Few days, two days actually, before she passed onto eternity, I met her. In the evening hours of that day, I walked till the edge of the fumigated hallway, which leads to the hospital room where she’s laid. Of late, she’s been in and out of the hospital, sometimes losing consciousness, as her illness progressed.
The day before my visit, she’s wake up and regained full consciousness, although feeding tube intact, with very less sense left in the body. As I enter the room, I was lost in words seeing her in dilapidated state and not like the one I’ve seen before. Yet she’s never complaint.
“Let’s read from the Scripture,” I said as I picked up the Bible, which was always lying on her bedside stand. Then I asked her if there’s any particular verse she’d wanted me to read but she gave me freedom to choose verses. So we revisited the Salvation of Christ through His act on the cross to the resurrection, which is a vindication of His teachings and His love.
We went through verses as I picked several topics for the short time we met in the RT Ward, Oncology Department of the city’s hospital. Then we come to the healing power of Christ and the miracles He did during His time here on earth. In the meantime, her face lit up as she tried to put up a smile beneath the shadow of the feeding tubes stuck in her nostrils.
It amazed me at the comfort one could get through the words of God even in our dead bed. Several times I’ve been interrupted by her amazement as she clung more on the assurance of Christ. Her hands signaled me to repeat certain verses we’ve been reading, as she was no more able to hold the Bible and read on her own.
At one instance, few minutes before I left the room, we read about the bleeding woman who’s healed by touching the edge of Jesus’ cloak as He went through the crowd. After which she gracefully remarked in a still voice, “I wanted to touch the edge of His cloak too.”
“Sure, you can touch it, if you wanted to, the next time He comes by your bed!” I replied hinting on the living water He’d provided, as my only way of sympathizing her. If it’s in His will, in His abiding grace, our touch will not only heal us but He would surely take us home beyond the suffering world to be with Him. There is joy of putting our faith and hope in Jesus Christ.
Then we shake hands, for the last time, as I rose to my feet saying a prayer relying on His hands. Again, she lets me know how she enjoyed our brief meeting as she said, “A nuam e maw!” And, asked me to go meet her again. But that time never came as her longing might have been fulfilled!
Thinking back of the little time we spent in that cubicle, it gives me hope and comfort in the abiding grace of God, in my life too. While the earthly body appears dilapidated, almost consumed by the raging illness, the soul of a faithful person was not consumed. It’s a matter of time until we saw things in its entirety, understanding His ways, and as designed by God.
The Bleeding Woman Touching Jesus’ Cloak:
Now let me take you to the woman who really touched the edge of Jesus’ cloak sandwiched between great miracles to people of higher social order. The woman has been bleeding or sick for twelve long years and no one can heal her, noted the writers of the gospels. The waiting period was long for her but better than Jesus not passing by.
Jesus was on His way to fulfilling the request of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, to heal her daughter when large crowd followed Him per the miracles He’d performed. For the woman, it’s now or never in putting her faith to work. So, she came up from behind and touched the edge of Jesus’ cloak. And her bleeding stopped immediately!
Then Jesus turned to the disciples as He knows healing power was out from Him. Thus, the woman saw she cannot go unnoticed; she fell at the feet of Jesus telling Him why she touched His cloak and how got healed instantly. It was the longing of the helpless rewarded through her faith.
“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace,” said Jesus Christ. Jesus came for mankind, and especially to those who believed in Him. (Luke 8:43-48) The unclean becomes clean, accepted in the realm of normal living, the way we are accepted as citizen of His kingdom.
For many, Jesus is the carpenter’s son, and not more than that. People just wanted to see Him work, healing the sick, and raising the dead. When He does not fulfill our longings we do not bother to run after Him, even for a small touch of His cloak. But this woman did!
The Longing for Touching His Cloak:
Sometime ago, we talked with a person who underwent surgery, we talked of our eagerness to touch Jesus should we saw Him walking in the streets. But we agree on one thing; even if we touch Him we might not get healed due to our fluctuating faith. Still, we longed for Him.
As we know, Jesus was no more here on earth physically. However, people of strong/fervent faith can saw Him amidst the tumult of life. He is very much here, and we have the privilege of talking to Him anytime and anywhere. Yet the problem is with our degree of faith. In our less faith, at times, we are unable to see Him clearly.
Our faith is corrupted by the little wisdom we possessed, trusting more on what can be seen. There are people whose faith diminished or even vanish once their life becomes stable. Even in the midst of our suffering we can feel His presence when we trust Him. The fluctuating and corrupted status of our faith does not allow us to let Him work His wonders.
The bleeding woman risked everything, being unclean and cast-out for a long time, and not merited to walk among the crowd. Still, she followed her faith, came up to touch the edge of Jesus’ cloak connecting her faith to Him. And we wanted to benefit from Him yet frightened by the world.
A Slight Touch with Great Faith:
Among the crowd, people are pressing Him which means many person might have touched Jesus that day. (John 8:45) Yet the woman, in full of faith and hope, touching the edge of His cloak was different. The touching part was only a small act, like the tip of an iceberg of faith, which cannot be seen.
And as I say earlier, it’s a rare type of faith in today’s world. Even for me, in my less and fluctuating faith, my touch of the cloak would be meaningless. Yet we touched it and our pains vanished, from time to time. For the soldiers at the cross who divided the clothing of Jesus between them by casting lots, have no meaning to them. (John 19:23-24) They did not get healed of their sin yet it was the same clothing which healed the woman before.
In the course of our sufferings, there are times we are desperate for miracles. Our ailment weakens us physically and sometimes spiritually, as it can be really embarrassing at certain times. Living in sin applies the same, as we are bound by locks unable to see freedom on our own.
The hope and comfort a person gets by putting faith in the word of God, even in their dead-bed, is enthralling. Just a slight touch on the edge of His cloak with strong faith, as we know we’re unworthy to face Him, would do the work for us in the way which would suited us best.
