One touch that stopped a street in its tracks

Sermon notes from Sunday 17 February 2019 pm

Mark 5 verses 25 - 34

As we come to this portion of scripture it is very familar to us, we have read it many times, perhaps it has come to us during times of sickness.  It all began when Jesus was in the land of Gadarees.  There he met a man possessed of demons.  He had his dwelling in the tombs, had to be bound and fettered for his own safety.  No-one would walk past until one day Jesus did.  Jesus healed him.  You would have thought everyone would have beeen rejoicing that day.  The people saw the young man sitting, clothed and in his right mind.  The rulers of that land started to count the cost.  The demons had been cast into pigs who rushed down the hill and went in to the water below.  The cost was too great for them to bear.  They thought of what it would cost them and they asked Jesus to leave them alone.  Similarly when the spirit of God begins to move in people`s hearts today there is a cost to be involved.  "What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?" (Mark 8 verse 36)  They told Jesus they had no time for him.  Jesus took those men at their word.  Just as he turned their back on them they too turned their backs on him.  The Lord is taken away from them.  We need to be careful as we listen to God`s word, as his voice speaks to us, that we are not saying for the last time "I don`t want to be saved, I have too much to give up."  The Lord might take you at your word, leave you in your rebellion and rejection.  I want us to look here at a touch that stopped the crowd.  A touch that caught the attention of the Saviour.  Is it possible to have that touch tonight?  Yes it is.  Notice this woman.  The Lord stops in his tracks and says "who touched me."  He realised someone had touched him that day.  

It was a touch that was sought.  Look at the start.  She was part of the multitude of people thronging that area.  The people were attracted to him and gathered around him.  For 12 years she had suffered terribly.  She rose day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.  She suffered in a way that was unbearable.  She tried every doctor and remedy, spent all the money she had, wanted to be better but couldn`t be.  No doubt all these doctors and physicians promised something special but nothing happened.  See this woman in the street, in the midst of the multitudes coming forward and touching the hem of the Lord`s garment, enough to bring healing to her body.  It brings a question from Jesus - "who touched me."  Are you prepared to reach out and touch the Lord?  She knew she needed something that was not in herself, something the doctors could not give her.  She came to the place where she decided "if I don`t touch this garment I wll never be healed."  Maybe you have thought "what happens if I don`t get saved, I will be lost for all eternity."  D L Moody said "a man will never get saved until he realises he is lost."  That is simple but true.  Look at this woman - "one day she heard of Jesus".  Jairus the ruler of the synagogue had gone to bring Jesus to his house to heal his daughter.  He had brought Jesus down the very street this woman was on - isn`t it wonderful to know there is no coincidence with God.  Verse 28 "if I may but touch his clothes I shall be whole."  She realised there was something she had to do.  She had heard much about this man, his healings, raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, making the lame to walk again.  Now this was her opportunity.  She knew she had to do something, to press through the crowds, to touch the Lord`s garments.  You have to believe tonight.  Paul writing to Timothy said "we trust in the living God who is the Saviour of all men especially of those that believe." (1 Timothy 4 verse 10)  Jesus came into the world, died on the cross, suffered the terrible agony there, his back was like a ploughed field, his side opened up, all for us.  All that you have to do is believe, repent and confess your sins and you will be saved.  Pilate had to listen to all the witnesses and whatever his wife had to say.  He looked at the crowds and asked "what shall I do with Jesus?"  It is all about what you will do with Jesus.  Something has to be done by you.  Jesus has done everything to save your soul.

A touch that was done in secret.  Not one other person was aware of this touch.  She had been ill for 12 years, sought every possible cure, now she is here.  The multitude is around her.  She touches the hem of Christ`s garment and not another person knew about it.  Jesus asked "who touched me?"  The disciples told him to look at the crowds - and he was asking who touched him.  They didn`t know about her touching Jesus` hem.  No-one was there to help her.  It was between her and the Saviour.  She touched in secrecy.  If you realise you are not saved, that you have never been to Calvary, trust Christ as Saviour, you can do it in the quietness.  Not another person will know about it.  Doing business with God.  It is between you and him.  You can touch the Lord in secret.  You can tell him you have sinned, that you need a Saviour.  He died on the cross for you.  Not one other person will know about it.  Nicodemus made his way through the shadows of that night.  No-one else knew about his encounter with Jesus.  Joseph of Arimathea was a secret disciple.  Not one knew until he came in and asked Herod for Jesus` body.  You can do it secretly but you must confess it.  The woman had to stand up and say to Christ before the people that it was she that touched him.

A touch that was sincere.  She knew if only she could touch the hem of his clothes she would be healed.  She realised that she would never have that opportunity again.  The opportunity was now.  She was there and she was going to touch him and be made whole.  She did it in sincerity.  Weak and frail as she was, she needed to touch the Lord`s clothes.  Think of the man in scriptures who had a son who was tormented with evil spirits.  Those spirits would cast him into the waters or fire day in and day out.  He brought his son to the Lord, took his problem to Jesus.  He explained his problem - Mark 9.  The father knew all about the condition but he asked Jesus "if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us."  He brought the problem to the Lord.  He realised Jesus needed to do something for him.  "If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth."  You come in sincerity and in truth.  That man cried out from the depths of his heart "Lord I believe help thou my unbelief."  In Acts 16 when the Philippian jailer rushed in to where Paul was, he cried out "what must I do to be saved."  Paul told him "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."  It is possible to hear of your great need of salvation and even believe it but not to be sincere and rely on it.  

The touch was simple.  She crept in through the crowd.  All she could do was touch.  This was just a touch not a clinging onto.  For 12 years she had suffered, her body was weak,  She used all the strength she could muster.  Maybe there was just a small gap in the crowd but it was enough to reach through.  The simplicity of the task yet for her it was a difficult thing.  Maybe it is the most simplest of tasks yet it is the most difficult thing you have every thought of doing.  She could have thought this would be just another failure.  You have to simply believe and accept Christ at his word.  The message hasn`t changed from that day.  You don`t have to go out and climb a mountain or walk across broken glass.  It is simply believing on the Lord Jesus Christ to save your soul.

The touch was sufficient.  The moment she touched the virtue or power fled from Jesus` body and went into her body.  The healing came to her body immediately.  If you were to trust Christ at this moment in time he would save your soul.  What will you do with Jesus?  One touch that stopped a street in its tracks.  One touch that brought healing to this woman`s body, saved her life - what about you tonight?