"Who Touched My Garments?"

“And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments? And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease. And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:30-34 ESV)

Once again, John Mark, Barnabas's cousin, puts us right in the middle of a miracle by Jesus. But he doesn’t just tell us about a miraculous healing by Jesus, he puts us right in the middle of it. Actually, this miracle is nested within another miracle. Remember, Jesus was on his way to the house of Jairus, a synagogue official, whose little daughter was gravely ill. Jairus was persuaded; he had faith that Jesus could indeed heal his daughter.

The word noun form of the word “faith” as used in the New Testament can be translated as faith, belief, trust, and confidence, and we see it translated that way throughout the Bible. But this Greek word “πίστις” or if we put it into English letters “pistis” comes from the verb “πείθω / peitho’” which means to be persuaded, to be convinced of something. Sometimes the word "faith" or "belief" seems a bit aloof to us. What does that even mean anyway? But we use the definition from the verb form of “to be persuaded”, which brings much more clarity to what it means to “have faith” to be persuaded in God and in God’s ability to do something.

I’ve heard some say we just need “blind faith” in God. Or just “step out in faith”, like we don’t have enough information to make a solid decision to trust the Bible, or trust that God is indeed a promise keeper. I’m convinced that if we read God’s Word, we can be “persuaded” beyond any doubt to trust God and God’s Word, not just for salvation but also for how we should live our lives to bring honor and glory to God. So, as we look at these miracles of Jesus, we can be persuaded, just like Jairus and the woman were, of Jesus' ability to perform miracles.

I want to focus on the miracle of the woman “who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years.” It appears that she had tried everything available to her to remedy her problem. She had seen all the specialists and spent all she had to find a remedy, all to no avail. My heart really goes out to her. I think all of us can identify with her to some extent. We’ve all had problems ourselves or have had loved ones who seem to be suffering, if not with a physical problem, then with the results of poor life choices. We understand the frustration she felt and her desperation.

Then she heard about Jesus. That’s all the Bible tells us about her knowledge of Him. I’m sure she had heard of the many times Jesus healed people of diseases and infections, and how He cast out demons. How He even commanded the “wind and the sea”. Surely He must be able to heal her as well. I think she was “persuaded” that Jesus could help. It wasn’t just blind faith, or a leap in the dark, that prompted her to say, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” I think she was her being persuaded (had faith) that prompted her into action, to seek out Jesus, do all she could do, just to touch the fringe or hem of his garment would be enough for the Son of God to be able to heal her. 

As faith, or being persuaded, always does, it prompted her to act. You see, saying you have faith or are persuaded by the evidence isn’t the same thing as letting that faith or persuasion prompt you into action. Actually, doing what you say you believe is what saving faith is all about.

You will notice that Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” It wasn’t until she acted on her conviction of what she was persuaded of that she was healed. Saying isn’t believing. Being fully persuaded and acting on that collected knowledge is true saving faith, it’s true healing faith. This was a true miracle of Jesus, and He said that her acting on her faith was what healed her. I praise God that we have this example of Jesus’ deity and power over illness. But this example of His healing this woman does not mean that it is God’s will for everyone who has an illness to be healed.

What I think we, as followers of Jesus in today’s world, need to take away from this recorded miracle is that saving faith is a gift from God, rooted in what I read in the Bible about God. I am persuaded, convinced by God’s Word. We don’t need God to perform a miracle in our presence, we don’t need to put God to the test, we don’t need God to prove anything to us. God has given us all the information we need to persuade us to put our eternal destiny in the hands of the God who gave His only Son to die for us. Faith to believe that we can’t gain God’s approval by ourselves.

Being persuaded that Jesus is the only way to the Father and acting on that persuasion, and actually changing our minds about how to be saved from eternal separation from God. Actually, receiving the gift that God offers, complete payment for my sins by the Son of God.

Faith is receiving God’s gift, not saying you understand God’s gift. If you haven’t actually been persuaded about God’s salvation, then what other information do you need to decide to accept the gift of eternal life?

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"