Go in Peace

 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.  She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

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

But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Luke 8:43-48

When we consider this woman who was subject to bleeding for 12 years. She would have been considered “Unclean” by the Law of her day, probably lived in isolation-no one wanted to be near her or certainly to be touched by her.

She had a lot of barriers and probably fear that were inhibiting her from her freedom.  She needed deliverance and she was desperate to get it.  If she were to be healed it would enable her to live a normal life again, and to be accepted back into her community.

And her moment finally came.  Jesus was passing by, and she risked a lot getting close to him and the people who were crowding him.  But she believed if she could just touch him, she would be healed.  And in this deliberate act of Worship, she touched the edge of his cloak-power went out from him and she was instantly healed.

Now, she probably would have liked to quietly go back to her business, perhaps hidden from the sight of others and maybe say that the doctors had healed her…But Jesus, wanted her to give testimony in the presence of the community, in which He gave her.

Jesus, Honored her boldness. It wasn’t easy, but in the end she went away whole and in peace.

And isn’t this what we all need.  We need to be bold, honest, and open about what ails us.  We need to reach out for the Freedom, Healing, and Deliverance only Jesus can give.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Matthew 7:7