“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,[c] but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.” Luke 8.40-44
Do you remember forming a line in elementary school? Sometimes we had line leaders; sometimes we all held on to a single rope. But the one thing you were not supposed to do was cut the line. Once you got in line—even today, especially where I live—you do not cut in line. You wait your turn. This is a story about a line cutter who sought healing from the Master.
Some people call this the miracle on the way to a miracle. Jesus returns to Galilee, and as expected, a large crowd was waiting for him. The man who got to Jesus first was Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He was most certainly wealthy, prominent, and important. Perhaps this is why he was first in line.
Jairus tells Jesus about his twelve-year-old daughter who was dying, and Jesus starts off on his way to the man’s house. But before he got too far—because there were so many people—another person cuts in line for a miracle. This is the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She doesn’t even have a place in line because she is an outcast. She wasn’t even supposed to be there because she was unclean. But she cuts in line. She reaches out to Jesus and touches the hem of his garment, and in doing so, she draws power from him.
Now how could this happen? Friends, it’s a matter of faith. She believed that if she touched him, she would be healed. It was her only chance; Jesus was her only hope. So she reaches out, steps in, cuts in line, and becomes the miracle on the way to the miracle.
And she elicits a response from Jesus that in itself contains so much power, so much compassion, and a little bit of mystery as he says, “Who touched me?”
Now that is a story for another time, but we know Jesus knows who it was. The woman just needed to own up to her line cutting. And in her desperation, in her reaching out to Jesus, she is healed.
Sometimes our need is so great that we forgo formalities in order to get our hands on Jesus. We cannot just idly sit by while the King of the Universe walks by. We have to act. We have to reach out. We have to cut in line.
I believe Jesus knew exactly who touched him, just as he knows your own name, your own pain, your own needs. And he is only an arm’s length away. He is waiting for you, as he waited for this woman to realize her need and come to the Savior.
Will you come? Will you confess? Will you cut in line for heaven’s sake?
“O Lord God, although I have read this dozens of times before, I have never quite sensed the desperation of this line-cutter. I have been like her before, however. As you know, I have battled, I have won, and I have lost. But in you—I always can find victory. Come now, Lord and God, fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Help me be fully devoted to you and to love you with all my heart. For you are good, and your love endures forever.” Amen