Scripture Reading: Mark 5:25-34
We spend a great deal of time thinking about our health. We compare health insurance plans, look at premiums and deductibles, worry about what is covered and what is not covered, and try to find a plan that will meet our needs. Every year, when the renewal season comes around, we receive letters and information telling us to take action, choose a plan, and make sure we have the right coverage. Sometimes the process itself can become so complicated that we wonder whether we would be better off not having to deal with it at all.
I got letter from Medicare that said, "Get Help finding a health insurance plan that fits your needs." That reminded me that when Ronald Reagan was president, he used to say that the most terrifying words in the English language is when somebody talks to you and say, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
I think they are all doing it in good intention, but things don't work the way they plan it or we plan it because of a lot of complications that are happening. We all have the best of intentions in our mind to help fix our healthcare system.
All of these things remind me that there is another kind of health plan that does not depend on complicated systems, networks, paperwork, or financial resources. It is the plan of the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. I call it the "The Great Physician Healthcare Plan."
The Gospel of Mark tells us about a woman who had been suffering from an issue of bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered greatly and had spent everything she had trying to find help. Instead of getting better, she grew worse. Her physical suffering was only part of her problem. Because of her condition, she would also have experienced isolation from the religious and social community around her. She was not simply a sick woman. She was a woman who had been separated from the community for years.
Imagine twelve years of suffering. Imagine twelve years of looking for answers. Imagine spending everything you have and still becoming worse. Yet this woman heard about Jesus.
When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd. She probably did not want to be noticed. She knew that her condition could cause even more trouble if people discovered who she was. But she took a step of faith. She said, “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.”
She reached out and touched Jesus.
Immediately, her bleeding stopped, and she knew in her body that she had been freed from her suffering. That is the power of faith reaching out to Jesus.
There were many people in that crowd touching Jesus, but there was something different about this woman's touch. Jesus stopped and asked, “Who touched Me?” The disciples were surprised because there were people everywhere pushing against Him. But Jesus knew that power had gone out from Him.
Her touch was a touch of faith.
There is something powerful about reaching out to Jesus in faith. We may do everything we can to take care of our bodies, and we should. Doctors, medicine, medical technology, and healthcare are all gifts that can be used as instruments of God's grace. The Bible itself tells us about Luke, who was a physician. Faith in God does not mean that we should reject medical care. We can trust God and use the doctors and technology He has provided.
But there are some things that medicine cannot give us.
You can buy a house, but you cannot buy peace. You can buy medicine, but you cannot guarantee healing. You can buy insurance, but you cannot insure your life against death. Even the finest doctors in the world eventually reach a point where there are things they cannot fix.
But God is never limited by our limitations.
Sometimes God heals a disease. Sometimes God gives wisdom to doctors and nurses to bring healing. Sometimes God gives us strength while we wait for healing. Sometimes He carries us through suffering when we do not understand why the healing has not yet come. But whatever the situation, God does not abandon His children.
Our systems may fail us, but God's system will never fail us.
That is why I call Jesus the Great Physician and His care the ultimate health plan. The Great Physician never says, “I'm sorry, I don't take your insurance.” He is always in network. He does not deny coverage because of our past. He does not exclude us because of our condition. He does not abandon us because we have reached the limits of what human medicine can do.
In fact, the greatest evidence of God's healthcare plan is the cross. We were separated from God by our sin, burdened by our failures, and unable to save ourselves. Yet God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who took our sins and our burdens upon Himself. He suffered and died for us. Scripture tells us that by His wounds we are healed.
That is compassion.
The woman in Mark 5 had done everything she could. She had spent everything she had. She had gone from one source of help to another. Yet she continued to get worse. Then she heard about Jesus and reached out to Him.
Many of us can identify with her. We may have prayed for years about something in our lives and still not see the answer we are waiting for. We may wonder why God has not intervened. But God's silence does not mean God's absence. God is not asleep at the wheel. He is working even when we cannot see what He is doing.
The woman waited twelve years, but when she finally reached Jesus, He did not ask her why she had waited so long. He did not criticize her for coming late. He did not ask why she had tried other solutions first. He simply responded to her faith.
When she came trembling and told Him the whole truth, Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Notice the word Jesus used: “Daughter.”
He did not merely heal her body. He restored her relationship and her identity. She came to Jesus as a desperate, suffering woman, but she left knowing that she was loved, accepted, and valued.
That may have been the greatest healing of all.
Medical technology can treat symptoms and diseases, but it cannot heal the human soul. It cannot give us peace. It cannot tell us that we belong. It cannot assure us that we are known and loved by God. Jesus can do all of that.
God knows every one of His children by name. He knows where we are, even when we are hiding. He knows our suffering, our fears, our disappointments, and our deepest needs. We are not numbers in a system. We are His sons and daughters.
That is why Psalm 103 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases.”
Notice that the healing God offers is more than physical. He forgives our sins and heals our diseases. He brings wholeness to the whole person.
There are people who have healthy bodies but broken hearts. There are people who have money but no peace. There are people who have successful careers but empty souls. There are people who have excellent health insurance but no assurance about eternity.
Jesus offers something greater.
He offers wholeness.
Jesus does not promise that we will never become sick. He does not promise that we will never suffer. But He promises that He will be with us. He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. His care extends beyond this life.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
That is the ultimate health plan.
Every earthly health plan eventually reaches its limit. Every doctor eventually reaches the limits of medical knowledge. Every insurance policy has exclusions and limitations. But Jesus' care extends even through the valley of the shadow of death.
When we come to the end of our earthly journey, our doctors may not be able to go with us. Our insurance cannot go with us. Our money cannot go with us. Our friends and family may walk with us for a while, but eventually they must leave.
But Jesus remains.
He is with us in sickness. He is with us in suffering. He is with us in waiting. He is with us when medicine works and when medicine reaches its limits. He is with us in life, and He is with us in death. And because He is the resurrection and the life, death is not the end for those who trust in Him.
The woman in Mark 5 reached out and touched Jesus because she believed He could change her life. Her faith brought her to the Great Physician, and Jesus gave her more than physical healing. He gave her peace, dignity, acceptance, and freedom.
The same Jesus is still available to us today.
Whatever is binding you, bring it to Jesus. Whatever sickness, burden, fear, disappointment, or spiritual struggle you are carrying, present it to the Great Physician. Reach out to Him in faith.
We may not always understand the timing of God's healing, but we can always trust His presence. Sometimes He heals the disease. Sometimes He works through doctors and medicine. Sometimes He gives us strength to wait. And sometimes He carries us through the final valley into eternal life.
But He will never abandon us.
That is why Jesus is the best health plan—not because He promises a life without sickness, but because He promises something greater: His presence, His compassion, His healing, His forgiveness, His peace, and ultimately eternal life.
The world may give us many health plans, but only Jesus offers complete care for the body, the heart, the soul, and eternity.
Jesus is the Great Physician. He is always in network. And His coverage never expires.
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