The Woman in the Crowd

As Jesus walked along the dusty road the crowd thronged around him, jostling each other and Jesus as they strove to be nearer to Jesus. Here was the famous teacher that everyone was talking about. Today we would be asking him for autographs and taking selfies with him. He was a popular man and everyone wanted to be near him. Just to say that they were.

Through the crowd came a woman. Pressing, struggling, working her way nearer and nearer. The crowd was tightly packed and making her way through was difficult. She pushed and squeezed, she twisted and turned this way and that. Closer and closer she came. Finally she reached out her hand and touched the bottom of his clothes. Instantly she felt it; strength, healing, power. It surged through her body and immediately she knew she was completely healed. She turned to slip away but wait. Why had the crowd stopped? She turned toward Jesus again. He had stopped and was looking around.

"Who touched me?" He asked.

She nearly gasped. Had he felt the light brush if her fingers against his cloths. Impossible! Why everyone else was bumping into Him and jostling Him too!There was no way he could have detected her touch. But there he stood asking who had touched him.

People began to ask Him, "What do you mean 'who touched you', there are people everywhere. Of course people are touching you."

But Jesus said, "someone touched me. I felt virtue go from me."

The woman knew she could not hide and she went and confessed what she had done. Jesus was not angry but told her to go in peace.

So what was the difference? Why was only one woman's life changed when so many were touching Him? So many were looking up to Him and wanting to be close to Him but only one was healed. Why? Why the woman? Why not the person next to her? Why not the ruler of the synagogue? Why not the rich man just behind her?

There were two huge differences between the woman and the other people in the crowd.

First she had a need and she acknowledged it. The other people in the crowd had needs too. They were human. They had needs. But they were proud and would not admit that they needed help. So there was no help. The woman knew she needed help. She understood that she could not help herself.

She also had faith. She had heard of Jesus miracles. Perhaps she had seen Him perform some and she believed that he could help her too. She had spent all she had on doctors who could not help her but she had enough faith in Jesus to try one more time. That faith was all it took. It caused her to act. Her faith moved her to DO. And she was healed.

Who are you? Are you the proud rich man who doesn't have needs? Are you the scornful ruler who can help himself? Or are you the humble woman who knows her needs and has faith in the one who can help her?

Let us come humbly to Jesus, the great physician, and be healed