A swarm of people were following Jesus, crowding in on him. ²⁵ A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse. ²⁷ Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. ²⁸ She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed. ²⁹ Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she sensed in her body that her illness had been healed.

³⁰ At that very moment, Jesus recognized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:24b-30, CEB)

Imagine the incredible desperation, faith, and strength it took for that woman to make her way that day. It wasn’t just finding strength to get to a church and find a seat. It was to drag herself through a crowd just to get the opportunity to touch Jesus in some way.

And when she did touch him, the power left Jesus. He knew something had happened.

It’s not a matter of “touching Jesus,” it seems. It is how we touch Jesus.

May we be given to a holy pursuit… a desperate pursuit… in our lives!