3. A WOMAN WHO HAD LOST HER IDENTITY (Mark.5:25-34)

1. This woman was probably around her thirties or forties, and had become ill while still quite young. What consequences did this illness have to her social life (25)? (What consequences did it have if she was married/ unmarried?)
   • What consequences did continual bleeding have to her physical state?
   • What effect does an illness like that have on one’s self-image?
      
2. What do you think this woman thought about God after having conceived an illness like this in her young age?
   • How may her relationship with God have changed during the long years of illness?
      
3. In verse 26 it says that this woman had previously had some financial resources. Think of various possibilities where she had the money from and for what use it was originally meant.
    
4. We can imagine that the doctors of the day were not very professional. Why was becoming well so important to this woman that she was willing to take such treatments and even spend all her money on such "doctors" (26)?
   • How do you think the woman felt about doctors and healers of all kinds at this point of her life?
   • What was the difference between Jesus and other healers (26-28)?
      
5. How could this woman, who was disappointed in other healers, be so sure that touching the garment of Jesus would make her well (27-28)?
   • Are you as sure as this woman that Jesus could easily solve your worst problem? Why, why not?
      
6. Why didn’t this woman ask Jesus for help as other sick people did (28-29)?
   • Why did the woman choose touching as the means of becoming well?
      
7. How could Jesus know that someone had gently touched his robe (30-31)?
   • Why didn’t Jesus let the woman go home without talking to her (30-32)?
      
8. How do you think the woman felt when she heard the question of Jesus in verse 30?
   • What did the woman see in the eyes of Jesus when he turned around and looked right in her face (32)?
      
9. The woman didn’t intend to speak even one word to Jesus, and yet she ended up telling him the whole story. What do you think she actually said (33)?
   • Have you ever told Jesus in so many words the whole truth about yourself?
      
10. Verse 34 can be translated in two ways: "Your faith has healed you." Or: "Your faith has saved you." Why did Jesus want to say these particular words to this woman?
    • Why did Jesus call this woman his daughter although they probably were approximately the same age (34)?