I was reading this morning in Mark chapter 5 with Jesus and the woman with the issue of blood and how when she touched His clothes, Jesus stopped and asked who touched Him. His disciples, hearing this, were confused. What did Jesus mean who touched Him? People on all sides were touching and pressing in on Him. But Jesus knew that there was a difference between someone touching Him and someone touching HIM.
As I was thinking about it, I had the thought cross through my mind. What was the difference between this woman touching Jesusย and any of these other people touching Jesus? Instantly, the word INTENTION popped into my head. The other people just happened to be there. Yeah, they wanted to be near Jesus and hear what He had to say. But this woman had intention. She went to Jesus with the faith. and believing that even the hem of His garments could heal her. She went quietly, unobtrusively, in her hurting, in her exhaustion. She who had no strength struggled through the crowd, through the difficulty, with a single minded focus. To just touch the hem of His garment. She did not allow herself to give up when the crowds pressed in on her. She did not allow herself to give up when she was bumped into or pressed back. She kept moving forward. She maybe didnโt even feel worthy of Jesus attention. After all, her goal was just to touch His clothes,ย not His hands. She didnโt go looking to be able to get His attention face to face. Only to find her healing in Him. But she did it with intention. When her fingers extended out to His garments, it wasnโt an accident or a fluke. It was with the faith and assurance that Jesus could and would heal her and that His power was great enough that even that simple touch of His garments would be enough. And she was right. In that moment when she touched Jesus garments, she was healed. She was whole. She was strong.ย
Then, in the very next moment, Jesus says, โWho touched Me?โ Can you imagine how startling that must have been for this poor woman? She wanted her healing, but her goal was probably to not disturb the Teacher. Especially, I would guess, over something that felt as shameful to her as this issue of blood. Blood was such a huge part of the culture and the laws back then. Not only would she have been considered unclean that entire time, but anyone she would have come into contacted would have also have been considered unclean.
To have an unnatural flow that lasted so long must have felt like God was trying to punish her for some unknown crime. And then after all of her efforts to not bring attention on herself, Jesus calls out, โWho touched Me?โ Where the disciples were confused in the situation, because so many people were brushing up against Jesus, Jesus Himself and this woman were not confused at all. Because they both knew this was no ordinary kind of touch. This touch was powerful and intentional.ย
When I think of how the disciples were trying to make light of Jesus being touched, I think of how that woman could have responded in that moment. She could have tried to just look as confused as the rest of the people in the crowd and pretended that nothing life altering had just happened to her. She might have been afraid to confess. Worried that Jesus would suddenly decide to punish her for what she had done. Or scared that He would take that healing away from her. Not to mention if the crowd got wind of the fact that this unclean woman had just touched many of them in her efforts to get to Jesus in the first place. That crowd could easily have become a mob with that kind of information at their hands. I imagine she must have been so scared to even allow the words to pass her lips. Itโs not even like she had a good second option for getting to Jesus. He was basically surrounded every minute that He wasnโt actively avoiding people. How many opportunities was she going to get? It makes me wonder, was this the first time she has sought Jesus out? Or had she been trying to get close to Him for awhile? Perhaps trying to get close to Him when there was not a big crowd around Him? How hard would that have been with that kind of anemia leeching the energy right out of you body? It might have felt like she had no other options available to her.
But regardless of how she might have felt, she brought her trembling body before Him and confessed what she had done. She had no idea how Jesus was going to respond. Even if she had been following Him for awhile, itโs not like she had likely seen anything like this happen before. But she risked it all and told Him all that had happened to her. And what did Jesus do with that truth? I think He looked her straight in the eyes when He told her, โDaughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace and be healed of your affliction.โ One sentence. Thatโs all He said. But that one sentence tells us so much. He wanted her to know that He saw her. He wanted to offer her the words that she could feel, but her mind had yet to wrap around; that she was healed. He wanted her to know that He wasnโt upset with her. And He wanted her to recognize that she did have a hand in her own healing when she chose to believe in Him. ย
So here is what we need to get out of this. When we reach out to Jesus with intention; He always feels us. He always knows that we are there. When we intentionally reach out to Jesus, He wants us to know that He sees us. He wants us to know that we arenโt just in His presence, that He sees our needs and that He truly just SEES US. We are not just reaching out to thin air, but to a Savior that cares more about us that we can imagine and who doesnโt want us to have to sneak around to seek Him. He will meet us right where we are when we come to Him in honesty and intentionally. May we be as intentional in our efforts to seek Him and reach for the hem of his robe. Donโt think about the crowd. Just fix your eyes on HIM.
Image created by Mel Seeley in collaboration with ChatGPT
Leave a Reply