It was read 4 different times and we were told to reflect on the words and listen to what He had to say to us as it was read. Here's what I heard:Mark 5:21When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24So Jesus went with him.A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She 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. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
The first thing I noticed was that the synagogue ruler "pleaded earnestly" with Him and without a word He got up and went to see his daughter. Secondly the woman who had "suffered a great deal" was immediately healed when she touched His cloak and "she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering."
These two people had amazing faith, but the woman especially. Blood was a big issue for the Jews and anyone bleeding would be deemed unclean and unfit to be touched, especially by a holy man. So asking for a healing from the Holiest of Holies was out of the question in her condition but her faith was so strong that she knew that just touching, what some translations say as the fringe of His garment would be all she would need for complete healing.
This woman had been to many doctors and some commentaries say that she was told she was incurable. She had been suffering for 12 years, nothing helped. Doctor after doctor told her there was nothing they could do to help her. She had spent all of her money, she was an outcast in her community and the condition was getting worse as the days past, but then along came the Son. She probably had heard about His miracles from other people in her town and I bet she prayed when she heard He was in her town that she would have that divine moment in the street with Him. Then the moment came and as the crowd pushed in around Him, she risked everything and pressed even closer.
She knew what she had done was wrong, so she fell at His feet and started to beg for mercy, but He looked down on her and says that her faith has healed her. I love the last thing He says to her, "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Another translation says, "Go in peace. Your suffering has ended."
30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”31“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
The suffering ended with one touch. Her faith was so great that she was willing to break all rules just to touch His cloak. I long for faith like that, faith so strong that I am willing to go above and beyond society's rules and reach out for healing. My faith, like most people, waxes and wanes due to my circumstances. I do have a great faith and I believe that He is all powerful and capable of amazing things but I often doubt His will for my life. Funny that I say that because I have seen what He can do in my life and the many miracles that He has authored, so I know He is there and working but with suffering comes doubt.
I'm sure the woman had her doubts about being healed because of the obstacles she had to overcome. She'd been suffering for 12 years, surely there were moments that she doubted His love for her and she thought that she would be suffering for the rest of her life but she still pressed on. I keep pressing on too even through my doubt. Though I am more like the synagogue leader, I plead.
If you've been reading for any amount of time you know that I am great with turning things over only to pick them up again and when you pick them back up you make things worse, however I've yet to learn that lesson. I can't just let it go, it's not in my nature to let things take their course. I'm a doer and a planner and I can't plan when I don't know where things are headed. So when things don't work out, I certainly can't blame myself so I start to doubt. I mean He made me this way, He made me a doer and a planner so why doesn't He use that part of me for His purposes? At least that is what I try to convince myself of.
That's why Trust and Obey became my theme song, though I must have it running constantly to remind myself of the songs message. Lord, I love you. Please help me to trust and obey. Trust and obey are tough words to swallow. There are very few people I trust and certainly fewer that I trust with my life. So trusting an unforeseen force is even tougher. And when it comes to obeying, that's an even tougher pill to swallow. Not to say that I don't follow the rules, I do, but I tend to follow a different drummer. So those are the things He is trying to teach me in my suffering, to trust and obey.
Sadly I'm not doing a good job at paying attention or at finishing my homework, because if I was I wouldn't pick stuff back up over and over but thankfully He hasn't given up on me. He keeps loving me anyway. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me any less. His love unlike people's is unconditional. I can keep coming back to Him, asking for forgiveness and He will freely give it to me. He is patiently waiting on me to get it right, but until then, He will continue to grant me His mercy. No matter how much I doubt, He continues to pour out His love on my situation. He does the same for you....
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