Mark 5 - I TOUCHED HIM!

 NUGGETS…from the WORD of GOD

I TOUCHED HIM!

“And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”   —Mark 5:30

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As Mark continues to provide evidence for the deity of Christ, this chapter gives account of His power over demons, disease and death. Our sophisticated culture is not inclined to give much credence to demons, or to anything supernatural, for that matter. “Spiritual wickedness in high places,” is the stuff of science fiction, if anything. Disease and death we are forced to believe in, for they are thrust upon us daily.

Those familiar with the New Testament are likely to be more interested in Jairus, whom we know by name, and his concern for his little twelve year old daughter who died before Jesus could reach her side. Less well known, I suspect, is the account of the unnamed woman who braved the jostling crowd that surrounded the Savior as He was on His way to Jairus’ house. 

Her plight was pathetic. She had been ill for twelve years with a bloody flux and had been impoverished by the health care system of the day only (like some today) to become worse rather than better. In short, she was in desperate straits. 

Then she heard of Jesus. And, she believed in Him. “When she had heard of Jesus, [she] came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole [v. 27-28].” While others doubted and debated, and many were just swept up in the enthusiasm of the multitude, this woman who had been disappointed so many times and reduced to despair, hearing of Jesus did not say, “what’s the use?” or, “Well, it won’t hurt to try one more thing.” She is recorded as saying, without qualification, “If I may but touch His clothes, I shall be whole.” It was not superstition, nor experimentation, but the unwavering confidence that characterizes true faith. 

Jostled in the throng, she pressed on against the odds and finally reached her objective. She touched Him. She needed nothing more and sought no publicity. “She felt in her body that she was healed of her plague.” Her need met, she would have retreated into the crowd and slipped quietly away—but for Jesus. “Knowing in Himself (“nothing is hid from the eyes of Him with whom we have to do”) that virtue(“power” Gk.) had gone out of Him He turned”—in her direction, no doubt,—and said, to her consternation, “Who touched my clothes [v.30].” This anonymous woman, overcome with fear and trembling confessed before Him “all the truth.” Her name is not recorded in the record, but it is written in “the Lamb’s Book of Life!”

When the disciples heard Him call out, “Who touched my clothes,” they thought Him a bit irrational, saying, “Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest, Who touched me?” (v. 31) Under ordinary circumstances their reaction was perfectly logical, but these were not “ordinary circumstances.” This was an encounter with “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Her confidence, miraculous cleansing and trembling confession combined to receive from the Son of God much more than she bargained for;  “He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” The implication, “Thy faith hath made thee whole,” appears to include her soul’s salvation; the physical healing was, as with the handicapped man we considered in chapter 2, a secondary benefit. This remarkable Man came “to seek and to save the lost,” not merely to make them healthy, wealthy and happy. She did not know that then; we do now.

Today, on a dramatic scale, this story is oft repeated. There are multitudes who have an occasional, casual contact with Christ. They make no significant impression on Him, and He is to them only a matter of curiosity. “Having eyes to see they see not, having ears to hear, they hear not.” His voice is to them as  pleasant song. But here and there one breaks through to touch Him, convinced against all doubt that He is the answer to all their need. “If I may but touch His clothes, I shall be whole.” Impoverished by the dreadful malady of sin, despairing of all human help and ready to die, these press on with a determined faith and find Him able to deliver them and “full of grace.” How wonderful!!

The account reminds me of a familiar gospel song: “He Touched Me.” But with a significant twist. This song would be  entitled, “I Touched Him.” The initiative was hers. She believed what she had heard about His power, and was determined not to be denied. She pressed against the odds, ran counter to the crowd, obtained His blessing and got His attention. I know this perspective will trouble some of the “theologians” among us, but that is exactly how it reads.

The gospel of the Son of God declares, “…whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved..” (Rom. 10:13, e.g.) That is why He came! Have you touched Him? Or are you just one of the crowd?

—"Pastor" Frasier