Mark 5:24-34 "And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him..."

“And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease'” (Mark 5:24-34).

Comment:

This beautiful story (it's also reported in Luke, Chapter 8) makes very clear Jesus' central message of the power and importance of faith. The hemorrhaging woman's life would have been one of total despair, for she would have been kept separate from her town and family, forced to live apart from others, because her bleeding would have made her ”unclean.” And yet she had faith that simply touching Jesus' cloak would make her well—and it did. As Jesus makes clear, he did not heal her. Her faith in the possibility of healing is what healed her. That's why Jesus was able to express his healings in so many different ways—by laying on of hands, from a far distance, by applying mud packs, etc. He was able to realize what would spark each individual's faith. And he never fell into the temptation of seeing himself as the source of healings; he knew and affirmed always that "It is not I but the Father within that does the work."   Jesus taught and promised that what he did, we can do as well. We, too, can be perfectly clear channels for the Light and Love of God to flow in ways over which we have no control. We are here to be healers and, like Jesus, we have no control over if, when or how healings happen. We may feel the Power flow through us on its way to accomplish its healing purpose. Our job is simply to 'keep the faith'—to believe in ourselves as channels for the divine, and to believe in the promise of healing for all others.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed