SHE TOUCHED THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT
by Bishop David Chislett SSC

Mark 5: 24-34

Except for when we are trying to get into a footy match, a music festival or (for those who can't help themselves) the post-Christmas sales in our department stores, we Australians don't really get jostled by crowds. There's just not enough of us. Even peak hour on the trains in our capital cities is relatively civilised.

Those who have been part of the surging crowds in European or Asian cities will know what I mean. Even Christian crowds in St Peter's Square, Rome, can give travelling Aussies a run for their money!

It's a cultural thing, too. The energy of the crowd, the excitement of actually being near a great teacher or celebrity, the combined sense of desperation and celebration works its magic, and even the heaving and jostling becomes part of the big day out.

Many years ago when I first read the story in the middle of today's Gospel I was intrigued with the way that the lady's encounter with Jesus is described. In the midst of a great crowd pressing Jesus in on every side he turned around, apparently out of the blue, and said, "Who touched me?" The disciples, also embedded into that surging crowd, reacted as you and I might have done. It is so easy to picture the scene.

What's going on here? It's simple. The point is being made about the difference between the casual, matter-of-fact way in which hundreds are brushing up against Jesus, and the lady who intentionally reached out and touched him with the touch of faith.

I want to tell you that for me this lady ranks with the greatest of the apostles and saints. She is one of my heroes!

But let's go back a bit. You need to know that her bleeding condition meant that not only - according to St Luke's account - had she spent all her money on the doctors, but she was also banned from society, being considered "unclean" according to the law and custom of the day. She was lonely, sick and she was an outcast.

This state of affairs might have continued, but someone told her about Jesus! About his love, about how he was going around teaching, preaching and healing. The stories she had heard awakened faith within her that that her life could be different if she got to Jesus. Surely he could do for her what he had done for so many others.

She was clearly a lady of no half measures, absolutely determined to get to Jesus. In fact, because in her condition she could be stoned to death for touching anyone at all, it is most likely that in order to reach Jesus she crawled low through the crowd, wearing the special clothes that set her apart in her community as "unclean."

There is something else I want you to notice. As she got closer she said to herself, "If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well." In the original Greek it is clear that the lady "kept on saying" to herself. "If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well." Over and over she repeated these words as she strained and reached with every ounce of strength she had left.

We have all experienced the power of discouragement when we are trying to break through to Jesus in a new way. But unlike the lady in the Gospel, we often forget to "keep on saying" to ourselves the things that will build up our faith. She did well with what she had; WE have so much more, for in times of discouragement we can remind ourselves of God's promises as found in both Old and New Testaments - even repeating them out aloud when we are really struggling. Doing that is therapeutic!

THEN IT HAPPENED! The lady got to Jesus and touched the hem of his garment. Instantly the bleeding stopped. Then she got more than she had bargained for! Jesus turned around and said, "Who touched me?" For her there was to be no sneaking off anonymously the way some Anglicans might have done!

The lady realized that Jesus knew it was she who had touched him in faith, for he had felt a surge of healing power flow from him. In other words, it was for real . . . it wasn't "just" symbolic, any more than the sacraments are "just" symbolic! Furthermore, Jesus obviously thought it important that the lady face him and acknowledge out loud to everyone what she had done and what had happened to her.

The lady "fell down before him" in "fear and in trembling." This expression is used elsewhere of our humility before God (cf 1 Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 7:15; Eph. 6:5; Phil. 2:12) and represents a response of awe and gratitude.

Jesus addressed her affectionately as "daughter," and told her to go in peace. Then he said to her, "Your faith has made you whole." That is deliberately a BIG expression in the original language, for it goes well beyond the physical healing of one ailment! It can just as accurately be translated, "your faith has brought you salvation."

My prayer is that in our Mass today you might draw on the healing power of Jesus in a new way.

From the Patmos House Pew Bulletin 2nd July 2006