I am a fan of Jesus. Let's call that an understatement. There are so many amazing things Jesus has done for Humanity. Most notably, he died sacrificially and rose from the dead, thereby conquering death and providing an attainable route for humanity to spend eternity with God. But before he did that, he had to attract the people - so they could be taught the Gospel - so they could ultimately share the Gospel once he was gone.
Christ's methodology for spreading his message seemed to be a perfect balance between revealing himself through dramatic statements and miracles, and avoiding too much attention by telling people to keep the message to them self. One of these miracles stands out to me as uniquely - unique (since I suppose all of Christ's miracles were unique). It seems to not fall cleanly into either of the two aforementioned categories.
In the span of 10 verses, Mark Chapter 5 vs. 24-34, we have an interesting encounter between Jesus and a woman who has an illness or injury that has caused some sort of continual bleeding for the last 12 years. I am not planning to summarize the whole story. I assume that if you are taking the time to read my blog, you can take two minutes to read the 10 verses to familiarize yourself with them.
What amazes me about this story is not only the fact that it was a miraculous healing, I could get that from any number of the miracles recorded by Mark. What stands out to me is that, as far as I can tell, this is the only miracle of Christ in which Christ himself is completely passive. Christ is merely a bystander in the phenomenon of his own miracle.
Now I know this might initially make some people uncomfortable, and I will admit that I am having to make some basic assumptions within the text, but I do not feel as though I am grasping at all. Christ clearly asks the culprit who touched him to identify himself in vs. 30. He then has a conversation with his disciples who are basically saying "there's a crowd, a hundred different people just brushed by you!" Christ then "kept looking around to see who had done it" in vs. 33. Through Jesus a miracle has occurred. He gave no indication he was planning anything, and then had no idea for whom the miracle was done. This is the definition of passive involvement.
So, why does this matter and what do I take from this? Well, most notable, I see in action the sovereignty of God. God had a plan for that moment. A teaching that needed to occur and for whatever reason Christ wasn't privy to it. Christ is both fully man and fully God. This paradox is, in and of itself, difficult for Christians to wrap their brain around. I believe this miracle is an instant of God's sovereignty acting directly through Jesus even as Jesus doesn't know it is happening.
This position of Jesus not being fully "in the know" at this moment shouldn't be offensive to us. The scriptures are clear that Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses through being tempted in every way (Hebrews 4). He really does understand the rough days we go though here on Earth. This miracle is an example of the best of the best still being caught off guard by his heavenly father. Christ was human. Morally perfect, but still anthropomorphically imperfect.
This tells me two things: I should simultaneously feel very empowered and also very humbled. First the empowering part: God's sovereign will and authority reigns over all powers, things, and people of this world. We should rest assured and be comforted by the fact that nothing in this world thwarts the power of God. Even in a moment when all the focus and attention is seemingly already on God, in this case because of the miracles and teachings of Jesus, God has something different in mind for that particular moment and He makes it happen.
In this moment with his own son, God's sovereign will takes over and takes precedence over what Christ is doing. Christ immediately fell into appropriate submission to his heavenly father's will. If we are seeking to live our lives in full submission to God, we should feel confidently empowered by the overwhelming authority God has over this world. If, according to God, something needs to happen; it will happen. Period.
This leads to the humbling part. No one on Earth should presume to have enough influence over God to be able to thwart His plans. Even Christ, who is Himself God, who would have the exact will and mind of God; had his actions interrupted in order to fulfill part of God's will. Maybe we would never be so obvious as to say we influence the will of God, but we sure talk and act like it.
When it comes to decision making, we might say things like "I don't want to make the wrong choice because I don't want to interfere with God's will for my life." Now there's no question that foolish decisions can lead you down a road of less than ideal service to God (i.e. Pharaoh, or King Saul). But wise decisions, sought through God's revealed wisdom, will likewise bring you into more fulfilling service to God.
Regardless of whether you act like a fool or you act with Solomon's wisdom, you will not impact whether God's will is accomplished in this world. All you have the power to do is to choose whether or not you will live in submission to God. The goal being that with a life lived in submission to God you are working to be worthy of God's call "for such a time as this". Whatever the times are in your life, if it's important enough to God, it will happen. Beyond that, study Scripture, listen to the wisdom of Christian mentors around you and trust that God's will is being accomplished.
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