【押し寄せた群衆のように Like a Surging Crowd】

English follows

【御言葉】9 イエスは、群衆が押し寄せて来ないように、ご自分のために小舟を用意しておくよう、弟子たちに言われた。10 イエスが多くの人を癒やされたので、病気に悩む人たちがみな、イエスにさわろうとして、みもとに押し寄せて来たのである。マルコの福音書 3章 9〜10節

【観察】日本のことわざに「溺れる者、藁をも掴む」という言葉があるが、いつの時代でも病気に悩んでいる人達のニーズは切実だ。どこかで病人達の間でイエス様に触れば癒されるという噂が広まり、多くの人達がそれを信じ、全員イエス様に触ろうと押し寄せたのだから、とても危険な状態だった。イエス様は船に乗ることにより、直ぐには触れない状況を作った。こんなところにもイエス様の心遣いと聖書のリアリティを感じる。

【適用】私にはこのイエス様に触れば癒されると信じた病人達の信仰、イエス様に対する飢え渇きが必要だと感じる。彼らは自分が病気から解放されることばかりを考えていて、イエス様との関係は求めていなかったのかもしれない。しかし、どんな形であれ、イエス様を求めていたのだ。私は長年イエス様を信じてきたが、最近イエス様への飢え渇きがなくなってきているように感じる。イエス様に触れれば、自分の病から解放されることを信じ、押し寄せた病人達の信仰が今の私にも必要だ。

【祈り】主よ、あなたへの飢え渇きがなくなっているように感じています。これは私の問題です。本来なら、自分の中にある問題から解放さたいと節に願わなければならないのに、あなたに求めないのです。余りにも長く続いているので、諦めているのかもしれません。今一度、あのあなたに押し寄せた群衆のように、私もあなたを求める心をお与えください。🙏

【Scripture】“Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. ”Mark 3:9-10 NIV

【Observation】There is a Japanese proverb that says, “A drowning man will clutch at a straw,” and in every age, the needs of those suffering from illness are desperate. Somewhere, a rumor spread among the sick that if they touched Jesus, they would be healed; many people believed it, and since they all rushed forward to touch Him, the situation became very dangerous. By getting into a boat, Jesus created a situation where they could not touch Him immediately. Even in this, I sense Jesus’ thoughtfulness and the reality of Scripture.

【Application】I feel that I need the faith of those sick people who believed they would be healed if they touched Jesus—that hunger and thirst for Him. They may have been thinking only about being freed from their illnesses and not seeking a relationship with Jesus. However, in whatever form, they were seeking Him. I have believed in Jesus for many years, but lately I feel as though my hunger and thirst for Him have been fading. I need the kind of faith that the crowd of sick people had—the faith that believed they would be freed from their illnesses if they could just touch Jesus.

【Prayer】Lord, I feel as though my hunger and thirst for You have faded. This is my problem. I should be earnestly praying to be freed from the struggles within me, yet I am not seeking You. Perhaps because this has gone on for so long, I have given up. Please grant me once again a heart that seeks You, just like the crowd that pressed in on You. 🙏