Jesus went to save Jairus’ daughter. While He was on the way to his house, a large crowd followed Him. Many people pressed around Him, and there were so many people that even the disciples could not control the situation. But Jesus suddenly turned around and spoke.
“Who touched My clothes?”
It was strange that He said this while the crowds were surrounding Him, but He still looked around to find who it was. A certain woman trembled with fear and came forward. She confessed what had just happened. An amazing thing happened without people realizing.
This woman suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years. She relied on many doctors but only wasted her money without any results. Utterly exhausted, this woman had no money left to find a doctor. But what made her more miserable was that people avoided and despised her.
According to the Law, those with a bodily discharge were unclean for a while. Furthermore, those who touched them, their seat and those who touched their seat were unclean. So no one approached a person with a discharge. How were those suffering from bodily discharges treated? They could not enter the temple or synagogue all their lives, they could not touch their family members, and they lived no differently from lepers.
This woman suffered from this sickness for over 12 years. She looked for Jesus so she could at least touch His clothes. She could have gotten into trouble if her actions were discovered, but she had no other hope. She pushed through the crowd, approached Jesus, and finally touched His clothes. At that moment, she felt that she was healed from her sickness, and tried to quickly escape the crowd while hiding her joy and fear. Jesus looked around.
The woman realized she could not hide her identity, and came to Jesus and told about her situation. Then Jesus declared, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” This showed it was not the woman’s faith itself that healed the sickness but Jesus Himself, and He announced to this woman (who was amazed at her body being healed) that even her spirit was saved.
This woman understood that her sickness could be cured if she touched Jesus’ clothes. This was very immature, but Jesus was pleased that she regarded Him as her only hope and for her faith having absolute trust. Since He saw that her sincere faith was worthy of saving her spirit, He invited her to have a spiritual encounter with God.
When God heals us and helps us in various ways, these are not benefits automatically given to us as believers. This is the salvation which God performs on those who have faith worthy of His help.
Therefore, let’s have a sincere faith which is worthy of God’s help. Let’s acknowledge that we are sinners who cannot escape despair and come humbly to Him.
(Lord’s Day Service on June 6, 2021)
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