed through Christs perfect righteousness.

Gospel Accounts

Matthew 9:20-22

"And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, 'If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.' Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, 'Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.' And instantly the woman was made well." (Matthew 9:20-22, ESV)

Mark 5:25-34

Mark provides the most detailed account, emphasizing:

  • The woman had suffered for twelve years
  • She had endured much under the care of many doctors
  • She had spent all she had, yet instead of improving, her condition worsened
  • In faith, she reasoned: "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed"
  • The healing was immediate: "At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him" (Mark 5:30)

Luke 8:43-48

Luke's physician's account notes:

  • The woman could not be healed by anyone (no one could cure her)
  • She came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak
  • Immediately her bleeding stopped
  • Jesus said: "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace" (Luke 8:48)

Cultural Context: The Tzitzit (Fringe)

Understanding the significance of the fringe requires knowing its place in Jewish culture and covenant theology. The tzitzit (Hebrew: צִיצִת) was not merely a decorative edge—it was a commanded covenant symbol.

The Divine Command

God explicitly commanded Jewish men to wear fringes on their garments:

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the people of Israel and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after unfaithfully. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.'" (Numbers 15:37-40, ESV)

Similarly in Deuteronomy: "You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself." (Deuteronomy 22:12, ESV)

The Fringe as a Covenant Symbol

The fringe represented complete obedience to God's law. When a Jewish person wore the tzitzit, they were:

  • Publicly declaring their commitment to the Torah
  • Physically remembering God's commandments (the blue cord especially symbolized this)
  • Acknowledging their covenant relationship with the God of Israel

Status and Display

By Jesus's time, the fringe had become complicated by religious legalism. Some Pharisees were making their fringes longer to display their piety:

"They do all their deeds to be seen by others... and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces, and being called rabbi by others... [and] they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long." (Matthew 23:5-6, ESV)

Jesus criticized this because the outward symbol had become divorced from inner righteousness.

The Woman's Act of Faith

When the woman touched the fringe of Jesus's garment, she was doing something profound:

  • She was touching the covenant symbol itself
  • She was implicitly confessing: "If you are truly the righteous one, the one who perfectly keeps all God's commandments—the one the fringe symbolizes—then you have power to heal me"
  • She was expressing faith not just in His power, but in His covenant position as the true Messiah

The Ceremonial Uncleanness Dimension

The woman's condition made her ceremonially unclean according to Levitical law:

"If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness, as in the days of her impurity." (Leviticus 15:25, ESV)

Touching someone or being touched while unclean would transmit uncleanness (Leviticus 15:27). Yet when she touched Jesus, no uncleanness was transmitted to Him—instead, healing flowed from Him to her.

This demonstrates that Jesus's righteousness (what the fringe symbolized) is not diminished by contact with the unclean. He fulfills the covenant not through external ritual purity, but through His own perfect obedience and power.

Prophecy Fulfillment

1. The Garment Fringe: Malachi 4:2

Prophecy: "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. And you shall go out leaping like calves from the stall." (Malachi 4:2, ESV)

The Hebrew word for "wings" (kanaf) also refers to the fringe or edge of a garment. The woman touched the tzitzit (fringe) of Jesus's garment—the very place where the prophecy said healing would be found. This demonstrates Jesus as the "Sun of Righteousness" predicted by Malachi.

2. Isaiah 53:5 - Healing Through His Stripes

Prophecy: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5, ESV)

The woman's immediate healing upon touching Jesus demonstrates that the power of the Messiah's future sacrifice (His "stripes") is already active through His person and presence. Her faith grasps what many Israelites would only understand after the resurrection: that Jesus is the Messiah whose very touch/garment carries healing power.

3. Authority and Power (Zechariah 8:23)

Prophecy: "In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'" (Zechariah 8:23, ESV)

The woman's action—taking hold of the hem/edge of His garment as an act of faith—prefigures the future reality where people will seek blessing by touching the very edge of the Messiah's clothing, recognizing God's presence is with Him.

Theological Significance

  1. Messianic Authority: The instant healing demonstrates that Jesus possesses the divine power exclusively belonging to the Messiah—power over illness and the natural world.

  2. Faith Recognition: Jesus's words, "Your faith has healed you," emphasize that the Messiah recognizes and rewards faith, even the faith of a ritually unclean woman (according to Levitical law, her bleeding made her ceremonially unclean).

  3. Accessibility of Mercy: Unlike the inaccessible power of God in the temple, the Messiah's healing power is present, available, and activated by genuine faith—a revolutionary concept that fulfilled expectations of the messianic age.

  4. The Hem/Fringe Connection: All three Gospels emphasize she touched the edge/hem/fringe (kraspedon in Greek, equivalent to the Hebrew kanaf). This specific detail connects to Malachi 4:2's prophecy of healing in the "wings" (fringes) of the righteous one.

Conclusion

The healing of the woman with the issue of blood fulfills prophecy not through a single prediction but through the convergence of multiple messianic expectations: the garment fringe from Malachi, the healing power from Isaiah, and the recognition of God's presence from Zechariah. Her faith in touching the edge of His garment demonstrates the fulfillment of centuries-old promises that the Messiah would bring healing and restoration to Israel.