Healed By The Touched—Luke 8:41-56; Heb. 4:14-16
Introduction: The book of Hebrews is a book of better things. What God is saying in the text is that we have not a high priest who can’t be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (God is in touch with our realities) He was tempted on all points but was without sin. The implication is a direction depiction to that which is former as compared to that which is exists now. Because up under the former administration of the Old Testament Law, there were high priests as well but they could not be touched relatively or relationally.
Their lives were in dedication to the work of the Lord and the sacrifices that had to be offered for the people. They had no point of reference for the sacrifices they offered to God for forgiveness. Only these Priests could go before the Lord on behalf of the people but they were not touched by the people. It’s almost like a comparative analysis between religion and relationship. Religion is dutiful, cold, and sterile. Relationship is very intimate, warm, and compassionate. The priests of the Old Testament were dutiful and rigid in their dealings with the people; and the sacrifices that went up on the Day of Atonement was a onetime deal for the entire year for all sins and infirmities.
1. Religion & Relationship: In Galatians 3:24, 25 talks about the law being the school master bringing us into grace; but when faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster. So God prefaced grace with the law; and the law was the face of Christianity until grace came. And up under the law were all kinds of sub laws. One of them was that the high priest could not be touched; neither were they touched by what the people were going through. Like the high priests, religion has a way to be untouchable. It divides because we love our principles and creeds more than we love people.
a. Relationship says that you are valued higher than the standards of religion. Never let anyone degrade your value, not your intellect, education, background, upbringing, or anything about you. Anytime you doubt your worth, think about Jesus dying for you. You must be valuable because He died for you. Tell your neighbor I am somebody.
b. You see God feels our infirmities and is touched by the feeling of our infirmities. This is shocking truth in the time in which this truth was heralded. It was the ideology that anyone who was infirmed could not touch God. God had to come to them, and then it had to be within the restraints and parameters of religion. They thought they had God boxed in but Jesus often broke out of the box of religion because of the people He loved. Jesus moved us from religion to relationship.
2. The Things We Learn Along The Way: In the Luke 8 we see Jesus is on His way to minister to Jairus’ daughter who is very ill. Jairus is a significant person and he summoned Jesus to go see about His daughter. Jairus is a man of influence but this was something he couldn’t move. There are some things that money can’t buy and notoriety can’t move. This was a job for Jesus; whenever you have a job that goes beyond the extremity of mans ability call for Jesus.
a. Jesus is teaching us here that walking with God is not about the destination it’s about the journey. Our biggest blessings are in the process. Sometimes God doesn’t give us what we want right away. He delays the answer so we can learn through the process (He loves us too much to give us too much). If He gave you the promise quickly you will miss the opportunity to learn from the process. We learn how to properly wait on the Lord in the process. Everyone is so focused on the mission of getting to Jairus’ house that they don’t realize that God has a little old lady planted on the side of the road.
3. Problems and Promises: This woman has no name which means she has no real significance according to history. She is known by her problem. Sometimes the problem becomes so big in your life that it swells up in your identity. Your problems can engross you in such a way that you lose your identity and be labeled by your problem. Be careful how much attention you give your problem. You can give it so much attention that you begin to talk about your problems more than your promise. Whenever you talk about your problem more than your promise you are praising your problem. Anything you praise will be magnified in your life.
4. Issues Lead To Isolation: This woman has been sick for 12 long years. You can get by with an issue for a few days or even a few months. But she dealt with this issue for a long time, until she became trapped by her world (the world/your world). When the problem first attacked her she had the means to fight. She had relationship, family, money, but it took all of that away. Long problems have a tendency to drain you. We cut people off because they make mistakes t rying to deal with their infirmities; not realizing they are in an episode, not the final chapter of their lives. What makes a story a good story is the plot.
a. Her issue separated her. Issues eventually separate you from everything you want to be connected to. This woman is living in a perpetual state of isolation. She is down to her very last. Sometimes we don’t believe God effectively when we have options. Sometimes He has to close doors for us to see Him effectively. Sometimes we feed things that we should let die. You are a product of whatever you cultivate in your life. Whatever you feed will grow.
5. Press into His Presence: All this woman has in herself is a voice that gives her an option. Either you stay here and die or you get up and move. Most of the time when people got healed in the bible Jesus came to them or was looking at them. He was not coming to her and His back was turned to her. Have you ever felt like His back was turned to you? She said rather than to wait for Him to come to her she would do something radical. You’ve got to come to a place where you ask yourself how bad you want it. It was against the law and against the social dictates of her time for her to touch a priest but she said whatever, if I die I’m going to die pressing.
a. She goes beyond religion to relationship. She presses through to get to Jesus. Her past, (trail of blood) is following her in her in her present. She can’t escape it because it keeps showing up. You can tell where she’s been by the trail she leaves behind. But in spite of her condition, in her pressing she gets a break through. She doesn’t even touch Jesus she touches something that is touching Him (just get close).
b. She touched the part of His garment that was the dirtiest lowest part. But Jesus had so much power that His clothes were anointed. And immediately she was made whole. She had been sick for 12 years. You would think that if it took 12 years to get in it, 12 years to get out (12 step program). But one touch will make you whole.
6. Don’t Stop Until You Make Contact: He said who touched me. That was an indictment to those around Him. Because they were all on Him but no one was touching Him; their motives stopped the virtue from flowing. They were wondering about who was going to sit on His right or left or the material things. But finally someone came and got a touch from the Lord. When she touched His hem He felt virtue leave from Him.
a. If you ever touch Jesus in any way, virtue will be imparted into your being. Don’t stop pressing until you have virtue in your walk, talk, and life. When He asked she admitted that it was her. When she knew within herself she was made whole she was able to face whatever came next. She confessed because miracles stir up testimony.
7. Healing and Resurrection: There is a correlation between the woman with the issue and the destination Jesus was going to. The woman with the issue and Jairus’ daughter were dying. One was a young girl and the other was a mature woman. Both of them were in a crisis. One of them Jesus was going to and the other He was going from. The woman was sick for 12 years. The year she got sick is the year the girl was born. 12 years old and 12 years sick. Not only was Jesus going to heal the former but resurrect the latter.
a. When He gets to Jairus’ daughters house. He has the woman with the issue on His heels. So when He touches the next generation it’s stronger than the former. For when He touches the former it’s a touch of healing but when He touches the latter it’s a touch of resurrection. Jairus’ daughter represents the generation that everyone says would never make it.