Legion and the Little Girl
She had borne much agony under the care of many physicians and had spent all she had, but to no avail. Instead, her condition had only grown worse. Mark 5:26 · Berean Standard Bible
She had been to doctor after doctor, spent every penny she had, and endured painful treatments — but nothing worked. In fact, she only got worse.
Imagine the cycle of hope and disappointment: each new doctor, each new treatment, each time thinking 'maybe this one will work,' and each time being let down.
Mark describes the woman's long and painful medical history.
Twelve years of trying everything and everyone. Broke, still bleeding, and worse than when she started. She has every reason to give up — but she doesn't. She hears about Jesus.
Mark's editorial comment — she 'suffered much under many physicians, spent all she had, and grew worse' — functions as both social commentary on ancient medicine and a theological statement that human solutions had been exhausted.
The Talmud records various folk remedies for such conditions, many of them painful. Mark's critique of physicians (softened in Luke's physician-authored account) emphasizes that only divine power remains.
Mark provides background on the woman's futile medical history.
The woman has spent everything on doctors who only made her worse. Mark builds a portrait of complete human helplessness to magnify the divine healing that follows.
24So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around Him.
25And a woman was there who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years.
26She had borne much agony under the care of many physicians and had spent all she had, but to no avail. Instead, her condition had only grown worse.
27When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.
28For she kept saying, “If only I touch His garments, I will be healed.”
Read all of Mark 5 — A man possessed by a thousand demons, a woman who has bled for twelve years, a father whose daughter has just died — all healed in a single chapter.
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