What sign can you do?

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John 6:30-35 If I wasn't in the same boat as these sinners following Jesus I would probably be laughing right in their face. I often wonder how Jesus kept from rolling on the grass laughing at what some people do. Today we hear the crowd ask Him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?..." Is this not the same crowd who in verse 2 we are told - "followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick ."? Are these not the same people who in verse 14 " when they saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."? Yet still they seek a sign. However, they are not seeking a sign so that they might believe, they are wanting to be fed. Jesus worked a "sign" with the loaves and the fishes and now they want Him to do it again. Wisely, Jesus is using their bellies to get to their hearts; He is using earthly things to move them,
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The woman with the hemorrhage healed.

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Mark 5: 21-43

She was broke and broken.  The doctors hadn't helped but only made things worse.  She had run out of options.  But she had hope.  She had hope in this man whom she had heard so much about.  He could heal her but she had to get close.  How could she approach?  She was unclean*.  All that she touched, she made unclean - her clothes, her bed, her home, even others.  But, what if she touched Him?  No, she couldn't touch him.  She couldn't make the Master unclean.  She could approach Him when the crowds were gone, when no one was around.  She could approach privately as she heard the leper did, he was healed!  No, she, a woman not known to Him, could not approach the Son of David.

Image result for the woman who touched jesus hem of garmentTime was passing, she had run out of options.  She could approach in a crowd.  Yes, when all were around she could secretly approach.  He wouldn't know, but she would be healed, she knew she would!  Faith in the healing to come pushed her forward yet doubt resisted.  Would He know?  Would they know?  She wasn't a leper, she could approach in secret!  What if they found out?  Would they stone her?  She didn't care, she had to do something.  She couldn't go on like this.

Her frail frame pushed into the crowd.  She was making everyone unclean.  The fisherman was unclean now and so was the baker.  The carpenter and stone mason were now unclean.  If they only knew who was touching them, she would be cast out, cast down.  The synagogue official, Jarius, with his own concerns, was now unclean.  Her feeble hand pushed between two of His disciples, they too were now unclean.  Just a touch of His garments was all she wanted.  Was she about to make the Master unclean?  Her weak fingers brushed against the tassels, she griped them between her finger and thumb.

Lightning struck her but no one saw it and she released her grip.  She was healed, she was healed.  Praise the Lord, healing at last.  She could feel it course through her body.  A miracle!  Blessed be the One who comes in the name of the Lord.  But now, to fade back into the crowd lest someone she knew see her.  Her senses returned, He was looking at her, speaking to her.  They were all looking at her.  Only his voice could be heard but she couldn't grasp the words. Fear stunned her, taking a few steps toward the Master, she crumpled like a leaf falling at His feet.

She could feel His hand upon her head.  He knelt and spoke softly.  She confessed, it was she.  No one heard a word, only He.  The Master grasped her hand a gently lifted her to her feet.  "Daughter, your faith has saved you.  Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."  The crowd flowed around her and moved on.  He could not stay, another daughter had need of Him.  This one could not reach out on her own.  He had to go to her.
*When a woman has a flow of blood for several days outside her menstrual period, or when her flow continues beyond the ordinary period, as long as she suffers this unclean flow she shall be unclean, just as during her menstrual period. Any bed on which she lies during such a flow becomes unclean, as it would during her menstrual period, and any article on which she sits becomes unclean just as during her menstrual period. Anyone who touches them becomes unclean; that person shall wash his garments, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.(Leviticus 15:25-27)

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