Somebody touched the LORD

 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. Mark 5:22-34

There is a contrast in the stories Mark is relating here. In the first scene, we meet a certain Jairus. He is described as one of the rulers of the synagogue, a man of status and likely also of wealth. But he had a problem that no amount of wealth or influence could solve. His only child, his little girl was at the point of death. Having heard of the power of Jesus to heal, Jairus humbles himself, and comes to the LORD, asking Him to heal her. This is no surprise. What parent wouldn't do the same thing? Jesus of course went with him, along with a great crowd. 

The second scene, which is really a story within a story, is quite different. In that crowd, there was a woman who had been sick for 12 issue with a blood discharge. As such, she would have been ceremonially unclean, and anyone who touched her would also have been made unclean for a day. So not only was she suffering from weakness likely resulting from her loss of blood, she also would have been a social outcast. Not quite a leper, but nearly as bad. Like Jairus, her situation was totally hopeless, but I want to tell you folks, THIS LADY HAD FAITH! She knew if she just touched the hem of His garment, she would be made whole. Unlike Jairus, she doesn't ASK Jesus to come touch her, she boldly reaches out to touch HIM. Far from making our LORD unclean, when she touched Him, SHE became clean, healed of her illness. Of course, Jesus is aware that somebody touched Him. The clueless disciples said, "Well, duh", there are so many in this crowd. But they were not the ones Jesus was referring to. No, He refers to the person who touched HIM BY FAITH. He tells her that it was indeed her faith that has made her well. 

How many of us here could use a touch from Jesus? I think that would be all of us. But what do we do? Do we just passively pray, O LORD, please heal me, hoping that perhaps He will come to our place and make us whole? This woman did not do that. She went out and touched the LORD, and she went away healed. No passivity. BOLDNESS. Hutzpah. She knew what she wanted and was willing to go to any lengths to get it. 

Brothers and sisters, will we be so bold? What is our prayer life like? Do we just passively pray, like Jairus, hoping that someday He might hear us? Or will we be so desperate in our prayers that we will push through any unbelief or doubt, and make an effort to touch HIM? Jesus  makes it clear: Whoever believes, and does not doubt, receives the answer to their prayers. Let us then knock on that door, and knock again, and again, and again. When he opens the door, Jesus will hold open His arms, and give us the chance to touch Him. Don't wait till someday. Make today the day you touch the LORD.