WHO TOUCHED MY CLOTHES
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you quietly told God about a desire and then miraculously experienced what you desired? Did you think it was a random act of kindness from God because He thought you needed a little pick-me-up that day? Or is it because God cares and He responds when we bare our hearts to Him?
To be honest, most of us think of our desire as a topic to avoid with God. We tell ourselves, “Not my will but His be done!”, convinced that we do not need to tell an all-knowing God what we really want, what really matters to us, what we dislike or struggle with. We confuse self-awareness with self-centredness and allow ourselves to become frigid and transactional with God. We may ask Him for a job, to heal us of a long-term disorder, or to restore a broken relationship but we hold back telling Him the feelings, anxieties and hurts behind the ask. We’re content with skin-deep transformations and ‘feel-good’ reliefs. Yet God wants to do so much more in our lives than to give us only superficial outcomes. He wants us to grow in a mature self-awareness that leads to a greater compassion for others.
Mark 5:24-34 depicts Jesus responding to the desire of one woman who approached Him in a very characteristic way. For twelve years, she had lived with the unspeakable stigma, shame and seclusion brought on by a chronic bleeding disorder that seemingly had no cure. Make no mistake, she was a resourceful and well-informed person. She knew the best doctors around and was as informed as anyone about current affairs. So when she heard that Jesus was going to be visiting her town, she wasted no time to make her way there to approach Him, propelled by just one thought: “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (v27-28).
What happened next went beyond normal linear thinking and the law of cause and effect. Jesus responded not only to her touch but also to her thought. On a physical level, what she felt was ‘Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.’ (v29). On a spiritual level, Jesus felt a power impact emanated from Him and immediately reacted to her thought, ‘Who touched My clothes?’ (v30).
Hidden in the thick of the crowd, the woman was close enough to hear His question. However, unsure of what it meant, she recoiled and retreated so that even Jesus’ disciples could not spot her. But Jesus was determined not to let it rest or let her slip back into oblivion. He 'kept looking around to see who had done it.' (v32). As soon as she emerged from the crowd, He told her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (v34).
We all want breakthroughs and healings but we prefer if God would skip the uncomfortable scrutiny into other aspects of our lives. Jesus’ response, on the other hand, showed that He had so much more than what she thought she needed. In short order, He did three things for her in His response:
Jesus restored her dignity
By openly addressing her as ‘Daughter’, Jesus removed the stigma of her condition and put an end to her identity as a sick person. She was more than the patient whose condition was resistant to treatment, the one with an ‘unclean’ sickness, and the victim of an unknown disorder. She was a dearly loved child of God, just like anyone – healthy or disabled.
Jesus Affirmed Her Faith
If Jesus had just healed the woman and not acknowledged her faith, she might attribute the healing to the approach, the time of the day, Jesus's garment, etc. Hence, it was imperative for the Lord to establish that it was unequivocally in approaching Him as the Healer and Physician that brought healing to her. By saying ‘your faith has healed you’, Jesus showed her and everyone around that there was no doubt that her faith was the most important ingredient in her healing.
Jesus Released Her To A New Beginning
Jesus alone knew that this woman had an extraordinary hunger for life. He didn’t give her enough healing so that she would be well enough to sit up, stop going to the doctors and live out her days in domestic bliss.
Instead, Jesus gave her a full measure of healing that brought total wholeness – more than physical healing. When He told her, ‘Go in peace and be freed from your suffering’, He not only restored to her the power to potentially live a life that her illness had robbed her of, but also gave her a mandate to live fruitfully.
Twelve years of living with a disorder that was front and center of her existence was enough time to let unhealthy habits and reclusive living set in. Now healed, she received the green light to go and find a livelihood, build a community, be a friend, visit the sick and lonely - the options are limitless if she would not allow old habits to hold her back from living fully.
To Jesus, if her physical healing was the only thing that changed, it would have been for nothing.
Today, if there is something you have been praying for, it’s time to believe that Jesus wants to give you a thorough breakthrough. Don’t let small thinking stand in the way of how you can live differently as you believe in God for your breakthrough. God doesn’t just want to heal your skin, blood, digestive or mental disorder, He wants to give you a new lease of life!
