Disciples. Matthew 9:37; Mark 5:31; Luke 8:45-46 .           

                The disciples make up the third group of participants in the story of the Unclean woman.  After Jesus’ gracious and caring attitude toward the woman, the uncharitable attitude is surprising, especially since they had been travelling with Jesus for long enough to know better!

 

1. Describe the reaction of the disciples to Jesus’ question, “Who touched me?”

 

2. What do you think the disciples thought as they observed Jesus and heard his teachings during this hectic period of time?

 

3. From Jesus’ ‘debriefing’ with his disciples in Matthew 9:35-38, what could the disciples have perceived about the question we read in Mark 5:31?

 

In the space of a few seconds, a woman was healed; Jesus knew it; he was chided by the disciples; and he responded to them, as well as to the woman.  No angry reaction to the stress—to the questioning—to the presumption of the woman.  For Jesus it was business as usual.  The biblical accounts describe a kind and compassionate man, calm in the midst of a whirlwind.