Touching The Robe Of Jesus

Touching The Robe Of Jesus

[The woman] had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” Mark 5:27-34

Imagine the crush of people jostling to get to Jesus as he walked with his disciples. A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years wanted what many others wanted—a healing miracle. But unlike many, she had the faith to believe that if she could just get close enough to touch Jesus’ robe, she would be healed.

She pressed her way through the multitudes, and for a split second, when Jesus passed by, she reached out and touched his robe. Instantly, she felt his healing power surge through her. But then he stopped and spoke.

“Who touched my robe?”

Her instant reaction had to be one of fear. What would happen if she identified herself? Would Jesus, the healer, be angry? Would he take back the miracle?

The disciples were equally perplexed. How in this teeming mass of humanity could anyone know who had touched Jesus’ robe?

But the woman chose to identify herself, and Jesus made it clear that God had used her belief in him to heal her.

How close do we try to get to Jesus when we feel unclean? Do we press our way through the crowd? Or do we give up, afraid that others will see how sick we are? I know that when my patients are willing to push forward, their outcomes are always better—maybe not always physically better, but always emotionally and spiritually better.

TODAY’S RX

Reach out to Jesus today. As you seek him, he will give you renewed life.

Lord, often my shame gets the best of me, and I draw away from you when I feel unclean. Help me, instead, to draw near to you, like the woman in this story, and trust you for deliverance from my sin.