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Who Touched Me?

“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” Luke 8:45, NIV

Imagine the scene. Jesus is rushing down the narrow streets to reach Jairus’ daughter before she dies. The crowd is excited and pressing Him from every side. He is, in fact, in danger of being crushed. Then suddenly Jesus stops and asks, “Who touched Me”? The disciples are stunned. Really? Who hasn’t? And to stop at this critical time? Matthew, the former tax collector, probably whipped out his calculator to figure out how many people were in a 5 foot radius…

But Jesus was not thinking about a general touch. He was thinking about a very specific touch. Someone had touched Him in faith…and received a healing.

There are two kinds of miracles that Jesus performed. There are the ones that He initiated, like the man by the pool. And there are the ones that some else initiated, like this woman.

Consider that Jesus was on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter. He had no thought about this woman. He didn’t know she was in the crowd. He didn’t know she had a need. He was just focused on what He was doing. Jesus, in His humanity, was limited like we all are. Obviously, the Holy Spirit had not revealed to Him anything about this particular case. But Jesus knew when it happened and He wanted to know who and why.

Jesus put the woman in a difficult situation. She should not have been in that crowd to start with. With an issue of blood it was unlawful for her to be in public places especially without warning others of being “unclean.” She could get into serious trouble. No wonder she “came with trembling.” Would she be condemned by the crowd? She had taken her healing without asking…would Jesus be angry? Would He take back the healing?

We also see that ministering to the needs of others can be physically draining. Jesus felt the power to the heal the woman leave His body. It was a real, tangible thing. This is one reason why those who minister need to be careful and alert when they are finished because they have been drained and may be more susceptible to temptation. Take care. Take precautions especially in areas of known weakness.

So why did Jesus stop and ask, “Who touched me?” First, He knew that Jairus’ daughter was not the emergency that it appeared to be to others. A healing or a resurrection neither was beyond His abilities. Second, there was an immediate situation that did need to be dwelt with. Everything was about the Glory of God. A secret healing would bring no Glory to God. So He insisted on knowing who and why.

The woman, although fearful, was not condemned. Her action had not been wrong. She had great faith. She believed that just touching Jesus unawares would heal her…and she had been right. But now that her faith had been rewarded, it was the time to give Glory to God, to let others know what God had done for her. Jesus would not let an opportunity of glorifying His Father pass.

What has God done for you? Did He initiate it or did you? Either way, let God have the glory. I know in my own life, Jesus as initiated or directed most of the things that have happened without a lot of asking on my part. Some things were totally unexpected, like being given a house by a private unrelated family. Who hears of that in North America? And some things that I have initiated like the desire for a wife seemed to take an uncommonly long time [we have now been married 23 years]. So life is a dance where sometimes God takes the initiative and sometimes we do [although I do know God works His desires on our heart] but in all of it, God is to receive the glory.

Sometimes we are like the man who was driving down a busy street looking for a parking place. He prayed, “Lord, help me to find a parking place…never mind I see one.” Many of the things God does for us go unnoticed or unrecognized. Let us, at least, take time to thank Him and where possible and appropriate to give public glory to God for His acts.

For more information about Glenn Davis, see our About Glenn page or visit Glenn Davis Books.

Please note: We no longer have the commenting feature [maybe again in the future]. Joshua Institute students who have questions or comments on their courses can use the contact button and mention the course name and lesson number in the email. Thank you. Glenn

Who Touched Me?

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