Jesus begins his ministry and the people have taken notice of him. They seek him out.
A well regarded leader of the synagogue comes to Jesus stating that his young daughter is near death. He pleads with Jesus to come to his home and heal the girl. Jesus goes with him as throngs of people follow along. As they are walking, an older woman sees Jesus. For the past twelve years she has been ravaged by a blood-borne disease and now she sees this miracle-worker within her grasp. She reaches for him believing that the mere touch of his garment will be enough to cure her.
Jesus feels the touch and turns and sees the woman. The woman is fearful and confesses to Jesus that she touched his garment hoping that would cure her of her disease. Then Jesus says,
“Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed you” (Matthew 9:22). And the woman is healed.
Jesus continues the trek to the ruler’s home. When he arrives, he is told that the man’s daughter has died. Jesus looks at the grieving father and says,
“Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36)
Jesus enters the ruler’s home. He takes the daughter by the hand and tells the girl to rise—“Talitha koum!”—and she rises.
Now, the people are even more captivated with Jesus, as Matthew writes in the conclusion of this episode:
“And the fame went abroad into all that land.” (Matthew 9:26)
But it wasn’t fame that Jesus wanted. What Jesus wanted was faith. He wanted the faith of the diseased woman who believed that just a touch of Jesus’ robe would cure her. He wanted the faith of the man who believed Jesus could save his dying child. He wants the faith of each of us to believe in him and to believe in God.
Fame is fleeting and a false idol. Faith is eternal salvation.
What do you seek?
These Gospel stories are re-imagined in the book series:
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