Peter and others thought the Lord’s question was peculiar: “The multitudes throng and press You,” they observed, “and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” (Lk. 8:45). But the Lord replied that power had gone out of Him, meaning someone had touched His garment with the touch of faith.

The woman did indeed believe that the Lord could heal her of her long illness. Matthew 9 and Mark 5 explain her thoughts: “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” Some time earlier, others had also been helped when they touched the Lord and “power went out from Him and healed them all” (Lk. 6:19). But for this woman’s faith, it was enough to walk behind the Lord Jesus and touch merely the border of His garment. It is beautiful to consider that along the border of His robe there would have been fringed tassels, each woven with a strand of blue to remind the people that they belonged to Jehovah (Num. 15:37–41). What is more, He who displayed these cords of blue was in fact the Lord from heaven! All this can be linked with the woman’s touch of faith.

Further, it is encouraging to see that the woman’s purpose distinguished her from the rest of the crowd. The multitudes jostled against the Lord Jesus, but there was no intention in it. They simply wanted to occupy the same space where He was. Belief had nothing to do with it, so they received no particular blessing. Yet the touch of faith was immediately acknowledged. In the same way, we might feel as though we are only one in a crowd; but the Lord knows the difference between those who merely bump into Him, so to speak, and those who reach towards Him with purpose of heart. The Lord of grace and power is ready to dispense His blessing in response to the touch of faith.