Mark 5
The Reach
“Jerry” was desperate.
His daughter was deathly ill. He needed help fast. He needed a miracle.
Likewise, there was a woman who had suffered for years. But it wouldn’t go away. She had tried everything. She was alone. She was out of money and it wasn’t getting better. The doctors had no answers.
She was at the end of her rope.
But…
Jesus was within reach.
As you know, it is not as simple as that. Jesus is always within reach. But, it’s the reach, right?
A reach is leaving our comfort zones, it requires a choice, it requires effort, it requires risk, and it requires that something be left behind.
For both Jerry and the woman it was a risk to reach Jesus – it could have cost them everything.
For Jerry, a religious official, his turning to Jesus for help put his status and reputation at risk.
For the woman, she had virtually nothing left, but would be getting Jesus in trouble with the religious officials.
Maybe there was just something about Jesus.
Jerry, also known as Jairus, put it all on the line and humbly asked Jesus for help – and Jesus said he would come to see his daughter.
The woman, literally reached for Jesus, “if I but touch his cloak, I will be healed,” she thought to herself.
And…
Just as she grabbed his cloak, she knew it was over – she was healed! And then the words, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague (Mark 5:34 The Message).”
Speaking of daughters, by the time Jesus got to Jairus’ daughter, she was dead. They had heard the news along the way, but that didn’t stop Jesus. And when He got into her room of mourning, the Son brought the light! With just a “Wake up, little girl” she was alive again!
I guess Jerry and the woman could have played it safe. Jerry’s daughter would have died and stayed dead. We might say that they would have healed over time. The woman would have gone on alone and suffering. Not much of a life though.
Not much of a life though.
We play it safe, too safe. We are held hostage by our fears and doubts. We make compromises and deals and say, “We can live with it.” But deep down, the ache and the regret and the “what ifs” overflow in our souls.
That is why these two, Jerry and the woman have always meant so much to me – they challenge me and remind me. They remind me to always be thinking about my faith; the times I have reached and been blessed and convicting me for the times I haven’t. And they remind me of some special people I have known who have made that reach. And how they found faith and healing and yes, even miracles.
Because when we are reaching and risking for Jesus’ sake, our faith is real and alive. From the inside out, from behind the wall, out of the silence, out from the pew, beyond the doors, beyond our fears – that is where the healing is, that is where the miracles are, it is where we live – blessed – on the other side of the reach – in the handful of His cloak, in the humbled “ask” for help.
How much risk is in your faith today? In which parts of your life are you reaching out to Jesus? What needs to be left behind as you reach? In which parts of your life are you risking something, if not everything, in faith? If you belong to a church – where is your church risking and reaching?
How is your reach?
Amen.
Living Water 