Sometimes it's easy to think of the girls that I am teaching as small children, because their ability to communicate with me rivals that of a small child. But they are not children; they have hopes and dreams and joys and sorrows, just like the rest of us. They have a story to tell, too.
The first day of class, I had all my students make name cards for themselves, and then write a few facts about themselves on the cards. Sometimes when class gets frustrating, I go back and read those name cards. They remind me of why I do what I do. "I want to be a doctor." "Yesterday was my birthday." "I want to make people laugh." "I wish that I was prettier." These girls are real people with real problems, and a real need for love.
I wonder if Jesus ever had to be reminded about that. Was He ever frustrated when people constantly came to Him for help? Did He ever feel like He was just being used? Underappreciated? Overworked? I would imagine that He did not struggle with that....but for a very simple, yet profound reason. Jesus remembered their stories. He remembered that these were not just huddled masses, not just a homogenous group with no individuality. They were people. They had hopes and ambitions, and plans for their futures. They had aspirations for their lives.
Jesus had compassion on them because Jesus remembered that they were people, made in the image of God Himself, precious in God's sight, and valuable in their own right. That's a lesson that we would all do well to remember.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
The first day of class, I had all my students make name cards for themselves, and then write a few facts about themselves on the cards. Sometimes when class gets frustrating, I go back and read those name cards. They remind me of why I do what I do. "I want to be a doctor." "Yesterday was my birthday." "I want to make people laugh." "I wish that I was prettier." These girls are real people with real problems, and a real need for love.
I wonder if Jesus ever had to be reminded about that. Was He ever frustrated when people constantly came to Him for help? Did He ever feel like He was just being used? Underappreciated? Overworked? I would imagine that He did not struggle with that....but for a very simple, yet profound reason. Jesus remembered their stories. He remembered that these were not just huddled masses, not just a homogenous group with no individuality. They were people. They had hopes and ambitions, and plans for their futures. They had aspirations for their lives.
Jesus had compassion on them because Jesus remembered that they were people, made in the image of God Himself, precious in God's sight, and valuable in their own right. That's a lesson that we would all do well to remember.
Mark 5:21-32
21 When Jesus had again
crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd
gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23
He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please
come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
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