The One Thing
I’m not normally accused of having tunnel vision. You know, being intently focused on just one thing, project or goal. I’m more apt to be pinging from one thing to another in some weird circular, random manner. I am not naturally linear, I’m not a big goal setter, I’m a “Oooh! Look! It’s so shiny!” type of person. And… I’ve discovered that there are some things that I want so badly that I gain serious tunnel vision.
There’s a woman in the Bible that had tunnel vision. She had every right to have tunnel vision. She was desperate for healing and she was willing to do just about anything to find an answer to her predicament.
This woman had been bleeding for twelve years. The Bible even says she had spent every penny she had on doctors and there was no answer to her problem. This woman, who no one had been able to make well, had heard that Jesus was in town. We aren’t told how much she knew about Jesus. We are left to assume that she had heard about miracles He had performed and others who had been healed. We don’t know if she had any family or if anyone even allowed themselves to be around her since constant bleeding would have made her unclean and unacceptable. We are given just a glimpse of her because she sneaks into the crowd that is pressing around Jesus as He is headed to the home of a local synagogue leader to heal his sick daughter. The woman pushes and nudges her way through the crowd, probably with her head down so no one recognizes her, perhaps she’s even crawling on the ground because the next thing that happens is she touches the hem of Jesus’ robe. In an instant she is healed and Jesus begins scanning the crowd and asks, “Who touched me?”
One would think, that someone with such tunnel vision, as soon as she had received what her heart most yearned for she would have begun to do the happy dance! I imagine I would’ve wanted the world to know what had just happened, but she doesn’t want to be found out. The story doesn’t tell us why she still wants to hide. Perhaps it’s because she knows she’s not supposed to be amongst the crowd, after all she’s an outcast. Perhaps it’s because she didn’t ask Jesus to heal her and yet He did, and she doesn’t know what He may ask of her in exchange. Perhaps she’s already begun pushing her way back through the crowd to go find those she loves to tell them the good news, and to admit it was her means she has to turn around and delay sharing her joy.
The disciples step in here and try to move Jesus and the crowd along to the synagogue leader’s home. They state the obvious: “there are many people touching you, we are in a crowd.” I like the fact that there’s a bit of disciple humor in this story. It reassures me that I’m not the only one who’s a bit slow to catch on to what Jesus already knows. I don’t think Jesus had to be told who touched Him. I’m convinced He knew. He may have been the Son of Man, and He was also the Son of God, and I’m sure he was looking through the crowd to help encourage the woman with a look of love that said it was okay to step forward.
I’m so like the bleeding woman. There are times I have tunnel vision and I think if Jesus will just do this one thing for me, I’ll be good, life will just about be perfect. Have you ever pleaded with God for “just this one thing….?” Have you ever realized that the just one thing later becomes a new one thing, and then later another new one thing? In the story of the bleeding woman, Jesus knew that the one thing for the bleeding woman, though so very significant, wasn’t really what she needed. So Jesus presses the issue and declares that someone has touched Him and he felt healing power leave him. Luke 8:47 & 48 says, “When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. ‘Daughter,’ he said to her, ‘your faith has made you well. Go in peace.’ “
I think in that moment Jesus wanted to hug her and hold her tight. Fear was radiating from her in spite of the fact that she had what she wanted. The bleeding woman was no longer bleeding but she was still in bondage.
For the woman to not only be healed, also free to live, she had to come face to face with Jesus. She fell at the feet of the only one who could help her, she confessed what she did and she received mercy and grace. Jesus called her daughter, accepting her into His family. He assured her that her faith had healed her, there was no shame, no condemnation, nothing to have to do to make up for 12 lost years. From this moment on, she was to live in peace. Jesus knew she wanted healing, and He knew she needed to be freed.
I’ve been struggling over my own “one thing.” I’ve been begging God for answers to my questions and He’s been telling me I need to wait. I’ve begun to be tired in the waiting, and I’ve started to plead for “just one hint…” The Holy Spirit reminded me that my soul isn’t healed by the “one thing.” I find healing and freedom when I fall at the feet of Jesus, confess where I am, what I’ve done, what’s hard, what’s confusing… and allow Him to speak. At the feet of Jesus, I’m reminded that I am His and He is mine. He calls me daughter, welcomes me into His presence as one who belongs, as one who is dearly loved. He strengthens my faith by confirming that when I come to Him with my need(s), He is powerful enough to supply. At Jesus’ feet the “one thing” is superseded by complete healing and wholeness. And then He sends me back to living, encouraged, equipped and empowered by His peace.
The bleeding woman received healing and wholeness. Jesus gave her more than she asked for; Jesus met her in the middle of her deepest need. Jesus meets me, and you too. He’s asking us to release the “one thing,” and fall at His feet.
