"And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped."12 years. For 12 years, this woman had been ill. She had been unclean, shunned, cast out from society. Friendless, rejected by her family, hated by even the church- all because of a physical problem which she could not stop.
One day, she heard that Jesus would be passing through. She had heard stories about his miracles and healing, but she knew that she, an unclean woman, would never be permitted to speak to Jesus. Risking everything, she went into the public eye, amongst the crowds. She heard cheering and talking, and suddenly, there He was.
She reached out her hands, stretched her fingers, just a little bit farther.... and she brushed one of the fringes on his cloak. He stopped, and turned around. She tried to hide...
"And Jesus said, 'Who is the one who touched Me?' And while they were all denying it, Peter said, 'Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.' But Jesus said, 'Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.' When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.'
Faith. We talk about it a lot. The word is thrown around in church like a football in the Super Bowl. But this woman, she displayed faith. She reached out as far as she could, satisfied with just touching the garments of Jesus. She wasn't asking to hold His hand, or sit down with Him for an hour. She was content to touch a FRINGE on his cloak, knowing that would be enough to heal her.
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