Are You Just Part Of The Crowd?
A reading for Monday, March 24, 2014: Mark 5:21-43.
It's not enough simply to be part of the crowd.
Often we hope we can remain anonymous. We can just show up, and blend in, and nobody has to know we are there. There is safety in that. We don't have to risk anything. The crowd can protect us.
Perhaps that's what most in the crowd were thinking that day when Jesus came back from Gerasene. They too had needs or they would not have been there. They too would like to have been healed from all that troubled them but they remained as just part of the crowd. The played it safe.
Except for Jairus. He was a leader in the synagogue. Everybody knew Jairus. It would have been easier for him to remain as part of the crowd, simply watching. But Jairus had a daughter that was dying and that fact alone compelled him to step out. He needed her to be healed, and he knew somehow that wouldn't happen if he didn't step forward. So he stepped out of the crowd. His daughter was healed.
The woman that was bleeding was not quite as bold. But she too needed a healing and knew that she couldn't just remain as part of the crowd. So she simply reached out as Jesus went by. She was healed. When she was healed, she could not remain as part of the crowd any longer. She too stepped forward to claim what Jesus had done for her. She too eventually stepped out of the crowd.
It's hard to step out of a crowd. It's scary to be identified and to risk others knowing that we are vulnerable. People might laugh at us. After all, the crowd even laughed at Jesus. Our first impulse is to stay safe and remain in the crowd.
But the truth is it's not enough simply to be part of the crowd.
Jesus wants us to step out. The good news is that we can be healed. Be bold. Be faithful. Take a risk. Claim Jesus. Be made well. Be at peace.
It's not enough simply to be part of the crowd.
Often we hope we can remain anonymous. We can just show up, and blend in, and nobody has to know we are there. There is safety in that. We don't have to risk anything. The crowd can protect us.
Perhaps that's what most in the crowd were thinking that day when Jesus came back from Gerasene. They too had needs or they would not have been there. They too would like to have been healed from all that troubled them but they remained as just part of the crowd. The played it safe.
Except for Jairus. He was a leader in the synagogue. Everybody knew Jairus. It would have been easier for him to remain as part of the crowd, simply watching. But Jairus had a daughter that was dying and that fact alone compelled him to step out. He needed her to be healed, and he knew somehow that wouldn't happen if he didn't step forward. So he stepped out of the crowd. His daughter was healed.
The woman that was bleeding was not quite as bold. But she too needed a healing and knew that she couldn't just remain as part of the crowd. So she simply reached out as Jesus went by. She was healed. When she was healed, she could not remain as part of the crowd any longer. She too stepped forward to claim what Jesus had done for her. She too eventually stepped out of the crowd.
It's hard to step out of a crowd. It's scary to be identified and to risk others knowing that we are vulnerable. People might laugh at us. After all, the crowd even laughed at Jesus. Our first impulse is to stay safe and remain in the crowd.
But the truth is it's not enough simply to be part of the crowd.
Jesus wants us to step out. The good news is that we can be healed. Be bold. Be faithful. Take a risk. Claim Jesus. Be made well. Be at peace.
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