"If I Just Touch His Clothes..."

Scripture Reading: Mark 5:25-34
"She came up behind [Jesus] in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, 'If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.'” Mark 5:27-28

A woman who suffered from bleeding met Jesus. This woman interrupted Jesus on his way to heal a young girl (as we noted yesterday). Because of this woman’s bleeding condition, she would have been considered unclean by her community. No one wanted to touch her, because then they would be considered unclean too. The bleeding had been going on for twelve years, so this woman was desperate to be healed.

Either because of her desperation or because of her faith, she dared to reach out and touch Jesus’ cloak, believing that she would be healed. Jesus’ power to heal was indeed so strong that she was healed!

This woman had interrupted Jesus from going to heal the beloved daughter of Jairus. But Jesus called this woman “daughter” too, when he found that she was the one who had touched his garment. By his healing power, he restored her to her community. And by his loving address, he showed that she was worthy of love.

This is what Jesus offers to us today too. Because of his ­power, Jesus can heal us from physical disease, and he can heal the divisions that keep us from community with one another. And because of Jesus’ love, we can each know the gift of being called a beloved daughter or son.

God, by the power of Jesus, heal the diseases of our bodies and the divisions of our communities. Embrace us as your children, we pray, because of your grace. Amen.