SERMON: UNTIL I TOUCH THE HEM :: Shared By Arms

Text
Luke 8:40 – 48

[40] Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. [41] Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house [42] because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. [43] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. [44] She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

[45] "Who touched me?" Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."

[46] But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."

[47] Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. [48] Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."


Exposition

Jesus and his disciples have returned to Galilee from the land of the Garasenes, and as their boat lands on the shore of lake Capernaum, a crowd is waiting (me and you). They have seen his boat from afar and have massed on the beach to welcome him.
The Press of the Crowd (8:40-42)

These pple are at the beach, Jesus's boat is coming just as he is riding in this word to the Mwafrika chatters this hour.

The bible says...there was this press of the Crowd (8:40-42). Pressing of a people in need.Jairus, is also there. He has a need for his daughter....he is pressing! The woman with the issue of blood is there....she is pressing! Me and you we are here...we are pressing!! Rent, power n water bills is the multitude today, pressing!! Joblessness, financial strains.....pressure! Broken n shaken relationships.....pressure!

Let me leave the mention of Jairus, the synagogue ruler, for now and consider him in the next lesson.
But as Jesus heads for Jairus' house to heal his daughter, the crowd is especially thick. The NIV says "As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him" (8:42).
NB: The world we live in has a need to see Jesus!
The word "crushed" or "thronged" translated (KJV) is Greek sumpnigo, "as a hyperbolic expression for 'crowd around, press upon,' something like 'almost crush.' "[1] It is the same word used by the Gospel writers in the Parable of the Soils (8:14) to describe the thorns "choking" the wheat and making it unfruitful.

As Jesus moves toward Jairus' house, the streets are utterly jammed.
I imagine it like the crowd moving out of Kasarani Stadium at the end of a game.

Capernaum's streets are not designed to handle these kinds of crowds.
Jesus is able to push forward only with difficulty and progress is slow.
Jairus is at his side and ever-mindful that his daughter's life is slipping away every moment that is wasted.
The Woman with the Hemorrhage (8:43) ………….Issue of blood.
"And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her." (8:43)

Among the pushing, shoving, elbowing crowd this day is a pale woman.
- Pale due to bleeding,
- Pale due to Joblessness
- Pale due to financial strains……………Pale
For twelve years she has suffered from uterine bleeding and she is weak.
Mark records, "She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse" (Mark 5:26).

Have you been sick for an extended period of time? Like the Tom’s case I posted today,
Have you experienced the hopelessness of having physicians do all sorts of tests, put you through all sorts of treatments, charge huge medical bills, and leave you worse for all their doings? Occasionally this lady's friends would tell her of some doctor they had heard of in another town. When she was younger, she might make the journey to consult with them, but no longer.

She is broke and hopeless.
Why go to a doctor when nothing helps?
Her faith in doctors' remedies is long since gone.
There is no hope for her.

According to the Jewish law – she is ceremonially unclean.
Women were normally considered unclean during their period.
"When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.
Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period.

Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening." (Leviticus 15:25-27)

Anyone who knew about her illness would shun her. She couldn't go about in society and mingle in the marketplace with the other women, since a touch from her would make someone unclean. She couldn't attend ceremonial occasions, or synagogue worship. And so she resorts to secrecy. Probably she isn't even known in Capernaum.

She comes incognito, her condition carefully concealed. But she comes with determination.
Elbowing Her Way to Touch the Master's Clothing (8:44)
"She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped" (Luke 8:44).
Friends………it does not matter if the church recognizes u or not, the point is….Elbow ur way into the master, whether people enter Mwafrika or Facebook to “see” other people…..elbow to touch His garment.

She determines to find him and be healed.
When his boat is spotted coming towards shore she is among the crowd waiting.
When Jairus prostrates himself before Jesus begging for his daughter's life, she is not far away.
- It does not matter whether someone else want to touch Jesus
- It does not matter if you can hear other people praying,
- Go for your miracle………Leave Jairus to plead his case.
- Jesus is able
And when Jesus begins to move through the crowd toward Jairus' housethis woman is not far behind.

To reach Jesus she must push and shove and elbow her way between people when tiny openings occur. She is weak; her strength is drained, and yet she will not give up.
- Never give up when you need a miracle
- Don’t listen to pressures
- Pursue your mission
She must reach Jesus, and so she continues to wedge her body through the crowd until she comes up behind him.

She has decided in her heart, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed" (Mark 5:28). She doesn't want to confront him in public.

She is too ashamed to admit the nature of her illness,
- No one has a right to stop you from touching Jesus
- As long as you can see Him….push on.
This woman had to do this without revealing anything.
But she must touch him.
She must.

We too must touch Him for our issues………..
Don’t give me an attitude…..i must touch Him.

Touch the hem (His Word)
For that is where the power is.

Amen

Shared by Arms At the Mwafrika chatroom on Friday Oct 9, 2009