Notice The Individual

“And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?” (Mr 5:31 AV)

 

On the face of it, it appears as though the question asked bordered on disrespect.  After all, it was the Son of God who asked who touched Him.  The disciples’ question seems like a rebuke of sorts.  In other words, why would you ask such a question knowing the multitude was thronging You? To know exactly who it was that touched you at any given instance when many were touching You seems a bit of a stretch.  That is how one might take it.  But I think there was a bit more going on here.  Jesus knew many were touching Him.  The disciples knew He knew many were touching Him.  I think they did not understand the question and the question they returned was a clarification and not a rebuke.  The LORD was asking the disciples to scan the crowd for an obvious miracle.  He was asking the disciples to discern a changed life among so many.  The question posed by Christ was not unreasonable in that there was only one who was radically changed at that moment in time.  They missed a clear indication of the hand of God because of all the commotion going on around them.  They wanted clarification to make the identification much easier.  That didn’t happen.  Instead, Jesus identified the medical convert who turned spiritual convert because the disciples could not.  One wonders how much of the hand of God have we missed because life is complicated, busy, and full of responsibility.

Working with a bunch of children at the same time often causes us to miss what God might be doing with one of them.  I was one of those kids.  I was a quiet and private kid that often was overlooked.  When all the other kids were making a commotion, I was the one quietly sitting in the corner of the playground with a book of adventures like Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, or Encyclopedia Brown Mysteries.  I was the kid no one noticed.  I was the one everyone left alone because they figured if he was content and not squealing for attention, he must be ok.  That is the furthest from the truth.  It wasn’t until junior high and high school that teachers took an interest in me.  I can remember my favorite teachers because they were the ones to understand my personality and work with me to develop my interests.  There was my Photography Teacher, Mr. Ladd who gave me special responsibilities with the dark room and equipment.  There was Mr. Yionni, my technical drafting teacher who assigned me special projects because I drew fast and accurately.  If I was a baby bird in a nest, I would be the one with my mouth closed letting everyone else go first.  It takes the eyes of someone interested in individuals to notice the needs or situations of others.

God wants to do a work in individuals as much as He wants to do a work in all of mankind.  God is a God of love and compassion.  He is also a personal God.  The twelve missed what had happened because their eyes were on the multitude.  They missed what Jesus had done for a single person.  This is the failure of our modern churches.  We seek to grow large complexes and a multitude of ministries, but we are missing the importance of the single person with whom God is working.  We are attracted to the commotion.  We love the large events.  The more people, the better.  But there are those individuals who have experienced the work of God in their lives and no one seems to notice.  They do not notice the spirit and demeanor of a quiet saint who truly walks with God.  They miss the changed life that sits in the back and leaves without saying too much to anyone.  We miss that one child whose heart is melted and who loves God more than we could understand because he or she is not the center of attention.  The awards go to those who pipe up the most.  But if the truth is known, it is that child who excels in saying their verses, is disciplined in their devotions, and genuinely cares about others who grow into someone who impacts their world.  The disciples missed a radically changed life because they were too occupied with something that seemed bigger.  One has to ask the question:  How many changed lives have we missed and failed to help them walk closer to Jesus?