Episode Five: The Woman with Bleeding

In the fifth episode of our Lent podcast series, Jane Kelly, Common Grace’s Community Organising Lead and Creation and Climate Justice Coordinator joins with Dr Louise Gosbell, biblical studies scholar and disability advocate, to reflect on Jesus’ encounter with the woman with bleeding in Mark 5.

Together they explore the depth of this story by paying closer attention to the woman’s long experience of illness, isolation, and stigma, and what that might have meant for her life and place in society. They reflect on the tenderness of Jesus calling her “daughter” and how his response brings not only physical healing, but restores her dignity, belonging, and place in community. Louise also shares insights from disability theology, inviting us to think about how barriers in our churches and societies can exclude people, and how followers of Jesus are called to help break those barriers down. This conversation invites us to see healing in a broader way - as the work of restoring people to connection, belonging, and community.

Listen to this podcast episode below 

You can also download the episode via this Google Drive link.

A transcript of this conversation can be downloaded here.

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realised that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Mark 5:25-34

Reflect:

Did you learn anything new about this passage from Jane and Louise's conversation?

In what ways did Jesus transform the life of the woman with bleeding?

Have you ever been made aware of something in your experience of church that works well for you but poses a challenge for others?

How does hearing about the "social model" of disability change the way you think about the experiences people might have in our churches?

Pray:

Gracious Lord, thank you for this remarkable story of Jesus healing the woman with bleeding and publicly restoring her to community. May we gain from it great courage to see and listen to those in our churches with disability or health concerns and work together to make changes so everyone can fully participate. We praise you for your commitment to each of us and all of our physical, social, and spiritual needs. Amen.

Go Deeper:

JESUS: a Deaf Missions film - a feature film entirely in American Sign Language made by Deaf Missions, an international Christian ministry dedicated to clearly communicating the Gospel of Jesus with Deaf people through their heart language, culture, and identity.

The woman with the ‘flow of blood’ (Mark 5:25-34) and disability in the ancient world - a user-friendly version of Dr Louise Gosbell’s PhD research on the woman with bleeding.

Disability Studies - a chapter written by Dr Louise Gosbell included in a handbook on interdisciplinary approaches to biblical studies, due for publication in early 2026. Louise uses the woman with bleeding as an example of the merits of using a disability studies approach to biblical studies. 

Everyone Welcome: Accessible church for all - guidelines written by Dr Louise Gosbell, providing helpful tools for working towards greater inclusion of people with disability in churches.

Biblical Disability: Recast and Remembered - a website about disability in the bible. This resource is designed to bring together material about the diverse things that the bible says about disability and the diverse ways in which people have interpreted these biblical passages in different times, places, and social contexts throughout history.

Dr Louise Gosbell is the Research Manager at Australian University of Australia (AUT) and previously served at Mary Andrews College as a New Testament lecturer, Dean of Students, and College Principal. A biblical studies scholar, her research focuses particularly on disability in biblical texts and its implications for church practice. She serves on the Sydney Anglican General Synod Doctrine Committee, works as a disability consultant for the Diocese’s Office of Safe Ministry, and participates in the AUT’s Disability Reference Group and various ministry boards. She is married to Mark and has three grown-up-ish daughters.

Jane Kelly is Common Grace’s Community Organising Lead and Creation and Climate Justice Coordinator. Based in Western Sydney on the lands of the Toogagal people of the Dharug nation, she has studied theology, ministry, ethics, and legal studies. Jane is passionate about connecting with people, hearing their stories, and seeking a better future for all of God’s creation.

---

About this Series

This podcast episode has been shared as part of Common Grace's 2026 Lent series, 'Changed Heart/Changed World'. This series journeys through seven Gospel stories where Jesus meets people in moments of struggle, pain, exclusion, or sin - and transforms their lives with healing, forgiveness, and restoration. But these encounters aren’t only personal. Jesus also challenges the social, economic, and religious systems that oppress - breaking through boundaries that keep people from flourishing. Discover with us how a changed heart leads to a changed world, and how encountering Jesus calls us into embodied love for our neighbours, our communities and all creation.

Through Common Grace’s annual Lent series we encourage Christians around Australia to engage with Jesus - hearing his words in the scriptures, invitations to pray, reflections by Christian leaders - all in the hope that we draw closer to Jesus and are sent into his world in beauty, generosity and justice. Explore previous Common Grace Lent series here. 

Support Common Grace:

This podcast series is only possible because of the generosity of many faithful supporters of Common Grace. To contribute to the ongoing work of Common Grace and help many more people be inspired to pursue justice, we'd love you to consider giving a once-off gift or join as a regular donor today.