Luke 8: 42b-48 "A Woman Touches Jesus' Cloak"
When things in our lives seem to be turning into a big mess, can we trust God?
In a large dramatic epic, of a King and government officials, backroom politics, power brokering and backstabbing, the story of 'Daniel in the Lion’s Den' ultimately tells us “…when Daniel was lifted from the lion’s den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”
In a more personal, but no less dramatic story, a woman who has been suffering with a medical condition for years reaches out to touch just the edge of Jesus’ cloak. He tells her “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Daniel is a hardworking, incorruptible guy. He has distinguished himself in his job because of his “exceptional qualities.” His opposition is looking for way to trap him and bring into disfavor with the King. They say “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
We know of no exceptional qualities in the woman that is healed by touching Jesus’ cloak. We know that she is need of healing and has been for a long time.
At first glance we might think God saved Daniel because of his behavior among men, but soon we see that Daniel’s exceptional qualities were actually part of what was causing him to have such a hard time at work. People were plotting against him, they wanted his job and they wanted him out. He was not ‘one of them.’
Daniel was experiencing the sting of racism. He was born a Jew, and as a matter of self-preservation, the nation of Israel kept to itself. They had no call to evangelize the community they found themselves in. They were a people that knew a different kind of God. The public kept them at a distance, referring to the Jews as a people who believed in ‘their God”.
The suffering woman thought that if she could just reach out and touch the One who was known to provide miraculous healing, she would be healed. She was putting her faith in charge of her life. She had tried everything else and nothing was working. Note that Jesus does not say, “You touched me, you're healed.” He says “Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Sometimes in my happiness I feel like I could reach out and touch God, I know He’s right there. Other times I’ve made so many mistakes that I don’t reach out. I feel at some level that if I did reach out, I’d mess that up and I wouldn’t be able to feel His presence. My mistakes isolate me.
In his time of distress. Daniel prayed. He faced Jerusalem, where his faith lived, and he prayed three times a day. He was surrounded by racists and backstabbing people at work, and he went to his room, got down on his knees and prayed. He let his faith lead his life. When the chips were down, he did the best he could do and just prayed.
As a teenager, I heard over and over “Have you trusted Jesus to be lord and savior of your life?” I wanted to say "Can I get to know him first?"
Nobody was offering a way for me to get to know Him, they were just asking me accusing questions. “Have you trusted Jesus?” I didn’t want to answer because I thought it was a stupid question. It always seemed to me that the people that were asking me had the answer, but they weren’t willing, ready, or able to share it with me. It’s as if they were saying “We know something you don’t know.”
I wish that they had been asking “Would you like to get to know someone who can make your life better and easier?”. I went for those things. Anything that made my life seem fuzzier, and less painful, I tried.
Then I was shown, not told, how to let faith lead a life. My Mother showed me how to let faith guide her through the transition of death.
She did not claim to be perfect. She did not expect me to be perfect. She did not blame me for my mistakes, or judge me in them. She lived a life of faith, that guided her through a peaceful death, into life eternal.
From that I began to learn how to die. I began to learn that I needed to let a few things die that I had been doing. I needed to die to myself and my selfish desires, in order to let faith lead my life. I’m not perfect. I won’t ever be the perfect politician, incorruptible and never negligent in my duties like Daniel. But that wasn’t what brought him out of the lion’s den without a scratch, trusting God did that.
I can be like the woman who reached out to touch Jesus’ cloak. I know where the healing is. It is not a matter of my good works, it is a matter of God’s grace, no matter what I’ve done. He allows me to put my priorities in order. And so I will always be a work in progress. I'm learning let faith lead my life. As I am able to do that, I hear the voice of Jesus telling me “Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”