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127. "If I Can Just Touch the Hem Of His Garment"


Leviticus 15:25-30, Matthew 9:18-22, Mark 5:21-34, Luke 8:40-48
Key Verse: He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
Mark 5:34

God's glory was not to be denied. We cannot steal from God and get away with it. We have here a crowd. We have lots of noise, lots of activity. Who would notice one little bump; a little tug on the hem of the tunic. Perhaps children were nearby. Perhaps they had tugged on his tunic for some childish attention. Why not give it a try? What was there to lose? If it didn't work, she would be the same as before. At least it wouldn't cost any money as all the high priced physicians had. They had come with promises and remedies that didn't work. The act seemed so simple. Touch the robe and slip away. No one ever need know.

She didn't know Jesus. She didn't realize how much her creator loved her. Even the smallest tug, the softest prayer is heard by Him. She did not know how much she was loved by Him. She was only thinking of taking what she could get, but He was seeking a relationship, a face to face opportunity to encourage her and let her know that she mattered to Him.

Surely, in this day and time, it is understandable that this woman was hoping to retain some sense of privacy and dignity. She didn't want everyone to know that she had been bleeding, perhaps like menstruation, for twelve years. If she was healed, no one would notice and if she wasn't, no one would be there with that patronizing, "Awe, too bad. Maybe some other time."

Perhaps, another reason for her secrecy was that, in truth, she knew that she was breaking the Law. Her discharge made her unclean, just as the leper was considered unclean. If everyone in the crowd had known her situation, she would have not only been shunned, but pressed to the edge of the crowd and encouraged to leave. She wanted to get to Jesus. She had to get to Jesus and Jesus was in the center of the crowd.

Sadly, the crowd reminds me of the church’s attitude toward outsiders. So often, we would push the unclean to the edge, away from our worship, away from Jesus, because they make us uncomfortable. They interrupt our worship, our agenda. When the unclean try to sneak just one touch of the Master's robe, how often, we religious people in our practical mindedness, respond like Peter. "Lord, there are people all around you." In modern language we might hear him saying, "Lord, don't be ridiculous. Of course somebody touched you! What did you expect? This is a crowd after all!"

Even Peter, who walked with the Lord on a daily basis, missed the individuality of God's love. Sometimes we do that, you know. We walk with Jesus and we talk with Jesus and we forget that He doesn't want His love to stop with us. We forget that He is always seeking more people who need Him. We want to keep Him all to ourselves. He wants more of His creation to love Him the way we are supposed to be doing, but we try to keep Him to ourselves.

So, Jesus forced the woman to acknowledge Him so that He could look her in the eye and bless her and let her know of His love for her. He was willing to do what it would take to begin a relationship with her. For us, the cross demonstrates that He has that same willingness and determination today. The cross isn't just about the world, but about us as individuals. He looks each one of us in the eye to say, "I love you."

Hymn: "He Touched Me" 

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