I. TOUCHING JESUS IN SPITE OF THE PRESS
A. JUDAS WAS MOST LIKELY IN THAT CROWD
1. There are times when people allow a Judas to keep them from receiving God’s best.
2. They get their eyes focused on some hypocrite rather than focusing on Jesus.
3. There are a lot of Judases in the crowd that preaches the message of God’s healing.
4. There are plenty of charlatans who have used this message for selfish gain.
5. There are plenty of hypocrites who have preached the message of healing.
6. Because of this, there are many who refuse to believe in healing.
7. There was a major hypocrite between this woman and Jesus.
8. But, she pressed past Judas.
9. Sometimes there’s a Judas who is closer to Jesus than you are.
10. Unless you get past him, you can’t get to Jesus.
B. OTHER SEEKERS WERE IN THAT CROWD
1. None of the others got healed.
2. This is obvious from the fact that Jesus took note of this one touch.
3. Because there were so many that didn’t get healed, she could have said, "I was 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!
C. DOUBTING THOMAS WAS MOST LIKELY IN THAT CROWD
1. Thomas didn’t believe anything unless he saw it first.
2. Thomas had to see the nail prints in Jesus’ hands before he would believe.
3. Thomas wouldn’t believe that Jesus was resurrected unless he saw and handled Him.
4. There are many who are like Thomas in the healing crowd.
5. They deny that any healings take place.
6. They are skeptical of any evidence.
7. They are 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 Thomases.
II. TOUCHING JESUS 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. She was outside the program.
5. It seemed that she was just an onlooker.
Illustration: The Ring Bear
A little boy was in a relative’s wedding. As he was coming down the aisle he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd alternating between the bride’s side and the groom’s side. While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar...so it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step, ROAR, all the way down the aisle.
As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit. The little boy, however, was getting more and more distressed from all the laughing, and was also near tears by the time he reached the pulpit.
When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said,
"I was being the Ring Bear!"
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 pentecostals tell it, you would think that it ended with a healing wave that
took place in the 1950’s.
3. Today the emphasis is on other things!
4. Today we want to reach new people groups.
5. Today we want to build small groups.
6. Today we have a different direction that the church is headed.
7. But, you can still touch God and be healed in spite of that!
8. You just need what this woman had.
9. Verse 34 says, "…thy FAITH hath made thee whole…"
III. TOUCHING JESUS IN SPITE OF THE PREJUDICES
A. SHE DIDN’T BELONG IN THIS CROWD
1. She was unclean.
2. She belonged among the unclean.
3. She did not belong in the crowd next to Jesus.
4. She was taking a chance on being recognized when she went 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. Have you ever wondered what people would think if they found out that you don’t normally
dress that expensively?
8. That’s part of what this woman felt that day as she pressed in to touch the hem of His garment.
Illustration: DON’T MENTION IT
Francis MacNutt quotes theologian Walter Wink in his book “Deliverance from Evil Spirits" and writes:
"...if you want to bring all talk to a halt in shocked embarrassment, every eye riveted on you, try mentioning angels, or demons or the devil. You will quickly be appraised for signs of pathological violence and then quietly shunned.
Angels, spirits, principalities, gods, Satan – these along with other supernatural realities, are the unmentionables of our culture."
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 25 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. Me and Jesus, that’s all the crowd I need for healing!
7. He’s 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. The doctor’s office smells like bandaids.
3. There are doctors who are born again believers.
4. Most of them will tell you that doctors don’t heal sickness and disease, they merely treat it.
5. I’m not against doctors, I’m for them.
6. I’m against sickness and disease. I believe in fighting it in any way I can (including medicine).
7. I don’t believe that sickness is from God, that’s why I believe in doctors and medicine.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. I don’t believe that way! (Can I have a good Amen!)
11. Doctors can treat you and make you feel better, but JESUS IS THE HEALER!
12. 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!)
13. Go to the doctor, let them treat you, but PRESS IN AND TOUCH JESUS FOR
YOUR HEALING!
Illustration: 2 Doctors
There’s a story told of a husband and wife both of who were doctors - one a doctor of theology and the other a doctor of medicine. When their doorbell was rung and the maid answered, the inquirer would often ask for "the doctor". The maid’s interesting reply was: "Do you want the one who preaches or the one who practices?"
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:
Isaiah 53:4-5
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
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 didn’t say, "Daughter, the pill that the physicians gave you earlier hath finally 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.
