There are 4 accounts of Jesus using the word “daughter”: Matt 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48 and Luke 23:28. Three of those accounts are all in reference to the woman with the issue of blood. One is spoken by Jesus on His way to the Crucifixion.
I would like to start with Mark 5:25-34:
A Risk of Faith
25-29 A woman who had suffered a condition of haemorrhaging for twelve years—a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before—had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with.
30 At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
31 His disciples said, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!”
32-33 But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story.
34 Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”
(The Message)
The woman with the issue of blood had a different FAITH. She had HEARD about Jesus. She was THINKING about Jesus. Her thought of being able to touch His robe was a new faith action – it had never been done before. But she had the RIGHT thought.
She POSITIONED herself, PUSHED through and ACTED on her belief, by ACTUALLY touching the hem of Jesus’ robe. In that moment, SHE FELT THE CHANGE. She knew her plaguing disease was over and done with. BUT THEN – Jesus called her out for it! “Who touched me?”
In many translations of this story, you see her lose all confidence. She goes from bold faith, faith that believed and acted, faith that pushed through and just did it, just touched Jesus… to a woman who, hearing Jesus repeatedly ask: “Who touched me?” would again have to come forward. However, this time, her posture would be one of a woman trembling, filled with fear. The Bible depicts her on her knees before Jesus, trying to explain herself.
But Jesus turned around, and when He SAW her – Matt 9:22 (NLT) – Jesus said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well….” Mark 5: 34 (TPT) says it like this: “Daughter, because you dared to believe, your faith has healed you.” The Message says: “Daughter, you took a RISK OF FAITH, and now you’re healed and whole. LIVE WELL! LIVE BLESSED! Be HEALED of your plague.”
Notice: Jesus gave her her identity FIRST. She is the FIRST woman Christ calls DAUGHTER! Jesus declares her “BET HEI.” The Hebrew letters that spell “daughter” mean “HOUSE of GRACE”!
Jesus tells her to LIVE WELL. LIVE BLESSED. BE HEALED. The same promise and blessing can be seen in Luke 4:17-19 (annotations mine):
17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him (Jesus). He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. (this daughter was poor by now) He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, (she has been set free) that the blind will see, (she sees Jesus) that the oppressed will be set free, (her illness is no longer oppressing her) 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.[f]” (she has God’s favour on her life now)
I believe the reason Jesus also called her out was so that He could give her the greatest weapon, the Power of her Testimony. Revelation 12:11: “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” She no longer had her blood issue! She now had the Blood of the Lamb on her, and by that testimony she remained FREE.
In Mark 6:56, we see Jesus getting off a boat after having just walked on water, and many people having brought their sick to him: 56 Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed. This DAUGHTER who DARED to BELIEVE and took a RISK of FAITH – having approached Jesus with the RIGHT THINKING, boldly, courageously stepping forward – had now made a way for OTHERS to believe for their healing, and with no effort really. They just knew Jesus had done it for HER so He would do it for THEM.
What RISK of FAITH are you believing God for? This daughter was BLESSED because she believed.
Hebrews 11:11:
11 It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed[b] that God would keep his promise. In the NKJV it says that Sarah JUDGED GOD faithful on His promise.
I want to encourage you, Daughter:
Get up off the ground, Jesus is not angry with you.
Get up and judge God to be loving
Judge God to be faithful
Judge God to be for you
Judge Jesus to SEE YOU
Judge Jesus to call you Daughter, House of GRACE
Judge Jesus to heal you, for by His stripes you are healed
Judge Jesus to bless you!
Because above all things, these are the PROMISES He has made to you.
Share the testimonies of God’s faithfulness. The power of her testimony led many to believe in Jesus and His healing. I encourage you to SHARE What God has done for you. Any time your life has been touched by Jesus, you live in a second chance. You get to live abundantly, free from the death that is trying to destroy you.
Love, Cindy
Women of Reverence welcomes guest blogger Cindy Osborne
Cindy Osborne is married to Nicholas and together they are blessed with 4 beautiful children. She works as a learning content developer and trainer. Her passion in life is to help others by sharing information with them that makes an impact and difference in their lives, enabling them to help themselves. She manages a monthly charity drive for an orphanage in Ivory Park where she simply asks anyone to help these young children who cannot help themselves.
Cindy enjoys a good cup of coffee, reading, listening to CHRISTIAN podcasts and by loving Jesus in her best way possible.