The above passage from the Gospel of Mark is one of my favorites. Putting myself in the story, imagining Jesus like some sort of present day rock star with crowds closing in around Him, longing to get a glimpse of the one whom they have heard about. Through the pushing and the shoving, a woman who was close to death found her way to the front. She had tried everything she could to get better and spent all of her money with no success. All the struggle just to touch Him, the one who could make her well.
We can learn so much from the woman in this story. Perhaps most inspiring was her persistence and determination to fight the crowds and approach Jesus. How often we are afraid to approach Jesus! How often we start to move towards Him but then turn around in fear or get distracted and overwhelmed by the crowd around us. When fighting the battle of faith, most of the challenge is to just step out, let our eyes rest upon Jesus in the crowd, and in faith, struggle through to meet Him. The woman in the Gospel knew what she needed to do and in desperation fought the crowd and moved toward Jesus, her only hope!
Also, how can we help not to be inspired by her confidence in Jesus to heal? She didn’t say “I must touch Him because He might be able to heal me,” or “Jesus can probably make me better.” She said with great confidence, “If I touch even His garments, I shall be made well.” She knew and believed with her whole heart that if she encountered Jesus she would be made well. In great humility, she thought to herself that she did not even have to talk to Him, look Him in the eye, or even have His hands be laid upon her. She just wanted to humbly touch His garments, and knew with her whole heart that she would be healed and changed. What humility! What faith!
