An Issue of Blood: Pressing In

To lay out the story very briefly, Jesus was traveling to Jarius’ home to heal his 12 year old daughter when a woman who had an “issue of blood” for 12 years touched the hem of His garment to receive healing from her reproach. This woman had tried everything to find her cure, spending her entire living on physicians and had only grown worse. Jesus was her only hope. When she heard He was passing by she said if only I could touch the hem of His garment I would be made well. What did she know about Jesus? What had she seen? What had she heard? His fame was great at this stage of His ministry and He could scarcely find any privacy except the wee hours of the morning before the sun even began to rise. A great multitude was always following Him seeking something. She was unclean according to the Torah and anything or anyone who touched her would be unclean according, (Lev 15:25-28) and yet she pressed through a crowd defiling not only all she came in contact with but also the one she was attempting to touch. This woman had no hope in Moses and was reduced to a life of isolation and ridicule. The religious would not be found near her nor would there be a place found for her in the Temple. She would have been closed off from all the devout and would only find community with those who were lawless or taking her money to treat her. After twelve years enough was enough. Here comes a man who had healed lepers. If He tolerated and healed the leprous then surely she could find her answer in this Man. For they too were unclean like her. Yet fear and partial understanding kept her from seeking a full encounter, but simply touching the Hem of His garment would be enough for her. But this was a man, a Rabbi, who healed the sick, who cast out demons and who silenced the Pharisees. A man who knew the Scripture. A man who would know that this hem of His garment represented keeping the law, honoring the Sabbath. He healed on the Sabbath in opposition to the zealous, surely He would remember her. So she pressed, surely defiling many, and she reached Him. Touching the hem of His garment she was immediately cleansed. She would have been overjoyed, instant relief for her body and nobody knew who she was or what she did, but Jesus also felt the power go out of Him. He stopped and scanned the crowd asking “Who touched me?” No one answered and Peter even questioned how He could possibly know in such a crowd, weren’t many touching Him? Jesus persisted, someone touched my clothes and I felt power leave me. He must have made eye contact with the woman because she perceived that she was not hidden. With fear and trembling she came forward and explained her situation for all to hear. Imagine the disgust of those who she brushed by knowing now they were unclean, surely there was some trouble coming for her. Jesus simply looks at her and tells her to be comforted; her faith has made her well, and dismisses her without any rebuke whatsoever.


What a beautiful story, but what about today? What can we learn from this woman in our approach to Jesus? This woman pressed in beyond reproach, beyond ridicule, and beyond fear to touch the garment of the Man we call Lord and God. Our lesson is in the pressing. We live in a world that is pressing in from all sides telling us what to do and how to do it. We cower to the opinions and ideas of men while staring at Jesus from afar. Maybe if we just imitate this action or that behavior we will see His power move in our lives and we call it faith. No!! We must press through the crowd without receiving their words and touch His garment. The healing was immediate upon touching Jesus, but the touching Him took time and effort. It took a revelation of who He is and of what He can do. Are we ever close enough? Not until we receive, have we drawn close enough. We must press through the crowds of naysayers, the crowds of religious people who mock our dependency on God, the satisfied who really just want to see something, we must press beyond friends, beyond family, beyond reason, beyond our reputation to the very feet of Jesus, and then we will experience Him! Your uncleanness is healed in touching Him, and you shall be set free. Press in.

He Strengthens My Weary Heart

What is the LORD seeking? He has always had a people on the earth. In Elijah’s day as the prophet cried out that there were none left except him, the LORD responded that He had reserved 7000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal. There is a remnant. This is a remnant that refuses under any pressure to bow to any master other than One Master, God. So then, what is the LORD seeking except a people that will love Him more than life itself. Yet in this strange and varied world of religions and traditions how do we even begin to know who the LORD is. Confusion and pitfall abound as we repeatedly superimpose our weaknesses and desires onto a perfect and loving God. Sometimes it feels like serving God is the most arduous decision I have ever made, because whatever position I take there are still many that have arguments and debates that rival all things. Those outside the faith are much easier to deal with, but it is those who name the same LORD and yet slander and rage against each other with their various doctrines that prove to be the greatest trial. I almost hate to open my mouth because there is always an unlimited supply of those who disagree with such enthusiasm that it would seem that I just stuck my toe in the lake of fire while inviting everyone else to come and take a dip. Even silent opinions become difficult to bear as the world is ornate with venom that slanders my every thought leaving my head spinning and my heart crying out for the return of the LORD from heaven. But I cannot keep silent, it is like a fire in my bones, it is more painful to try and contain it.


So back to the question, what is the LORD seeking? A people or a family who love Him. How do we know if we are His people or just bowing down to any master (Baal) that pleasures our current desire? Oh my LORD, save me from this wicked and cruel age of men, I long for Your rule and Kingdom to come on the earth. Can I have the strength to love my friends and my enemies, the strength to turn the other cheek, the strength to show kindness to those who hate me and speak mean things about me simply because I trust in the resurrection from the dead.

Believing in Jesus is certainly the best and hardest thing. I have risked every opportunity in this life in the belief that He is the Son of God, the first born from the dead, and my soon returning King. I truly love Jesus, and all that I desire is to see Him and that you too experience the same love I have experienced. I’ve not always been kind, and I regularly struggle with feeling inadequate for the job He has entrusted me with, but He continues to strengthen me. Some might say I have a mental disorder, and my own delusions keep me from backing down, but He is truth and I honestly have nowhere else to turn. O Jesus you have both ruined me and made me in one sweep and I am so thankful, for if this pitiful age was all I had to hope in then my existence would be miserable indeed. I long.