“As Jesus was on his way [to Jairus’ house], the crowds almost crushed him. A woman came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding [of twelve years] stopped. ‘Who touched me?’ Jesus asked. 'Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
There was so much human physical touch taking place in this throng of people—crowding, pressing against, crushing. Jesus feels this but is “untouched” by it. There was, however, one woman who, having heard about Jesus, worked her way through the crowd—through the throng of spectators to become a participator. Having suffered through many doctors and having spent everything she had over the years to pay them, she had only gotten worse. She was desperate—and desperate people break through.
“She came up behind him”—she knew if she could just touch the fringe of His robe she would be healed; and for that she didn’t need to see Him face to face. But you can’t sneak up on God, especially when you have faith in Who He is. Her hand touched His robe, but her faith touched Him. “Who touched me?” Then He turned to face her as she knelt trembling before Him: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” It was important enough to Jesus to honor and confirm this woman’s faith that He stopped the whole crowd and procession to find her—even if it meant interrupting the life and death mission He was on to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter.
Her desperate but expectant faith had done more than merely touch the edge of a cloak—it had connected her to the heart of God in Jesus. Do we have that same desperate humility and faith when we approach the presence of Jesus in prayer, in worship, in the study of His word? The hem of the garment was not Jesus, but it was in touch with Him. The pages of the Bible are not Jesus, but they can put us in touch with Him. A worship song is not Jesus, but if it can connect us with Him it can be a vessel of healing—an avenue to help us touch the “Him” of the garment!
[Scripture references from Luke 8:42-48; Mark 5:24-34; NIV]