Mark 5:24-34
Matthew 9:20
“Touching the HEM of HIM”
The story of the woman with the issue of blood has more context and depth of meaning than we realize…
Joke: They say don’t judge someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Because at least then you will be a mile away from them, and you’ll have their shoes… Then go ahead and judge them.
But in all sincerity try walking in this woman's shoes for 12 years with her issues… That’s a whole lot longer than a mile.
Looking at this story the most notable attribute this woman has is her determination:
The woman with the issue of blood was determined to get to the HEM so that she could get to the HIM.
She had to touch the HEM before she could touch the HIM.
And the moment she touched the HEM she felt the healing virtue flowing from the HIM!
The scripture said of her in Mark 5:26 - That she - 'Had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,'
Listen, she was completely invested in her healing…
So many of us would stop investing in something that lost money.
We wouldn’t work a job that gave no paycheck.
We would quit the first time something proved too hard with no results.
How many times do people quit believing in their healing when the first thing they try does not work?
But this woman's determination was so strong that even if everything she owned was spent even after 12 years of trying… She would keep seeking her miracle!
Look at what she did in Mark 5:27 - It reads - 'When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
She tried so many different treatments from so many different physicians over the last 12 years… Yet over all those years and after so many failures:
Not once did she quit believing that it’s worth a shot to keep trying and keep seeking!
Scripture said, “When she had heard of Jesus” - She came in the press!
Every failure and disappointment behind her did not change her resolve to PRESS forward and believe again.
Paul said in Philippians 3:13 - 'Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do , forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,'
In Verse 14 - He said, 'I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'
So many other people would say enough is enough.
Quitting is always so easy to do after failure.
But when she heard of Jesus, she was not going to write him off as a possible solution.
After losing so much she still could say, “What do I have to lose?”
In Mark 5:28 - “She said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.'
I'm curious today about this:
Why didn't she just walk up to Jesus and ask Him to lay hands on her like every other sick person did?
If we look at her particular infirmity, we may find the answer:
Her problem was “AN ISSUE OF BLOOD.”
You have to understand what kind of ISSUE an issue of blood is:
Scripture says that life is in the blood.
And an issue of blood was a constant hemorrhaging and flowing of her blood out of her body!
HER LIFE WAS LITERALLY BEING DRAINED FROM HER EVERY DAY!
There was no stopping the cramping, the pain, the bleeding.
It drained her of her energy, her emotions, and her relationships!
Why she felt that she could not be touched by Jesus can be found in the book of Leviticus 15:19 - It Reads - “'And if a woman has an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.”
So, you see; She very well may have desired a touch from Jesus, but because of her issue, and the laws of purification, she may have felt that Jesus could not touch her and still be considered clean.
She probably felt that Jesus would not want to touch her even if she asked him for healing…
She also may have felt that if Jesus did touch her, then she somehow would just make the Messiah unclean…
You may feel that you are in her same situation today:
You feel like Jesus can’t touch your needs.
You feel your particular issue puts you in an unsolvable predicament.
She had probably heard of how he changed water to wine.
How he raised the lame man out of his bed.
How he healed the lepers and opened blinded eyes.
And with all the stories she’s heard, and how he’s healed…
She wondered if he couldn't touch me, then how can she be healed?
Friend, if you're here today wondering if God can touch you…
I want to encourage you to touch the HEM of HIM!
Listen: This woman knew what it was like to feel worthless and unwanted.
Everyone knew her to have been wealthy, for the Bible said in Mark 5:26 - She had spent everything she had, and with that She suffered from many physicians and only got worse.
What may I ask was she suffering from these physicians?
Was she suffering from their treatments?
Or maybe from their mistreatment…
Maybe she was that patient that even people in the medical field did not want to touch…
Oh, they would touch her money, but they did not want to touch her…
What kind of help could they give to someone who was unclean, and would make others unclean from just one touch?
And what may have been worse was how did she have enough money for these treatments?
Women in the bible were not known as being wealthy unless they had some kind of husband or provision from a man…
Why do we never hear of a husband for this woman, helping her and encouraging her through the trials??? Was she a harlot? Or if she had a husband, where did he go?
Did he finally get fed up waiting for her healing over the years?
Was he tired of seeing all the money being spent on useless treatments?
Maybe the years of not being able to touch her with love and affection was the last straw for him, so he sent a bill of divorcement and they parted ways.
(Even Jarius' Daughter had a man to speak for her infirmity, but this woman had nobody!)
How forsaken was this woman, how unwanted, and unloved was she?
Were there times she wanted to give up?
Most definitely, especially since everyone else had given up on her.
Were there times she wanted to just quit and stop seeking a healing?
I am sure there were times…
But she did not let those circumstances or those people that mistreated her, keep her from seeking, and pressing for a miracle.
This was why when she heard of Jesus, she encouraged herself to find a way to reach him.
In Mark 5:28 - She said to herself, If I can just touch his clothes…
Sometimes you have to talk yourself into believing again!
If you wait for other people to encourage you all the time you may find yourself disappointed in their answers, and never be encouraged.
There has got to be something deep inside you that tells yourself:
I can make it, I believe it’s not too late for me, I still have a purpose
I still have a destiny, I am still a child of GOD and He still LOVES me!
Keep pushing, Keep pressing
You're getting closer, don’t stop, don’t give up!
David knew how to encourage himself, when there was nobody there to encourage him:
In 1 Samuel 30:6 - When they returned from battle and their houses had been burned with fire and their wives and children had been taken, and the people became angry with David and discussed stoning him.
The bible says: “But David encouraged himself in the Lord.”
The woman with the issue of blood did the same thing with no help from anyone… She encouraged herself in the LORD.
In Mark 5:28 - She said to herself, If I can just touch his clothes…
Listen: Her initial thought was to just brush him as if it were a mistake, she wanted to get by unnoticed, unrecognized, and she did not want any attention drawn to her…
Matthew 9:20 - Reads that the 'Woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:'
She thought to touch just his clothes but because the crowd was so packed and dense, she pressed through to the point she could no longer stand:
Crawling on the floor to the only part of his garment she could reach… She touched The HEM of HIM.
I am talking to someone today that you have done all you could do to stand the pressure, the trials, and the burdens you carry…
But you have to tell yourself today, that even if you have to carry those burdens to this altar on your hands and knees!
You're going to do whatever it takes to touch HIM today.
When she finally touched the HEM of HIM - Mark 5:29 - Tells us that - 'Straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.'
Psalm 133:2 - Tells us of - 'The precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, Even Aaron's beard: and it trickled down to the skirts of his garments;'
It was at the base of the garment where all the anointing oil from the head flowed downward, and because it was hemmed, it stayed there...
When this woman reached out and touched the HEM of HIM, All the ANOINTING that was at the base of Jesus' garment instantaneously healed her issue of blood and she was cleansed.
Mary Magdalene came to the feet of Jesus and anointed his feet with oil and wiped them clean with her hair and washed them with tears.
There is something profoundly anointing about being at the feet of Jesus!
If you're here today with a need in your body…
I want to encourage you to find the HEM of HIM!
Press through until you can finally touch him!
CLOSE
Luke 8:45 - Tells us what happened after the healing - 'Jesus asked, who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, who touched me?
Remember with me what we already established earlier… The book of Leviticus was clear that anyone that touched someone with an issue of blood was unclean…
Verse 46 - Reads - And Jesus said, somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
Naturally, the woman was grateful that she was cleansed… But now she would have to face her fear of rejection from Jesus whom she touched…
She did not say a word!
She wanted to go unnoticed!
And she thought she could get away with a healing, but she was caught red handed!
In Verse 47 - “When the woman saw that she could not hide, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
Why was she Trembling??? There was remorse in her soul!
She felt the rejection she had from everyone she loved for the past 12 years coming back again.
And now, despite all her efforts to leave things unknown, unseen, and unheard Jesus put her on the spot of confession!
Would she be rejected again?
Would she be rebuked?
Would she be punished?
But in Verse 48 - Jesus said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.'
This woman had not heard such tender, merciful words from any man in more than 12 years!
All she ever heard was the word unclean! But then just like that Jesus spoke of comfort, her faith, complete healing and peace!
After his words, not only was she physically healed, but emotionally healed as well… SHE WAS MADE WHOLE again!
This woman wanted to come to Jesus from behind.
But Jesus called her face to face.
She was satisfied with just a healing of her issue.
But Jesus did more than heal her body.
He healed years of rejection and abuse.
Jesus wasn’t satisfied with her remaining nameless and faceless.
He wanted this woman to know that he knew who she was…
He wanted to become more than just another treatment, or physician…
He wanted to be her God, her King, her Savior, and her Heavenly Father.
I’m opening these altars today:
Of all the things she tried and failed, everything was screaming: “What chance would she ever have to be healed?”
Especially since the crowd was so thick and the reach was so far.
But she was determined to touch Jesus.
She thought just to touch his garment, but she got more than what she bargained for!
She was knocked down, she was pushed, and crushed, but she was determined through all that: saying “I HAVE TO TOUCH!”
She crawled through the crowd to where Jesus was:
Being humiliated and humbled by the crowd…
She spoke the words: I can make it, Keep pushing, Keep pressing, You're getting closer, don’t stop, don’t give up!
“Until she finally reached out and touched THE HEM of HIM.”
I want to encourage someone to reach out and touch HIM today!
Disclaimer: Some of the thoughts and ideas shared in this sermon are inspired by other people who have discussed the same topics on blogs, books, sermon central, the internet, and many other various commentaries. Not all of the dialogue in this sermon are the sole property of Michael Bierdeman - "There is nothing new under the sun". However, the sermon is written the way he would speak and formatted in his own words. This sermon is shared for the promotion of God's kingdom and that his work may flourish in our world today.
