For she had heard of Jesus , the ultimate physician of both soul and body. She knew what Jairus knew. Anything the Lord lays his hands on, or touches, lives.
But how was she to approach him? Jairus came (she might have been a witness to this) and “fell at his feet, and besought him greatly.” (Mark 5:22,23, emphasis added. ) The ten Lepers “lifted up their voices.” (Luke 17: 13 emphasis added. ) Another leper came “beseeching him. ..” (Mark 1:41 emphasis added.) Even the diseased of Gennesaret “besought him” before they touched “the hem of his garment.” (Matthew 14:34-36 emphasis added. ) But this woman asked nothing, spoke not a word, called no smallest amount of attention to herself. Twelve years as a social pariah must have left scars like canyons. She could not ask for a touch. The imposition of his hands would make him unclean.
Thus, in the silence that her condition had taught her, she thought, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” (Mark 5:28.) And she “came in the press behind, and touched his garment.” (Mark 5:27.)
And was healed! What an explosion of joy and wonder and devotion must have rocked her as she felt the miracle and sensed the wholeness in her organs. She came to the Savior when there was no place else to go, and now, we suppose, she will never go any place else at all.
Jesus knew. This seems almost as miraculous as the healing. His disciples were amazed at the question, “Who touched my clothes?” “Master,” they replied, “the multitude throng thee and press upon thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?” (Luke 8:45.) In a narrow street with a swirling crowd desperate to be near him, he felt the touch and knew that it was more than a touch. The Savior felt virtue [better: power] go out of him. (Mark 5:30.)
And so he asked, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30.) Again the woman’s personality appears. She made no rush of gratitude and amazement to fall at his feet and give thanks. Rather, when she "found that she was not hid, " as she had hoped to be (Luke 8:47), “she came trembling.” (Mark 5:33.) Again we sense that her affliction has driven her deep within herself.
But she came, the miracle still burning inside, “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.” (Luke 8:47.)
Jesus saw her kneeling there, perceived her remarkable faith and the goodness of her heart and said simply, “Daughter, thy faith [not the clothes, not the touch] hath made thee whole; go in peace. …” (Mark 5:34).
My wife suffered for years with incapacitating, demoralizing headaches. She took her problem to many doctors, anti they all had suggestions and they all had prescriptions and they all charged money, sometimes amazing amounts of it. And when it was all over she was not better, but seemed to grow worse. Finally, when it seemed that there was no place else to go, we went to our knees and to the Savior , and in his quiet, gentle way, after sufficient time and faith, he showed us the solution.
This is not an indictment of doctors. Those we visited were marvelous, dedicated men who offered the common solutions. None of them prescribed owl brains or frog livers. But it took us so long to make our way to the Savior . . .
I fear that many of us misunderstand the atonement and the power of the Lord to help us: to heal any wound, resolve any difficulty, purge any pain. Only after we have suffered enough to exhaust all the dimmer hopes do we come before Him, driven finally to our knees by the joyous but painfully learned knowledge that there is no place else to go. Once there we may learn that if we had been willing, we could have been there all the time.
CONCLUSION: Certain qualities possessed by the Savior draw us to him in times of need and pain and sorrow. He has a perfect knowledge of each of us. He has compassion for us; his empathy is absolute. When we are afflicted, he is afflicted (see D&C 133:53). His love passeth knowledge (see Eph. 3:17-19), and he has all power. Nothing is too hard for him. When he acts in our behalf, the result is always miraculous. Thus, even though his personal miracles were confined to a small place and a short time, their messages reach across the ages to us. And the promise come with those messages. He will do for us what he did for them, and for the same reasons: because of his compassion; to build and confirm faith; and to teach us spiritual realities.
He's got to admit that this headache really, really sucks.
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