Wednesday
They fell at Jesus’ feet.
Each person in our reading today when they saw Jesus, fell at His feet. (vs 6, 22, 33) Each person was in a hopeless situation and had nowhere else to go. The possessed man had wandered around cut off from the rest of the world. He was despised and ridiculed. He was tormented from within and from without. His situation was not only isolated but also consider ritually unclean by the Jews. And when he saw Jesus, he ran and fell on his knees in from of Him. And Jesus did not shy away from Him. Instead he talked with the man… something that was obviously never done. You have to love and admire the way that Jesus embraced those who were ostracized. A similar thing could be said of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She too would have been considered unclean, not allowed to touch anyone or be a part of worship/temple life. Yet Jesus does not criticize her or condemn her for touching Him, in fact the opposite is true, he restores her to health and restores her spirit.
The third healing takes place in the home of Jairus, a synagogue leader. Jesus goes to his home and when he is told that the girl dies, he doesn’t stop, but continues on… he holds her hand. Again another example of interacting with something/someone considered – unclean. People did not touch the dead. But Jesus has no problem break those barriers.
I wonder how many people we have failed to reach out to, who needed our embrace, our touch, the warmth of our hands, or our arms around them, because they are part of the “unclean” of our world, those who society has cast off. You know who they are, maybe you have even felt this way yourself. We need to exemplify Jesus and not be afraid of the people who may cross our paths. We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus as the popular expression says. We need to put action behind our faith (James 2:14) And if we are one of the outcasts, we need to fall on our knees in front of the one who can heal, who can save us.
Blessings on the day
Pastor Kathy