Touching Him

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

TOUCHING HIM

Mark 6:53-56

53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.   56 And wherever he went — into villages, towns or countryside — they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

NIV

This is certainly reminding us of that woman who thought if she could just touch the hem of His garment she would be healed from the bleeding problem she had been suffering from for many years. She had even spent all she had on doctor bills and still had no cure for her illness until she touched the hem of Jesus’s garment. Here we see the same situation. People recognizing that Jesus was in their area, their neighborhood, they ran, not walked, not sauntered, but flat out ran, rushing to carry any of the sick on mats to wherever they heard Jesus was at any moment. As he walked throughout the little towns or even the countryside these people brought those people on their mats in the marketplace. This was the most public of places, and if Jesus was coming through that village or town, the marketplace would be the best place to be, for it would very difficult to avoid this place if you were walking through town. Plus we know that Jesus was not trying to avoid the people, he was there seeking the lost, looking for opportunities to teach, to heal, to bring them hope about the kingdom of God. The people begged, or beseeched him, or called to him to their side, as the Greek can be used for all of those, but it does mean they cried out to him that they could just touch the edge of his cloak. The fact is that everyone who touched just the hem of his garment was healed, not some of them, not just a few of them, not just the ones, who were worthy, but all of them, every last one of them who touched him was healed. Mark does not record that Jesus ever said a word like, “Your faith has made you whole” or “Sure touch me and you will be healed” or anything even close to that. What this also implies by the way it is recorded is that this was continually going on, as in every town, as long as Jesus was there. Here is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus is in our neighborhood right now and is always with us. He has promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us. We have the Spirit dwelling within us and we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior. How in the world would we not take hold of the hem of his garment and he healed? What is wrong with us, that we are content to have some illness, or infirmity when Jesus is right here with us, and all we have to do is reach out and touch him? Do we enjoy complaining? Do we like to tell others of our aches and pains? Do we wear our infirmity as some badge, some reason to be on some pray chain or list, so people will feel sorry for us and make some effort to pray for us? If they are praying, why then are we not healed? Are their prayers ineffective, and why? This just seems to get more and more complicated than we think it should be. Maybe we haven’t spent enough on doctor bills yet, and so we are still thinking that some man or woman doctor has the answer for us, instead of just seeking to touch the hem of His garment. Maybe the problem is we really do not believe Jesus will actually heal us, that he will say no, and we use that overused excuse of Paul being told, “My grace is sufficient”, so we continue to suffer. But that grace is the divine influence on our heart, and so then if Jesus is influencing our hearts, we would then know that he desires to heal all who come to him, that everyone who touches him is healed. That is the influence he has, that is the authority he has, over every sickness, every infirmity, every disease, that he heals them all, just by touching him. So how do we touch him? Surely those people were able to physically reach out and touch him. We cannot do that, but that does not mean we cannot spiritually reach out, believing that if we simply touch him, we would be healed. It doesn’t take a bunch of fancy words in a long drawn out prayer. It only takes reaching out and touching him.