Imagine yourself in a large crowd at a sporting event or concert. You are trying to get towards the exit, and throngs of people are moving in the same direction; bumping into one another. A tap of the arm or tug of the sleeve goes unnoticed.
Now imagine Jesus in this same type of crowd, with people pressing in upon Him, as He walked along the shore of the sea. We can imagine the surprise of the Disciples, when He stopped and pointed out that someone had touched His clothing. How could He be aware of such a touch in a crowd that large?
He was a aware of a touch that was out of the ordinary. A touch of faith by a sick and desperate woman. He stops to question who touched Him, because He wanted to meet her face to face; speak to her and comfort her. According to Jewish law, this woman was unclean because of her condition.
Jesus shows no concern for the ritual of laws of purity. Only concern for her. He says, “Your faith has cured you.”
We also read today about Jairus. He’s an official of the Synagogue; part of the establishment. He would normally view Jesus as an outsider, a heretic. It wasn’t faith that brought Him to Jesus, but desperation.
His young child was ill. He forgot his prejudices, forgot his pride and forgot his bias. He throws himself at the feet of Jesus. “My daughter is dying. Please come and cure her.” The message then comes in that his daughter has died.
Jesus tries to build his faith. He tells him fear is useless. What he needs is trust. Jesus touches the hand of the little girl and says, “Rise.”
In both cases, Jesus touches someone unclean. Their wholeness mattered more to Jesus than His reputation. The two people in our Gospel today had no claim on Jesus. He did not owe them anything. Perhaps their faith came from desperation more than anything else. And yet, they found His power and love waiting for them.
It did not matter how those people came to Christ – as long as they came. My friends, we must be like the woman and the leader of the Synagoge in the stories today. Come to Christ as you are. Come with your ailments: physical, moral and spiritual.
It is not how we come to Christ that matters. What matters is that we come to the One Who makes all things new.
Whenever I read this Gospel, I think of the lyrics from a song called “Memory.” It’s a song that’s featured in the Broadway musical “Cats.” The lyrics are words that could have been spoken by Jesus: “Touch me, just touch me. And you will know what happiness is. A new day will begin.”
