SOMEONE TOUCHED ME
“And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.” Luke 8:46
Jesus was walking to the home of Jairus, whose twelve-year-old daughter was near unto death. As they made their way to Jairus’ house, multitudes of people thronged Jesus. There was a woman in the crowd who desperately needed healing. She had been sick for twelve years and had spent everything she had on physicians, but was none the better. This woman believed that if she could only touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be made whole. Motivated by her need and her strong faith, she pressed through the crowd and touched the border of His clothing. The moment she touched His garment, her illness was cured. Jesus, knowing that someone had touched Him, said, “Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.”
The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when He told them someone had touched Him. They knew that the multitudes were pressing upon Him and many were touching Him, but there was something about this woman’s touch that was different. Her touch was the touch of faith. This woman demonstrated the kind of faith that we all need. She believed that Jesus could do for her what no one else could do.
Unfortunately, she exhausted all other resources before turning to Jesus. That is a trend that many of us are familiar with. Often it is only after experiencing failure and frustration at every human level that we finally turn to Christ. For this reason, we have come to see that human failure can be our friend, if it results in our looking to God for divine intervention. Knowing that there were no other options and believing that Jesus was her answer, she was determined to capture this moment.
Her persistent faith resembles what we find in other places in the New Testament. Whether it were Zacchaeus running ahead and climbing a tree to see Jesus, the widow who prevailed with the unjust judge, the Syrophenician woman who would not take “No” for an answer, or the men who let the paralytic man down through the roof, all of these lessons teach us the value of a faith that is resolved to get to Jesus. This touch was rewarded. The touch of this woman was decidedly different from the others in the crowd. It is the touch of faith that gets the Lord’s attention.