“Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (Luke 8:43-48)

“Without belief, we would be left with nothing but an overwhelming doom, every single day. And it will beat you. I didn’t fully see, until the cancer, how we fight every day against the creeping negatives of the world, how we struggle daily against the slow lapping of cynicism. Dispiritedness and disappointment, these were the real perils of life, not some sudden illness or cataclysmic millennium doomsday. I knew now why people fear cancer: because it is a slow and inevitable death, it is the very definition of cynicism and loss of spirit. So, I believed.” (Lance Armstrong, It’s Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life)

Have you noticed that those who have the strongest faith seem to lack fear, fear of the trials and tribulations of this life? The woman with the bleeding disorder had tried everything that she could think of, physicians and all of their medicines, and she still was not cured. Finally, in an act of faith, she comes to see Jesus, with the faith that even if she just touches his cloak, she might receive the same type of miraculous healing that she has obviously witnessed in others. It was not fear that drove her to Jesus, it was her faith.

Oh she does have fear, but it is a fear that she experiences in the reaction that she might be found out. She should not have been at the Temple, for she was forbidden, an outsider, because of her disease. Still her faith propelled her to come to Jesus, even if, as she feared, she would be discovered. Can we get past the fear and allow our faith to lead us on in service to the one who continues to astound us each and every day?

Pastor Dave

“One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” (Luke 8:22-25)

“With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm…” (John Newton)

“Who is this?” the disciples ask. They have observed Jesus for some time now, and have witnessed many wonderful events, and listened to his teaching. Yet in the midst of another obstacle, something they would have encountered many times, Jesus’ mastery over even the wind and the water still leave doubts in their minds about who Jesus really is. It leaves us wondering, right? I mean a legion of demons is about to name him as the “Son of the Most High G-d.” Why is it that sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees? 

Why is it that we cannot see clearly what is right in front of us? I remember the words of the song by Jimmy Cliff, I Can See Clearly Now:

I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day.

Is it because the disciples’ have a limited ability to see through their own clouds of doubt that they cannot see the incredible events happening right in front of them? Or, simply put, is it our humanness that clouds out acceptance of the divine at work in our lives?

“Who is this Jesus?” Many people ask the question – it is our task to help them see.

Pastor Dave