Those of us who love Jesus Christ look forward to one day living in the place he’s preparing for us. The greatest perk of our hope is not that it’ll be a fabulous, beyond-imagination place, but that we’ll be able to look at and talk to Jesus himself.

Scripture includes several passages where eye-to-eye contact with Jesus changed everything for people. The most famous was when he locked eyes with Peter the night before he was crucified, but there were others. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story of another important look-see, this one between Jesus and a woman.

The Bible tells us she was a follower of Jesus, someone who believed he was who he said he was. She knew he had healing powers and since she was sick, she desperately wanted to connect with him. She’d been hemorrhaging for 12 years without a let-up, like a woman whose period just never ends.

This was a terrible state of affairs, because in biblical times she would have been considered unclean. Surely she wasn’t married, since no man would have been allowed to touch her, and my guess is she was anemic and weak from all that blood loss.

She made the bold decision to touch Jesus without him knowing it, and for some reason she was close to the ground. Maybe after losing so much blood, all she could do was crawl. Whatever the reason, the best she could do was finger the bottom of his robe. But that was all it took, and she was healed (though her encounter with him wasn’t over).

Jesus abruptly stopped walking, turned around, and looked for her. Of course he knew where she was, knew her name and health history, and had consciously acted to heal her. But he wanted to pursue the relationship a bit.

As he scanned the crowd, surely she was watching his face, and suddenly their eyes locked. Scripture says she began “trembling with fear,” probably wondering what Jesus might do to her for her sneaky scheme. Would he be angry? Or maybe curse her for such boldness?

She fell flat in front of him as the crowd made room, and the words of her story came tumbling out. Jesus responded with kindness and affirmation of her faith. “Take heart,” he said. In other words, “Cheer up! Don’t be afraid!” And then he let her know he’d healed her purposely as a reward for her faith in him. But that wasn’t all.

Before he left her, he gave this unclean, outcast woman a brand new label, one she badly needed: he called her his daughter.

So on that day she received 5 divine gifts: healing from her disease, words of encourage- ment, an affirmation of her faith, daughter-status, and that wonderful eye-to-eye look.

And now she’s enjoying that loving look, every single day!

“Jesus…. turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My garments?’ And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.” (Mark 5:30,32)