The Garment
By John Lysaught
The throng of people surrounded this Jesus that they heard about. The city got word of His coming and was greatly excited to see Jesus perform miracles. Some were skeptical but got caught up in the crowd, wanting to see what he could do. Jesus entered the city and the crowd pushed on Him wanting to get a glimpse of the miracle worker they had heard about.
The sun was hot as it sat high in the afternoon, baking the backs and heads of those that came out of the shade to see Him. They heard about Jesus through word of mouth from other cities as travelers and merchants came through. Some thought He was Elijah, some thought He was a great prophet, and others thought he was a farce, doing the work of the devil. Some even thought all the talk about Him was an exaggeration, that this man was just that a man who did magic.
As the crowd flowed to him and surrounded him, the narrow and dusty road became clogged and movement was at a crawl—one tiny step at a time. The air was thick with hot air and dust, making it difficult to breath. People in the crowd were calling Him; among them the crippled and those with diseases. They had hope in Him. They didn’t know He was the Son of God, but only knew the rumors that He healed the infirm and they wanted to be healed as well.
As Jesus moved through the crowd He was being touched and grabbed by those who were near to Him. He felt a sensation of power leave him; a woman who suffered a great deal from unstoppable bleeding had touched His garment. She was a poor woman. She sought a cure from many doctors and wise men to no avail. She was considered unclean and couldn’t participate in services in the temple. She was shunned and excluded and could only keep to herself.
She, too, had heard of this man, Jesus, and when she heard the crowd become aroused telling others that Jesus was here, she set out to see Him. She wanted to see miracles and she wanted a miracle too. On the outskirts of the crowd, she tried to make her way to Jesus but every effort to move through the crowd left her again on the outside edge of the mob.
Determined to see the miracle worker, she fought her way to the front of the crowd. Every step she moved forward she was knocked back two steps but she didn’t give up, and she finally pushed her way through. When she was in the front of the crowd her heart was broken because she missed seeing him face to face. All she saw was his back in the midst of the crowd and his robe trailing behind him.
Her faith in God was great. She knew Jesus was from God for only through God could such a man heal others with just a word or a touch. Her faith was strong and she thought that if she could only touch His garment, then her ailment would be healed.
Fighting the crowd again to catch up to Him, she was able to reach out and touch just a small piece of Jesus’ garment before being overcome by the throng of people pushing inward. Immediately she was healed.
Overjoyed and crying out thanks to God, praising Him for his power and glory, Jesus turned and demanded to know who touched Him. The woman was terrified and hesitated. The disciples of Jesus complained to Jesus that He was being touched and grabbed by many people in the crowd and how would He know the difference if one person touched Him.
The woman, still fearful of Jesus’ knowledge that she touched His garment, nonetheless stepped forward and announced herself as the one who touched his garment and was healed. She thought she would be punished for doing what she did. She was shaking and her mind was preparing for the worse.
She didn’t know what Jesus would say or do to her. The anticipation was troubled her greatly. She was waiting to be chastised or condemned for her action. Jesus though, turned to her and with a loving voice and told her that her faith had made her well and to go in peace (Mark 5:25-34).
The garment of Jesus for this woman showed her faith to trust in the healing power of Jesus. It begs the question: Do we have that kind of faith? What faith do we have? Do we have the same faith as that woman?
There were many pressing Jesus in the crowd, but she was healed and they weren’t. Some of the others were there not to find and believe in the Christ, but to see miracles and to just see this man named Jesus, much like people now-a-days seek out to see a celebrity.
Jesus is no mere celebrity, but is the God of the universe. The woman with the issue of blood knew that and believed. She had great faith to know that she would be healed not by being talked to by Him or the laying of Jesus’ hands on her, but she knew faith and had enough faith that even if she just touched something like His garment, she would be healed.
She saw the living God in the flesh but we don’t. She was able to physically touch Him but we can’t. We are yet faithful in the Word of God that this event was true, that the entire Bible is true, based on belief, hope, and faith. We should have the faith of this woman. We should know that the power of Jesus is real. We forget sometimes.
Folks sometimes feel they need to have emotion to “feel” Christ, or need some type of proof of His being. We have that in the Word, in the prophecies, and accounts of Jesus as told in the Bible. We have much more proof than that woman had as to the reality of Christ, yet we have problems with our faith.
When we don’t get healed or we don’t get our prayers answered the way we want them to be answered, our faith can be shaken. Regardless of what we want, it doesn’t really matter because God knows what we need, what we can handle, and of course and most important, He knows our hearts.
When we don’t get what we want from God, we tend to feel disappointed with Him and question the validity of His power. We are so wrong! He knew this woman’s heart and because she believed, she was healed.
God knows the beginning from the end. He sees us on a holistic level, but at the same time, on a micro level. He is omnipotent. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He knows what we’ll do before we do it. He knows the choices we will make before we make them. He knows if we’ll turn to Him or from Him in times of trial. We can’t hide. We can’t fake it. We can’t pretend we are something else than what we are: humans who make mistakes.
Our faith in the Lord needs to be that and greater than the woman who touched His garment and was healed. We have so much evidence in the Bible and archeology that points to the fact that the Bible is accurate, true, and that Jesus was and is real.
Our faith should be reinforced by these facts, accounts, and testimonies. We live in a society where we won’t believe unless we see it. Someone tells of an event and the first thing you do is go to the Internet to see if it is real for yourself. If we don’t see it for ourselves then we’re less likely to believe it.
Friends… Christ is real. The Bible is real. Faith is real and tangible for you. A little faith will take you a long way with Christ. Christ commands us to have faith in Him and tells us if we have faith and believe in Him then we will have everlasting life in heaven.
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