Mark 5:22-34
22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Can you imagine the size of the crowds that were constantly gathering around Jesus?
The sermon on the mount.
The feeding of the 4,000 and the 5,000
The day Zacheous got saved
This event with this woman and many more.
How many were in the crowd that day, who cried crucify Him were recipients of His healing and blessings?
And then only 120 in the upper room. I don’t get it.
I. HEALED IN SPITE OF THE PRESS
Lets look at who was in that crowd that day.
A. SATAN OBVIOUSLY WAS IN THAT CROWD. HE OPPOSES EVERYTHING THAT CHRIST DOES. (Your salvation, healings, blessings)
1. He knew that Jesus was already on His way to Jairus’s house to raise his daughter from the dead and,
2. If three or four were going to be the only witnesses Satan could still create enough unbelief amongst the crowd that Jesus’ followers would be minimal.
3. But right in the middle of Satan’s scheme comes a little old lady pressing her way through the crowd with purpose.
4. If you are going to get anything from God, you are going to have to go to Him with purpose.
5. Purpose is faith pushing through every obstacle to get what you need.
6. The woman plowed over Satan like a steam roller, reached up and touched the hem of His garment. (God will clear the way for you to get to Him)
7. Satan’s plan was to destroy this woman with sickness. But he had no idea that she was going to take her sickness to Jesus.
8. Everything changed when she got to Him. He will do the same for us no matter what our circumstances.
B. THERE WERE OTHER SEEKERS WERE IN THAT CROWD
1. None of the others were healed.
2. This is obvious from the fact that Jesus took note of this one particular touch.
3. Because there were no healings taking place, she could have said, "I am fooling myself to think that God would heal me…"
4. She could have easily given up based on the odds.
5. The ODDS (based on the crowd) were, she wasn’t going to get healed.
6. The obvious odds were that she would be just like everyone else in that crowd.
7. But, she didn’t pay attention to the odds, she paid attention to faith!
8. Faith put the odds in her favor. It will do the same for you.
C. DOUBTING THOMAS WAS IN THAT CROWD
You have to be careful when there is an element of unbelief around. (A littlt levan leveneth the whole lump)
1. Thomas didn’t believe anything unless he saw it first.
2. But this woman wasn’t walking by sight, she was walking by faith (persuaded, convinced, confident, positively sure), that all it was going to take was a touch.
3. Thomas wouldn’t believe that Jesus was resurrected unless he saw and handled Him.
4. Obviously there were many like Thomas in that crowd that needed healing.
5. But unbelief kept their healing from take place.
6. Some were skeptical.
7. Others may have been critical of those who claim to have been healed.
8. If you want to press in to receive healing, you have to press past the Doubting Thomas.
II. SHE WAS HEALED IN SPITE OF THE PROGRAM
A. THE PROGRAM WAS TO RAISE JAIRUS DAUGHTER
1. The Lord was going a different direction at the time.
2. There was a mighty move of God taking place.
3. Jesus was on his way to raise the dead!
4. But she was outside the program.
5. It seemed that she was just an onlooker.
6. But she was much more than onlooker, she was coming with faith to get the desire of her heart.
B. SOME SAY THAT HEALING WAS ONLY FOR THE PAST
1. Some claim it ended with the 12 apostles of Christ.
2. To hear some tell it, you would think that it ended with the healing wave that took place in the 1950’s.
3. Today the emphasis is on other things!
4. Today we want to "prosper and establish programs" as though that is the "cure all" for the church’s problems.
5. Today we have a different direction for the church.
6. But, in spite of all that you can still touch God and be healed!
7. You just need what this woman had.
8. Verse 34 says, "…thy FAITH hath made thee whole…"
III. SHE WAS HEALED IN SPITE OF THE PREJUDICES
A. SHE DIDN’T BELONG IN THIS CROWD OBVIOUSLY
1. She was unclean.
2. She belonged among the unclean.
3. She did not belong in the crowd next to Jesus.
Isn’t it amazing that that’s where you usally find Jesus? Socializing with sinners. I mean, how did we get here? He came to the unclean, me.
4. She was taking a chance on being recognized when she came to Jesus.
5. One of the physicians who had worked on her could have recognized her as unclean.
6. Have you ever gone somewhere and felt out of place?
7. That’s part of what this woman felt that day as she pressed in to touch the hem of His garment.
B. THE CROWD OF HUMANITY CAN’T HEAL YOU
1. Being a Pastor doesn’t bring healing to my body!
2. Being a Christian for 28 years doesn’t bring healing to my body!
3. The crowd I run with can’t heal me!
4. I need a different crowd!
5. I need the presence of Jesus! (Can I have a good Amen?)
6. Jesus and I, that’s all the crowd I need for healing!
7. He is the great Physician!
8. My crowd of friends hasn’t paid for my healing, JESUS PAID FOR IT!
C. A CROWD OF DOCTORS CAN’T HEAL YOU
1. I don’t need to press in with the doctors as much as I need to press in with Jesus!
2. Admittedly, many doctors are born again believers.
3. And they will tell you that they don’t heal sickness and disease, they merely treat it.
4. I’m not against doctors, I’m for them.
5. But I am against sickness and disease. I believe in fighting it in any way I can (including medicine).
6. I don’t believe that sickness is from God, that’s why I believe in doctors and medicine. Sickness is the byproduct of the Adamic sin.
7. If you do believe that sickness is from God, then you are fighting God when you go to a doctor or take medicine for a headache.
8. If you believe that sickness is God’s will for you, then stay home and accept God’s will for your life. Pray that everyone gets what you’ve got if you believe it’s from God.
9. I don’t believe that way! (Can I have a good Amen!)
10. Doctors can treat you and make you feel better, but JESUS IS THE HEALER!
11. They can tell you what’s wrong but they can’t fix what’s wrong, JESUS IS THE HEALER! (Can I have a good Amen!)
12. Go to the doctor, let them treat you, but PRESS IN AND TOUCH JESUS FOR YOUR HEALING!
D. DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHAT THE CROWD EXPECTS
1. You don’t need to live UP to the expectations of the crowd! Just press in and touch Jesus
2. You don’t need to live DOWN to the expectations of the crowd.
3. JUST PRESS IN AND TOUCH JESUS IN FAITH!
CONCLUSION:
Notice in verse 34 the reason why Jesus said that this woman was healed.
He didn’t say, "Daughter, a special dispensation of grace hath made thee whole..."
He didn’t say, "Daughter, a supernatural gift of God especially for you hath made thee whole..."
He plainly said, "Daughter, THY FAITH hath made thee whole..."
Mark 9:23 says: "...all things are possible to him that believeth."
When I say to press in and touch Jesus, I’m asking you to pray in faith believing God to heal you, and then receive.
