When Jesus Passes By

If you are like many of us, you may be saying, "I wish Jesus would come my way." Some of us even love to sing one of the old gospel songs, "Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by." We tell ourselves that we must reach out to Jesus - as if to suggest that He is in a hurry - so that He can minister unto us. And this we do because as a verse of that same old song says:

There's not a road too rough for Jesus.

There's not a mountain that is too high.

He sees you - every step you take.

He's watching with His eye.

When you fall,

He'll pick you

Don't stay down there and die -

Reach out and touch the Lord, as He goes by.

Yes, we are right about two things: 1. we can touch Jesus; and 2. we are dead on in believing that He brings change. As one searches the pages of the gospels, there are many instances of Jesus meeting people with needs and bringing relief and deliverance to their lives.

Let's examine some of those occurrences. In St. Mark we read about the woman who was sick for several years with "an issue of blood." As Jesus journeyed to Jairus' house to raise his daughter who had died, the woman touched Jesus' clothing and was healed immediately. Do you think it was a coincidence that he went by the woman's way?

We read in Luke that as Jesus traveled through Jericho, Zaccheus, a hated tax-collector, climbed a tree to see him. Now Jesus, who had seen Zaccheus from the foundation of the world, stopped, told him to come down and went home with him. By the time Jesus was ready to leave, Zaccheus the "selfish and hated Publican", became Zaccheus the "contrite and changed believer." He restored what taxes he had taken illegally, even up to 4 times the original amount. What a change!

We also read in St. Luke that Jesus and his disciples went walking down the streets of Nain. As they did, they saw a group of people taking a coffin to the cemetery. The dead was the son of a poor widow, who was following close by. Was it a coincidence that Jesus went down the streets of Nain? Jesus went to the group, told that dead boy to arise and gave him to his mother - alive! The group of people, who only a few minutes before was headed to the cemetery, turned around and went to church praising God. Alleluia!

Finally, in St. John we read that some poor, crippled guy sat by the Pool of Siloam for 38 years waiting to get in, whenever the water was troubled, so he could be healed. Jesus "happened by" one day and the rest is history. That guy got on his feet and worshipped God who had delivered him from his miserable existence.

As we look at the examples above, one thing seems to reoccur - it appears that Jesus "just showed up." I mentioned before that we are right to believe that we can touch Jesus, and that He brings change. However, we are wrong to think that Jesus "passes by." There is no coincidence or accident with Jesus. For those four people whose stories I recounted, Jesus deliberately showed up in their time of need. He went their way, because those four people needed him.

The fact is, Jesus knows our needs, He feels our pain and He is ready and able to bring about change in our lives. Jesus does not pass by, because He is here, with us, in us (for those who by faith have received Him as Lord and Savior of their lives). The prophet declared that His name would be called Immanuel, which means, God with us. Yes, Jesus is within you and me and He makes change possible.

To add a little more, when talking about the New Covenant, the Bible states in Hebrews that God would dwell in us and we in Him, and that we would be His people and He would be our God - forever. That is what we get with the coming of Jesus into the world - an opportunity to have Him always in us, enabling us to lead powerfully, positive lives as He, by the Holy Spirit, lives and works in us.

Let's think about this...