“It is not every contact with Christ that saves men; it is the arousing of yourself to come near to him, the determinate, the personal, resolute, believing touch of Jesus Christ which saves.”
C.H.Spurgeon
Dear Believer,
If we were to finish the above title, we would come up with several endings, couldn’t we? Today, I’d like to focus on one. This miracle of Jesus is about a woman with the issue of blood and is found in Matthew Mark, and Luke. The gospels tell us she had a worsening condition of discharge of blood that she had suffered for 12 years. When we study this event socially, culturally, and physically, we find:
-According to Jewish law in Leviticus 15:25, her condition would have made her ceremonially unclean. Anyone who touched her or she touched would also be considered unclean. Understanding that she had a continual flow of blood, she was to be separated continually from the community. Not only would she be separated from the social community, but also from the synagogue and temple. This therefore would have made her a social and religious outcast.
-She was poor, for she had spent “all she had” on doctors to no avail.
-She “could not be healed by anyone”. And in fact, those who treated her left her worse.
-Physically, this condition may have left her anemic, weak, and fatigued.
Considering the above, we can see how this “issue” caused many secondary ones. She most likely lived in isolation, away from any family she may have had. Depending on her age, perhaps childless. Lonely, weak, frustrated, depressed, desperate, and losing hope.
Yet, Scripture tells us, “she had heard the reports about Jesus”(Mark 5:27). Jesus’ reputation had reached far and wide by this time as he taught, preached, and healed all who came to him. So, despite all, she was so desperate to get healed, that she would do whatever it took. What happened next, turns her life around. This woman should not be in a crowd. This woman had no resources and seemingly a lost cause. Nevertheless, this exact issue and circumstance coupled with the Word about Jesus compelled her to risk all for her last flickering flame of hope. The world had hurt her, abandoned her, and cast her away.
“She came up from behind and touched the fringe of his garments”(Lk.8:44)
In this same section in Scripture, we read that moments earlier, a synagogue ruler came and “knelt before” Jesus. Most likely because of his position, people moved out of the way for him. He had every “right” to be there, to intercede for his dying daughter. This was happening in front of Jesus. In front of everyone. But behind him, in the shadows, was this unnamed suffering woman. She did not dare approach from the front in confidence, but instead came from behind and crawled on the ground in an attempt to touch the hanging threads on the bottom of Jesus’ garment. Her belief and faith in the healing power of this Rabbi pushed her forward. On her hands and knees, she had to get to him.
“If I only touch his garment, I will be made well…”(Mk.5:28)
To herself, she said these words with all the faith she could muster. She did not ask Jesus to come to her home as the ruler did. She did not feel worthy to bother Jesus. She didn’t even want Jesus to know.
But, he did. In the pressing crowd, amidst the noise, he knew. He felt. And he responded. He felt the power go out of him. He felt her touch of faith. He didn’t ignore her. He did not prioritize the person of higher prestige or position. He turned around immediately, and seeing as she came up in fear and trembling and confessed the whole truth, he said, “Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Lk.5:34). We see five important things in Jesus’ response. Because it is not about her faith, it is about whom her faith was in.
- Nothing is hidden from his sight (Heb.4:13). He knew her condition and what she needed. He sees her and tells her to “take heart” which means to regain confidence or hope. Jesus knew her suffering had left her depleted of these and offered restoration. Among all the insincere hearts in the crowd, Jesus saw a heart that truly believed in him. He saw this “bruised reed” and “faintly burning wick” and gave her hope.
- He brings her into God’s family (John 1:12). This woman believed in Jesus. Believing in his name had given her a place in the family of God. This is the ONLY place recorded in Scripture where Jesus directly refers to a woman as a daughter. This lonely social paria had now become someone’s daughter. And not just anyone’s daughter, but the daughter of her Father in heaven. She would no longer be rejected. He tenderly adopts her into His family. Into the family of God.
- He gives her healing (Matt.8:16-17). Scripture tells us she “felt in her body that she was healed of her disease” and that “immediately that flow of blood dried up”. Jesus healed her physically. But this was the secondary healing she received. Her physical healing was an external manifestation of the true inward healing she received from Jesus.
- He restores her peace (Is.53:5, Col.1:19-23). Jesus tells her to “Go in peace”. Not the peace of the world (John 14:27), but the peace that comes from a reconciled relationship with God the Father. He had given her the most important healing of all. The peace of her soul. This is the moment her faith in Jesus saved her. She risked humiliation, disappointment, and criticism for her hope and faith in Jesus. She roused herself with all she had for the healing touch of the Savior. She brought nothing but her faith and desire to be made well.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him”. Hebrews 11:6
“But when you ask, believe and not doubt…“James 1:6 - He declares her clean (Heb.10:22, 1 Jn.1:7). According to the law, this woman would have made Jesus unclean. Instead, Jesus turns around and makes her clean. He is the only one who could have not only cleansed her from her disease but also from her sin, her inward disease. Further, the woman’s cure needed to be known publicly in order for her to be received back into normal society. Jesus even had this detail in mind.
In Jesus’ response to this woman, we see the love and power of God.
Dear Believer, do you have an issue that has made you desperate and hopeless? Have you searched for all the solutions this world can offer and have been made worse? Has it reached the point in which it is weighing you down so that you feel unworthy, unclean, and unredeemable? Remember the words of Jesus: “Take heart!” You have heard the reports of Jesus. God has given the gift of faith (Eph. 2:8-10). However small it is right now, how ever you can come to touch the fringe of his garment, come. Now is the time. There is no other solution. Stop wasting your resources on things that cannot help you or will leave you worse. Come humbly. There is nothing you can bring to him. Faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ (Rom.10:17). You have heard it. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved(Acts 2:21,16:31). Be saved from the wrath of God. Be healed in your soul. Be at peace with God and others. Bring it all, all your issues, whatever they may be. Have faith that you will be made well. That he may restore your life with his peace. Not only in this life but for eternity.
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.
2 Thess. 3:16
The LORD be with you,
Bianca
