Come unto Him
I participated in the devotional tonight in my New Testament Institute class. I sang, "Close Enough to Touch" by Kenneth Cope and shared a little excerpt from a talk I gave over the summer.
This woman, whose story is told briefly in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, had an issue of blood for 12 years. She had sought out numerous physicians and used all that she had to seek a cure. None had cured her; her condition was now worse.
Her faith brought her to seek out Jesus. “For she said within herself, if I but touch his garment, I shall be whole.”(Matthew 9:21) She pressed her way through the crowd that was following Jesus to touch the hem of His garment.
Elder Neuenschwander in his April 2008 General Conference address described this crowd. “I picture the crowd itself. It must have been fairly large, as people were pressing in on Jesus. It might have even been a noisy crowd, as people pushed and shoved trying to get a better look at Him. I wonder why they were there. Most, I think, came out of curiosity. Wherever He went, news of His arrival and stories of His miracles preceded Him. Perhaps they expected to see something out of the ordinary, an event not to be missed.”
This woman was in the crowd knowing that she could be healed. From behind the Savior, she touched the hem of His garment. Jesus, feeling that power had gone out of Him, immediately asked, “Who touched me?” With the great number of people in the crowd, the Apostles did not understand why He would ask that. Peter remarked, “Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?” (Luke 8:45)
With much fear and trembling, the woman confessed that which she had done. She expressed that upon touching His garment, “she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague." (Mark 5:29)
She was but one among the crowd that day. Elder Neuenschwander continued, “Outwardly, there was little to distinguish her from any other person in the crowd. No one tried to stop her from moving toward Jesus. Certainly, the Apostles neither noticed her nor made any attempt to stop her. But there was something that set her apart from all the others in the crowd that day. Though buried among the thronging mass, she resolutely and quietly pressed forward with a single purpose in mind: to come to the Savior, having faith that He had the power to heal her, that He cared about her and would respond to her need. In this one thing she set herself apart from the crowd. The crowd came to see, but the woman came to be healed.”
“She declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.” (Luke 8:47) All among the crowd heard her bear witness of the healing power of the Savior, yet not Matthew, Mark, nor Luke record that any more then reached for the Savior’s garment hoping to be healed. Only she among the crowd had the faith to be healed.
As we continued to discuss this story, I recognized another principle contained in the account. In Mark 5:26, it explains that she had visited numerous physicians and "had spent all that she had" seeking a cure. Only then, when she touched the hem of the Savior's garment, was she healed. This demonstrates the principle of faith. Nephi explains grace in 2 Nephi 25:23 saying, "it is by grace we are saved, after all that we can do". As we work to do all that we can, when we come to the Savior and reach for Him, we are healed immediately.
3 Nephi 9:14 "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."
This woman, whose story is told briefly in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, had an issue of blood for 12 years. She had sought out numerous physicians and used all that she had to seek a cure. None had cured her; her condition was now worse.
Her faith brought her to seek out Jesus. “For she said within herself, if I but touch his garment, I shall be whole.”(Matthew 9:21) She pressed her way through the crowd that was following Jesus to touch the hem of His garment.
Elder Neuenschwander in his April 2008 General Conference address described this crowd. “I picture the crowd itself. It must have been fairly large, as people were pressing in on Jesus. It might have even been a noisy crowd, as people pushed and shoved trying to get a better look at Him. I wonder why they were there. Most, I think, came out of curiosity. Wherever He went, news of His arrival and stories of His miracles preceded Him. Perhaps they expected to see something out of the ordinary, an event not to be missed.”
This woman was in the crowd knowing that she could be healed. From behind the Savior, she touched the hem of His garment. Jesus, feeling that power had gone out of Him, immediately asked, “Who touched me?” With the great number of people in the crowd, the Apostles did not understand why He would ask that. Peter remarked, “Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?” (Luke 8:45)
With much fear and trembling, the woman confessed that which she had done. She expressed that upon touching His garment, “she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague." (Mark 5:29)
She was but one among the crowd that day. Elder Neuenschwander continued, “Outwardly, there was little to distinguish her from any other person in the crowd. No one tried to stop her from moving toward Jesus. Certainly, the Apostles neither noticed her nor made any attempt to stop her. But there was something that set her apart from all the others in the crowd that day. Though buried among the thronging mass, she resolutely and quietly pressed forward with a single purpose in mind: to come to the Savior, having faith that He had the power to heal her, that He cared about her and would respond to her need. In this one thing she set herself apart from the crowd. The crowd came to see, but the woman came to be healed.”
“She declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.” (Luke 8:47) All among the crowd heard her bear witness of the healing power of the Savior, yet not Matthew, Mark, nor Luke record that any more then reached for the Savior’s garment hoping to be healed. Only she among the crowd had the faith to be healed.
As we continued to discuss this story, I recognized another principle contained in the account. In Mark 5:26, it explains that she had visited numerous physicians and "had spent all that she had" seeking a cure. Only then, when she touched the hem of the Savior's garment, was she healed. This demonstrates the principle of faith. Nephi explains grace in 2 Nephi 25:23 saying, "it is by grace we are saved, after all that we can do". As we work to do all that we can, when we come to the Savior and reach for Him, we are healed immediately.
3 Nephi 9:14 "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."
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