21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
31 "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'"
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
This dramatic scene opens with a large crowd gathering around the Master. A synagogue ruler – Jairus – humbly approaches the Lord falling prostrate at His feet. He earnestly pleads for the Healer to place His hands upon his dying darling daughter – the apple of his eye - so that she would be made whole – healed – and live. In desperation, Jairus openly begs a cure for his sick child believing Christ possessed the achieving power to make her well and our Lord sweetly consents. What parent would not do likewise when their wee one is physically sick but how about spiritually? Are we as earnest then? The spiritual health of our offspring is of far greater value and importance than even their physical well-being. Paul’s prayer in Philippians is a great prayer to humbly and boldly pray over our children as well as ourselves:
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. Phil 1:9-11 (NIV)
On their way to heal Jairus’ daughter the scene quickly changes. A woman in dire straits - desperate for relief - clandestinely approaches the Healer in hopes of merely touching His cloak for her healing. In faith she reasoned if she could simply get close enough to touch the hem of His garment she would be freed from her misery. She held a strong faith in the achieving power of Christ to heal her. For twelve long years she had sought help from many – spent all that she had – yet grew worse. An outcast from society – much like a leper – she was considered ritually “unclean” because of her condition – excluding her from normal social relations and interactions. Not allowing the crowds to hinder her pursuit she presses closer behind the Healer with a stretching reach for a touch of His cloak. Immediately, Scripture tells us, her body was freed from her suffering.
“There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him.” F. B. Meyer
"It is God to whom and with whom we travel and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place." Elizabeth Elliot
7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matt 7:7-8 (NIV)
At once, we are told, Jesus realized achieving power had gone from Him and He turns towards the pressing crowd asking in tenderness "Who touched my clothes?" Jesus’ question seemed ridiculous to His disciples considering the great throngs around Him all seeking closer proximity yet this did not hinder the Lord’s searching eye that He might commend and encourage the faith. Falling at His feet and trembling with fear, the poor woman presents herself to the One who made her whole. Our Lord tells her it was her faith – not His garment – that healed her. Go forth, He tells her, in an untroubled and an undisturbed well-being – perfect peace.
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)