Touched by Jesus

They say that children that grow up in overcrowded orphanages are way behind in development – especially if they are there from birth. Research shows that infants and children need to be touched in order to stimulate them to learn even the physical tasks of sitting, crawling, and walking. It seems our Creator made us to need to touch each other. When we are sad or upset, a good hug from a friend brings healing and strength to us. Some children are what I call ‘constant contact’ children. They need to be touching someone at all times or they go from sad to distraught quickly.

Once word was out that Jesus could heal diseases, people got excited when they heard he was coming to their community. It didn’t matter if they were well known and wealthy or if they were poor nobodies and outcasts. Jesus willingly touched and healed many people. And then there was the woman who reached out and touched Jesus…

“As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.” Luke 8:42-44 She must have been a desperate woman. According to Jewish laws, if she had any kind of discharge, she should not have been in a place where people could touch her – she was considered unclean and they would be unclean. Yet, she persisted into a crushing crowd and made her way to touch Jesus from behind. I wonder how many people she made ‘unclean’ on the way. And they didn’t even know it!

“’Who touched me?’ Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’” Luke 8:45 The woman was obviously embarrassed and did not speak up – that would be admitting she had broken the law by being there and that she had made many people around her unclean. And who wants to talk about a personal physical problem. She thought she could get healed without bringing it out into the public.

“But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.’” Luke 8:46 This healing power of Jesus was obviously a physical thing – not just in that people became well, but that Jesus felt power leaving him. I wonder how and why that power would leave him without him telling it to go. How did the woman receive healing without Jesus speaking the words of healing to her? In a way, it is like a child holding onto his father’s pants leg or his mother’s skirt and drawing security and confidence from just touching their parent. But this was more than security or confidence. The woman was healed from a physical problem.

“Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.’” Luke 8:47-48 While she had received healing just by touching him, confessing and receiving his blessing were important as well. Jesus did not let her miss that part. He could have just kept walking and not said anything. But Jesus knew the importance of confessing. He had more for her than freedom from bleeding. Now she would be free to talk about what Jesus had done for her. That is something that we so often miss in our large church and event gatherings – confession and publicly proclaiming what the Lord has done for us. Maybe a couple of people on stage get to share some, but the rest of the crowd are just onlookers. Sometimes, smaller gatherings without microphones can allow for more of this. But if we have an agenda and a schedule to keep, we can walk right by these opportunities and not see them. I wonder if we truly expect to meet Jesus and touch him and be touched by him when we gather for worship….

All of this happened while Jesus was on the way to the house of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, because his daughter was ill and he had asked Jesus to come heal her. While Jesus was still speaking with the woman, Jairus received a message that his daughter had died. Now Jairus had to decide if he would be angry with Jesus for taking too long to get there or he would have the faith to believe that Jesus could bring his dead daughter back to life. Jesus encouraged him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” Luke 8:50 Why did Jesus say, “Don’t be afraid?” What was Jairus going to be afraid of? Facing life without his only daughter, the joy of his life? Facing other people who had children and now his was dead? The words that were coming from the mouths of his friends, “Your daughter is dead?”

What is this fear that we have of hearing news we don’t want to hear about those we love or ourselves? Is it possible to rid ourselves of this fear? It is the fear of death – of those we love and of our own. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” The removal of that fear comes in trusting in the One who made us and knows us and loves us. We can reach up and put our hand in his hand and walk in confidence into the unknown because he is there. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

When he got to the house, Jesus took Peter, John and James and the girl’s parents with him and went into the room where the daughter was lying. He simply “took her by the hand and said, ‘My child, get up!’” Luke 8:54 And she did.

The woman touched him. He touched the child. It works both ways. But in both cases, trusting Jesus was an important part of the equation. Another part of that equation was that both the woman and the child and her parents were in dire need of help. We love to see God touching people in special ways, but we don’t want the pain that they are in which put them in the position of needing touching. We want to live in a world free from pain and suffering. God wants that for us as well. That is why he sent Jesus into the world and that is why he has gone to prepare a place for us where “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17b I can hardly wait to be there – to be forever touched by Jesus.