In Mark 5:25-34 we hear the story of a woman who reached for Jesus with faith and encountered His presence in a way that completely transformed her life. She had been suffering with bleeding for 12 years and had spent all the money she had trying to get well but she was only getting worse. According to the Old Testament purity laws her bleeding caused her to be considered unclean by her community. As a consequence, she had spent 12 years socially isolated because people would have been afraid to come close in case they brushed up against her and became unclean too.
So, it is even more amazing that having heard about Jesus she had the faith (and courage) to risk everything and enter the crowd just so she might touch Jesus’ cloak. And when she did reach out, she received immediate healing. However, rather than her uncleanness transferring to Jesus, His holiness transferred to her - contagious uncleanness becomes contagious holiness in Jesus. Not only that, but Jesus called her out in front of the whole crowd so that she might be fully restored and no longer live in isolation.
Last week at the New Wine Leadership Conference Bishop Ruth spoke on this passage and how she accidentally typed ‘she re-ached for Jesus’ instead of ‘she reached’. But this mistake reveals something of the woman’s heart. She had tried everything else, and now she had faith that Jesus could heal her. Her heart ached for Him.
Do our hearts ache for Jesus? And not just once in a while, but do we re-ache for Jesus daily?
The other week at Family Breakfast we were thinking about what it means to grow as disciples and we did an experiment to grow salt crystals. Salt crystals only grow when string is immersed in salty water and left for the water to evaporate and the salt to cling to the string. This process happens slowly, but bit by bit crystals start to form.
This is a bit like what living as a disciple looks like, it means choosing again and again to reach out for Jesus with faith, with a heart that is daily re-aching for Jesus. Slowly the Holy Spirit transforms us and enables us to grow in our relationship with Jesus.
Are we day by day choosing to listen to His voice and obediently follow where He leads? Are we those who want to be with Jesus, become like Jesus and do the things Jesus did? Because Jesus is the one who heals, the one who rescues, the one who saves. And the one who calls out to us: come follow me - how are you going to respond? Are you reaching for Jesus? Is your heart re-aching for him?
Revd Miriam Thurlow Curate CCBN