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Chapter 4—The Touch of Faith
“If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole.”
Matthew 9:21
.
It was a poor woman who spoke these words—a woman who for
twelve years had suffered from a disease that made her life a burden.
She had spent all her means upon physicians and remedies, only
to be pronounced incurable. But as she heard of the Great Healer,
her hopes revived. She thought, “If only I could get near enough to
speak to Him, I might be healed.”
Christ was on His way to the home of Jairus, the Jewish rabbi
who had entreated Him to come and heal his daughter. The heart-
broken petition, “My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I
pray Thee, come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be healed”
(
Mark 5:23
), had touched the tender, sympathetic heart of Christ,
and He at once set out with the ruler for his home.
They advanced but slowly; for the crowd pressed Christ on every
side. In making His way through the multitude, the Saviour came
near to where the afflicted woman was standing. Again and again
she had tried in vain to get near Him. Now her opportunity had
come. She could see no way of speaking to Him. She would not
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seek to hinder His slow advance. But she had heard that healing
came from a touch of His garments; and, fearful of losing her one
chance for relief, she pressed forward, saying to herself, “If I may
but touch His garment, I shall be whole.”
Christ knew every thought of her mind, and He was making His
way to where she stood. He realized her great need, and He was
helping her to exercise faith.
As He was passing, she reached forward and succeeded in barely
touching the border of His garment. That moment she knew that she
was healed. In that one touch was concentrated the faith of her life,
and instantly her pain and feebleness disappeared. Instantly she felt
the thrill as of an electric current passing through every fiber of her
being. There came over her a sensation of perfect health. “She felt
in her body that she was healed of that plague.”
Verse 29
.
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