Matthew 9:20-22 Mark 5:25-34 Luke 8:43-38
Hope is vital to our lives and ability to function
properly. When we lose hope despair
begins to take over our lives which can lead to all kinds of terrible
things. When the flames of hope begin to
flicker in our hearts we can climb out of the most difficult of
circumstances. Today’s text tells the
story of a woman who had lost all hope until she heard about the power of Jesus
to heal the sick. She had faith in the
power of the Lord and her faith brought her hope. Faith and hope always walk hand in hand. When we have no faith; our hope will
fade. When our faith is strong; our hope
will grow too. This narrative is a
beautiful demonstrations of faith, hope, power, compassion and
restoration. There are many parallels to
our own spiritual lives and how we can find hope and reconciliation through
faith in the Lord Jesus.
THE WOMAN’S DESPERATION: This woman had been sick for twelve
years of hemorrhaging. We don’t know
what was causing this condition but there could have been any number of
physical ailments that would have caused these symptoms. As a Jewish woman, this condition would have
made her unclean so she could not go to the temple to offer sacrifices and she
would have been cut off from almost everyone in that society because anyone she
touched would have also been made unclean.
She had tried everything to get better.
She had gone to many different doctors and tried many different
treatments to the point that she had spent all of her money. Now she was not only sick and separated from
society but she was also in financial ruin.
Her heart was filled with desperation as all of her hopes just faded
away. This is the spiritual reality of
everyone who is without Christ. We are
desperately lost in our sin and have no way to set ourselves free from
sin. All of our attempts to gain our
liberty from sin are futile apart from Christ.
When the woman heard about Christ she determined that if she could only
find a way to get close enough to touch Him; she would be healed. Most people would have thought that Jesus
would have to intentionally extend a hand of healing or say a prayer that would
bring healing. This woman was either too
embarrassed to ask Jesus directly or too ashamed of herself that she just
wanted to stay in the background.
Whatever her motives, she just came up behind Him, reached out her hand
and touched His clothing. She was
immediately healed. For the first time
in twelve years she was not bleeding.
THE CROWD’S DENIAL: When the woman touched Him, Jesus felt
the power of His healing leave His body.
He stopped and asked who had touched Him. The crowd had two responses to the
question. The first response was denial. They said that nobody had touched Him. The second response was to point out the fact
that Jesus was in the middle of a very big crowd of people. In essence they were saying that everybody
had touched Him. These two responses
parallel the typical responses that men have towards Jesus today: denial and
universalism. Some people simply deny
that they believe in Jesus and refuse to admit that He is the Son of God. Others take the position that all people
everywhere are God’s children and that we have all “touched” Him in our own
special way. Both of these responses
will leave mankind chained to their sin.
Jesus has the power to heal and He has the power to forgive sins. He is stands ready and willing to save us but
He requires that we believe in Him in order to save us. As long as we deny Him or think that we have
no need of Him; we remain lost and in need of salvation. We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God
and that He has the power to free us from sin through His death and
resurrection. We must intentionally
recognize our need of Jesus and by faith ask Him to forgive our sin and
reconcile us to the Father.
THE LORD’S DELIVERANCE: When the woman sees that Jesus knows
that His power to heal had been used; she confesses to having touched
Jesus. She admits to having believed
that His touch could heal her and she testifies to the fact that she has indeed
been healed. Jesus praises her faith and
tells her to go in peace because she has indeed been healed. Her faith had healed her through His
power. There were likely many sick
people in the crowd that day but only she had the faith and courage to reach
out and touch Jesus in confidence that He could solve her problem. Jesus waits for all of us to come to the
point where we recognize that we cannot save ourselves and come before Him to
ask Him to save us. Just as Jesus set
this woman fee from her illness; He can set us free from the power of sin that
enslaves us. All of our good works and
religious practices are useless to save us; they will only fill our hearts with
pride and make matters worse. Our only
hope for deliverance is faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
APPLICATION: Recognize our desperate situation and trust in
Jesus as our only source of hope for salvation from sin. Don’t deny Christ or foolishly believe that
all people will somehow be reconciled to God no matter what they believe. Rejoice in the peace and forgiveness of sin
that Jesus offers to all who believe.
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