Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed” (Matthew 9:20-21).

There is a local golf course that has a concrete statue of a toad near the first tee box. The legend goes that if you rub the toad’s nose, you will have a great round of golf. As you can imagine, the nose of that toad is very shiny and smooth from the many years of this ritual playing out at the beginning of each round. I can personally tell you it does NOT work in the way you would hope. Shocking right? But there is something to be learned from this belief in the power of touch.

In the passage from Matthew for today, Jesus is in healing mode. He is implored by a local leader to come and resurrect his daughter from the dead. As Jesus is walking to the leader’s house, a large crowd forms around him. A woman who had been bleeding for years forces her way just close enough to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe.

I heard a pastor once postulate that this might have been Jesus’ prayer shawl, and the woman was reaching for one of the knots on the edge of the shawl, believing that even that little touch could heal her. As she did so, Jesus turned and acknowledged her and her faith. She was healed!

Then Jesus went on to the leader’s house, touched the hand of his daughter, and healed her, too. Shortly after, he touched the eyes of two blind men, and they too were healed.

The power of touch is real! But even deeper than that is the faith of those who believe in that touch. I have no illusion that touching the nose of that toad does anything other than give false hope to golfers searching for a good score. Jesus, however, does have that power, and to those who believe, it can heal and transform their lives! We should all aspire to that level of faith.

Reflection:

  • People often do silly things, hoping their actions will change the outcome of an event—wear rally caps in baseball, touch the toad’s nose, not step on cracks, knock on wood, etc. Why do we do those pointless things, yet struggle to believe that God can do miracles?
  • Why is connection to something greater than us so important to our faith?