And wherever he went–into villages, towns or countryside–they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. Mark 6:56 (NIV)
As Jesus traveled through the region, the people recognized Him. The word spread. People went running ahead of Him telling the villagers to bring their sick and suffering ones and they filled up the marketplaces and squares so that Jesus would find them there.
With the slightest effort of imagination we can see Jesus strolling into one of these towns. The excitement of His coming would have spread through the whole village. The ones suffering from illness were being lined up in the square where Jesus would surely pass and if they were fortunate, He could touch them and make them well. The rest of the crowd might run out to see this Wonder of a Man. Everybody would want to see Him and find out what all the fuss was about. Those who had family or friends waiting in the square for when Jesus passed might be tugging at Him encouraging Him to come and touch their suffering loved ones.
It is a beautiful scene and pleasant to ponder. It must have been a wonderful time and exciting to live through. Everyone must have been praising the Lord God for all the amazing things they were witnessing and surely the joy of those who had been touched and healed must have been highly contagious.
But with a turn of a page, we find ourselves in the here and now. The days of Jesus are kept under the cover of a book. There are no people running through the streets. Where are the sick ones going to find healing for their souls? Where is all the excitement and wonder of our moment?
Unfortunately today a sickness has come over all of us. It has attacked our eyes and our hearts. Our eyes no longer see that Jesus is here amongst us. We do not strain to see Him coming to us, to walk the streets of our own town. Our vision is blurred and we cannot even recognize the hustle and bustle of His promised return. And if He were right here in our midst, we would not even be able to see Him or care to plead with Him to touch us and heal us.
This sickness has grown into our hearts as well. It has left a calloused build-up which keeps it from functioning correctly and threatens to cease it altogether. The calcium and cholesterol of the world have left their deposits and the heart no longer flows smoothly with the love of God. It struggles to keep ticking and unawares of its perilous state cannot send out a fresh stream of vital love to nourish the tissues of our being.
Oh, if we could only realize the sad state of our spiritual health! If only we could see again that Jesus is coming. If only we could see through our foggy eyes and realize that the One who could heal us is here and wanting to do just that. Jesus would never take away our cloudy condition of the eyes if that is how we wanted them. He waits for us to plead with Him to remove our illness and restore us to the vision of Him.
As poetic as we may try to make it seem, the problems with us today are many. We are desperately in need of the greatest of all healers to examine our condition. We need a doctor that can just by a touch, remove all that is ailing us and keeping us from functioning as good healthy Christians.
Dear Jesus, please bring once again the excitement of the moment of Your presence among us. We have grown sickly and weak in faith. We fail to recognize when You move within Your people and we fail to get worked up about Your arrival. Please send us a little healing today. Just one touch from You and we could be free to jump up and spread the wonderful news of Your presence.
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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