And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”
(Mark 5:25-28)
The path to healing often begins in the mind. Certainly there is much evidence today that suggests that one's mental state can have a great influence on healing. But more than one's mental approach in the midst of the healing process, the first steps toward healing begin with initiative. Many of the healing stories in the gospels take place because the person who is sick or infirmed seeks Jesus, often because they have heard about his power to heal. Such is the case in our text today. Jesus is on his way to the home of a synagogue leader named Jairus whose daughter is near death. The worried father's concern for his daughter overcomes his concern about what others might think, so he finds Jesus and compels him to come to his home. As they are going, another person risks the response of others as she steps into the crowd and reaches out to touch the garment of Jesus, because in doing so, she believes that she will be healed.
Someone might say that such initiative is a simple decision...if you want to get better, you do what you have to do to make that happen. And yet, for these two persons in this story, taking this initiative placed them at great risk. Both risked the censure of the community around them...Jairus, the religious community; the woman, the community around her that would have been made unclean by her presence. Yet, both, driven by their particular need, stepped out to meet Jesus.
There's a lesson for us here. As Christ moves among us, do we, like these two biblical characters, take the initiative to move toward Him, or do the risks bring hesitation that stifles opportunity?
Salvation isn't gained because of the quality of a person's life. It isn't gained because of anything a person does to earn it. There is, however, the act of recognition that causes a person to realize his or her need for Christ and then, to move toward Him. For the woman in our text today, and for Jairus, the need was critical, the move to action a desperate one. Regardless of the need of our lives, taking the initiative to move toward Christ is a step toward salvation...just to reach out and touch him...that is our healing.
Prayer: As you move among us, Lord Jesus, may we have courage to reach out and touch you. Amen.
Jim Abernathy
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