The life of Jesus is an example of how to love. We are instructed to love others and to love ourselves. We
are also told that God’s love will “cast out fear” from our life. The message of the Gospel is anchored in
the love of God. As we go through life we know we are supposed to be loving, but life happens. We trust
others, we get hurt, and if we’re not careful our love can become selective, with us doing our best to
determine who is truly worthy of our love and our time.
We see an example of the love of Jesus in a familiar Bible passage:
Mark 5: 21 – 30
Jesus again crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee in a boat. A large crowd gathered around him by the seashore.
A synagogue leader named Jairus also arrived. When he saw Jesus, he quickly bowed down in front of him. He begged Jesus, “My little daughter is dying. Come, lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.”
Jesus went with the man. A huge crowd followed Jesus and pressed him on every side.
In the crowd was a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years. Although she had been under the care of many doctors and had spent all her money, she had not been helped at all. Actually, she had become worse. Since she had heard about Jesus, she came from behind in the crowd and touched his clothes. 28 She said, “If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll get well.” Her bleeding stopped immediately. She felt cured from her illness.
At that moment Jesus felt power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
A few aspects of this story we should note: Jesus was just getting off the boat, as he had been performing miracles on the other side of the shore. Jairus, who first approached him, was an influential man. A large crowd pressed all around him. So much is happening in these few verses. In the midst of all of the chaos, a woman pressed through the crowd. We are told a few facts about this woman who is working her way towards Christ: she had suffered chronic bleeding for 12 years, she had been to many doctors to try to find a cure, she had spent all her money trying to find a cure, and she had only gotten worse.
I honor the courage of this woman. She refused to give up. None of the doctors could help, she was out of money, but she had heard about Christ. She does not have to pay to see Jesus; she just has to get to him, and she does.
Despite Jesus being surrounded by many urgent needs, he chooses to give time to this woman. He allows himself to be touched and as he is touched, she is healed.
When the “crowds of life” are pressing around me, am I still allowing myself to be “touched” by those in need. Am I too busy going from one situation to another to see the one who might be pressing through the crowd, someone who is desperately looking for Jesus? The unconditional love of Christ was extended to those around him. I pray we live lives where we find capacity and love for those in need, that, even when the crowds are pressing, even when we’re tired, we give unconditional love.