Touch Him


"His disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" - Mark 5:31

We know the story. The poor woman, unclean for twelve long years, has only a sliver of hope. Would the One known for healing, heal her? The isolation. The despair. The bleeding. It would all end with this touch. The touch to the hem of a garment. And he knew. Jesus knew that he had healed someone in that moment.

It is not as if he didn't know who touched him. But he wanted her to come to him. I wonder if she was afraid in that moment. But Jesus calls her "daughter." A name of relationship, of closeness. How long had it been since someone was close to her?

We walk in our sin in much the same way. Despairing. Tired. Ready for it all to be over. And we are scared. Scared we will be found out and accused. Scared that we will be punished. Jesus though, wants us to touch him.

"Don't be afraid to go to him now. He isn't fazed by your sin; he isn't afraid that you will contaminate him. In fact, as you get close to him, his holiness will infect you. Go ahead... press in through the crowd of all that threatens to block access to him - your shame, pride, destitution, and uncleanness. Touch him out of your desperation and find him patiently loving and awaiting your arrival."

Lenten devotion from Comforts from the Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick. Day 5.

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