Faith is All That’s Required For Healing

Today’s reading: Luke 8:40-55

I sometimes wonder if today’s reading might include one of the minor factual errors that men have been known to introduce into scripture over the centuries.

One woman amidst a desperate mob reaches for Jesus’ robe  and is immediately, permanently healed of the hemorrhaging from which she had suffered for years. Well, I think it’s plausible that this woman may have been standing quietly in the back of the crowd, many feet from Jesus, as he “felt” her touch.

I realize it’s risky for a layman to second guess the eyewitness testimony of The Bible, but, in this case, I see that my speculation brings me closer to the important, endlessly inspiring, lesson of this scripture.

Jesus says he felt this woman’s touch above all the others “for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” (Verse 45)

So, clearly, it’s not the woman’s physical touch he is asking about when he says, “Who touched me?” (Verse 44) It’s the spiritual one. And as mankind now knows from centuries of experience connecting with Jesus’ unseen spirit, a spiritual touch could have occurred no matter where the woman had been standing.

It’s a great comfort to remember that faith — and certainly not physical presence alone —  is all that’s required to be healed by Jesus.

Thanks be to God for the eternal healing power of hope.