Every day, we hear statistics, and we listen to people discussing trends. People are discussed as if entire groups are a single entity. But Jesus was often surrounded by what the gospel writers euphemistically called the “crowd,” yet he somehow never failed to see the individual whose voice was being smothered by the crush and the noise.
The story today is about one such person. A person that no one even wanted to see. She had been ceremonially unclean for 12 years due to illness, making her a social outcast and “untouchable” by those who wished to remain ceremonially clean. She was lost in the crowd following Jesus. The crowd, for its part, was hoping to see something new or amazing. And Jesus was in the middle of it all, trying to help a man whose daughter was desperately ill. Today’s story picks up as Jesus is on his way to heal this man’s daughter.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” Mark 5:24-36
You don’t have to think very hard about this story to understand that Jesus was beyond all busy and most likely very tired. I don’t know about you, but these are my two favorite excuses for not helping people, if I am to be honest. But unlike me, Jesus remains keenly aware of the people around him, and despite the current catastrophe, he took the time to restore a woman who had run entirely out of options.
The event that brought this story back into focus for me this week was a recent prayer time I was involved with. We were praying for “language groups” and “villages” that we hope to engage with over the next three years. I suddenly realized that Jesus did not see “language groups” or “villages.” He saw individual people. He loves individual people. We tend to talk in terms of group, using collective language. But Jesus heals one person at a time, ignoring the crowds. The collective impact of his healing is a knock-on effect of his love of individuals.
We are frustrated by “crime” and “unrest.” Meanwhile, Jesus redeems the repentant criminal and gives peace to the one who can find none. We often want collective results without dealing with the individual’s problems. I wonder if what we are really doing is externalizing these problems in order to externalize the solutions as well. Are we taking a “Gee, I hope somebody does something about this” attitude because we imagine(or want to imagine) there is nothing we can do to resolve such enormous problems?
This is a big deal in day-to-day living. If you are like me, the overwhelming nature of this world’s collective problems often paralyzes me and keeps me from affecting the changes I can bring about in the lives of people I interact with every day. Jesus never made this mistake. The next time you read the gospels, take note of how many times the story takes place while Jesus is on his way to doing something else. Or how many times Jesus taught and healed by way of interruption. Jesus never used a daytimer. He didn’t schedule meetings. He obeyed his father and loved all those he met along the way, including his enemies.
Today
I usually end with an application entitled “This Week,” but I think we need to be even more specific to deal with this particular issue. So what are we to do today? We will not bring about world peace by posting a Ukrainian flag on our social media profile. But we can bring a bit of peace to someone we know who is suffering. We can encourage someone with our words instead of rehearsing all the world’s problems. We can build someone’s faith with an encouraging story. And we can pray for someone who is finding it hard to hang on in difficult times.
The classic “Missionary Problem” is that supporters want to hear about nations, people groups, and revivals. But missionary work is done one person at a time. Everyone, including missionaries, loves to hear stories of or, God willing, participate in big events. But this is a crowd thing, not a Jesus thing. Jesus worked one person at a time, and so do we. The crowds got excited, but that was just about their only contribution to the gospels. Remember, those same crowds got excited a bit later and shouted, “Crucify him.”
Join me this week in looking for a few small, simple things I can do for the people God puts in my path instead of worrying about innumerable big things I have no control over. Pray that we see and respond to the person God places right in front of us. And in time, we will make a collective difference together, one person at a time.
Have a great week!
Who Touched Me?