Mark 5:34
The
word “faith” and the concept of faith often get a bad rap. It is often spoken
about as if faith were a jump into darkness, into the unknown and
untrustworthy, an act of sheer stupidity. But the kind of faith that Scripture
speaks about is not like this at all. In the book of Hebrews is speaks about
faith as being the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen. It is substance and evidence, hardly nothing.
Our
text picks up the account of a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years.
She hears about Jesus and comes, touches and is healed. She has substance, the
things she heard about Jesus. Perhaps she had even met some of the people Jesus
had healed, evidence.
She
did not arrive in the crowd and look around and say to herself, “Who in this
crowd of unknown people should I go up and touch and hope I get healed?” This
was not a random act. This was a deliberate seeking out of the substance and
evidence in the person of Jesus.
In
fact, Biblical faith is always faith directed toward the LORD. He is the object
of the trust. It is never a jump in the dark. It is jumping into the loving,
caring arms of the redeeming Savior.
Jesus
has now found the object of His search, the woman who touched His garment and
received healing. She had slipped away back into the crowd. He has sought her
out with His eyes. She returns and throws herself at His feet and tells her
story.
Jesus
in response tells her that her faith has healed her. It was not faith shot in
any and every direction, but faith directed and acted upon toward Jesus. She
touched Jesus’ garment and was healed. She sought Him out. She had heard and
she reached out based on what she had heard. And now she has been healed.
Jesus
brings her out of the crowd for a reason. She needs more than physical healing.
She needs restoration to the community. And as Jesus says these words, the
community hears them. She is healed. She now goes in peace and doesn’t have the
suffering that has enveloped her life for all these years.
Restoration
happens best when it is done in community. Faith doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
Faith happens as we act together. Who are the people who are part of your
community of acting faith? What are you doing that requires you to rely more
heavily on the grace of God?