“She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” – Luke 8:44–45
This next miracle with the bleeding woman is reported by Luke, who is a medical doctor. The poor woman has been bleeding for a dozen years, likely spent all her money seeking a cure to no avail and was destitute and desperate. A Bible commentary explains,
…she has been in a perpetual state of uncleanliness according to Jewish law (Lev 15:25–31; Ezek 36:17…). She has been shut out from religious life, a social outcast…In despair over her loneliness and condition, she hopes that an underground approach, a surreptitious touching of Jesus, will change her fate. This is why she came up behind him. (1)
Faith is both an internal conviction and an external action. Here, the woman’s faith is on display as she reaches out to Jesus Christ. Jesus heals her and calls her daughter – and she is the only woman in the Bible He speaks to using this tender, fatherly language. Her life is now changed, and she can enter the homes of family and friends and return to the corporate worship of God’s people after 12 years of isolation.
It’s not enough to simply believe something. Our life should be an example of the things we believe. This woman believed that a simple touch of Jesus’ robe would be enough to heal her, and she stepped out in faith to see it actually happen. If God is telling you to do something, you must act in faith and be obedient to what He says. As James so wisely states, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17).
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s devotional to see what value God puts on animals.
Do you have an internal conviction (something God is asking you to do or give up) but have yet to act on it? What is preventing you from doing externally what you believe internally?
(1) Darrell L. Bock, Luke, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), Lk 8:40–56. d religious rules? If so, take some time to repent of that tendency and ask the Holy Spirit for more compassion for others.
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