My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

Many Touch Him and Are Made Well (Matthew 14:34-36)

34When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

Maybe I am reading more into this than I should. Maybe it is meant to simply be a demonstration of just how powerful Jesus is, how many people came to Jesus for help, how easy it is to get help from Jesus, how complete Jesus' help is. But when I read this I get angry.

Jesus just left a multitude, fitting in a little much needed solitude when He could. All of a sudden He is recognized and is not only mobbed by the people there, but they bring in people from all around the region, searching for people who might have need of healing. They seem to take advantage of Jesus, only wanting to touch the hem of His garment, as though He is some magical object and His healing is not of His choice, but taken by anyone who touches Him. Jesus has so much more to offer them, and they come flocking in just to be healed.

I hate the thought of people taking advantage of Him. I usually try not to let people take advantage of me. But what does Jesus do? He lets it happen. Jesus is very compassionate. He heals all who come to Him, even to the point of seeming to be taken advantage of. Maybe that is a good lesson for me to learn too. In God's eyes, there is no such thing as having your compassion being taken advantage of. We should show compassion to all freely and without end.

But do I also need to reflect on this from the perspective of the one being healed? Don't I go to Jesus with my troubles? Don't I sometimes just try to take what I need from Him rather than trying to absorb everything He wants to teach me? And still, don't I feel His healing touch and His presence in my life? That same compassion He showed to all those brought to Him is the same compassion He shows to me today. Rather than getting angry at others I see taking advantage of Him, I should recognize that same tendency in myself and try to be better myself. He will take care of my troubles, but He has so much more to offer me too.