The Healing Touch
Matthew 9:20-22
Luke 8:42b-48
Mark 5:34
I want to talk this morning about faith - the instrumental quality of faith. I want to begin by asking you a fairly simple question. Does your faith remove your mountains or do your mountains remove your faith?
It was F. B. Meyer who said, "It is unbelief that puts our circumstances between us and God." It is unbelief that puts our circumstances between us and God. But faith puts God between us and our circumstances. And this morning I’d like us to see what faith can do for a person when it is biblically applied faith, placed in Jesus Christ. We all know that we are not saved by faith plus works but we also know that we are saved by a faith that works. Now there’s a principle we need to keep in mind as we go along here. It’s very important to understand this principle the right way around. It’s this - "Faith changes us, not God." Faith changes us, not God. You see, sometimes, I think we think that if we can muster up enough faith, that it will change the heart of God. But, God, is the same. He is the source. His resources never change. His mercy never fades. His power does not diminish. Because it’s not he who needs to be changed. And it’s faith that allows our never-changing God to turn loose his resources in our behalf. It’s getting ourselves into a state of expectancy and anticipation so that God can flow through us. God is our source and his supplies do not run out. God is not bankrupt. He’s not in a depression. And he’s ready this morning to meet the needs represented here. No matter how large the mountain is that may be standing between you and God, God can help you with it.
I want you to notice several things with me about this precious lady this morning. Because she really speaks to me. She’s an encouragement to my heart because I don’t want to play church. I don’t want to just be going through the motions. Rather, I want to lift my heart before God and say, Oh God, I have a need that only you can meet.
1. First of all, look at the determination of this lady’s faith. Do you see it there in verses 25 & 26? (Read).
Jesus is on his way to restore the health of a 12 year old girl. There’s a great crowd following Jesus. They wanted to see what he was going to do, what great miracle he would perform. Perhaps there were those in the crowd who hadn’t seen Jesus before and they were there just to see if he really could perform a miracle at all. But there was one in that great crowd following Jesus, not to see what he would do for someone else, as wonderful as that is, but she was following Jesus to see what he would do for her. It’s wonderful to come to Christ and want something personal. It’s not selfish. And it’s not wrong. It’s wonderful to ask God to bless the people around you and to pour out his Spirit upon them. But the thing that really glorifies God and really strikes notes with his heart is when you say, "Oh God, pour out your spirit into my life. I’m so needy. I need you." When we get personal with God, God begins to move in, in a very special way.
Now I don’t believe for a moment that the only person in that crowd who had a need was this lady. This crowd was all types of people representing all types of needs. And I’m not naive enough to believe she was the only one who had a need in that great crowd of followers. But, she was the only one that we have record of, who had faith enough to do something about her need. She was the only one with faith enough to let this problem that she had, bring her to Jesus.
I’m reminded of the man who was visiting a lady who was bedridden in the hospital. She had some sort of crippling accident. And this lady, though she was confined to bed, had learned how to appropriate the peace of God and she witnessed to everyone who came to visit her. And as the man was visiting with her and saw her bed-ridden condition, he said to her, "Tragedy sure colours life, doesn’t it?" And she looked at him with a smile and she said, "Yes, it does. But by the grace of God, I have decided, I will choose the colours." Now friends, that’s what faith really is.
And I believe that this lady that we read about this morning, had determination of faith because when I read about her situation, I’m amazed that she had any faith at all. Look at her condition. Twelve years she had a bleeding cancer. She constantly and continually, for 12 years, had a hemmoraging discharge. And if you want to learn how they treated people in that way, you turn back to the Levitical law and there in Leviticus, chapter 15, verses 25-27 you’ll find that anyone who was afflicted with any kind of condition like that was absolutely excluded from any type of communication and socialization. You were treated as though you were unclean. You wouldn’t have been able to worship in a place like this. You couldn’t sit down to a meal with other people. You were literally considered an outcast, emotionally, socially and spiritually. And so this poor woman for 12 years had been under this condition. And she had been under the care of many doctors, and exhausted all her resources, and she grew worse. I admire this lady because I think if I’d have been her, I’d have gotten to the point where I said, "Enough is enough." But she didn’t. She was not about to quit.
Over in Matthew 7:7, Jesus says ask, and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will opened unto you. What Jesus is saying here, is ask - and keep on asking. Seek - and keep on seeking. What he’s saying is have a prayer life that has a faith that is determined to find the answer. And this lady was not about to sit in the corner. She was determined to find the answer. Some of you have come in here this morning ready to quit. You’re facing situations in your life that seem insurmountable. But I want to challenge you to have a determination in your faith that says, "Oh God, I will not quit. I will hang on because I believe that you are bigger than any circumstance. And though I do not know how, I believe, Heavenly Father, that you have the answer, and you have the resources to bring that answer about.
2. In addition to the determination of her faith, this lady had direction to her faith.
Faith alone was not enough. Because this lady had all kinds of faith. But her faith had not been directed to the right source. I run into people all the time who have a lot of faith. They are thinking good thoughts of life and they have the right attitudes of life, but they’re not directed to the source of life. And some of them are even Christians. But faith alone is not enough, not even a determined faith. You’ve got to have the proper direction in your faith, or your determination can actually take you away from God.
You’ve all heard, I’m sure, of the rugged mountain-climbers who got caught in the snowstorm, And from what I understand, this actually happened. They perished in the snowstorm, there on the mountain because they became disoriented and had actually walked around the mountain over and over again. And after their bodies were found, they determined that those rugged mountaineers had actually walked many times over, the number of miles it would have taken them to reach safety. They had determination - but it was improperly directed. And you can have a faith with determination but your faith has to be directed to the proper source.
The direction of this lady’s faith began to come about because it says when she heard about Jesus, she determined to find out for herself. Well, how do you get your direction right? What directed her to Jesus. The answer’s there. First, her faith in others was shattered. People had failed her, she’d been to the doctors, she’d sought all kinds of advice, and that’s good. But we have to understand that God’s wisdom is greater. Also, her resources had failed. She’d spent everything. And finally, time was running out. She was getting worse. You’ve been there haven’t you? You seek good counsel, you listen to advice. You spend all you have. And things just get worse. May I encourage you this morning that, like this lady, your bitterest hour can become your most blessed hour. When all is said and done. When we’re at the end - then we can be directed toward the real blessing. It’s not the way God would prefer it. He wants us to come to him right away, first. But he’ll use it. His arms are open wide. And when we come to that bitter, frustrated, point of no return in our lives, we’ll do one of two things. We’ll either discard our faith and give up or, we’ll direct our faith and look up. This lady directed her faith toward Jesus. There are a lot of people who have faith today, but what’s important is the object of our faith.
3. Thirdly, notice the decision of this lady’s faith.
When she heard about Jesus she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She knew, she knew if somehow she could get through that crowd and touch his cloak, she knew that God had the resources for her need. And it says, immediately, immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was free from suffering.
Faith begins with knowledge. She heard. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Then faith grows with inward reflection that leads to decision. She thought. She reasoned with herself, if I just touch his clothes I will be healed. That stage is very important. Now finally.
4. Let’s look at the declaration of her faith.
I have to smile when I read about this because what’s happening here is this lady is trying to steal a miracle! She didn’t want anyone to know. She just thought if she could sneak up, touch the hem of his garment, she’d be healed and she could get lost again in the crowd. She didn’t want to bother him. She didn’t want any attention. But Jesus stopped right there, because he knew power had gone out from him and he said, "Who touched me?"
There are two very important reasons, I think, why Jesus did what he did. First, he wanted her to declare her faith, because she had an ignorant faith. She thought she could get a miracle from Jesus without Jesus even knowing. But you can be very sure, when your need is met, it’s not because Christ is unaware. It’s because he is aware and because he is loving you and he is looking at you. She thought she could have her need met by God without the knowledge of God.
And Jesus stopped the crowd and focussed on this woman, because he is as concerned about developing an ongoing relationship with you as he is about meeting your immediate need. He’s not just a God for crisis. He wants to walk with you and talk with you in the garden. Remember when Adam and Eve sinned. God pursued them in the garden. And God wants to develop and maintain relationship with you. Sometimes we pray only in the midnight hour. Sometimes we pray only when we don’t see any other way. Oh, that we would learn to abide with him every day.
It costs Jesus something to heal. We will never produce anything great unless we’re prepared to put something of ourselves and our very life and soul into it. Jesus didn’t just want to heal this lady, he wanted to meet this lady. He wanted to find out who she was and bring her out of her ignorant faith. He wanted her to understand that she didn’t really touch him, He touched her - and on purpose. It was not an accident. He wanted her to remember him not only for the fact that he healed her. He wanted her to remember him for taking the time to stop and say, "Hello, how are you? Your faith is important. You are important. God bless you. Go in peace." The greatness of Jesus was that he was prepared to pay the price for helping others.
Then notice that Jesus stopped everybody. He stopped the push and busyness of the crowd. Can’t you hear a hush fall over the crowd as he suddenly stops and turns around? Jesus wanted not only for this lady to be touched. He wanted the whole crowd to be touched. There were people in that crowd who had needs and he knew that. And he wanted them to see that he was just a step away. And if they saw this lady’s faith and its results, think what would happen when it began to move on and they trusted God too. That’s why you need to declare your faith publically. That’s why you need to share with your mouth what Christ has done in your life. Because you may be the very source of inspiration that someone needs to take that first step to trust God.
Faith that brings us to Jesus and causes a positive response that is publically declared. That is sufficient faith. That is why Jesus said, "Whosoever will confess me before men, Him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven."
This woman began as a nobody, but by touching Jesus she became a somebody and when her faith was publically declared it blessed everybody. I’m sure she never had a clue that in bringing her need to Christ and surrendering her need to Christ that the faith of many other people would be encouraged by it. But that’s how the Lord works. The determination of her faith in verses 25 & 26, the direction of her faith in 27 and then the decision of her faith in 28, and then finally the declaration of her faith in 33.
Just one touch as he moves along
Pushed and pressed by the jostling throng
Just one touch and the weak are strong
Cured by the healer divine
Just one touch and he makes me whole
Speaks sweet peace to my sin sick soul
At his feet all my burdens roll
Cured by the healer divine
Just one touch and he turns to me
Oh, the love, in his eyes I see
I am his for he hears my plea
Cured by the healer divine
Just one touch as he passes by
He will listen to the faintest cry
Be restored while the Lord is nigh
Christ is the healer divine.
NOTE: I was going through my old sermons when I came across this one. I don’t know for sure if it is mine, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t come up with the outline. It was good enough though, that I thought I would share it here.
