Grab Hold

A certain woman had a flow or an issue of blood for twelve long years.  For twelve long years, this woman may have experienced just being cold.  She may have experienced shortness of breath.  Unable to talk and do physical activity at the same time.  She may have experienced weakness and tiredness.

Depending on the flow of blood from her, she may have to isolated.  She would have been unclean, not able to go in the temple, not a person that could be readily touched.  Other than the touch of a doctor the comforting touch of anyone may have been absent from her life.

She also had to put up with the practices of the physicians of the time.

At one time she had some money to see physicians, but to no benefit of her own, she had spent it all.  Instead of getting better, she had gotten worse.  She was beyond hope of any cure.  If there was one, could she afford it?  What else is it for her to do.  What hope does she have?

Before you give up, before you quit, there is still hope.

What I want you to do is to grab hold of Jesus.  You can’t grab hold his hand, his head, his arm, his hair or his clothes.  But you can grab hold of his word.

She heard about Jesus.  This man heals everyone of everything.  He makes the blind to see, the lame to walk, the withered hand strong, the deaf to hear.  He makes the paralyzed to walk.  He cast out devils.  There is nothing he cannot do. She heard and she believed.  She heard and she moved.  She heard and she came.  She came behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his garment.

Jesus is on the way to the home of Jairus.  Jairus is a ruler of a synagogue. Jairus has a sick and dying daughter.  He approached Jesus for Jesus to come with him and heal his daughter.

Jesus, Jairus, the disciples and the multitudes set out for Jairus house.  Jesus is going to heal her or rather raise her from the dead.  The disciples are going because they are his disciples.  He is their teacher.  The multitudes are following him on every side.  This had to be some seen.  A crowd of people, pressing, touching and crowding Jesus as he is on his way to Jairus.  One person in the crowd already has Jesus’ attention.  It is Jairus.  The multitudes are following Jesus.  The multitudes have access to Jesus.  The multitudes fail to grab Jesus’ attention.  The multitudes fail to draw any miracle working power from Jesus.

But there is one in the crowd different from all the rest.  Before this woman grabbed hold of Jesus, she grabbed hold of some faith.

She had heard of Jesus.  She said, if only I may touch his garment, I shall be made whole.  She suffered a lot, lost a lot.  She had the expectation that if she should touch Jesus’ clothes, she would be made whole.  She was broke, but she expected to touch Jesus’ garment and be made whole.  Sick, broke, busted and disgusted.  If I can get close enough to touch his garment, I can be made whole.

She had her mind made up, if I touch his garment, I will be made whole.  I do not need Jesus to actively participate.  I do not need Jesus to will for me to be whole.  I do not need Jesus to touch me.  I do not need Jesus to lay hands on me.  I do not need his attention.  I do not need him to say a word.  She just showed up with her faith, touched his clothes and she was made whole.

She did not need any of the normal or abnormal ways Jesus healed people to take place.  She did not have to go to a pool and wash.  She did not have to go show herself to a priest.  Jesus did not spit on her.

She had heard of Jesus.  And if it was true that Jesus heals, then she could be healed without any activity on his part.  She just had to show up with her faith.

If Jesus is a healer, and that is who he is, then if I just touch his clothes, I ought to be made whole.

If Jesus is what she heard of him, a healer, she will be made whole.  Some people need circumstances to align for them to be able to do something.  Some people need the stars to align.  Some people need to not have been irritated by what people do or say.  Some people must be in the right mood.  But Jesus, is who he is, the one who can make you whole, no matter what the situation.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He changes not.  

She touched him, the Greek word, for touched is hapto, which means to fasten.  She fastened her hand on his clothes.  She grabbed his clothes.  Somebody needs to grab the word that Jesus can make you complete.  Jesus can make you perfect. 

On some of your cell phones there is this thing called haptic touch.  What normally happens when you touch an icon is an app opens and you can touch menus until you get to where you want to.  You may have to scroll; you may have to touch one thing to open another.  Works pretty much the same from one app to another.  But haptic touch occurs when you not only touch the icon but hold your finger there and a menu that will allow you to skip other menus to get what you want done.  You touched and got your results quicker.  Your touch resulted in you getting from that touch what you do not get in another app.  You get what you want quicker, and without all the fuss.

She silently touched long enough to get Jesus attention.  She had an expectation and her expectation was met.  I am willing to say it was exceedingly and abundantly above anything she could ask or think.

She touched him and three things happened.

Miraculous healing power flowed out of Jesus and Jesus knew it.

The fountain of her blood dried up and this happened immediately.

She was healed of the disease and she felt it.

Jesus knew it and she felt it.

Jesus stops.  Jesus turns around.  Someone has said there are no stupid questions.  Jesus asks, who touched my clothes?  His disciples wonder why and reminds him that he is in a crowd, how can you expect not to be touched.  The question is not stupid, Jesus is just surrounded by people that just don’t know.  How can you ask who touched you?

Well, there is one in the crowd who was not just tagging along.  There is one woman in the crowd who is not strolling along to see what Jesus will do at Jairus’.  There is one woman who is not a disciple, because she just heard of Jesus.  There is one woman not caught up in the wow factor of Jesus miracles.  There is one woman in the crowd who wanted to see if what she had heard of Jesus is true.

There is one person in the crowd whose faith is so great Jesus did not have to actively acknowledge her for her to be healed.  Faith so great that she was healed on what she heard of him, now what she heard from him.  Her faith was so that Jesus did not have to lay hands on her.  She had enough faith within herself to draw healing virtue, healing power from the Lord.

In the case of Jesus, if it’s in you, it’s in you.  If you are who you say you are, who they say you are, you are that all the time.    Because, what is in you will surely come out.  The real you Is not rehearsed.   The real you will show up even when you are caught off guard.   There is so much healing in Jesus, you don’t need his attention to receive it.  Just bring your faith.  What you need, God’s got it.

Jesus stops.  He is looking for the who, the who in all the crowd who was able to draw healing power from him.  Who has such faith that touching his clothes turned her life around?  Touching his clothes changed her economy.  Touching his clothes, changed where she could not go to where she could go.  Touching his clothes opened a new group of people she could legally be around.  Touching Jesus changed her life.  Touching Jesus stopped her issue.  Touching Jesus made her feel the healing on the inside.

No one else in the crowd had the faith to stop Jesus in his tracks like this woman.

She came forth, she was emotional.  She was afraid.  She did not know what he would do.  But she did know that she was the one who touched him.  Someone else in the crowd came in contact with Jesus, but no one in the crowd touched him like her.  She knew what had happened to her.  

How do we know so much about the woman’s story?

She acknowledged the truth.  She came forth when Jesus asked who touched me.

She knew the truth.  She knew what had happened to her.

She told him the whole truth.  She told him of the trouble she had experienced the last 12 years and when she heard of him, she just had to touch his clothes to be made whole.

Jesus can heal you without a whole lot of fanfare.  Jesus can make you whole.  

Jesus when he did turn to her gave her something.

He gave her affection; he called her daughter.  A child of Abraham.  He gave her the comfort to know she had done nothing wrong.

He gave her assurance.  He told her your faith has made you whole.  She knew already, but his word made a sure thing sure.

He gave her acceptance.  He told her to go in peace.  She is no longer unclean, but clean.  She is welcome.  She is part of the community.  Part of the family.  She is not limited by her issue to where she can go.

He gave her an answer.  Be healed of your affliction.  Her healing is present and continuing.

Jesus is not ashamed to call you who have believed brethren.  He laid down his life for you, which allows you who believe to become part of his family.  He gives you acceptance, that you can now come boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy in time of need.  He gives you assurance that none who the Father has given him, he will lose none.  He gives you the answer.  Nothing is impossible to him that believeth.

Grab hold of Jesus.  Find out if he is what you heard of him.