Daily Lesson for October 13, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 5 verses 24 through 34:

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 He looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Decent and accessible healthcare is central to the Gospel. We cannot -- or should not -- "believe" in Jesus without also believing in and working for a healthcare system which works. It is a basic human right and it ought to be basic to the agenda for all Christian voters.

The woman in today's Lesson had a pre-existing condition. She had done all she could to get the care that was available to her. It left her destitute; and she was still no better. Jesus healed her -- and sent her away in peace. For finally, she could get back to living again.

Jesus called the woman "daughter". I think that's interesting. We look at healthcare as an "issue" which is up for debate -- one we will no doubt hear debated in today's Supreme Court nominee hearing. But we don't debate the lives of our daughters, or sisters, or brothers, or sons like this. They aren't "issues". They are family.

Healthcare is a basic human right; and everyone ought to have affordable and in many cases free access to it. And the followers of Jesus need to do what our Lord did, stop arguing about healthcare in the abstract, and start talking about likes its a matter of life, and death, and absolute economic survival for our family -- because, to Jesus, it is.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow we will be reading Matthew chapter 14; Mark chapter 6; and Luke chapter 9.