The good news is the Kingdom of Heaven came down to earth when Jesus walked the earth as a man. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom of equality and respect, truth and justice, peace and harmony, restoration and healing, freedom for the captives, and liberty for the oppressed.
With one touch from Jesus everything changes.
Luke 8:40-44 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
So here we have a multitude of people, a community all thronging Jesus. We have an important man in the community. His name is Jairus and his daughter is dying. The whole community watches as this important man bows down at Jesus’ feet begging Him to come and heal his dying daughter.
We also have disciples who are journeying with Jesus and an outcaste woman. She is an outcaste from the community, has no place in the community, she has no voice and has been declared by the community as unclean because of her condition. She believes she is unworthy of love. She believes the lies said over her by the community, the world and the religious community of the time.
And then with one touch from Jesus, something happened.
Let us read verses 43-44. A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped. (NLT).
Remember this woman was an outcast. She is unclean, has no identity, no place and no voice within the community. The complete opposite to Jairus who was a religious leader, a voice in the community, respected and admired.
This outcaste woman, with one touch from Jesus, received her physical healing.
I too received one touch from Jesus. I had a back condition where I could not stand. I could not walk. I could not sit.
I could not even support my own body weight. No doctor could heal me. My muscles and nerve endings were in complete shock. Day after day, after day, I lived in the fear of this pain. For 18 months I had this condition.
The religious community said you must believe, you must believe Jesus can heal you. I knew Jesus could heal me at anytime, so it was not a question of my faith. Yet, I believed and was not receiving my healing. I even stopped asking God for my healing. I decided, yet shall I praise Him, for He alone is praise worthy. One day, I raised my hands and just reached up to heaven and praised Him from the depths of my soul. That was the day I touched heaven. I felt, physically felt His healing power touch my fingertips; flow down through my arms and through my
body. That was the day I was set free. That was the day my physical condition was completely healed.
With one touch from Jesus physical healing.
Let us go back to the woman.
With one touch from Jesus the woman is healed of her physical condition, but that is only a small part of the miracle she received that day. Let us notice what Jesus says in verse 45. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”
Now Jesus is the Son of God. He knows who touched Him. He knows all things, by Him and through Him all things were created.
Jesus didn’t say, what touched me, He said WHO. By saying who in the presence of the whole community He was identifying this woman as a person. Remember the community considered her less than human because of her condition. Jesus declares over her she is a person, someone whose life is so valued that Jesus stops, turns and speaks. Remember He is on His way to healing a dying daughter. Jairus’ daughter is dying.
Yet this woman is just as important as Jairus. Not only has Jesus acknowledged the woman as a person, but now we have all the disciples discussing who touched Him. Instantly, Jesus with three words has restored the woman’s marred identity by declaring her a person. She is a person of equal value to Jairus. Jesus is demonstrating this not only by the words He speaks, but by giving her time.
With one encounter with Jesus, the entire community, the disciples, Jairus and Jesus Himself are looking to this woman. Jesus has given her a place and a voice, showing she is a person of value and significance.
Let us see what happens in verse 47. Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
With one touch from Jesus physical healing.
With one touch from Jesus mental healing.
If that is not enough that Jesus restored her physical identity but Jesus had to speak truth and life into her thinking. The way we think can be formed by the way people treat us and by the community that we live in.
My mum was a Christian. My father rejected her. She was rejected for another woman. My mother kept the hurt and rejection in her heart and that gave the devil access. He said to her, ‘You are not worthy to be loved, there must be something wrong with you.’ That’s what the devil does in an abusive relationship, he speaks ‘it must be your fault, their must be something wrong with you. You’re not a child of God. Who do you think you are?’ These lies started to have a stronghold over my mother and her mind. She became trapped in a world of lies and of a mental hell, holding on to this rejection and unforgiveness. One day my mother said I need prayer. I need to be set free. Will you pray? So we prayed. She started to believe once again, she was a child of God, most loved in the beloved and worthy because Jesus makes her worthy. Tearing down the lies of satan and the rejection of the truth of who she is in Jesus.
With one touch from Jesus, my mother received her mental healing.
Let us go back to the woman. There’s more. There is always more with Jesus!
So she has received her physical healing, which is what she thought she was coming for. She had received her mental healing. She is testifying of who Jesus is and what He has done. She has the eyes and the ears of the whole community, being restored, given a place and a voice by Jesus. Yet there is more.
Let us read verse 48 and see what Jesus called in front of His disciples and all the community. Verse 48 And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
With one touch from Jesus she received her physical healing.
With one touch from Jesus she received her mental healing.
With one touch from Jesus she received her spiritual healing.
Jesus declares complete wholeness, physically, mentally and spiritually. She is set free from the lies of this world and the lies of satan.
Interesting to note she did not receive her spiritual healing first. Let us not put any barriers into our thinking to receive one touch from Jesus.
No matter where we are in this life journey Jesus is ready, willing and able to give us one touch. A continuous touch, a daily touch, according to our need.
With one touch from Jesus everything changes.
Let us close our eyes…
Anyone listening who has not received one touch from Jesus whether it is physical, mental or spiritual healing now is the time. Jesus we praise you and worship you. By the power of the Holy Spirit, in your name Jesus surrender all to your will Father. It is your will we have physical healing, mental healing, spiritual healing. May we tear down and remove all blockages from us receiving from you.
One touch from Jesus everything changes.
We thank you Jesus for who you are, what you have done and will do, and that you are willing, able and always ready as we reach out to you to receive one touch from you. We thank you in your mighty name amen.
