Pressing Through The Crowd

As I’ve been working through the Gospel of Mark, I came to the account of the woman who had been bleeding for over a decade (Mark 5:24–34). Around that same time, my daughter Iris shared a message from her youth group on this passage that had clearly impacted her - and one I really appreciated as well - focusing on the woman’s determination to fight through the crowd just to get to Jesus.

Scripture gives the sense that crowds were pressing in from every direction (Mark 5:24, 31). This wasn’t a small gathering - people everywhere, noise, movement, constant distraction. I picture complete central nervous system overload.

And yet this woman was determined.

In the middle of all of that, she believed something very simple:

“If I just touch His garments, I will get well” (Mark 5:28).

What Are We Aiming At?

CBC Men’s Ministry has been working through what it means to be a man - biblically speaking.

The world has its version: strength, independence, self-sufficiency. Be prepared. Don’t make stupid mistakes. Roll up your sleeves and handle your problems. Fix yourself. Don’t burden others.

But Scripture presents something very different.

Over and over again, you see people come to the same conclusion:

I just need Christ.

Not “I’ve got this,” or “I can fix this on my own.” 

But: I am broken… and I need Him to make me whole.

That’s exactly what we see in this passage.

She had tried everything. She had exhausted every option available to her. And after all of it, she was left with one conclusion: nothing but Jesus could fix her.

Pressing Through Anyway

She didn’t stay on the outside of the crowd.

She didn’t let the obstacles define the outcome.

She pressed in - and didn’t stop.

Through the people.
Through the noise.
Through everything that said she shouldn’t be there (Leviticus 15:25).

Because she believed that Jesus was enough.

The “crowd” today looks different - but it’s just as real.

Schedules.
Responsibilities.
Devices.
Endless - precise, highly sophisticated - noise pulling for our attention.

It doesn’t take much to keep us from pressing in. We are prone to wander (Isaiah 53:6).

But a good soldier doesn’t get entangled in the affairs of everyday life, as Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:4.

And yet it’s easy to get tangled up.

Not always with bad things - but with things that slowly pull us away from being with Christ.

Good things can easily take from what is best.

Closing Thoughts and Reflection Questions

It’s important to say this clearly - our standing with God is not based on how well we press through the crowd.

Christ has already done the work.
His blood is sufficient.
That doesn’t change.

But fellowship is different - closeness with Him… growth… maturity…

Those are shaped by our response - how we act on the work that Christ is doing in us. It’s the Spirit of God who stirs us, draws us, gives us the strength, and even makes it possible to move toward Him. We don’t do this alone (John 15:5; Philippians 1:6, 2:13).

Reflection Questions:

●      Are we pressing in?

●      Or staying back in the crowd?

●      Are we workers who need not be ashamed as we fight through distractions to be with Him?

●      Are we letting good things take from what is best?

Written By: Lee Miles