Poem

“If I Could Touch Him”

(Based on Luke 8:43-48)

By Roy E. Gane

Lonely and weak,
Lost in the crowd.
People pushing,
Aggressive and loud.

If I could reach Him,
My trouble would end.
If I could touch Him,
I would be cleansed.

But my touch would defile
His divine purity.
What would He say?
How annoyed would He be?

Perhaps if I touch
His coat on the border,
I can be healed
Without causing disorder.

I’ll sneak up behind Him
As close as I dare,
And reach out a hand.
I’m almost there.

Struggling and jostling
With all my strength,
Stretching my arm
Its total length.

I touched it! I touched it!
And what is that feeling?
The power flows through me
With God-given healing!

Hallelujah, Adonay!
I want to shout,
But what is He doing?
He’s turning about.

He’s asking who touched Him
In all of this horde.
He felt power go forth
In the name of the Lord.

He’s looking at me
And the secret I’m holding.
I must confess all
And submit to His scolding.

I come trembling toward Him,
And there I fall.
“I did touch You, Jesus,
But You made me well!”

The crowd parts and listens
To hear His reply.
I’m so embarrassed,
I think I will die.

But smiling, He says
With a voice like a bell,
“Go in peace, daughter;
Your faith made you well!”

He made me clean,
But my touch, of course,
Could never pollute Him,
The purity Source.

So smiling, He said
With a voice like a bell,
“Go in peace, daughter;
Your faith made you well!”

Roy E. Gane is professor of Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern languages at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.