Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
People are coming from just about every direction to see Jesus. More than that, they want to touch him. They have heard stories of his miraculous healing power. If he just touches them, they’ve been told, they will be cured of whatever affliction they suffer from. So many people are desperate to get close to him, that Jesus actually fears for his safety. Mark’s gospel tells us that they were likely to crush him. In order to escape that fate, Jesus asks his followers to fetch a boat for him. Out on the water, he will remain safe from the multitudes. What an incredible scene!
Incredible, but perhaps not that surprising. If we think about it, Jesus has been demonstrating that he has amazing powers to cure illnesses and cast out demons. So, of course he is in big demand! Now, we might imagine (and we would be right to do so) that people in power, people in the upper echelons of society would want him to heal them. They would probably even be willing to pay him a lot of money for that.
But, importantly, that’s not what Jesus is about. On the contrary! He is all about healing especially the people on the bottom rungs of society—the sort of people who don’t have any money or status and, thus, are typically ignored and forgotten by society. In this way, Jesus wasn’t just showing everyone that he had amazing powers. He was also showing them something really important about what God’s kingdom is like. It’s not a place just for “special” people or people with status or money or power. It’s for everyone—and especially for those who have been forgotten. No wonder there were multitudes doing whatever they could to get near him.
I am struck by the contrast between this scene and the one that is coming. I am thinking, of course, of the scene at the cross. Jesus will be crucified because the folks that are in power in his time had become increasingly afraid of him. And they were afraid not just because of his powers but, perhaps even more, because of his teachings. They know that this upside down kingdom that he preaches about in which the poor and forgotten are privileged over the rich and powerful is not good for those who like things as they are. Indeed, even as the scene from today’s reading is unfolding, those folks are already getting nervous about him.
And unlike the scene from today’s reading, there aren’t going to be multitudes clamoring to get near Jesus when he suffers. Most don’t want to have anything to do with that Jesus.
As I think about the contrast between these two scenes—Jesus having to jump into a boat to escape the multitudes, and Jesus alone on the cross—I feel as though Mark is putting a question to us. Are we among the multitude who are desperate for Jesus’ touch? I know that I am. But are we also willing to be with him at the cross? If called upon to suffer in his name, will we? I pray that I am.
- Sue Trollinger