I Just Know

"The woman had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him in the crowd and barely touched his clothes. She had said to herself, "If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed."

This is one of my favorite passages in the New Testament because there is so much you can learn from this woman. There is so much here we can apply to our own lives.

She had an illness that caused her to be set apart from her family and very likely for years she had not been touched. Because of the laws of cleanliness, for 12 years she would have had to keep herself separate from everyone. Not just those she loved but those in the community. In addition, for 12 years she has done everything she can think of, and spent everything she had in order to get better, except she only got worse.

I bet she was lonely! I bet she was tired, depressed, scared and frustrated. She had reached the end of her rope when she heard about Jesus. What did she hear? Probably about the healings, the casting out of demons. Can you imagine? What would you do?

You see this woman knew according to Jewish law that if she were touched, she would cause the other to be unclean. But she was desperate and she needed to see Jesus. So what did she do, when he walked by, she touched his clothes. She believed so fiercely that she would be healed that just touching his clothes would do it. And it did! I can't even begin to imagine the joy she felt after 12 years to finally be healed. But... Jesus knew something had happened, he had felt his power leave him and Jesus wanted to see who it went to. When Jesus asks, I imagine the woman being afraid. She probably felt she would get in trouble for touching him as she was unclean.

She had heard of Jesus but she didn't know him. So with fear she tells Jesus her story. And what does Jesus do? Does he berate her for touching him, does he chastise her for being unclean? No Jesus, reaffirms her faith. Tells her it is her faith that has healed her. Jesus blesses her and loves her. She started out just wanting to touch his clothes, but although the bible does not mention her again that I remember, I bet she left with a deeper hunger to just more than touch his clothes. I bet she left with a desire to know him more!

Created 7 months ago