The Blessings Do Flow Toward Us
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Mark 5:42-48
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
The power of touch can go both ways. Most of the stories of touch involving Jesus deal with Him touching someone else - usually for the purpose of healing them. In this familiar story relayed by Mark, the edge of the cloak of his garment was touched and a woman was healed. As Peter noted, there was a large crowd pressing around Jesus. But He became aware of this touch, because it was a touch of a person in need and a touch done in faith. He "felt" something happen.
As Christian health professionals, when we reach out to "touch" our patients, we want them to be healed and blessed. We understand the power of touch and its part in the healing process. Sometimes, though, through this touch between a patient and a health professional, the blessings flow "the other way".
While living and working in Korea, one of my favorite activities was the clinic work in a village of leprosy patients. From my medical training, I recognized that these elderly patients all taking medication for leprosy for years were no longer contagious. I recognized that transmission of leprosy from a patient to a health professional under any circumstances was rare. None the less, in my first visits there, I had to make a concerted effort to become comfortable touching these patients with the ravages of longstanding leprosy. Many were missing digits. Many had lost their eyes to the disease. Many had severe facial disfigurement.
After a few visits to the clinic, I had become completely at ease with my contact with these patients. In fact, I found myself seeking more human contact than usual with these patients. It took me some time to recognize what had happened. These patients were so grateful for the meager services I provided, as a group, they were the most grateful patients I had ever managed. I also came to realize that many of these patients had a sweet Christian spirit and love for God that was extraordinary. Their suffering and pain had brought them to a place in their relationship with Christ beyond what most are able to understand. And each time we exchanged a touch, I was not only on the giving end, but very much on the receiving end of blessings from God
Lord, thank you for the power of touch. As I reach out to bless others through your touch, help me to receive your blessings through touch, as well.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by Jonas Gerg on Unsplash
