Luke 8:43-48
Jesus Heals a Woman Who Touches His Cloak
43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Jesus was the most effective Healer to ever live...He might be what I would call an Alert Healer...Jesus understands us and these things that make us human…He knows that disease and death are two things that we are fearful of...We feel powerless when we have been sick for twelve years and no other doctor can provide relief...But this woman has confidence in Jesus in being healed...And in a large crowd Jesus asks, "Who touched Me?"...We cannot hide from Jesus...So the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and humbly fell at His feet...In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed...Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.Go in peace.”...The woman had little conversation about her illness, and she was instantly healed by Jesus...I can only imagine how she felt, when He told her to go in peace, and said those words about her faith...
He once ask someone if they wanted to get well…Have you ever heard of a physician asking if you want to get well?...He knows what is wrong with us, what is in our hearts, and what is in our heads…As we read about His healings He has an authority and control that no one else has ever had...Jesus was the most unique healer we have ever read about, and He goes well beyond helping us just with health issues...His healings and His teachings touch the heart...He teaches us about life and His Father...I surely believe that Jesus touched the woman's heart, who touched the edge of His cloak...
Over the past several years physicians and therapists have learned that patients now disclose more in the last thirty seconds of an appointment than any other time…And this information that they provide in the last half minute is the most important…We now seem to wait to disclose our illnesses, our weaknesses, our most painful conflicts at the very end of our appointment and not before…There is more pertinent and helpful information given to physicians at the very end of one's appointment…Jesus healings seem different,...Often He has a unique conversational way with everyone, including those who were sick...And in the case of the ill woman, who touched His cloak, He had no conversation at all...
No one really knows why we wait till the end and why this is done so often…Maybe it is out of our fear or out of shame or maybe our bodies no longer do what they used to do...And maybe that is shy we wait to say something we actually need to disclose…But the talk before this last thirty seconds seems, as a general rule, more casual in many cases, than the end of the appointment...And the doctor must be alert as the examination or the session is about to end…Otherwise much can be lost in the appointment...A good doctor knows this, a Great Physician understands this…It seems like we wait for just the right moment to tell the ones our most painful experiences, and that right moment is at the end…And the good doctor is waiting and listening for this signal and our last words…With Jesus nearby like the bleeding woman, we neither fear, nor does He make us feel ashamed...He comes from the perspective of love...He told her to go in peace, her faith in Him had healed her...
Jesus knows these things of our nature...Being around Jesus, I believe shows us who we really are...This is because He knows us so well...And besides the each of us, He sees the problems of the diseases and the anxieties around the world…And He knows our problems before we tell Him in the last thirty seconds of our prayers…Jesus' two thousand years later still brings us a unique and dynamic way to view life and the things in it...And even today He touches our heart...