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| "And Jesus asked, 'Who touched me?" Luke 8:45 |
I’ve been thinking lately about the woman described in Mark who
just wanted to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment.
How focused she was! How deep her faith!
The story is as follows:
“And a large crowd followed him and pressed in
on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for
twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all
that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about
Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said,
“If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage
stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the
crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said to him, “You
see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked
all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to
her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole
truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace,
and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:24 – 5:34)
As a cancer survivor, I understand her desperation. Her sole focus was getting to Jesus and
touching Him. I think this pertains not only to those of us who have gone
through a life threatening illness, but can also extend to someone going
through a difficult period in their walk.
Does your heart cry out to the Lord for relief? For understanding? For
direction? He’s right there, touch
Him. He’s not playing “blind man’s bluff”
Jesus came for such as these. He’s not
toying with you. He’s there. He wants you to touch Him. Jesus said the following:
"It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
(Mark 2:17)
There is a need, deep inside each one of us that is the core
of why we were made; to worship and be close to God. The devil has made many people blind to that
and instead we try to fill it up with sex or addiction or food or even a hobby –
something that distracts us from what our real need is. You are hungry for God. It is a soul hunger that cannot be satisfied
with anything BUT a relationship with God, try as you may to fill that hunger
with substitutes. You CANNOT substitute
your need for your Creator. I think that
is why there are so many people that have what they consider “everything” yet
still they are unhappy. The Bible says:
“Taste and see that the
Lord is good.” (Psalms 34:8)
You cannot adequately explain to someone what it feels like
to have a personal relationship with the Lord.
I think the reason for this is because – it’s personal. The needs I have, the hurts I have, the
person I am is different than the person you are. The Lord knows where to meet me. He knows me.
He has called me by name. No
matter where I am with my walk – I am HIS.
He knows every hair on my head!
And He is no respecter of persons – He knows every hair on YOURS as
well! To drink deep of Him is to feel what
the Bible describes:
“And the peace of God that passes all
understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”(Philippians
4:7)
The Bible is the living Word. It is the same today as it was yesterday as
it will be tomorrow. (Hebrews 13:8). You
can still touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. Whatever your situation, He came so
that you would reach out and touch Him.
He loves you in a way that no other ever will. The one thing I noticed when I read that
story about the woman in Mark is that she acted on her faith. She was convinced that if she were to touch
Jesus, she would be healed. In order to
do that she needed to step out on faith and follow Him and get beyond the
crowds to touch Him. She was focused on
what she needed to do. When I read that
chapter, I visualize her focus. She’s
got a goal and she’s going to achieve it.
To touch Jesus. And when she did,
she felt it. She felt the change in her body, just as Jesus felt the power
going out from Him. I picture Jesus
stopping, knowing who it was who touched Him, but questioning it to see if they
will acknowledge there relationship with Him and what He had done. I picture her coming forward, humble and
thankful and perhaps a little nervous. I
picture Jesus turning around, seeing her, smiling at her with such love, taking
her face in between His two hands as if she was precious to Him – because she
is. His sole focus at that moment was
her. He called her “daughter.” Are you focused? Are your eyes focused on Him? When you believe something, you act on that
belief. She did just that.
What was her life like before that? I can only imagine. I know that as a breast cancer survivor, I
often felt alone. Some of the people in
my life backed away from me. As if I had
leprosy and they would “catch it.” Although I think the truth of the matter is
that perhaps my having a life threatening sickness may have made them think about
their own mortality… Some people don’t
know how to act around someone who is sick, so they stay away. What was that woman’s life like? I’m quite
sure it affected all of her relationships.
I’m quite sure there were some who looked down upon her as if she had
brought this on herself, as if she was “dirty.”
As if she had done something to deserve this. I know that when you have a life threatening
sickness that is one of the things that goes through your head. You look over your life and see your sins and
begin to think that this came upon you because of something you did (or didn’t
do). But the truth of the matter is God
does not work like that. When Adam and
Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden it brought death, sin and destruction into the
world. Sickness is part of this fallen
world. It is the reason God brought
Jesus; For life, for healing and for restoration.
There is no greater purpose than to know that God
cares. That He longs for you to “reach
out and touch Him.” The thing is, when
you reach out and touch someone, they are touching you back, it is a two way
street. When you reach out and touch
Jesus your heart will overflow with peace and love and the knowledge of truth –
that once you taste and see that the Lord is good, you will understand how very
much He loves you, because He truly does.
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