Touching Jesus in faith

'Who touched my garments?' Jesus asked. The answer of his disciples was rather sarcastic: 'You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, "Who touched me?"' They are right, there is a big crowd; there are so many people who rub against him, and he cannot move around without touching anyone. It is senseless to ask who touched me in such a crowd.

However, for Jesus, it was a special touch. It is not like the touch of the hundreds of people around him. He felt the healing power going out of him at the moment of that touch. That touch is thus different from all other touch.

When Jesus insisted on identifying that person who touched him, a woman came forward from the crowd trembling. She had touched him from behind the crowd so that she will not be identified. She had many reasons for remaining anonymous: shame, being woman in a majority male crowd, more than that with that annoying constant bleeding she is defiled. Whatever she touches and whoever touches her is deemed to be defiled.

But she touched in faith. The people who were thronging around Jesus did not touch him with faith like hers. She believed that a touch of his garments will heal her. Her touch was different because it was a touch of faith.

There are many people who gather around Jesus. They throng into gospel crusades, Christian fellowships and Bible study groups to know more about him. But only a few really touch him to be healed, to receive his power to heal. It is up to us to decide whether we belong to those who throng around him or the one that touches longing to be healed; to receive his special power.

Faith that Draws

The modern preachers (especially those ones on the TV) have popularized a particular version of ‘faith.’ According to them we need faith in order to God to do miracles. Some of them even tend to preach that the miracles are proportionate to the size of ones’ faith. This is often implied in expressions like ‘level of faith’ etc that we often hear on the TV.

In this popular conception ‘faith’ is portrayed as something that triggers God’s power. Unless we exercise our faith we cannot receive God’s power through miracles. Doesn’t this imply that the omnipotent God is helpless to do a miracle for us! Certain stories in the Bible are used to support these positions. Often quoted is the faith of the woman suffering with a flow of blood who received her healing by touching Jesus’ garments secretly (Mark 5:24-34). The faith of the centurion is also often cited (Matthew 8:5-13). He received a miracle because he ‘exercised’ his faith.

Often times preachers quote Jesus’ statement to the woman with a flow of blood, ‘your faith has healed you’ to say that it is our faith that works miracles! If faith that is situated in the receptor is the condition for the power of God to act for the benefit of someone then the miracles looks like an illusion. If faith is something that makes a person just believe that the miracle has happened then faith is similar to to the effect that placebo has on a patient.

These stories need to be re-examined. But before that we also need to look at other instances where Jesus did a miracle for those who did not have any faith or were unable to exercise their faith to trigger a miracle! What about Jesus stilling the storm in Lake Galilee? From the statement of Jesus, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40) it is reasonable to conclude that they did not expect a miracle from Jesus. Their surprise confirms the fact this fact (4:41). They never knew that Jesus had control over the storm, the sea and the waves until he stilled the sea! The disciples had cried out to Jesus who was sleeping at the helm of the boat: ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ This was not a request but a complaint. Actually, they were asking Jesus to help them bail out water as the waves were dashing against the boat. They never believed that Jesus had the power to still the storm. Still there was a miracle, in spite of their lack of faith.

When Jesus raised Lazarus who ever believed that was possible? Martha agreed saying that he will certainly raise up in the resurrection at the end times but not now (John 11:24). The disciples did not believe that it will be possible (John 11:12-16). They also pointed out that it has been four days now since he is buried. Martha even pointed out that, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days’ (John 11:39). This miracle happened in the context of utter lack of faith in Jesus.

Then there are a host of people who were not in a mental state to seek Jesus’ help or had nobody to seek God’s help for them. The demon-possessed resisted healing (Mark 5:7). The dead people whom Jesus raised couldn’t exercise their faith.

Jesus also helped people who had no knowledge of him or his healing powers. The man at the Bethseda pool didn’t know that Jesus can heal him. He believed that he can be healed by the pool and his complaint was that he had nobody to help him enter the pool at the right moment. His response to Jesus question ‘do you want to be healed’ was one of despondency (John 5:7). His faith was fixated on the healing power of the pool. However, he had come to accept the fact that there are logistic difficulties for his healing. He was losing his faith in the miraculous power of the pool and had no faith in the healing power of Jesus who was standing nearby. He probably didn’t know who Jesus was and what he is capable of. Still he was healed. Who exercised faith and whose faith healed him?

These observations lead us to certain inevitable conclusions. Our faith is not the basis for the miracles. God works miracles whether we have faith or not. God’s power is not triggered nor dependent on our faith. Simply put, God cannot be manipulated by our faith! God works as he wills, unconditionally.

A second observation is God does miracles with a purpose. The main purpose is that it will create and nurture faith in those who received and witness the miracles. In other words the purpose is that we may put our trust in him. Thus viewed faith is the product of miracles not vice versa. One of the essential components of the miracles stories in the Gospels is the faith that it generated in those who witnessed them.As it generated faith in God it also made the witnesses and those who received the miracle to glorify God. This is very well summarized in Matthew 15:29 as: 'And great multitudes came unto him, having with them some lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them; insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see. And they glorified the God of Israel.'

If then what is the role of faith in Christian experiences of God’s power? Faith is that connects a person with God. First of all, it is something that draws a person to God. The woman with a issue of blood came closer to Jesus enough to touch him because he had ‘reports of him.’ She believed that Jesus could heal her if she just touched the edge of his garments. Faith drew her to Jesus. The centurions faith was much stronger. He knew that a word from Jesus was enough to heal his servants. There are a number of people who don’t draw to him and they miss a miracle. They don’t draw to him but their doubts and questions deprive him an opportunity to do miracles for them. This is what happened when Jesus visited his own home town. The Bible says, he ‘couldn’t do’ any miracles in that place because of their unbelief. Since people knew him as a carpenter and as the son of an ordinary woman like Mary they did not bring their sick and demon-possessed to him. Thus they denied him an opportunity to help them. That is why ‘he could not do’ any mighty works there. Faith that draws us to God is essential.

 The second aspect of faith is that it is a response to God’s power displayed through miracles. In another sense it draws us closer to God. Moses had no knowledge of faith in Yahweh when he saw the burning bush. But he drew close to the bush (in fact to the presence of God) to see what is going on—why the bush burns but is not consumed (Exod 3:1-7). God does what he want to do irrespective of or unbelief. But he expects us to respond to him in faith. The people who were healed by Jesus went around sharing the goodnews about Jesus. The people who witnessed miracles put their trust in Him. They became of people of faith because they experienced the power of God in their life. It is not faith triggering God’s power but God’s power triggering our faith. And faith thus triggered grows on its own even when there are no miracles.

Prayers that God will not Answer!

The title of this article may startle the readers! Yes, there are prayers that God may not answer. It is hard to believe this in a world where there is so much of talk about miracles, deliverance and so on. We are made to believe that God answers prayers unconditionally. We are also made to believe that certain places and certain people have so much charisma that anything they pray for will be answered. So we tend to flock to these places and around this people to get our prayers answered. We are encouraged to subscribe to some prayer plans (quite similar to some saving plans) that for a small subscription our children will be prayed for from birth to their adulthood. Childhood ailments, successful education (a main worry for Indian parents), job security and marriage are all covered in these plans. All that we need to do is to subscribe, sit back and relax for the rest of your life!

However, God doesn't answer prayers unconditionally. He is not a slot machine, where the machine delivers what one want by simply inserting a coin or token without any questions.

God does not answer prayers when there is sin in our lives. God want us to receive his forgiveness and correct our lives before coming to him. God has moral demands and he insists that our lives be according to his will before he grants us our requests. King Saul prayed to God for help against the Amalekites, but he was terribly defeated. God did not answer his prayer because of sin in his life (1 Samuel 14:37, 1 Samuel 28:6, 7). David prayed for the healing of the child that was born in his illegitimate and sinful relationship. God did not answer, the child died. Though David had repented, it was God's will that he feel some pain of his sinful action (2 Samuel 12:13-23). However, God allowed the second child (Solomon) in the same wife to ascend to David's throne later.

God also doesn't answer prayers that are not in line with his will. His will is supreme above all our wills and his will is perfect and flawless. He knows what is best for us. So he answers prayers only according to his will. Elijah was a great man of prayer. Bible says that he could stop rain (James 5:17), he had brought down fire from heaven that burnt the sacrifice, dried up the water and even melted stones of the altar (1 Kings 18:32-38). However, God did not answer one of his prayers: He wanted to die but God did not allow him (1 Kings 19:4; 2 Kings 2:11). Because that was not in God's will that he die at the time he wanted. So was also Jonah who wanted to die but God did not allow him to die when he wanted to die (Jonah 4:3). Saint Paul was not a sinner and but though he prayed for healing of his physical ailment (we don't know what exactly it was) God simply refused instead gave him the grace to live with it (2 Cor 12:7-9).

Thirdly, there are things in our control that God will leave us to address than bringing it to him, especially matters that have to do with our character and our moral life. For example, God is not going to answer the prayers of those who pray that they will be more humble because being humble is in their control. If they want to be humble all that they need to do is to go ahead and be humble! If people pray that God make them more liberal, I don't think God is going to make them liberal in their giving because they just need to go ahead and start giving. Many times such prayers are used to shun human responsibility and put the blame on God! However, we need God's grace to live lives pleasing God. So, God is certainly going to grant the grace to be humble, more liberal in giving etc. Nevertheless, doing it with the grace that God provides is our job.

Now let us turn the question on its tail. Instead of asking what are the type of prayers God will not answer let us see how to pray in a way that God will answer. God answers prayers from hearts that are right with God. Secondly, God answers prayers that are according to his will and thirdly, God want us to do what we can do depending on his grace instead of using prayer as an excuse.

Making the Right Choice

Jesus' question in Mark 10:51 "What do you want me to do for you?" is baffling. Jesus knows everything, moreover the man who is crying to him is obviously blind and needs healing. Why then this question; Jesus cannot be that dumb!

The blind beggar in Jericho (Mark 10:46-52) was engaged in something demeaning. His name is mentioned in the Bible as Bartimaeus, which means son of honor. Though "a son of honor" he was doing the most dishonorable profession of begging in the city of Jericho. When Jesus met him he was begging. His style of begging (like all beggars do) is to catch people's attention by crying loud "have mercy on me" so that they can throw a coin in to his bowl.

He did the same thing when Jesus passed by in the company of a large crowd. This time he did not just cry "have mercy on me" but was more specific because his plea was aimed at Jesus and not the crowd. He cries, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

However, it is the plea of a beggar. That is how the crowd who rebuked him to keep quiet took it. He should not nag Jesus for a coin! No beggar should bother Jesus, he has greater things to attend to! However, Jesus stopped, knowing that in that plea there is something more than a beggar's longing for a coin.

The crowd (who earlier tried to stop him) now encouraged him to walk towards Jesus saying "cheer up! On your feet! He is calling you." Probably, they might have thought that Jesus is going to give him a considerable amount.

The possibilities were limited: a donation to a beggar and nothing more. That's all that we can think at the moment. Even Bartimaeus cry was ambiguous. That's what makes Jesus ask him specifically: "what do you want me to do for you?" That is to ask, "Do you want a coin, another donation?" or something else. The beggar's answer was specific: "Rabbi, I want to see". Jesus can do both, he can toss a coin into the beggar's bowl. Any one who has coin to give away can do that. However, Jesus can also do something else; that is to deal with his problem at its root.

Jesus demands us always to make that choice. Do we want Jesus to deal with our immediate, felt needs alone, or work at the root of our problems. A coin or two that Jesus could toss in to his bowl may make him happy for a day. However, dealing with his blindness, the reason for being a beggar will change his stigma of a beggar and bring the honor back to him. Bartimaues made the wise choice and challenges us to make a wise choice in our lives too. Jesus poses the question to us because we are the ones who should make that choice.