They pressed upon Him for to touch Him.
Crowding to touch the Saviour
I. The parallel between the present times and those of the text. Jesus had healed many. These have been thoroughly and effectually restored. So far the parallel exists, but here is the marvel-that those who know this do not throng to Christ to obtain the self-same blessing.
II. What are the sins which prevent the carrying out of this parallel? Ignorance. Insensibility. Indifference. Procrastination. They really love the disease.
III. The grace which invites us to complete the parallel of the text. You are spared in this world. Spared to hear the gospel.
IV. Two cautions which seek to be needful. Never be content with merely pressing upon Christ. Do not be content with touching them who are healed. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The desire for healing an instinct of humanity
As many as had plagues came to Jesus, that they might touch Him and be healed. Tell of the annual pilgrimages to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, where thousands gathered from all parts of England, believing that their needs could be supplied and their diseases healed at the shrine of the saint. It is their needs that today take so many to Lourdes and Knock. Two centuries ago-and the superstition is not dead yet-it was believed that the touch of a king could heal a certain painful disorder; how eagerly people sought for that touch is seen in the case of Charles II. of England, who, in his reign, touched over a hundred thousand persons for the healing of the “king’s evil.” During the recent famines in India and in Turkey, the houses of the missionaries were besieged by crowds of hungry people seeking relief. When a medical missionary first appears in a new district, and his mission is made known to the people, the sick are brought to him from all the country around. It was therefore one of the commonest instincts of humanity that brought the needy to Jesus, in whom only they could find all that they sought.