Jesus Speaks to Women: Who Touched Me?

Have you ever been on a crowded bus? Ugh! Not my fave.  I remember, when I was a young woman living in the big city for the first time, I didn't have a car...soooo...yes...public transportation was my only way to get from point A to points B-Z.  And, there is something you need to know about Panama, if you don't know it already:  IT IS REALLY HOT IN THERE!  On top of which, back then, in the last century, when I was a young person, busses didn't have air conditioning.  They were discarded American school busses painted in colorful/creative (some may say CRAZY) designs as if to distract people of how horrible it was to ride on them...it didn't really work...it was still plenty horrible, just in a colorful/creative/crazy way...

At any rate, life was simpler back then, but traveling by bus made it challenging.  Most of the time I had to ride standing up, barely hanging on to my life by the tip of my fingers grabbing to whatever I could hold on to.  People packed so close that air couldn't get through.  Of course, purses, backpacks or any other form of transporting essentials were a big no, no...so, I had to get by with whatever I could fit in the front pockets of my jeans.  I could smell what people had for breakfast, it was so tight... ick!!! 

Anyway...I think about that when I read verse 45 in our passage of Scripture from Luke 8: 40-56.  In that verse, Jesus says:  “Who touched me?”

I mean, it's no wonder that His disciples were puzzled.  Like, back in Panama, if someone had said that on a noon bus in my route, everyone would have been looking at each other, saying:  "not me!" as the first reaction, probably followed by someone uttering a loud what all would have been thinking:  "Come on, man...there are all kinds of people crowding and pressing against you...of course somebody touched you!  Get real! Pff!"

That's kind of what happened in this passage, when Jesus inquired about "who touched Him," they all, first, denied it, and then, of course Peter, said:  “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”  (can't you hear the not-so-faint:  "Come on, Jesus...get real! Pff!" here? )  Well, that would be a very common and logical reaction.  At least from my perspective.  Jesus, however, knew exactly what He was doing.  Of course He was aware of the crowds! Better yet, of course He knew who had touched Him.  And that's precisely why He made a big deal out of it.  

Once again, He wanted to call everyone's attention to what had just happened and use it as a learning moment.  He wanted everyone to be aware of the simple and humble faith of this poor woman who had been hopelessly ill for 12 debilitating years.  Can you imagine?  Bleeding for 12 years straight!  Anemic probably didn't even begin to describe the state of this woman.  But, in all her weakness, she gathered the strength she needed to touch Our Lord's garment.  Such was her faith, that it propelled her to make that bold move.  She knew that Jesus didn't even need to know she was there.  She trusted that His power was so great that it would spill over through the tips of His robe...if she could only get close enough to touch it...and she did...and He saw her...and He wanted everyone to see her too!

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

She couldn't go unnoticed!  None of us can!  He sees each and everyone one of us...and He heals us...and He calls us "Daughters." 

I wonder what the disciples said afterwards, huh?  I wonder what I would have said, had this happened on any of my crowded busses back in Panama?  Would I have had eyes to see it?  Would I have had the faith to believe it?

Heavenly Father, thank you for seeing us regardless of our state!  May we always trust that You know it is us, even when the world seems so crowded and the needs are so strong.  Amen!