“For she kept saying to herself, ‘If only I could touch his clothes, I know I will be healed’” (Mark 5:28, TPT).
Can you picture this scene? This poor woman had been suffering greatly for twelve years. It was not only her physical ailment that afflicted her constantly. Culturally, her bleeding made her unclean… all the time. Anyone who touched her would become unclean too (see Lev. 15:19-20). Undoubtedly, even her own family was avoiding physical contact with her because of this. As a result, this hurting soul had lived a dozen years starved of touch!
I think you and I can relate to her, now that we have all been through this global pandemic, right? How we have ached to hug and touch the ones that we love! There really are no words to adequately express this hunger. And we think one year is bad. Can you imagine twelve?
Further exacerbating her misery, she had completely depleted every last financial recourse. She had spent herself into poverty on futile attempts to find a cure. On top of it all, she had endured the emotional pain of the stigma. Can you imagine wearing the invisible label “unclean” every waking moment of every waking day? It truly was in desperation that she pressed through the crowd towards Jesus.
There were many, many people touching Him that day. The multitude pressed in around Him as He walked. However, power only went out from Him to one individual: this broken woman. What was the difference? Why didn’t His power automatically leak out onto everyone else who crowded in?
It was her soul’s expectation that set her apart. Read it again: “For she kept saying to herself, ‘If only I could touch his clothes, I know I will be healed’” (Mark 5:28, TPT). Notice she did not say, “Maybe there’s a fighting chance I will be healed. Maybe, just maybe, God will consider restoring me today.” Nope. It was one hundred percent anticipation. “I know I will be healed.”
Here is a fascinating angle to consider. In many other gospel stories, Jesus’ compassion is the driving force producing the healings. In this one, He does not even know who touched Him. His own will did not come into play in the equation at all. He was almost a passive player in her healing, simply observing that it had happened. “Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my robe?’ …He kept on looking around to see who had done it” (vv. 30, 32).
The Holy Spirit did not even give Him a word of knowledge about the unknown person’s identity. I believe there is a reason for this. God wanted to singularly highlight for us this aspect of the story: the extremely vital role of our expectation. Once Jesus finally learned who had touched Him, there was no more healing needed. Nothing more for Him to do. It was already done. All that remained was to explain to her what had happened:
“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over” (v. 34).
Her faith did it. Her expectation did it. Her anticipation did it.
There is one more beautiful thing to consider about Jesus’ statement to her. The Greek word translated here as “made you well” is sozo. It is one of those ancient words rich in meaning, including the following definitions: “safe and sound,” “healed,” “delivered,” “made whole,” “rescued,” “restored,” and “saved.” Wow! What riches become ours when we actively, intentionally put our faith in Jesus!
Let’s soak in this verse one more time today. “For she kept saying to herself, ‘If only I could touch his clothes, I know I will be healed’” (emphasis mine). Do you see that bit about her self-talk? “She kept saying to herself…” over and over and over. Can you hear her in your imagination? “I know I will be healed. I know I will be healed. I know I will be healed.”
How about you, precious child of God? What are you saying to yourself over and over today? Are you eagerly anticipating that He will bring you into wholeness? Are you expecting Him to heal, deliver, rescue, and restore you? Are you expecting His power to meet your need?
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What do you think made this woman so sure that she would be healed?
Feeding On Jesus 
The whole world changed when He touched me are the words of a song. The woman reached out and touched HIM and was healed. When He touches us spiritually life changes forever. Thank you for blog.
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What a beautiful song! What a beautiful JESUS!! How I love Him! Thank you, too, Faye 💖:)
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Thank you for that final paragraph, Jennifer. Perhaps my self-talk is what is holding me back.
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You are welcome, my sister! His rich blessings on your journey as you continue to grow in His grace!
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The depth of that woman’s faith is inspiring. At the end of her physical limit, she could either give up or pursue Jesus with such a passion that she would not quit until she made contact with Him. She had heard of Him, and believed that His healing was available to her as well. She raised her expectation level to a higher plane.
I believe we are all called to raise our level of expectations, Jenn, even in the day to day activities of our lives. If we go into the day expecting to see God at work, we greatly increase our chances of doing so.
The flip side to this is being so sure of what is/will happen, we are not prepared to see what God is up to. We need to be aware that His plans are greater than ours. For example, I’m sure that Simon of Cyrene was not expecting to be carrying a crosspiece when he entered Jerusalem.
Blessings,
Chuck
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Wonderful thoughts, Chuck! May the Father give us the wisdom to live with both heightened anticipation of His working, and listening ears/watching eyes for what HIS agenda is, moment to moment!
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One of the nicest posts I’ve ever read. Yes, it’s faith! You don’t necessarily have to see it in order to believe it. Let me share with you the law of attraction, it says that whatever you think or say to yourself will have a higher tendency that it will happen to you. I you say, I cannot to do it all the time…then you are implanting something to your mind that it can never be possible or be able to overcome it. But if you change your mindset and trust God with all the possibility, it will surely happen and that’s Faith. 😉 Keep on believing ’cause a miracle can happen anytime of the day. 🙏❤️ God bless and keep on posting beautiful message of the Lord. The world badly need this. 😭💛
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Aw thank you so much, my sister! I really like how you expressed that, too. Wonderfully explained. We keep on shining the light of faith together! 🙂 💖
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Awww. 🥰 That’s also sweet of you, Dear. God bless and continue to inspire people. 🙏❤️
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Gratefully received! 🌹🌞
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🦋❤️😘
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*If you say
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Beautifully said!
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Thank you for the reminder. Cant help but think that sometimes we have been slowly conditioned to not believe in the power of our saviour. So we don’t anticipate anything when we go before him. Glory to God he is now reconditioning our minds and hearts to see the truth and to realize what he has for us as his children.
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Amen! I join you in giving Him glory for this renewing of our minds and hearts! Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment 🙂
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I love how you highlight her self-talk. Thank you. Made me think of David, when he encouraged himself in the Lord.
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Yes! That goes perfectly with this story!
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In today’s world when people are struggling people remind them, “remember to reach out when you are hurting.” This woman did, and had absolute faith that she would be healed. There’s parallels there for sure. When I struggle with depression, I am blessed to have a support network of people who reach into my life to help me. But if I don’t accept that assistance, if I don’t believe the solution is available for me to climb out of the darkness, no amount of pushing or pulling by my friends will help my unhelpfully stubborn self out.
God freely offers love, grace, peace, and hope. We must have faith that they will change us as we open our hearts to receive them.
As always peace to you and your family Jennifer. And thank you. 💛
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Peace be yours in abundance too, my friend. Yes and AMEN to reaching out to the ones He has put in our lives to be His hands and heart extended to us! Thank you so much for your insightful comment 🌹
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