KEY SCRIPTURE Luke 8:43-48

And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

 RELEVANCE

How many people today seek the truth? Unbeknownst to Pilate, when he uttered his dismissive comment to Jesus, "What is truth?" he posed a very broad question, as the Bible holds answers to most of life's issues.

Even today, people seek the truth in many matters, whether religion, health, environment, justice, or even relationship circumstances, yet many do not find it.  In Mark 13.5-6, Jesus told his listeners to take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

There are so many voices out there claiming to be the truth in all those matters that we can become confused to the point of giving up our search. 

The poor woman with the issue of blood had visited so many Jesus'—people who said they could heal her—yet found none. Some may have said, "Look, I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee anything", while others would have sounded as if they were the fount of all medical knowledge and understanding. 

Even some of her friends may have sounded as if they knew the answer, "Just take two of these and three of those twice a day, and you'll be healed in 90 days."

I think we've all experienced that loss of hope as we search desperately for someone to "finally" fix our back or provide a solution to our constant migraines, stomach troubles or other difficult ailments. Yet, without fail, we join the queue of those who have lost hope in finding a cure, and we continue to endure the problem.

We know very little about this woman except that she had spent all her living trying to find a solution. That means all of her savings, house money, holiday funds, hidden rainy-day extra cash, and If she were Hebrew, maybe her tithes as well. She may have travelled to other countries, begging a family member or friend to accompany her. If she were married, I feel the husband would have abandoned her years before.

I would guess that she was also the subject of the strangest healing methods and had seen it all in her long, tiring and tearful twelve years, and yet her problem only grew worse.

When you live with a chronic disability, it becomes your life. It reminds you of its presence every waking moment. From the time this woman arose until she went to bed, she would need to deal with her issue. I wonder how many friends she lost? Or if she had a job, how often would she excuse herself to go to the bathroom?

And like the man with the legion of demons, she may have been a local scourge akin to a leper, despised by all but the nicest. Then, the name of Jesus reached her ears—a person who healed completely every time and without charge.

She forced herself through the crowd and touched His precious garment, the garment of the High Priest to come. Ezekiel 44:19 tells us that the garments of the Old Testament priests possessed a holiness authoritative enough to sanctify all those who came in contact with them. Maybe this scripture was in her mind as she uttered that single sentence of desperation to herself, her last bastion of hope and healing, "If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole."

Immediately, Jesus knew someone with extraordinary faith had touched him, the faith that gets you healed. Virtue (Gr. dunamis)—that miraculous power—had gone out of him.

I would expect that much virtue would drain from Jesus daily due to the number of people He healed. Prior to healing this woman, Jesus healed the man with the legion of demons, and immediately after healing the woman with the issue, he healed Jarius' daughter.

However, unlike other healings, Jesus' virtue was released by this woman's faith, not His command.

Most people in that crowd had faith, and many, as it is written, touched Jesus's garments. But only her touch released the power without first seeking a decree from the King, and Jesus knew it!

What a blessed story of a woman whose name we will never know. But sadly, like numerous people in our lives, we remember her by the description of her infirmity or looks. 

Here is a woman who merely sought the truth about a disease that had ruined her life to that point—something all who suffer yearn for. She had trudged ways and paths to find healing. Yet those hard years of affliction and rejection brought about an informal meeting and friendship with the only person who had the right to say I Am The Way, The Truth and The Life. 

She not only met the King of Kings but received an odd crown of being known to everyone but not known by anyone.  

In V48, Jesus calls her Daughter. A Daughter of faith, perhaps? What a glorious honour!

Prayer

Lord, Your Son healed perhaps thousands of people, yet You ensured that only specific of them would be recorded. I thank You that the woman with the issue of blood has been made known in three gospels, preached in millions of sermons, discussed in Bible studies the world over, and read to Christian children everywhere, and none of those people could call her by name. This tells me that it is not the name we leave that's important but how we have used our faith.

Photo by Brett Jordan