As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” 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. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Luke 8:42-48 NIV
I can picture the large crowd pressing in on Jesus, so much so, it says, that He was almost crushed! And I love Peter, who always seemed to have a knack for stating the obvious…essentially saying, “Seriously, Lord, there’s people everywhere, pressing in on you, and you want to know who brushed up against you???” But this was different! Jesus didn’t want to know who brushed up against him, he wanted to know who touched him. He wanted to know who had pressed in and grabbed a hold of him until they drew “power” from Him….Life changing power….power that could heal what no one else could…power that could remove deep rooted suffering that had been present for 12 years!
Lord, I don’t want to be just one of the crowd, following you, listening to your teachings, going through the motions, just brushing up against you. I want to press in, grab a hold of you and draw from you the life changing power that I so desperately need!
As she fell, trembling at His feet, she expected rebuke, but instead received encouragement, and affirmation from God that the very faith that compelled her to press in and take hold of Him was a good thing! What about you? Are you content to be a casual observer, just brushing up against Jesus or do you want something more?