31. And his disciples said unto him--Luke says (Lu 8:45), "When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, Master."
      Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?--"Askest thou, Lord, who touched Thee? Rather ask who touched Thee not in such a throng." "And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched Me"--"a certain person has touched Me"--"for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me" (Lu 8:46). Yes, the multitude "thronged and pressed Him"--they jostled against Him, but all involuntarily; they were merely carried along; but one, one only--"a certain person--TOUCHED HIM," with the conscious, voluntary, dependent touch of faith, reaching forth its hand expressly to have contact with Him. This and this only Jesus acknowledges and seeks out. Even so, as AUGUSTINE long ago said, multitudes still come similarly close to Christ in the means of grace, but all to no purpose, being only sucked into the crowd. The voluntary, living contact of faith is that electric conductor which alone draws virtue out of Him.

JFB.