WRITTEN BY MICHELE HANSEN
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
Luke 8:45 (NIV)
There are several instances in the scriptures where people would come to Jesus and fall at His feet. The compassion of Christ nearly always compelled Him to respond to their needs.
Desperation causes us to do many things. I can only speak from my own experiences, but when someone is truly at the end of their rope, finding the one who can pull them out of the pit is a true soul miracle and source of great healing and truth.
In this particular passage of scripture, desperation caused a woman to do something that society at that time would have condemned her for. Again, we see where the Lord used a situation to minister, heal and teach through having it forever remembered in the scriptures.
The woman in this passage received so much more than healing.
In this passage, Jesus was completely surrounded by His disciples and the crowded masses. People were bumping up against Him constantly. The fact that this woman could push through the crowd just to touch the edge of His cloak speaks to her overwhelming need.
Luke 8:40-48 tells of this story and before this woman touches Him, a Jew who was a leader in the synagogue, came and fell at His feet. His daughter was dying and he begged Jesus to come and heal her. So, Jesus started to follow the man.
The scripture says that the crowds almost crushed Jesus they were so intense. They had heard the man talk to Jesus and they would have wanted to see another miracle.
It was through these crowds, on the way to see Jesus heal this little girl, that this woman muscled her way to Jesus. She was considered “unclean”. She should have stayed far away from people because anyone who touched her would then become “ceremonially unclean.” The Jewish rules for staying clean before the Lord were long and arduous.
But she was desperate. She had no money left having tried to get help for her “issue of blood”. She was probably weak and sick because of the issue. She had been going through this for 12 years. She was beyond desperate.
Because of her issue she wouldn’t have been able to go to synagogue or be with family or people in general. She was lonely and outcast. She had lost everything…except at that moment, she had faith. She pressed through and touched Him for in her heart she believed that even just a touch could heal her and she could sneak back through the crowd and go to the priest and do all the sacrifices and ritual washing so she could be part of society again.
But that’s not what happened. Jesus asked who touched Him, and because of the crowds, His disciples probably thought He was a bit daft. Jesus flat-out stopped walking. Power had gone from Him into this woman. She knew that He knew, and scripture says she “fell at His feet, trembling”. She was terrified. What she did could get her killed.
Not on Jesus’ watch. She did the only thing she could; she gave testimony. She told everyone what happened and why she did what she did. And what did Jesus do? He called her “daughter”…His child…and proclaimed that her faith had made her well and clean. He also proclaimed peace for her as she went on with her life. All in front of the massive crowd.
Meanwhile someone came and told the Jewish leader that his daughter was dead and not to “bother the teacher” any longer. Not on Jesus’ watch. When Jesus got to the man’s house, everyone was wailing and grief-stricken. Jesus told them to be quiet. He told them she was only sleeping. To this, they laughed at Him. They knew dead when they saw it.
But Jesus called her spirit back to her and she sat up. He said, “feed her” and told the parents not to tell anyone. I imagine their faces said it all.
Ok, I find this kinda funny. Jesus publicly heals a woman in spectacular fashion and then raises a child back to life and says not to speak of it…and He absolutely knows they will. Besides, the “no longer sick” girl is probably having a snack and going out to play with her friends. Isn’t that just awesome!? I love it!
Two examples at the same time of people falling at the feet of Jesus receiving exactly what they needed exactly when they needed it and for us…for all eternity.
We don’t have to be in desperate need to fall at the feet of Jesus. When we have sat at His feet, we know that when we are too weak to sit, we can fall and He will receive us with the utmost compassion and grace. Being at the feet of Jesus becomes the default, not the occasional. We can trust that what we receive from Him will be exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.
