The Woman Who was Healed

Father, we thank you for the truth of your word and the opportunity we have to study this morning that we would come to grips with your awesome power. In Jesus name, amen. The choir just sang about God and his awesome power and I wonder how many of us understand the awesome power of our great and wonderful God. During the incarnation, that power was unleashed upon the earth. It's a unique power because Psalm 62 11 says power belongs only to God. He is called in the Hebrew El Shaddai, which means the mighty one or the almighty God.

That's who he is. And we think a lot in terms of power, but how many of us understand our God as awesome and powerful, powerful, all powerful. We talk a lot about the power of God. We talk a lot about the love of God, the mercy of God, but the very few of us live in the realm of his power. For example, the disciples were men who knew a lot about the Old Testament. And one day God said to them in Luke chapter 8, let's get into the boat and go to the other side of the lake. They got into the boat, storm erupted.

When the storm came, the Bible says they feared for their lives. And yet the Lord had told them we were going to go to the other side of the lake. And so when our Lord had calmed the storm, he said to them, why are you so timid? Why don't you believe what I say? How is it you of all people have no faith? Why are you such cowards? Simply because they did not believe what he said. Now, if you were Peter, James, John, Matthew, any of those guys, you'd be saying, well, yeah, I believe in what Jesus says.

I believe in the power, power of God. And yet they did not understand the Old Testament. They didn't understand, for example, Psalm 107, when the Lord says these words, Psalm 107, verse number 23, those who go down to the sea and ships who do business on great waters, they have seen the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep for he spoke and raised up a stormy wind which lifted up the waves of the sea. They rose up to the heavens. They went down to the depths. Their soul melted away in their misery.

They reeled and staggered like a drunken man and were at their wits end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still so that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet. So he guided them to their desired haven. Now, if I was an apostle, I would have known Psalm 107. I would have known that's my God who causes the wind to blow and the waves to erupt. I would have known that it was my God who, who with a spoken word can calm the sea and cause there to be quiet on the ocean.

But somehow the disciples, although they would say they believed in the power of God, at the moment they found themselves in a crisis, the moment they found themselves outside of their comfort zone, they begin to doubt the power of God. A lot like you and me today. We're the same way. We say we believe in what the Bible says.

We say we believe that our God is all powerful. We say that we believe that God can do anything, that he is awesome. And yet we doubt him so many times on various occasions, especially when we find ourselves amidst a crisis, amidst some kind of turmoil. But Luke chapter 8 is about power. It's about the power of the Almighty God, a power that once unleashed upon the earth in unprecedented forms is seen to be unparalleled in its account. Nobody can match the power of God. He said if I, if I can cast out demons with the finger of God, you know the kingdom of God is upon you.

And so he says with relative ease I can take care of the satanic world. Why? Because his power is unparalleled. His power is unprecedented. Nothing like the power of Almighty God. His power is unlimited. His power is unending. That is, it never comes to an end. It's unlimited. He's the infinite eternal God. He's always all powerful. He doesn't expend an amount of energy and then say, wow you know I'm really kind of tired. Don't ask me for anything now because I'm kind of worn out. Then do that. He can't do that because he's eternal.

He's infinite. His power is unlimited. It's unending. That's why the prophet said in Isaiah 40, he never grows tired nor weary. He never becomes weak. He never has expended so much energy in helping one family that he can't help another family. God's not like that. He's all powerful. So his power is unlimited. His power is unending because it's unparalleled. It's unprecedented. It's unique. It's unsurpassed by anyone because he is El Shaddai, the Almighty God of the universe. And yet that power became unpopular.

It became unpopular with many people. In fact, it became unpopular in last week's sermon in the land of the Gerasenes when the people asked him to leave. We don't want you to be a part of our life. We want you to leave after he'd cast out legion from a man, thousands of demons, inhabiting one man. He cast out into a herd of 2,000 swine who went off the cliff into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. That power was too much for those people and that power became unpopular. And yet Luke 8 is about the power of Almighty God.

We talked about his wonderful power when we read Psalm 103. It's important to understand what our Lord is doing in the lives of people. Remember, there are people who say, well, my God's all-powerful. He can heal. He can heal my disease. And they claim Isaiah chapter 53 where it says, by his stripes we are healed. In Psalm 103, we read this morning, Psalm 103, it says, we thank him for all the benefits he's given to us and therefore he heals all our diseases. And they claim that God can heal their cancer and heal their ailments and heal their leukemia and heal everything.

Yet they misappropriate the text of Scripture. Because the Bible says in 1 Peter 1 verse number 24 that Christ bore in his body your sin and mine as he hung on the tree in order that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

And then he quotes that Isaiah 53 verse that says, and by his stripes we are healed. What do the stripes of Christ do when it comes to healing power? It causes you to die to sin and live to righteousness. So Peter interprets Isaiah 53 through the inspiration of God. Also Psalm 103 when it says he heals all your diseases, in context he heals all your soul's diseases. Psalm 107 verse number 20 proves that as well as the context of Psalm 103. Because the essence in Christ's saving power is the ability to save your soul from eternal damnation.

And that is the essence of his great power where he transfers you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. You see we must understand what's happening in Luke chapter 8. And that is we understand the time of this healing in Luke chapter 8. In fact let me read to you our story today because our story is unique.

It's about a young woman. It starts out about a man who has an only daughter who is sick and is about to die. But we move quickly to a young woman who has a bleeding, been bleeding for 12 years and is in desperate need of a healing. And so we'll finish the story about Jairus and his only daughter in January. Because we have to go through the month of December and do something else. But in January we'll finish Luke chapter 8. But let me read to you the story.

It says this in verse number 40 of Luke 8. And as he as Jesus returned the multitude welcomed him for they had all been waiting for him. And behold there came a man named Jairus and he was an official of the synagogue and he fell at Jesus' feet and began to entreat him to come to his house for he had an only daughter about 12 years old and she was dying. But as he went the multitudes were pressing against him. And a woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years and could not be healed by anyone came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.

And Jesus said who was the one who touched me? And while they were all denying it Peter said master the multitudes are crowding and pressing upon you. But Jesus said someone did touch me for I was aware that power had gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice she came trembling and fell down before him and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed.

He said to her daughter your faith has made you well go in peace. This is a story a continued saga about the power of the Messiah. His power to calm the sea. His power to command the demons. Now his power to cure disease. And then our next story the power to control life and death. That's power. And only God can do that. And so Luke 8 is a story about the power of of Almighty God. And so let me give you first of all in our outline the time of the story.

The time happens when there was a great multitude awaiting him. Verse number 40 tells us there was a great multitude waiting for him at Capernaum. Remember he had left Capernaum set sail to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and a storm erupted. He calmed the storm. He landed on the shore at the land of the Gerasenes. When he landed on that shore there was a man who was demon possessed who came running at him and he healed the man. The time falls in three categories. The time was when our Lord was healing, a leader was hurting, and a lady was hemorrhaging.

That's the time of Luke chapter 8 verse number 40. Our Lord was healing the multitudes. He had just cast the demon out of this man who is filled with legion. He wanted to come with Jesus. He begged Christ, Lord let me go with you.

Jesus said no you stay here. You go and you declare what great things God has done for you. And so he went around the area declaring what great things Jesus had done for him because Jesus is God. He wanted everybody to know that. He wanted everybody to see what Jesus had done in his life. But our Lord was healing. That's why the multitudes were there in Capernaum. They were waiting for him to come back. He had left the day earlier. And they were waiting for him to return. They wanted to see him. It's only about a six mile journey from the land of the Gerasenes to Capernaum.

And so they were waiting for him to arrive. And you can imagine the multitudes. And when it talks about multitudes in the Bible we're not talking about 100 or 200 or 300. We're talking about thousands of people. There they were waiting for Jesus to return. They just sat down on the seashore waiting for him to come. I mean talking about a hero. Jesus was their hero. Talking about a celebrity. Jesus was that celebrity. I mean they couldn't go back home and watch TV or go to a movie or or go do some other activity.

I mean they were they just sat down on the seashore and waited for Jesus to come back. And there they were thousands of people. And you can imagine the crowd. They're sitting there. Maybe some are skipping stones on the Sea of Galilee. And someone says oh here they come. Here comes Jesus and his disciples. And as as word began to echo through the village of Capernaum throngs of people would began to gather there on the seashore there in Capernaum awaiting the arrival of the Messiah to come back by.

Because they knew of his healing power. See the miracle power of Jesus was very popular to them. But the message he preached was extremely unpopular to them. They knew what he could do. And that's why Mark's account tells us that these people who were sick and who were ill who were blind who were lame filled with anxious thoughts. They were their gyrus. Gyrus the synagogue official. He was one of the multitude. There he was awaiting Jesus to come knowing that Jesus could do what no one else could.

And that was heal his daughter. And you know our Lord is so full of grace. You know he healed so many people. But you remember and please understand this. When it comes to the miracles of Jesus two things you must always understand. Everything he does in the physical realm is a picture of what he does in the spiritual realm when it comes to salvation. That's number one.

And number two what he did was present to the people what it will be like when he the king rules in Jerusalem.

If you go and you read the Old Testament and you understand what's going to happen during the millennial reign of Christ upon this earth. Death becomes unnatural and disease becomes uncommon in the millennial kingdom. In fact the the Old Testament prophet said that when a man dies at a hundred years of age he dies as a baby. That means in the millennial kingdom you live to be 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700. Yeah George you're getting up there baby. See you live to get really really old in the millennial kingdom.

See death is unnatural and disease is uncommon. And so what Jesus was doing was banishing all disease from the land of Israel. So much so that when he died nobody was sick. They were all healed. Because he wanted to demonstrate that he was the king and what it's going to be like in the kingdom you must remember that. And yet people like I told you earlier they claim those verses in Isaiah 53 and in Psalm 103 saying that that God it has has promised to heal them in this life. No he hasn't done that.

Oh yes he will heal you completely. He will heal your your body, your soul, your mind, your spirit. He will heal you completely because that's the promise of redemption. When a man is saved from his sin there's going to be a day he gets a brand new body. There's going to be a time in the eternal state where there is no more death, there is no more disease, there's no more tears, there is no more pain, there is no more sorrow. Why? Because it's complete righteousness. But that's the eternal state.

That's at least a thousand and seven years away if I was counting today and the Lord came back today. But the bottom line is Jesus wants to show them the kingdom. He heals everybody. So you can imagine the the the the the scores of people that would be there. I mean they're so interested in the popularity of Jesus. No rock star today, no athlete today would ever experience the publicity and the notoriety that Jesus himself faced in Galilee and in Israel. None. No one can do what he he does. He's the all powerful God of the universe.

So it comes at a time where our Lord was healing. He was the healer and that divine healing that he had is the power that he displayed to show his messianic credentials that he was the king and power that he delegated to his apostles and to the 70 so they too could have a message that would be confirmed through the miraculous powers they gave. And so Jesus would be able to show them he was the king by presenting all of his messianic credentials. But not only was this our Lord healing but there was a leader named Jairus who was hurting and he was on the on the seashore.

He was he was waiting for the arrival of the Messiah and he couldn't wait for Jesus to show because he had a daughter who was ill. Luke's account says it this way. And behold there came a man named Jairus. Now why does he say behold? Because whenever Luke uses the word behold it's all throughout the gospel of Luke. It means stand in amazement, be amazed. This is a wonderment. This is out of the ordinary. This is a synagogue official. This is a ruler in the synagogue. His name is Jairus. Stand back, look out, here is a man who for all practical purposes would not be anxious for Jesus to arrive because he would be a part of the national establishment who had already made plans and plots to kill the Messiah.

And yet this synagogue ruler he was different. He was different. Read on. It says he was an official of the synagogue and he fell at Jesus's feet and began to entreat him to come to his house for he had an only daughter about 12 years old and she was dying. Luke's is the only gospel writer to tell us it was his only daughter. Matthew doesn't, Mark doesn't, but Luke does. In fact Luke was the one who recorded in Luke 7 that there was the only son of a widow at Nain who died. Remember that story? That's Luke chapter 7.

That was a few months ago. And then in Luke chapter 9 which will be a few years from now. In Luke chapter 9 he'll say it again that there was a man who had a son, his only son who was demon possessed. You see Luke wants us to see that Christ is concerned with all the pain that we experience and so he emphasizes the fact that this is the only child. This leader was hurting because his only daughter was about to die. And Luke is going to stand this synagogue official in contrast with this woman who was bleeding.

It's a unique story because it emphasizes the fact that one is rich, one is poor, one's a man and one's a woman. It emphasizes the fact that that one of them is revered and the other is vilified. That is the man is revered, the woman is vilified. The man is exalted, the woman is despised, the man is respected, the woman rejected, the man is used to being honored and the woman is used to being scorned. The man had a 12-year-old daughter. The woman had a 12-year disease. The man was a leader in the synagogue.

The woman would have been excommunicated from the synagogue. What Luke is doing is showing us what was prophesied by Mary the mother of Jesus in Luke chapter 1 verse number 52 when she said, he has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humbled. You see he is contrasting the man who is high up and the woman who is low down and how he brings them together and they both in the providence of God experience the grace and mercy of a loving Lord who of course is all-powerful because that's the king of the universe.

A synagogue official, he would have supervised all activities in the synagogue. A synagogue official would have appointed those who would read in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He would appoint all those who would pray on the Sabbath. He was a well-respected man in the community. If he is the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum, which we believe he is, then he would have been in Capernaum in Luke chapter 4 when Jesus was preaching on a Sabbath day and there was a man there who was demon possessed when the demon cried out during the middle of the sermon, what do we have to do with you Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy One of God?

He would have heard those words because as a supervisor of all activities he would have been a part of that synagogue experience. He also would have been a part of the fact that when Jesus left that day the synagogue and went out to Peter's home, which is just a few hundred feet away, he would have experienced and known about the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. This man knew. He knew about Jesus and if there's anybody who can heal his daughter it would be Jesus the Messiah. He believed that. Matthew's account says that when he came to Jesus he said to her my daughter is already dead.

In other words he knew that if she died Jesus could even raise her from the dead. That's faith. That's a man who believed in the coming of the Messiah. This man had been transformed. This man didn't believe like the Jewish establishment believed. He had seen too much. He had heard too much. He knew who Jesus was and so he believed in the coming of the Messiah. There was a leader who was hurting. There was a Lord who was healing and then there was a lady who was hemorrhaging. The Bible says and a woman, verse 43, who had a hemorrhage for 12 years and could not be healed by anyone came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak.

The lady who was hemorrhaging, much to Jairus's dismay, she would propose a major interruption in the life of Christ or in the life of Jairus I guess I should say. He had a plan. Jesus come quickly. He would come. He would fall down before the Messiah. People would move out of his way because he was a well-respected man. Everybody knew who he was. He would fall at the feet of Jesus and he would entreat the Lord. He would beg the Lord I need you to come. I need you to heal my daughter. She's been sick and she's about to die and you're the only one who can heal her.

The Bible says as he went the multitudes were pressing against him. The multitudes began to press against him. He went. He wanted to show his compassion. He wanted to show his mercy because that's the kind of God he is. He is a compassionate God who shows extreme pathos in the lives of those who hurt. Our Lord who heals, a leader who hurts and the lady who was hemorrhaging sets the context for the power, the awesome power of God. The power that for all practical purposes is unpopular because it demonstrates to us the Messiah but that unpopular power was unparalleled, unprecedented, unlimited and unending and unsurpassed because it is the power of an awesome God who can exercise that power at will.

The question is do we believe that? There was a lady who had a bleeding, a hemorrhage. She believed that which leads us to point number two.

I want to talk to you about a trial. We move from the time to the trial, this woman's trial. In four areas I want you to see it. I want you to see it personally. I want you to see it physically. I want you to see it socially and I need you to see it financially. She had major issues, major issues. First of all, personally.

We don't know exactly what caused this bleeding. It might have been a fibroid tumor in her uterus. We don't know if it was. Today it could be easily healed through surgery but in those days there was no healing. There was nothing that could be done and this bleeding would be constant. So personally she would be devastated. Why? Because she had plans as a young Jewish woman. She had plans to marry, to have children, to have little girls that she could comb her hair, have little boys that she could wipe the mud off their face when they went outside to play.

She dreamed of having a family and then one day an extended family. All those dreams that a young Jewish woman would have had were devastated because she would never marry. She would never have children. Personally she was shamed. Why? Because there would have been a stigma associated with her. Before that, notice with me her trial physically.

The amount of blood that she would lose on a regular basis would cause her to lose all of her energy, all of her stamina. She'd be weak for 12 years. Not 12 days, not a decade, 12 years. The constant flow of blood would cause her to be weak, to have no or low energy, to have her to have no stamina. So there'd be days where she would be weak upon weak wanting to rest all day because physically she was drained, physically she was depleted. Personally she was devastated. But socially, socially she was desolate, isolated.

Why? Well, because according to the law in Leviticus chapter 15, that when a woman went through her monthly cycle, it would be that time that she was rendered unclean. And God did that, for those of you wanting to know, God did that to help the nation of Israel understand the need for cleansing and purification. There's always a need for cleansing. There's always a need for purification. So when the women went through her monthly cycle, she would be reminded of that. Her husband would be reminded of that because it was a need that God said you need to be cleansed constantly from your sin.

And so when the woman went through her monthly cycle, whatever she touched became unclean. The bed she slept on became unclean. The chair she sat on became unclean. Those she touched became unclean. Her husband could not go into her because then he would be unclean. So socially she was desolate. Why? So for 12 years she would have been rendered unclean. She would have been rendered ceremonially unclean, ritually unclean. You can't be around her. You can't touch her or anything. If she touches you, you're unclean.

She can't go shopping because she accidentally in the exchange of coins touches the shopkeeper's hands. He then becomes unclean. Whoever she touches becomes unclean. So she has this stigma attached to her. Outside of that, the Jews went beyond the law of God and said, well, she must have done some kind of secret sin for her to remain in this bloodied condition, which would go way beyond the law of God. But that's what the Jews concocted in their own minds. And so she had this social stigma that would separate her and isolate her from humanity.

She could not even go to the synagogue because she would be unclean. So for 12 years she heard not one sermon, not one. She didn't hear anybody expound on the word of the Old Testament because she was excommunicated from the synagogue. The trial of this woman is enormous. And then financially, financially she was completely desperate. Why? Mark's account said that she had spent all of her money on physicians, all of her money, and they could not find out what was wrong with her. Nothing. What was her problem?

They couldn't find out what the problem was. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine? You know, we go to the doctor today and we spend a lot of money going to doctors. And we expect that when we go to the doctor for him to tell us what our problem is. When he can't diagnose our problem, we get just a little bit irritated. I mean, after all, you can send a man to the moon, but you can't diagnose my problem? What's wrong with you guys? In the age of medical technology, when I show up and I get an MRI, when I get a CAT scan, when I get an x-ray, when I get examined by a physician, I want to know what the problem is because I'm doling out a lot of money here, fella.

And I want to make sure you can tell me what my problem is. Plus, give me a solution to my problem. And when you can't do that, I'm a little bit irritated. Can you imagine this woman for 12 years having spent all of her money going to doctors and physicians, and they're saying, you know, we don't know what your problem is. Can't help you. You're just going to stay unclean for the rest of your life. See, that's where she is. This is her trial. And yet, I want you to notice her touch.

The touch she has for the Messiah. The Bible says this, she could not be healed by anyone, verse 44, and came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.

Matthew's account says she kept saying over and over and over again, if I can just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be healed. If I can just get to the hem of his garment, if I can just touch the hem of his robe, I know I will be healed. She kept saying it over and over and over again. This signifies to us her effort and her energy to get to Christ. She knew. How does she know? How did she know? And what did she know? Mark's account tells us. Mark chapter five, verse 26 said it this way, verse 27, after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind him.

She heard about Jesus. What does she hear? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. What did this woman believe in? What did she hear? She had heard about the fact that Jesus was the Messiah. She had heard in the healing power of Christ. But I am convinced, I am convinced that this woman was not as much concerned about being healed from her physical bleeding as she was about being healed spiritually so she could spend eternity with her God. I am convinced that she knew that he was the Messiah and that she knew that if she could get to him, she would be healed spiritually because she, she was rendered unclean.

She couldn't get to anybody. She couldn't do anything, let alone get to heaven. Well, how do I get to heaven unless the Messiah cleanses me? How can I get to heaven unless he heals me? How do I know that's the case? Because she, he says to her daughter, your faith has saved you. The word there is sozo. She wasn't healed physically because she had faith. Because faith is never a prerequisite for physical healing. The Bible is replete with that. God healed her because he chose to heal her. Just like he chose to raise Lazarus from the dead and like he chose to raise Jairus' daughter from the dead, like he chose to, to pause in the midst of the crowd so Jairus' daughter would end up dying so he could raise her from the dead.

I mean, he's going to cure a woman of a disease. That's one act of power. He doesn't want to have to cure another one of a disease. He wants to control life and death and so he wants to show resurrection power. He wants to escalate the power from one area, from one arena to the next arena so everybody around understands the almighty awesome power of a God, a God that has power that's unparalleled, unprecedented, unsurpassed, unlimited and unending. That is his power. It's completely unique. It's unique because it was unleashed on this earth when Jesus Christ came in the form of a baby and grew in stature as a man and the God-man walked among us and we beheld his glory.

And so this woman, she knew after hearing about Christ what he could do. If I could just grab a portion of his garment. Now in the Greek, it's the tassel. Jews have this robe. On the bottom of the robe are four tassels, four tassels that symbolize the law of God and that every time a Jew would put on that robe, he would be reminded that he was possessed by the God of this universe, that he was a child of the living God and that as he would put that robe on, he would be reminded of his stature in the world, his standing before God.

It was a constant reminder for every Jew to realize that he was God's own possession and she knew if she could just touch that, that tassel, she'd be healed. Now the touching of that tassel, like I did in the first service and I'll do in the second service, so hold on Marlene, is that, is that, is that he just wasn't going to touch the tassel.

No, no, she was going to clean to the tassel and she grabbed ahold of that tassel and did not want to let go. I've already promised that I would dry clean her, her jacket for her. She wasn't going to let go. How do we know that? It's the same word used in John 20 to speak of how Mary, when she clung to Jesus, when she recognized he was, he had risen from the dead, she won't let go of him. Jesus said, stop clinging to me, Mary. I have not yet ascended to my father who was in heaven. You know, stop, stop holding on to me and that's the way she hung on that.

She doesn't want to tap the tassel. Okay. She wanted to grab ahold of that tassel because there was energy there. There was effort there. There was belief there that she needed the cleansing touch of the Messiah. She needed to be cleansed from all of her sin and she knew that Jesus could do that. She knew that he was the only one. She couldn't have a conversation with him. She couldn't walk up to him and say, hey Jesus, can we talk for a few moments? Because she, she was unclean and everybody would see her, would run away from her.

She didn't want to do that. She, she wanted to go up unnoticed. She wanted to do it in a way that Jesus would even know. You see, you can't do anything and not be noticed by Jesus. I mean, if the story tells us anything, it tells us that, right? I mean, I mean, all of these people are pressing against him. Everybody is. And he says, who touched me? Who touched you? Come on. Are you kidding me? Everybody's touching you. Thousands of people around you. You ever, you ever been to a, to a place where you're trying to get somebody?

You remember Disneyland on a crowded day? I mean, it's a mess, man. You, you got your stroller, you got your kids, you're trying to keep them all together. Everybody's pressing to get you and you're trying to get to where you're going. It's a mess. Well, here is Jesus and talking about popularity. Everybody's pressing against him. Everybody. Yet he notices one person who touches him. That's a great modern day illustration. Listen carefully. A great modern illustration today of people like you and like me who go to church, hundreds of them, thousands of them, scores of them go to church.

And you know what? Hear the same sermon, sing the same songs, listen to the same prayers, even give money in the offering plate, and turn around and leave in the same condition in which they arrived. And yet there are some who when they come, never leave the way they arrived. Why is that? Why is it all these people could press against Jesus and not be changed? And one woman, one out of literally thousands was changed. Nobody else was. I mean, there was no healing power in the garment of Jesus. I mean, they would have ripped off his garments and taken little pieces home with them and held onto them if that was the case.

There's no healing power in the garment of Jesus. What is it about her that makes her unique? What is it about her that received healing and nobody else did? What is it about the individual who comes to church and he leaves changed versus others who come and they remain the same? It's because of what they've heard about Jesus. And they're willing to believe everything that he says. They take it to heart and they're willing to obey it and live it out. Those are the ones who leave changed. Those who don't, they leave the same as when they arrived.

No change. This woman believed. She was unlike the crowd you see. Amidst the crowd, there were all kinds of people. There were the committed people, there were the faithful people, there were those who are fascinated with Christ, there were those who wanted to spy on Christ to seek to set a trap for him, all kinds of people in the crowd. But there was one, there was one who after hearing about Jesus knew about him and was bound and determined to make every effort to get to him knowing that if she could just grab ahold of that tassel, hold on to it, she'd be healed.

Desperation, faith in action. She believed. People who come and are changed, they believe. People who come and aren't changed, don't believe. They just don't. Nice sermon, nice song, simple prayer, but they don't believe. This woman, she believed. That's what marks her out as distinct and different. That's her effort. But look at the effect.

The effect, it says this. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Immediately, immediately it stopped. Wow, can you imagine that? All of a sudden, complete, instantaneous healing. Mark's account says her affliction was gone. It's a word that designates a scourge or, not scourge, but a shameful act. That is, there is something shameful about her that now there's no more shame. It's gone. So Mark accounts that her affliction has been removed.

Luke says that immediately, amidst her desperation, her determination pushed her to get to Jesus. Didn't want to be noticed by anybody. I mean, after all, if you're going to get to Jesus, here's the best time. No one's paying attention to you. They're all paying attention to Jesus. And so now if I can just get to him in a way that no one sees me, I mean, they're not preoccupied with my uncleanness. They're preoccupied with the Messiah. So I'm just going to sneak in behind and I'm going to grab the cloak, the tassel on the bottom of his cloak and I'll be healed.

She believed that. And immediately she was cleansed, which leads us to the triumph. Jesus stops. This isn't, you know, 50, 60, 70 people, okay? This isn't a couple of hundred people. This is thousands of people. And Jesus is moving through the city and he's touched it and all of a sudden he just stops. Who touched me? And the Bible says, and while they were all denying it, Peter said, Master, not me.

I didn't touch you, Jesus. Not me. I didn't touch you. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Who? Who touched me? Come on, Jesus. Everybody's crying. Come on, Jesus, Peter says. Everybody's pressing against you. Everybody's touching you. What do you mean? Who touched you? And that's where it gets really, really unique. Listen to what Jesus says.

He says, someone did touch me, for I was aware that power had gone out of me. Here's the all-powerful God of the universe, whose power is unlimited, unending, unparalleled, unsurpassed. Here is one who, with the finger of God, cast out demons. But he was aware that power had gone out of him. Let me tell you something about our God.

The accessibility of our God, the availability of our God, the touchability of our God, and the believability of our God. I mean, He is so concerned about everything that happens. He could have just ignored this whole situation, right? Who would have known? Does anybody really care? I mean, come on. He healed thousands, so many people. Just another healing. No big deal. Move on to Jairus's house. Gotta heal his daughter. No, no, not Jesus. No, somebody touched me. Well, how do you know that? Everybody touched you.

Of course, you gotta figure out somebody's touching you. Yeah, but power. Someone touched me in a unique way because power has left me. Power has gone out of me. Can you imagine that? And read on. This is so unique. And when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, oh, she so desperately wanted to remain anonymous.

She didn't want to have a scene. No scene. Just quiet. I'll just reach up and touch this girl, and nobody will know, just me. And that's all I mean. No public recognition. It's not about me. It's just I want to remain anonymous. But Jesus didn't let her stay there, did He? No. She tried to remain unnoticed, and Jesus said, I'm sorry. Who touched me? Power's gone out of me. And as she's backing away, she's like, oh. And of course, everybody else is backing away, too. And she's like, there she is. The cheese stands alone.

The cheese. There she was, all by herself, man. And what she did, she tried to escape notice. She couldn't. She couldn't. And I want you to notice what Jesus says to her.

I'll get back to her testimony in a second. He says, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. She had entered into a personal relationship with the living God. How do you know that? He called her daughter. The only woman in the Bible he calls daughter is some unnamed woman with the bleeding tongue. And nobody knows. If it wasn't recorded in the Bible, we'd never know who she was. We don't even know her name. Is she relevant? She's the daughter of the living God. She had entered into a personal relationship.

Here was a woman who had no friends, and all of a sudden becomes a friend of the living God. Here's a woman who can't associate with anybody, and now she has an association, a partnership, a fellowship with the living God of the universe. She enters into a personal relationship. This is her triumph. She enters into a powerful relationship. He says, because your faith has made you well, sozo. There's another word for physical healing, iamoi, which is not used. Instead, it's used sozo, which means a redemptive healing.

There has been a spiritual healing. You have now entered into a powerful relationship, because now you are a daughter of mine, and you have eternal value. He says, go into peace. Now you have a peaceful. She had no peace up to that point. Are you kidding me? No peace whatsoever. She was at odds with everybody. Not because she wanted to be at odds with them, but just because she was isolated from everybody, unclean in front of everybody. And all of a sudden now, now she has peace, because she's no longer an enemy of God.

She's a friend of God. Which leads me to her testimony. You know, Christ called her out. I want you to look at his call.

He calls her out. Who touched me? Power has been released. There has been a flow of power that has left me. Here is a God with unlimited, unending power, and yet he knows when one unknown, unclean woman comes up to him and touches him amidst thousands that are around him, because he cares. He cares. He knows. He knows about every pain that you experience. He knows and cares. That's our God. But, but, but in order for her to be publicly accepted, socially accepted, there has to be a public announcement about her cleansing.

He knows that. So he calls her out, calls her out. And the Bible says, and when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, just by the way, for those of you looking to hide from Jesus, ain't going to happen.

Just in case you thought you could, you can't. Can't escape his notice. She came trembling and fell down before him and declared in the presence of all the people, the reason why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. There was a public confession as to what had taken place in her life, public confession. He called her out and she gave testimony to how she was cured, how she was made whole by Jesus. You know, I guess I only have one concern today, and that is Jesus would pass by you today without you ever getting ahold of him.

Without you ever with energy and effort saying, Oh Lord, I know you can heal me. And the Lord pass you by and you never see him again. You see, this woman wasn't about to let Jesus pass by. Amidst all the people that were there, she was unstoppable in her efforts because she had heard about what Jesus had done. She had heard about the Messiah. There's only one person who can cleanse you. You see, God called her out for his glory. He wanted everybody to know that he had touched her. He had healed her in a supernatural kind of way.

And that the faith she had in him saved her from her sin. She believed in who he was. And that Jairus, he too would need to know of the power, the healing power of Christ. He would have to know because his daughter now is dead. Jesus paused long enough for his daughter to die. And he's going to have to have some comfort. He's going to have to have some encouragement. And so he calls her out so she can give testimony to the saving power of the almighty God of the universe. But could it be that those of us here today would allow our Lord and Savior to walk by without any effort to grab hold of him?

Because we have heard all about Jesus and we believe him. Believe him so much that we claim the power of almighty God to save us from our sin, that we might be made whole in his presence. There's coming a day, there's coming a day where there will be no more sickness, no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain. That day's coming one day. But to get to that day, you must be saved from your sin. You must be. And this woman, she believed that and God saved her. My friend, don't let Jesus pass by today without leaving or don't leave today knowing that Jesus is before you and leave unchanged.

Like the thousands of people around him that day who had no effect whatsoever. They touched him. They saw him. Didn't believe like she did. How do you believe? Do you believe in the unparalleled, unprecedented, unlimited, unending, unsurpassed power of the living God? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today and all that you do. You truly are great. We miss all of our frailties. We miss all of our pain. We know that you are the great healer of mankind. For those among us who are not saved, we pray that you'd save their soul.

They would experience wholeness in Christ. They would understand the power of almighty God when it comes to their lives. And we ask, Lord, that we would leave this place believing in your word and leave changed people living a life truly believing in the power of almighty God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.