”
… a ruler came and knelt before him and said, ‘My daughter has
just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’
Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then
a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years came up
behind him and touched the edge of his
cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will
be healed.’ …. He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she
got up …
”
(Matthew 9: 18-26).
“… a ruler came and knelt before him and said, ‘My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’ …. He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up …” (Matthew 9: 18-26).
A ruler came to Jesus. What? No way! He came himself instead of sending one of his servants? Not only that, but the ruler knelt before Him. A person of such high status would not be subservient to someone else. What? No way! The ruler then said “My daughter …” He was asking for help for a girl which was not of high value in that culture. What? No way! He said, “She is dead but …” Why would he think Jesus could still do something? This small statement was his proclamation of faith that Jesus was God. What? No way! He then asked Jesus to come put His hand on her. A person could be considered to be unclean if they touched a dead body. The biggest, “What? No way!” is that Jesus got up and went with him. Why is this a “What? No way!”? The idea of “getting up and going” is usually synonymous with someone who is a disciple or a follower. Why would the God of the universe get up and follow? Then while he was on His way … a woman came up behind Him and touched His cloak. What? No way! How did He know she was there? What kind of faith did Jesus follow?
Thinking about the reality of this … I spend much of my Christian life trying to figure out how to get God’s attention. Why would God want to get up and step into that dark room with that corpse present? We don’t have to wait until we get our lives right. He wants to follow me into the places where I fail, where I’m not good enough, where there’s no hope.
Jesus follows the kind of faith that takes risks. Where are we taking risks to be in the presence of God? Am I risking sleep, risking awkward social situations? For the Garlic Festival this year, our church made some buttons and shirts that said “Our Church Stinks.” It was a risk to wear one. People asked me, “Why are you wearing that?” Why would I promote that statement about my church? I started to feel nervous about wearing it so I took it off for a few days. I realized that I was becoming worried about someone’s social discomfort but I forgot about their discomfort at the core of their being. People want us to help them learn how to connect with God. We have the answer in Jesus Christ. I invite you to take risks.
Jesus also follows a faith that strains for His touch. The great undercurrent to this is that the risk pays off. Think about the risk that these two people took and the pressure that the society had put on them, but their payoff was greater. The ruler was now submitting to God and those around them were witnessing this. The woman who had a bleeding disease was considered unclean. So for her to sneak up on someone and touch them was punishable by death. The ruler risked his social status and gained the life he lost. The woman risked death and gained healing. What do each section of the story have in common? They were all straining for the touch of Christ.
Where are we straining to touch Christ? We have become so individualistic that we don’t want go out of our comfort zones. God wants to heal us but we want to just suck it up and not ask for help. He wants to wrap us in His arms and make us feel better even when it hurts. … Are you struggling, maybe in your marriage, where you point at things and say it’s dead?
Maybe things are dead but we need to let Him make them alive again. Something good can come from it. Jesus follows you into that dark place … Jesus is the one who takes away every burden so that life comes in the midst of all the “No ways!” God says, “Yes, I will make a way and it will be good.”
Take a risk, strain for the touch. Even if you feel like hope is dead, let God give you life.
Gilroy Presbyterian Church is located at 6000 Miller Ave., Gilroy. For information, call (408) 842-3000 or visit www.gilroypres.org.
