Mark includes this little blurb following the miraculous feeding of the five thousand and walking on water. “When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret and anchored there. As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him. They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end of his robe. And everyone who touched it was healed.” (Mark 6:53–56, CSB) It seems that someone’s faith experience was contagious.
Faith often has a point of contact. If something is done, then God answers. That says more about human nature than how God works. Notice that in Mark’s blurb, the point of contact was touching the end of Christ’s robe. Sound familiar? If not, check out Mark 5:25-29. The woman’s point of faith was to touch the end of Christ’s robe. She does, and she is healed. It would seem that where she once hid in the shadows of being an unclean outcast, she has been busy telling about her encounter with Jesus. Her faith was contagious.
There is both encouragement and caution in her contagious faith. Sharing how Jesus has touched our lives is our mission. It’s not strange, people share similar things all the time. The meal at a particular restaurant is out of this world. By doing abc, I saved a lot of money on xyz. That movie was hilarious; everyone should see it. I give this product 4 fours, here’s why. All of those are examples of how we share our experiences about everyday things. The encouragement from the woman is to be contagious with our faith in Christ.
The caution is that sometimes the experience of ourselves and others becomes a religious expectation. If we just do this, then God will move. But God moves in many ways. Jesus healed in many ways. He spoke, touched, worked for a distance, made mud, put fingers in ears, and on at least one occasion didn’t actively do anything (as we see in the woman’s account). The problem is when methods become idols. That happens when our faith is conditioned on an expectation instead of being focused on the person of Jesus. God moves, whether we pray with certain words or posture. He moves, whether we participate in religious activities. He heals even if we don’t touch the end of His robe. Some of those things can draw us closer to God, but they can also become barriers to God when we focus on them instead of on Him.
Have a contagious faith, but always point to Jesus.“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1–2, CSB)
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