A Letter to my Friend

She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’ And immediately, the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Mark 5:27-29 ESV.

Dear Friend,

You are sick; you have been shunned by society and labelled as ‘unclean.’ You have spent over a decade living off the generosity of pedestrians, and your entire life has been marked by something out of your control. You are helpless. You are hopeless. You are all alone.

But then, Jesus walks by. And you do not understand why or how, but you are certain that He can heal you. You are certain that you can just brush the hem of His cloak, and you will be clean. What if you could just push your way into His presence, your life will be restored, and you will have a hope and a future. And so, you do it. You reach out, touch His robe, and you are immediately healed. Your body is as if it were new. You are clean in the eyes of God and man. You no longer have to beg to survive. Life is suddenly full of endless possibilities.

You thank Jesus and set off on your way. You sing and dance and cry and pray. As you walk along the path back to the city, you think of everything you can now do – you dream of your newly acquired freedom. Eyes bright, a skip in your step and a smile on your face. Life never felt so good.

But, as you walk away from Jesus and towards the city, you notice dozens of sick people on the same path as you. You see people who are blind, deaf, mute and lame. You see people with broken bones and those who are paralyzed being carried. You begin to see just how many people around you are plagued by disease and sickness, and you start to realize that they are walking in the opposite direction of the Healer. What do you do?

Do you call out to the crowd, “Hey! Everyone! Turn around! Jesus of Nazareth can heal you, but you are walking in the wrong direction! I know Jesus can heal you because He did it for me!”? Or do you remain silent? Do you worry what they will think of you for disturbing their trek to the city? Do you think to yourself, “Oh, they won’t listen to me; why bother? I do not want to force them to encounter Jesus as I have. I do not want to shove anything down their throat or appear to be superstitious. Is it better for me to mind my own business.”?

Friend, we have been freed from something much greater than illness – we have been freed from death. By the grace of God, Jesus has rescued us from eternal separation from our Creator. And now, we walk along the path of life next to friends and family still bound by death. We know the One who can free them from death because He freed us too. We know how to access the Father because Jesus taught us to. But at this moment, we are faced with a choice. We can choose to show love to those around us. We can choose to share the saving power of Jesus and warn of the deadly trap of sin (regardless of if they take our advice or not). Or we can choose to think of ourselves and our insecurities, neglecting to share the most important news of all time because we fear a sideways glance.

The joy of being healed on Earth by Jesus Christ is mere child’s play compared to the joy of living in His presence forever.

Friend, never allow yourself to withhold the gift that you have been freely given.

Friend, never allow yourself to sit quietly in healing while being surrounded by the sick.

And my dear friend, never allow yourself to believe that losing a relationship is more painful than losing a soul.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 ESV.