Take Hold
Restoring God's People

Oftentimes we read stories in the scripture that are quite interesting, but we miss the point of the story because we do not take into account the context on which the story is based.  When taken out of context, the story seems to be saying one thing, but when taken within context, it becomes clear what the author was trying to convey.  An example is the three stories that are found in Mark chapter 5 - the stories of Yeshua’s trip to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, the woman with the issue of blood, and the leader of the synagogue whose daughter was dying.  All three stories appear to be unrelated, but on closer examination, they appear to be one story.

In this message, I want to show that they are actually one story - one event that Yeshua used to help confirm in the disciples’ minds how He, and later – they, would have a huge part in bringing about the Kingdom of God.

We are going to delve deeply into all three of these stories and find that - besides the obvious medical problems the woman was suffering under, she had other problems that were not medical, though were associated with it. We’re also going to see the significance of Yeshua’s garment and the role it played in relieving her problem.  We’re also going to see why Yeshua went to Gadara, and why it was important that He do this before the encounter with the daughter who everyone thought was dead.  Finally, I’m going to show how these events would help the disciples understand a number of prophecies that were hard to understand without first seeing what Yeshua was actually doing that afternoon.

Once we’re able to see all that, I’m going to toss out a well-known scripture, and offer an alternative understanding of that scripture.

Background and Context

Before reading the story, let me provide a little context –

Mark 5 begins with the account of Yeshua and His disciples returning from the ‘country of the Gadarenes’ - a place on the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee that is referenced in scripture as the ‘Decapolis’ - the regional center of Greek thinking.  In spite of its polytheistic culture, Yeshua went there and healed a large number of people from that idolatrous culture1.  I’m sure this intrigued the disciples who probably wondered why the Master devoted all this time reaching out to people who clearly idolators.  By the way, this is the same general area where He drove the legions of demons out of a man who then wanted to follow Yeshua, but was not permitted to do so.  It’s placement in the narrative is in the least - ‘interesting’.

The story of the woman comes next, but is sandwiched between Jarius – a man described as being the ‘leader of the synagogue’ asking Yeshua to heal his daughter who was believed to be ‘at the point of death’, and the story of Yeshua seemingly bringing her back to life.  It appears that if Jarius had not come to Yeshua, the story of the woman probably would not have been recorded.

The Story

So, let’s begin by reading the story.  For the sake of time, I’m not going to read the passage that covers Yeshua’s trip to Gadara, but will concentrate on the story of the woman and Jarius’ daughter.  We’ll begin in Mark 5:21.  The story can also be found in Matt. 9:20 and Luke 8:43.  I’ll be making comments along the way.

^NKJ Mark 5:21-24 - Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  ²² And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet  ²³ and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."  ²⁴ So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him

What we see is that a sizable number of people followed Yeshua as Jarius lead Him and His disciples toward his house.  We have no indication of how big the crowd was or the distance they had to walk, but the text seems to indicate that they traveled down the narrow streets within the city of Capernaum, Yesua’s home town.  As they neared Jarius’ home, the street became quite narrow and the people were bunched together. Those who lived on that street certainly realized someone important was heading their way.

Before continuing, it’s important to see that chronologically, there had been numerous accounts of people being healed by Yeshua2 before this event took place.  Some were healed by simply reaching out their hand and touching His garment.3One such account is that of a paralytic man who gained the use of his legs simply by Yeshua telling him to stand up4.  The idea that Yeshua could miraculously heal people had become widespread before this story takes place.

Let’s talk a little bit about Jarius – the girl’s father. The name ‘Jarius’ means ‘to enlighten’.  It’s a Hebrew name – as one would expect since he is after all, the leader of the Synagogue.  It comes from the root word ‘owr’ (אוֹר – Strong’s 215) which means ‘light’ or ‘shining’. ‘Owr’ is the root word from which we get the word ‘menorah’.  So, he was a Hebrew, and more than likely ‘Jewish’.

Based upon His name along with the fact that he is the one who ‘got the ball rolling’ so to speak, we can assume that somewhere in this story, someone is going to be ‘enlightened’.

One more thing about Jarius is that he obviously believed Yeshua could heal his daughter.  There is no indication that he asked Yeshua if He thought He might be able to heal her.  Instead, he pleaded with Him to come to his house – lay His hands on his daughter, and heal her.  He was confident that if Yeshua would just do that, she would be healed.

Yeshua agreed to do so and set out to go to Jarius’ house, and so did this huge group of people who were following Him. Keep in mind that if Jarius had not asked Yeshua about his daughter, the story of the woman would probably not have happened.

Let’s continue with the story.

^NKJ Mark 5:25-29 - Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,  ²⁶ and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched (the hem of) His garment.  ²⁸ For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  ²⁹ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

As the text shows, there is this woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years.  She had apparently seen a number of doctors who she hoped could make it stop, but to no avail.  What’s more, they drained her savings account!  I would guess that after 12 years, the woman had lost hope of ever being healed.

She had apparently heard about Yeshua and of the myriads of people He had healed by various means, so she was confident He could heal her, but up to this point had been reluctant to seek Him out5.  But now she heard that He was headed down her street, and it a few moments would be right in front of her house! ‘If I can only figure out how to get close enough to Him, I’m sure I can be healed” she probably thought to herself. “Would He stop long enough to hear my case?  Maybe, but it would be a long shot.

She had heard that by simply touching his clothing some were being healed of their ailments, so she thought for a brief moment, then convinced herself that she must give it a try.  So she worked her way through the rapidly moving crowd so as to be where she could reach toward Him and touch His garment as He walked by.

The word touched in that passage is from the Greek word ’haptomai’ (Strong’s 680) – which means to ‘fasten one's self to, adhere to, cling to’. It’s not just a ‘touch’; the word actually implies ‘grabbing hold of’ or ‘clinging to’ something.  In this case, she apparently grabbed hold of His garment.  The woman clearly wanted to be healed!  And as the text states – she could immediately perceive that she had indeed been healed, even before Yeshua knew what happened.

Continuing in verse 30 –

^NKJ Mark 5:30-34 - And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  ³¹ But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?'"  ³² And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  ³³ But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  ³⁴ And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

Yeshua knew something had happened.  He apparently felt the tug on His clothing and stopped walking.  He looked to his disciples who normally protected Him from the crowds, and asked who it was that got past them.  Then seeing the woman looking directly at Him with tears of joy in her eyes – He beckoned her, and she fell to her knees and told Him what she had done.  Satisfied with her answer, He spoke the words that she had hoped for – “be healed of your affliction”.

The entire encounter between the woman and Yeshua probably took less than two minutes.  Other than the disciples, it’s likely no one else even noticed what happened.  The crowd just continued toward Jarius’ home hoping to see a great miracle.  The disciples, though, did see what happened, and they repeated the story to others, and thus it made its way in to three of the ‘gospel’ accounts.

Before moving on, it’s important to realize that the flow of blood the woman had been experiencing was not simply a medical problem.  In fact, it was a much bigger problem, though it is not often understood in Christian circles.  To understand the magnitude of the problem, we must go to the Old Testament and read Leviticus chapter 15.

^NKJ Lev. 15:25-27 -  `If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean.  <sup>26</sup> `Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity.  ²⁷ `Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

The woman’s bigger problem is that because of the flow, she was in a continual state of being ‘unclean’.  Being ‘ritually’ unclean is a big problem to a woman.  It’s a big problem to a man as well, but they have more control over these things than do women. With this flow of blood, this woman is perpetually unclean.  That means that anyone she touches, or anyone who touches anything she touched, is now unclean.  If she sits on a chair, then another person sits on that chair, that person is unclean – though only until evening.  If she goes to the market and touches an apple, but does not buy it and another person takes that apple, that person has become unclean. Then if that same person went to the Temple that afternoon – even though he or she is totally unaware that they had become unclean by touching the apple – that person would have defiled the Temple. That is the reason why the Temple has to be atoned for on Yom Kippur every year.

So being or becoming unclean is a BIG THING - and guess who just became unclean!  Yeshua did! He became unclean because she touched His garment.6 

Because of her condition, she was probably treated as if she had leprosy.  It’s surprising that she was not placed outside the camp!  But of course, this is Capernaum, not Jerusalem.  The point is – she had no social life!  For 12 years she had been unable to attend the synagogue.  For 12 years she had been unable to go to Jerusalem and attend the festivals.  For 12 years, people probably avoided her ‘like the plague!’  She was basically ‘cut off from Israel’.  Therefore, she spent everything she had trying to get this fixed, but nothing worked … and as I said earlier – she had probably lost all hope.

But now she is healed, and after another seven days, she can rejoin the community.7

Let's continue –

^NKJ Mark 5:35-37 - While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  ³⁶ As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  ³⁷ And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.

So while he was still speaking to her, some came from Jarius’ house and announced that his daughter was dead.  Overhearing what was said, Yeshua told him to simply believe.

At this point, it is important to realize that not only did Yeshua encounter the woman, but so did His disciples. Though the text does not mention it, we can be assured that they all knew a great miracle had just taken place.  Jarius – though hearing the words ‘your daughter is dead’, probably still believed that Yeshua could still heal her.

One other point in this passage is that Yeshua did not let all the disciples accompany Him to Jarius’ home.  He only let Peter, James, and John.  Why?  We don’t know for sure, but I have an idea, and we’ll look into that a little later.

^NKJ Mark 5:38-43 -   Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  ³⁹ When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping."  ⁴⁰ And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  ⁴¹ Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  ⁴² Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.  ⁴³ But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

Apparently, the crowd had made it to Jarius’ house a few minutes before Yeshua arrived and found the girl dead – at least that is what they had been told.  Thus, there were a lot of tears.  But when Yeshua arrived – even before seeing the girl - He declared that she was not dead, but merely sleeping.  She just needed to be awakened out of her sleep!  And of course – they ridiculed Him.  Why?  I submit it was because to them, He was just another resident of Capernaum, and as the scripture says ‘… He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”8

Therefore, Yeshua put them all outside the house, then along with her parents and the three disciples, went into her room.  He then took her by the hand (though it appears He did not ‘lay his hands’ on her) and told the girl to arise; and without any fanfare, she woke up and got out of bed.9

The story closes with Him giving two instructions.  The first was that those who were witnesses of this event should not tell anyone what had just happened10. Based on other times He said something similar11, it was important that the Jewish leadership not know that Yeshua was the Messiah - at least not at that time.  The other instruction was that they should give her something to eat.

And finally, there’s the statement that she was twelve years old.  Now I find that quite interesting, especially since the woman with the flow of blood had had that problem for twelve years.  That means that the girl in our story was born the same year the woman developed the flow. It is quite clear that these two stories are tied together and that the young girl was born for (as it says in the book of Esther) “Such a Time as This?”. That ‘time’ was the time for the ‘twelve’ disciples to begin to be sent out ‘two-by-two’ to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel. All three synoptic gospel accounts record that to be the case.

So, let's recap what we've seen so far.

• we have a woman who has a 12-year flow of blood which separates her socially and spiritually
• She touches Yeshua's garment and she is healed
• A 12-year-old girl is said to be dead, but Yeshua said she's alive, but sleeping
• Yeshua touches and speaks to her, after which she awakens and stands
• This is all witnessed by Peter, James, and John

Add to that the fact that before this all took place, Yeshua spent time healing numerous people in the area called the ‘country of the Gadarenes’ on the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee – something that surely dumbfounded the disciples being that those people were predominately Greek polytheists!

Let's now begin to talk about Yeshua's garment because this is where we really get down to the ‘nuts and bolts’ of this thing.

In Matthew's account of this event, he stated that the woman grabbed the hem of Yeshua’s garment. It doesn't say that in Mark, but let's read it here in Matthew –

^NKJ Matt. 9:20 - And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.

In that passage, the Greek word for ‘hem’ is ‘kraspedon’ (Strong’s 2899).  This is the same word used in the Septuagint (LXX)12 to translate the Hebrew word ‘kanaph’ (כָּנָף -  Strong’s 3671) which means ‘‘wing’, ‘extremity’, ‘border’, ‘corner’.  To the Hebrews, the corner had special significance.  It is the place on the garment where you are supposed to attach the tzitzit.

^NKJ Num. 15:38 - "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners (kanaph) of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.

The word ‘kanaph’ has other very interesting connections to Hebrew culture. It is used in the book of 1 Samuel to indicate a ‘kingdom’.  Speaking to Saul after he refused to kill Agag, Samuel said –

^NKJ 1 Sam. 15:26-28 – “… you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”  ²⁷ And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge (kanaph) of his robe, and it tore.  ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

What we see is that the ‘kanaf’ being torn is a picture of the kingdom of Israel being torn away. But that’s not the only place we see it. There is also the place where YHVH indicates that He is going to tear the kingdom of Israel from Solomon –

^NKJ 1 Kings 11:29-31 - Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Achijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field.  ³⁰ Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.  ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: `Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you.

After Solomon died, the kingdom did split.  Jeroboam became King of the northern tribes (prophetically called ‘Israel’ or ‘Ephraim’) and Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) reigned over only Judah, Levi, and some of the Benjaminites and was prophetically called ‘Judah’.  At this point, the dynasty of King David was over. For all practical purposes, the Kingdom of united Israel was ‘dead’. As time went on the northern tribes were taken captive, and subsequently scattered through the nations, leaving only Judah and Levi in the ‘Promised Land’.  At this time in history, God's name is blasphemed among the nations simply because the tribes are split -

^NKJ Isaiah 52:5 -   Now therefore, what have I here," says the LORD, "That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them Make them wail," says the LORD, "And My name is blasphemed continually every day.

God’s name is blasphemed because the nations say YHVH failed!  The nations would say “He could not keep them as a united kingdom, so therefore He’s not a real ‘god’ “.  What they fail to see is that God had prophesied that if Israel did not continue in His ways, they would be scattered through the nation - and that is just what happened.  Thus the prophecy of the torn garment was fulfilled.

Let’s now go to Malachi where we will find another purpose for the ‘kanaph’ – the corner, or hem of a garment.

^NKJ Malachi 4:2-3 -   But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings (kanaph); And you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.  ³ You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this," says the LORD of hosts.

In this passage, the word ‘kanaph’ pictures healing, and many believe it’s speaking of human physical healing; but the context shows that the healing that will be taking place is the healing of a people – the sons of Jacob – the nation that had previously charged that it is ‘useless to serve God’13 but are now returning to the service of God.

Though the Hebrew word ‘kanaph’ is translated ‘wings’14, the ‘wings’ of the ‘Sun of Righteousness’ is his garment, and I’m sure that is how many of the Jewish people in the first century took that prophecy.  After all, many people – including the woman with the flow of blood – believed she could be healed simply by grabbing hold of the hem – the tzitzit – of Yeshua’s garment.  But metaphorically – the passage means much more - it’s the same garment that was torn some five hundred years earlier when YHVH divided Israel into two kingdoms, and subsequently scattered the people of Israel - the northern tribes.  

The Hebrew word translated ‘healing’ in the above passage is the word ‘marpe’ (מַרְפֵּא – Strong’s 4832). Marpe is the noun form of the word ‘rapha’ (רָפָא – Strong’s 7495) which means to ‘stitch together, to mend’. What Malichi is saying is that for those who ‘fear His name’, they will witness a healing of Israel – God stitching back together the prophet Achijah’s garment in the days of Solomon.  To help confirm that, the ’stall-fed calves’ in this prophecy is the House of Israel, a people who have been held as exiles in a land not their own, ‘breaking out’ of their exile and returning to YHVH and the land they were given as an inheritance15.

After witnessing these two miracles, it is quite likely that Peter, James, and John sat down later that day to discuss what they had witnessed.  Since Yeshua's primary message was the ’Kingdom of God’ and the ‘healing ‘of His people’,, they would surely have made the connection that their Teacher was trying to show them something in regards to the Kingdom – and Malichi’s prophecy would surely come to mind.  So, let’s look at a few other prophecies that may have also come to mind.

Yeshua’s Disciples and Prophecy

In a nutshell – Yeshua’s message was not a message about Himself; it was a message about the Restoration of the Kingdom of God.  The phrase ‘Kingdom of God’ is used 54 times in the gospels, and that does not include the 31 times it is called by the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven’ in the book of Matthew.  So this is pretty clear; but to make it more clear let’s look at how Yeshua began His ministry –

^NKJ Mark 1:14-15 -   Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Then sometime later, Yeshua's told them –

^NKJ Matt. 10:5-7 - “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  ⁶ "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  ⁷ "And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

So, Yeshua is talking about the kingdom - which implies that ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ are going to join back together and become one Kingdom again.  But because Israel is ‘lost’, then the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’ have to be found and then drawn back.  The garment that was torn must be sewn back together – it has to be healed, and as I’ve touched on before, those who were tasked with bringing that about was Yeshua’s disciples.

So let's look at the disciples - specifically Peter, James, and John - and see how do they fit into this story. You might recall that Yeshua allowed only these three to follow Him to Jairus’ house.  Let’s notice something about them.  They -

• Were the only ones to witness the ‘transfiguration’ which they understood to be the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (Matt. 17)
• Were the ones who asked about the Kingdom and when it would be established (Mark 13:3)
• Were the only ones who were with Yeshua at Gethsemane when He prayed (Mark 14:33)

In addition –

• Peter was given the ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ at Caesarea Phillipi (Matt. 16:19)
• James and John (the Sons of Thunder) asked to sit at Yeshua’s right hand in the Kingdom (Matt. 20:21)
•  James addressed his epistle to “the Lost Sheep” (James 1:1)16
•  and Peter claimed his audience was ‘Ephraim’ by making a reference to a passage in Hosea (1 Peter 2:9-10).

These three seem to be the disciples who more clearly grasped the context of Yeshua’s message – the restoration of the Kingdom of God.  Therefore, it appears He wanted them to witness a fulfilment of Malachi’s prophecy of ‘healing in His wings’ by seeing the woman with the issue being healed by grabbing hold of the hem of His garment. He wanted them to see that He was the Sun of Righteousness – the one who would provide healing to Israel, and would be the one who will ‘stitch it back together’.

He also wanted them to see the fulfillment of prophecy.  For instance, this prophecy in Hosea -

^NKJ Hosea 9:1-3 - Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, For you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor.  ² The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them, And the new wine shall fail in her.  ³ They shall not dwell in the LORD'S land, But Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

This prophecy is why I believe Yeshua took the disciples to the land of the Gadarenes.  It was there that they witnessed Yeshua healing a people who apparently delighted in eating pork. Could it be that these ‘pagans’ were actually a part of the 'lost sheep’?

Hosea also prophecies that –

^NKJ Hosea 13:14 - "I will ransom them (Ephraim) from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes."

When Yeshua healed the 12-year-old girl, this prophecy probably came to the disciples’ mind, as did this passage from Isaiah –

^NKJ Isaiah 52:1 - Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean Shall no longer come to you.17

They saw this girl, who everyone believed was dead, get up out of her bed, and as Luke’s account states-

^NKJ Luke 8:55 - Then her spirit18 returned, and she arose immediately.

Though Ephraim (the northern tribes) was ‘spiritually’ dead, Yeshua was - in a way – enlightening His disciples to the fact that “Ephraim is not dead; she’s just sleeping!”  The ‘Lost Sheep’ - who many thought would never return to the commonwealth of Israel, would ‘come back to life’ as a people once again.  This is clearly the message that was made by Ezekial’s ‘dry bones’ prophecy -

^NKJ Ezek. 37:11-13 - Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, `Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'  ¹² "… Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.  ¹³ "Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have … brought you up from your graves.

Like the woman with the issue of blood who had lost hope, Ephraim believed (as does Ephraim today) they are cut off, separate from Israel.  Yeshua was showing Peter, James, and John, that was not the case – Israel is not dead; she’s just sleeping.  They disciples were to go against the Jewish teaching of the day, and reach out to the ones who are eating pork – the sinners, because they are their brothers.

We are Israel!

When you think about it, this story is about us. We Christians are those women.  We are the ones who are ‘unclean’, the ones with the issue of blood.  We are the ones who are cut off by doing just as the northern tribes did - rebelling against God’s Torah, setting up own priesthood, setting up own sabbaths and festivals, and disregarding His.  We are the ones who are eating ‘unclean’ foods and thus cutting ourselves off from His sanctuary.  We are the ones who need a new spirit. We are basically ‘acting like the nations – the ‘gentiles’ – just as God said we would do.

But God is beginning to wake us up – to ‘open our eyes’ to what He is doing. He is beginning to put His spirit back in us, and we are responding; and as we begin to grab hold of the tzitzit attached to His garment – He will heal us spiritually and we will be able to rejoin the community of Israel.

One Last Thing

There's a passage in the scriptures that I think is very misunderstood simply because it is taken completely out of context.  But now that we see how Mark 5 is about ‘healing’ Israel so she can once again have fellowship with God, the meaning becomes very clear. Let’s go there -

^NKJ 1 Pet. 2:21-25 -  For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:  ²² "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth";  ²³ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;  ²⁴ who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-- by whose stripes you were healed.  ²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Peter is talking about lost sheep, the people referenced in scripture as the northern 10 tribes. This is made crystal clear in many of his statements including chapter 2:9-1019.  When you consider that Peter was also a 1^st century Hebrew and one of Yeshua’s leading disciples, it would stand to reason that the ‘healing of Israel’ – ‘stitching them back together so as to become one Kingdom – would be the primary objective of his letter. So let's look at it - 

In the letter, he speaks of taking abuse patiently, stating that it was the reason his audience was called.  This is a consistent theme throughout all the epistles.  The abuse the people were suffering under was that being dished out by the believing Jews in the various congregations.

So Peter reminded the audience that Yeshua bore our sins so we might become ‘righteous’, and he immediately follows that with the statement “… by whose stripes you are healed”. What Peter is actually saying is that "by Yeshua’s stripes, Israel can now be stitched back together.”  Yeshua is the vehicle by which Israel - the northern tribes - are able to join in fellowship with Judah and thereby restore the Kingdom to Israel.20 It's by Him spilling His blood - allowing Himself to be beat by the Romans - that brings about that healing. It’s not about physical healing – it’s about a spiritual healing of God’s people.  He made the atonement for their sins so that they could be drawn back to Judah, which was necessary for the Kingdom of God to be restored.

So, the intertwined stories of Jerius’ daughter and the woman with the issue of blood are all about Israel – a people who were cut off and presumed dead. It’s about the restoration of God’s Kingdom as we ‘take hold’ of the tzitzit of Messiah Yeshua and once again becoming the people of God.

Shalom Aleichem