~ The touch of a cloak…
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for tweleve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
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.”
== Thoughts ==
When I go shopping, I’ve acquired this habit of “feeling” the clothes just to see what it feels like. After alot of touching and looking at labels, I’ve learned to be able to tell the difference between different kinds of fabric. (On a side note: Rayon still confuses me.) This got me thinking about the power of touch… and yea, here’s another post.
Uncurable, unclean, and exiled. This is the situation of the woman who has been bleeding for tweleve years. According to Jewish law, any emissions from the body made the person unclean. So this woman was unclean according to the law. She was not allowed to come back into her household until a priest had declared her clean. While she is unclean, any one or any thing that she comes into contact will also become unclean. Think of “cooties” but on a much larger and painful scale… Your friends avoid you, your family does not visit you, you are exiled from your household. No one will touch you. And I do mean, No one…
It has been twelve years of bleeding. You’ve gone from doctor to priest looking for anything to give you your life back. Healing water, prayers, rites, blessings, salves, poultices… and nothing has worked. You might have lost hope by this time, disheartened by all the empty promises, the rollercoaster of expectations, and all the past failures…
Then you hear of a man… They call him, Jesus. Some believe he is a prophet, others say he is a follower of satan, still others think he is the Messiah. You may have heard of the lame walking, deaf hearing, weather obeying, blind seeing, leprosy cured, dead revived, demons rebuked and sins forgiven. Is it possible that this man really can help?
So you seek him out. You follow the news till you find the crowds following him. You’ve heard from others that all it takes is a touch… just a touch. And no matter what is your affliction, you will be healed. You get closer, pushing your way through the crowd that surrounds him. You finally get close enough to see him. He looks like any other person, but he stands out. His manner is strong and his disciples watch him closely. He is friendly and warm, chatting with those closest to him. Finally, he’s close enough to touch. And with your heart in your throat, knowing how wrong it is for you to even touch him, you reach out and just touch a bit of his cloak…
Immediately, you notice your bleeding has stopped. You slip back into the crowd, afraid that he will notice this unclean woman near him. But the crowd stops because the disciples and this man, Jesus have halted in their tracks. You pause, trying hard to melt back into the crowd quietly. Jesus speaks in a loud voice, stead and sure, “Who touched me?” Your mind races, you remember only touching his cloak, there was no way he could have known that you had touched his cloak ever so lightly… People around you deny having touched him. Even the disciples look doubtful. One of the disciples starts talking with Jesus, telling him that people were only crowding him. During this commotion, you move further away, only to hear Jesus speak again, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
The entire crowd goes quiet and still. The disciples look around wondering who this person could be. There’s no way you can leave now without the entire crowd noticing. Fear grips you and you imagine what a man with this large amount of follows could do… With your heart in your throat, you do the only option left to you, you walk over to him, go down on your knees and plead your case before him. You tell him about the 12 years of heartbreak, exile, and trials. You tell him of all the remedies you have tried, all the attempts that had failed. You tell him of brushing his cloak and of healing. The crowd and the disciples have all been quiet, watching this drama play out…
You look up. And you see this man named Jesus smile. Then he says, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Red-faced and uncomfortable with the title of ‘daughter’, you get back on your feet. Wondering at this man who is somehow more than just a man…
=+ Application +=
Jesus can heal things that nothing on earth can heal. Seek him out, meet him, and you will find out for yourself.
=== Nostalgia: Xanga-Newbie ==
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| Posted 9/12/2002 at 4:20 PM by TheXangaTeam – delete – block user |
what i mean by “i know the answer and it’s not the answer:”
i told a friend that even though God has blessed me richly (i’m at seminary, engaged to a delight, healthy, working, etc.), there under there in the deep crys out for more. like i’m thirsty. and my friend said that i should find my satisfaction in Christ. i know the answer.
and I look to Christ. and live for Christ (can we really live for any but ourselves?)
and I’m as yearning as i’ve ever been.
that’s what i mean.
🙂 this totally reminds me of the situation i’m in. thank you for the great reminder of hope in Jesus. He raises people from the dead, why can’t he heal me?
That… really spoke to me… thanks!
how the ordinary act of touching, coupled with simple faith, can produce an extraordinary event :-).. your entry reminded me that God uses the simple basic things in life to create his miracles, all we need to do to see those miracle come to pass is faith. Wow..
i found your site through death of a dream. your entry really spoke to me especially the “application” part. i’m not going through a physical sickness but my family is a little bit “sick” financially and those words are a real encouragement to me. i’ll probably be visiting your site often….
yeah, i hope i dont get too many harsh calls as well. that will suck.
<3
christie.x
anime recommendations eh…
hmm, i’m watching “naruto” right now. it’s a big hit in japan right now…like a big craze 😛
also working through “inuyasha.” awesome series 😀 if you want to d/l them, bittorrent is a great program to use. just type it into google and d/l the program. then go to bittorrent sites like http://suprnova.org or http://narutofan.com to d/l the anime. careful tho…this stuff really sucks the time outta you 😛
Hey thanx for the comment…..yeah there’s some things we’ll just have to find out……nway keep rockin!!
Beauty for ashes
Steph