Photo by NITISH GOSWAMI on Unsplash
By Mike Chaffin
And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” Mark 5:30
If you have ever walked through a crowded corridor, whether at school, a sporting event or even church you know it is nearly impossible to do so without inadvertently touching other people as you pass. Here Jesus is near the height of his ministry and is being thronged by people. People wanted to touch Him, get His attention, or say a Praise God for Him.
But this was a different touch. This touch had purpose and consequences. Jesus encountered thousands of people. People flocked to Him. They wanted to hear Him teach, preach, and heal. The woman who touched Him was no different, but her desire for healing drove her faith. She believed He could. In fact, her faith was so strong that she received healing simply by believing. Her faith was all it took.
This woman had been sick for years. Doctors couldn’t heal her. She was ceremonially unclean and couldn’t go to the Temple. In the natural world she was out of money and out of options. Then Jesus came.
Jesus wanted to know who this person was with the faith to claim, “If I can just touch the hem of His garment I will be healed.” He wanted the crowd to understand what had just happened. He wanted to celebrate with her.
During His earthly ministry, He healed in a variety of ways. The centurion asked Him to heal his servant. Jesus said, “let’s go.” The centurion said, “No. Just say the word and he will be healed.” That very hour he was healed. Sometimes He used spit, mud, and laying on of hands. But for those of greater faith, they just asked, and He just said, be healed, or in some cases, “Your sins are forgiven, rise and walk.”
The same healing is available today. We can ask and receive God’s healing. We can ask for help to resist temptation and receive the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We can ask for wisdom and get it. However, James tells us doubt will cloud our minds.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:6
Jesus also told us to ask and receive with no doubt. Doubt hurts our faith.
For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Mark 11:23
Faith moves mountains. One mountain it moves is salvation for we are saved by faith. Want to feel the touch of Jesus? Reach out to Him in faith.
Contemplation: When was the last time I reached out to Jesus and felt his power go through me?
