601 Please Help Me! Where Do I Find The Truth?

KEY SCRIPTURE Luke 8:43-48And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

 RELEVANCE

How many people today seek the truth? Unbeknownst to Pilate, when he made his dismissive comment, "What is truth?" to Jesus, he posed a very broad question, as the Bible holds answers to most of life.

Even today, people seek the truth in many matters, whether religion, health, environment, justice, or even relationship circumstances, yet many do not find it.  In Mark 13.5-6, Jesus told his listeners as well as us to take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

There are so many voices out there claiming to be the truth in all those matters that we can become confused to the point of giving up our search. 

The poor woman with the issue of blood had visited so many Jesus'—people who said they could heal her but couldn't—yet found none. Some may have said, "Look, I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee anything", while others would have sounded as if they were the fount of medical knowledge and understanding. 

I think we've all experienced that loss of hope as we search desperately for someone to "finally" fix our back or provide a solution to our constant migraines, stomach troubles or other difficult ailments.

We know very little about this woman except that she had spent all her living trying to find a solution. She could have travelled to other countries, begging her brother, sister, mother, girlfriend or husband to accompany her, although a husband may have abandoned her years before. She may have been subject to the strangest of healing methods and seen it all in her twelve years.

When you live with a chronic disability, it then becomes your life. Every waking moment, it reminds you that it is there. From the time this woman arose until she went to bed, she would need to deal with her issue. I wonder how many friends she lost? Or if she had a job but needed to excuse herself so often, which caused her to lose it, or whether she remained single, as her honesty would cause her to reveal her condition. Like the man with the legion of demons, she may have been a local scourge akin to a leper, despised by all but the nicest.

Then, the name of Jesus reached her ears—a person who healed perfectly every time and without charge.

Jesus knew someone with extraordinary faith touched him; the faith that gets you healed, as virtue or dunamis—the miraculous power—had gone out of him. I would expect that due to the number of people Jesus healed, much virtue would drain from Him daily. Prior to virtue healing this woman, it would have healed Jairus' twelve-year-old daughter. Immediately following this woman's healing, virtue would have been released when Jesus healed the Ruler of the Synagogue's daughter.

However, unlike other healings, this woman's faith released the virtue, not Jesus' command. Most people in that crowd had faith, but hers released the power without asking the owner.

In V48, Jesus calls her Daughter. A daughter of faith perhaps?

Prayer