Devotion - Monday, March 12

Mark 5:21-43 contains two stories of note. The first story surrounds the second. The first wows us with it display of Jesus' power.

The first story is of the raising of Jairus' daughter. He is a ruler of the synagogue, so it is unusual for him to reach out to Jesus, considering the disagreements between Jesus and the religious rulers, But he does. He asks Jesus to come to the aid of his daughter. Jesus goes. As he is going, the second story happens. These events slow Jesus so that even before he can get to Jarius' house messengers come to share the news that it is too late for Jesus to heal the little girl, she has died. Jesus proceeds, and when he arrives he raises her from the dead.

Jesus heals many persons, but only twice does he raise someone who has died. These stories are very important to the development of our understanding of Jesus as God incarnate.

The other story, the interruption to Jesus journey to the home of Jarius, involves a women who was not a ruler. She was an outcast. She has a flow of blood. Such a flow made her "unclean." She does not approach Jesus face-to-face but slips up behind him and touches the hem of his robe. The amazing thing about this story is that Jesus stops and asks (in the midst of huge crowd of people), "Who touched me?" Everyone is touching him! But her touch is different.

At the risk of sounding like one of those evangelist who wants to separate the real Christians from the Sunday Christians, I would ask you to allow this story to address your approach to Christ. Many will bump up against him, as he makes his way through our world. Many will encounter him, amid the curious crowd of on-lookers. But few will (with an extreme over dose of humility) fight their way close enough to be able to let their finger tips graze the hem of his robes.

Maybe you were in worship yesterday morning. I hope you were in worship yesterday morning. Obviously you are taking a few moments of your time to read these devotional thoughts. Are these a matter of habit, or do they reveal a humble attempt to feel the power of Jesus' presence?

Jesus tells the woman that her faith has made her well. Faith does that - make us well. It restores us in so many ways; so many wonderful ways.