Daily Devotional • August 18
A Reading from Mark 5:25-34
25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 He looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Meditation
The crowds followed and pressed in on Jesus. Not only is this a nightmare for those of us who like our personal space, but it is also quite inconvenient for our Lord Jesus. He had places to go and people to see. Just before this scene, he is asked to heal Jairus’ daughter who is fatally ill. So Jesus sets off. But the crowds press in on him and hinder him from doing the work that Jairus needs him to do.
Yet among the crowd is a woman, who is desperate for God to work in her life. She needs healing and new life, and she seeks that in Jesus. She reaches out in faith to touch the cloak of Life itself and is instantly healed.
Jesus’ response to this woman challenges me. He could have continued on with his busy and urgent work day. God the Father had given him so much to do and this woman had already been healed. The transaction was complete — but that was not enough for Jesus. He wanted more and the woman truly needed more. She needed to hear the Incarnate God call her “daughter.” In this moment, Jesus offers her belonging, a new home, and a new life with him. Jesus’ ministry is not hurried or transactional, and ours shouldn’t be either.
So often in our lives, we can be so focused on the “next thing” that we miss the ways that God invites us to stop and dwell with others in the present. We forget that God’s work is often slow and that God’s timing is perfect.
Jesus’ example is an invitation into the slow, interruptible, and meaningful work that God has for us. Lord, give us such an awareness of these moments that we might be instruments of healing and peace in the world around us.
Steven McCain serves at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church and St. Timothy’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He lives in the Raleigh area with his wife, Elizabeth, and two sons, Benjamin and James.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Anglican Church of Melanesia
The Episcopal Diocese of Iowa