P1698:1, 152:0.1
The story of the cure of Amos, the Kheresa lunatic, had already reached Bethsaida
and Capernaum, so that a great crowd was waiting for Jesus when his boat landed
that Tuesday forenoon. Among this throng were the new observers from the Jerusalem
Sanhedrin who had come down to Capernaum to find cause for the Master's apprehension
and conviction. As Jesus spoke with those who had assembled to greet him,
Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, made his way through the crowd
and, falling down at his feet, took him by the hand and besought that he would
hasten away with him, saying: "Master, my little daughter, an only child,
lies in my home at the point of death. I pray that you will come and heal
her." When Jesus heard the request of this father, he said: "I will go with
you."
P1698:2, 152:0.2
As Jesus went along with Jairus, the large crowd which had heard the father's
request followed on to see what would happen. Shortly before they reached
the ruler's house, as they hastened through a narrow street and as the throng
jostled him, Jesus suddenly stopped, exclaiming, "Someone touched me." And
when those who were near him denied that they had touched him, Peter spoke
up: "Master, you can see that this crowd presses you, threatening to crush
us, and yet you say `someone has touched me.' What do you mean?" Then Jesus
said: "I asked who touched me, for I perceived that living energy had gone
forth from me." As Jesus looked about him, his eyes fell upon a near-by woman,
who, coming forward, knelt at his feet and said: "For years I have been afflicted
with a scourging hemorrhage. I have suffered many things from many physicians;
I have spent all my substance, but none could cure me. Then I heard of you,
and I thought if I may but touch the hem of his garment, I shall certainly
be made whole. And so I pressed forward with the crowd as it moved along until,
standing near you, Master, I touched the border of your garment, and I was
made whole; I know that I have been healed of my affliction."
P1698:3, 152:0.3
When Jesus heard this, he took the woman by the hand and, lifting her up,
said: "Daughter, your faith has made you whole; go in peace." It was her faith
and not her touch that made her whole. And this case is a good
illustration of many apparently miraculous cures which attended upon Jesus'
earth career, but which he in no sense consciously willed. The passing of
time demonstrated that this woman was really cured of her malady. Her faith
was of the sort that laid direct hold upon the creative power resident in
the Master's person. With the faith she had, it was only necessary to approach
the Master's person. It was not at all necessary to touch his garment; that
was merely the superstitious part of her belief. Jesus called this woman,
Veronica of Caesarea Philippi, into his presence to correct two errors which
might have lingered in her mind, or which might have persisted in the minds
of those who witnessed this healing: He did not want Veronica to go away thinking
that her fear in attempting to steal her cure had been honored, or that her
superstition in associating the touch of his garment with her healing had
been effective. He desired all to know that it was her pure and living faith
that had wrought the cure.