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Oct 02, 2022

The Touch of Jesus

The Touch of Jesus

Passage: Luke 8:40-56

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Wisdom Of The Master

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: truth, church, worship, faith, jesus, sunday, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, luke, gospel, hope, salvation, holy spirit, good news, healing, believe, jesus christ, the bible, lord, saved, surrender, eternal life, bible study, godly, trust god, luke 8, bible verses, book of luke, live music, true faith, healing scriptures, livestream, burnt hickory baptist church, burnt hickory worship

We continue our sermon series called Wisdom of the Master by looking at Luke 8 at the healing of the sick woman and the raising of Jairus’ daughter. In both of these stories, we see a parallel that no one is too messed up, unclean, or too insignificant to get Jesus’ attention. And conversely, no one is too good, powerful, or religious to need Jesus. From both sides of these principles, we see the gospel unfold through the Master. As we read scripture, we can be amazed and know we can never underestimate Jesus’ desire and love for us. Through His sacrifice and becoming sin on our behalf, we are saved. Is your life displaying what you truly believe about Jesus? Do you need to be healed and heard today? As always, we’d love to connect with you and answer any questions you might have and take time to pray with you. Take the next step today – burnthickory.com/next

Well, good morning church. Hopefully you have had a great week this week. Look, I love the fact that we have breaks during the school year, but if anybody has any pull, can we please get them on the same weeks? Amen. It is terrible for church. It's one thing when everybody's gone for one week, but it's a whole other thing when everybody's gone for all the weeks because then they're like, Well, nobody's going to be there. Well, I'm not going. Are you going? I'm not going. You know, you play the game, right? Seems like that's been the last couple of weeks. But welcome back. We're glad to be here and glad that you're here. Let me say this before we jump in the message, man, this week, so many of you guys have reached out to our family this week, specifically to Melissa and her family from the passing of her mother on last Sunday. And we just want to say thank you for that. Thank you for us just being able to know, man our church has got our back. Man, Thanks for the prayers, the encouragement. Keep praying for Melissa, her sister, especially her father. And a lot of you know what it's like to lose a mom. And we really, really, really appreciate your prayers.

Well, if you've been here the last few weeks, you know that we are in a series called Wisdom from the Master, where we're walking through some specific texts out of the Book of Luke every week. We're not getting to all of them, but we're getting to some of them. And we're watching Jesus teach us, show us how to walk out our faith. We're watching just some incredible messages, some incredible wisdom that comes from his teachings, comes from his miracles. I love when you read the book of Luke that Luke gives us this little snapshot into people's lives. He kind of picks out some people and shows how Jesus steps into their lives. And as a result, he shows how we can walk out our faith. And in Luke, you begin to kind of notice this little theme of a couple of different groups of people. The first group is a group that really have no idea their need for Jesus until they come into the presence of the physical Jesus and then their whole life gets turned upside down. And then they know that there's nothing that they can do to save them except turn to Jesus. There's this other group of people that before they even get into the presence of the physical Jesus, something draws them to tell them, Hey, I've tried everything else I've done everything I know to do. Now I just know that all I've got left is to turn to Jesus and to come to Jesus. Well, today's story is the latter.

Today's story or event that we're going to look at in Luke chapter eight. In Luke chapter eight is these two people who really, I've tried everything, and it didn't work. So, I need to try the thing that I should have tried in the first place, and that's Jesus. And I need to turn to him. Luke chapter eight If you've got a copy of Scripture today. If you were here last week, you're like, Wait a minute, Matt. We were in Luke Chapter eight last week and you are correct. In fact, we could probably spend about six weeks in Luke Chapter eight, but we're not. All right, just want to call him that down. We're not going to do that. We're going to move on after this week in Luke Chapter eight. Last week we watched Jesus calm the storm. We watched Jesus step into the boat with the disciples and show them that He was God, that He was not just a healer, that he was God. Calm the storm. Could you imagine being on the debrief session of that event, right? They are in the water, the calm of the sea. They're getting across to the gentile area of the Gerasenes. And can you imagine sitting in that small group that day? Right. Hey, what do you think about that message? It was awesome, right? That's all you can say in that moment. Well, here's what's happening in our story this morning. The disciples have just seen the calm happen. They've got to the other side of the lake. Jesus hits the shoreline that morning at daylight and all of a sudden, this man that is possessed with all these demons pops out of the graveyard and Jesus casts all the demons out of this man into the pigs. They jump off the cliff. And all the pigs die, which is good for everybody except the farmer. Amen. That is a great story. Well, here's the deal. The demon possessed man is now healed. He wants to go with Jesus in the boys. But Jesus says, no, you got to stay back over here. Tell these people about what has happened. All the rest of the people in the area run Jesus out of the town. They run him out. They say go wherever you came from; we don't want you. They reject Jesus. They reject his love and his power and his presence in their lives. Well, the disciples have been going all night. They get back on the boat and they head back to the other side they just came from. And that's where we catch them in our story. Remember last week they headed out of that area because there were so many people, they just needed some rest. Now they're heading back to the area with the crowd because they got kicked out of the Gerasenes. All right. That's what's happening. Luke, chapter eight, verse 40. I'm just going to tell you now, we're going to walk through the text and talk about the text, give you a couple of things on the back side.

Here we go, Luke chapter eight verse 40. Here we go. Now, when Jesus returned to the crowd return, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell Jesus's feet, pleading with him to come to his house. Now there's a lot of people in this crowd don't think ten or twelve, think thousands. There's a lot of people. Why? Because the message about Jesus had gotten out. They knew what was going on. In fact, this is why Jesus, and the disciples took this little boat trip over to heal this man, was to get some rest from the crowd. Now they're back to the crowd. The crowd is on the shore. They're waiting on them to hit the shore. They know it's Jesus and the boys. They are coming back into this spot and this man named Jairus approaches Jesus. Now, Jairus, we've got to do some talking about who he is. Jairus is a synagogue leader. In other words, he's a religious leader now. And this time the religious leaders in the Jewish religious society were the top people in town. They were respected, they were honored, they were pious. There was the highest kind of government officially person in the area. And he had one of those top positions. And this guy, knowing who Jesus is, fell at Jesus's feet. To which, in our minds, we're thinking, Well, yeah, that's what people do when they come into the presence of Jesus. Well, not these people. Why? Because these people didn't do this.

The religious leaders of Jesus day would have never bowed down to anyone. They were too pious. They were too, too religious. They were too proud. They would have never fallen at the feet of another person. But this guy did. These people wore long robes. They were all kept. They would have never gotten in a hurry. They would have never honored another man because they were the leader. They were the religious people. But this guy did. And we ask the question, why? Well, it tells us in the next text that this guy is desperate, and he needs a miracle. Look at verse 42, because his only daughter, a girl of about 12, was dying. She was dying. So, you got this incredibly religious, pious, prideful man. Now he needs a miracle. His little daughter, his 12-year-old daughter is dying. Now, we don't know why she's dying. We don't know the sickness. We don't know what's going on in her life. What we do know is this guy came to Jesus. Now they're talking. Jesus is listening to this guy's plea for help and Jesus starts to go towards this guy's house.

But look at the rest of verse 42. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him, and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her. Now there's something, I mean, some incredibly important details here that we need to look at to set the scene. First, the Bible just says, or Luke says that this lady had been subject to bleeding. Now, that's Luke's kind of cleaned up way of just saying that she had an uncontrollable menstrual cycle for 12 years. For 12 years. Now, look, I can say that with intensity, but I can't say that with intensity. You know what I'm saying? Is that right? This lady for 12 years has been sick. This lady for 12 years has been in pain. This lady for 12 years was, listen she couldn't have children, which at this time was seen as a curse. She couldn't enter worship because in Jewish society, during that time, you were seen as an unclean person, and you couldn't be around people. She couldn't be touched by another human being because you were seen as being unclean. Really, this lady was not even supposed to be in crowds. It was the rules of the day. It was the Jewish customs, the Jewish rules of the day. And Luke points out that this lady has been living this life for how long? Look at it. 12 years. What does that mean? That means for 12 years, no one has hugged this lady. That means in 12 years, nobody has laid a hand on this lady's back and said to her, Hey, listen, I am for you, and I am praying with you. This lady had to be extremely lonely, extremely lonely. And then Luke also points out, which he can, because I have to add this, he's a doctor, right? That's who Luke is. Tells us that in Acts. Luke points out that she's incurable. That means that in his professional medical opinion, nobody could cure this lady. The only way he can know that is the fact that this lady had sought help from everybody out there. All the medical professionals had looked at this lady and said, We cannot help you. She'd been to M.D. Anderson. She'd been to the Mayo Clinic; she'd been to Emory. She'd been everywhere at this point. She had used all of her resources probably. There's nothing that could be done for this lady. Let's put all this together. She is poor.

She is helpless. She is hurting. She is sick. She is isolated. She is out of options. Listen, that's where some of us feel like we are right now. That's where some of our lives feel like where we're at right now. There's one other thing the Bible doesn't really say, but it just kind of omits this. This lady doesn't even have a name. Most scholars believe that the Bible doesn't mention her name here because they didn't know her name, because the people in the area, she had been so isolated for 12 years, so far out of public for 12 years, because that was the custom that she was a nobody. Now, let's put these two things together that we've just talked about, Jairus and the lady.

Let's look at the compare and contrast. Right, Jairus was wealthy. The lady was poor. Jairus was respected. The lady was rejected. Jairus was a synagogue ruler. This lady could not even go in the synagogue. Jairus was honored. The lady was ashamed. Jairus had a 12-year-old daughter. She had a 12-year sickness. You're seeing the compare and contrast? Why is God doing this? Why is Jesus pointing this out in us? You got to love the Bible and you got to love the sovereignty of the Bible. You got to love how the Bible places all people. Because here's what it's showing us. It's showing us that we all fall into one of these categories and actually we all fall into both of these categories. It just really depends on what day we wake up. Right? Now, I want you to write two things down that this kind of makes a point. And here's the first one. It makes the point number one, that no one is too messed up, too unclean or too insignificant not to get Jesus' attention. Nobody. That's what the story is showing us. You can't get more messed up than this lady is what the story is showing us. You can't get too far. You can't get too far gone. You can't be too unclean. Jesus has shown us that you can't get too far to where when you put your head up and go, Hey, Jesus, I need you that he's going to step in. But I also want to point this out. Number two, there is no one too good, too powerful, too religious, not to need Jesus. Not to need Jesus. Listen, both of these sides of the story show both sides of us as people. You see, some people don't come to Jesus because of their unbelief. They don't think that Jesus can deliver them in that situation. You've probably been there before. Some people don't come to Jesus and experience his power because of their pride, because they think they got it all together and they don't need Jesus. What Jesus is showing us in this touch of Jesus that we're about to see is that both sides of the story equally need Jesus. Whether you think he can't do it because he's not strong enough or you think you got it all together, Jesus is looking at all of us going, You need me. You need me. Both of those can keep you from Jesus. Watch this lady. Watch what she does is verse 44. This absolute outcast of a lady, she came up behind him. That's Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak. What is she doing?

This lady thinks, man, if I can just get to Jesus. If I can just touch his cloak. The faith behind that is absolutely incredible. Now, when she says, I just want to touch his cloak, I just want to kind of see what's in her mind here because this is incredible. The lady. What did it say? She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. But by the way, before we go into that, I want you to see this. This is a huge, huge point for all of us. The Bible has just told us that the crowds are pressing in around Jesus, but somehow this lady gets to Jesus. Listen, never let the crowds keep you from Jesus. This lady got to Jesus. Do you notice how much the crowds keep us from Jesus sometimes? The crowds in our life aren't necessarily a mob of people who are around Jesus. The crowds in our life a lot of times are our friends, our family, the relationship that we're chasing after. Never, ever, never let the crowd do that. Somebody, this lady, she's like, forget the crowd. I'm going to Jesus. But for some of us, the crowds are such a voice, are they not? Now, we don't admit that out loud, but I've seen this 100 times.

It goes something like this. You begin to get a spiritual interest. You begin to kind of hear. Well, I mean, you feel kind of where God is pointing you and then you might even take a couple of steps in that direction. And then all of a sudden you look up and you realize you are the only one going that way. And what do you do? You look around the crowd and you go no, no, no. I must be going the wrong way. This lady's like, Forget it, I'm going to Jesus. For some of us, that's probably the biggest point in the whole story. For all of us, or a lot of us. But secondly, I just want you to notice this. Watch what happens to the lady. The lady gets her eyes on Jesus. She's focused on Jesus. And what does it say? She touched the fringe of Jesus's garment. Now, fringe here doesn't mean like he cut his blue jeans off and he's got some, like, fringe on the bottom. That that is not what it means. The word fringe here is actually the word tassel. Tassel in the Hebrew, TSITSIT, if you want the Hebrew word. And if you want to look it up, actually if you want some homework. Deuteronomy 22 and Numbers 15 describe what this lady was reaching for. And you're going to like this when you hear it, because this is good Bible right here. Here's what this lady does. This lady looks at Jesus. She recognizes Jesus. She sees on the bottom of Jesus's cloak that there is a tassel. Now, tassel is not a ratty piece of fabric. It's an actual piece of woven material that represents the power and the promise of Almighty God. You see, this is before the days of iPhones where you could set a reminder. So, you had to do things like tie strings, have ornamental clothing, have things on you that would make your mind remember who Jesus is. Numbers 22, Deuteronomy 15. Both point to these tassels and they were the representation of what God wants to do in our lives. And so, this lady, she reaches out and she literally, the Greek says she touches it. Now, it doesn't mean like, boop, touch it. It means that she wrapped her hand around it and grabbed it. What is she doing? She is reaching out for the presence and the promise of the Almighty God. That's what she's doing. Now, look, you don't study the Bible. You don't get that. What is she doing? She knows that all she's got left is the power of God. All she's got left is the presence of God. What does she do? She pulls it. It's like she's ringing the bell on Jesus right here. She's not just touching it. I can just picture in my mind Jesus just dragging her and she's holding on. That's probably not what happened, but in my mind, that's what's going on. She is grabbing the power and presence of Jesus and what happens in her life. Watch this verse 44.

She came up behind him. She touched the edge of his cloak and immediately her bleeding stopped. Who touch me? Jesus asked. Now, does Jesus not know who touched him? No. He's the sovereign God of the universe. He knows everything. Remember this, any time Jesus asks a question, it's not for Him. Jesus only asks questions to help us and help us see things. So, Jesus, when he asks this question, who touch me? Here's what he's asking. He's asking this lady to come forward and make public what she just did. Now, this is important. Here's why this is important. This is important because Jesus is saying that you can't stay private in your faith forever. You can't. If Jesus has done something in your life, you've got to acknowledge that publicly. And the first public acknowledgment in all of our lives when Jesus steps into our hearts is obviously believer's baptism. That's number one in our lives, but number two in our lives is that when we make our faith public in the what? In the crowd. That's what he's asking of this lady. So let me just ask you right now, this is a big deal.

Have you publicly acknowledged what God has done in your heart? Or are you still living under this mindset of it's a private faith, it's a private thing, it's just for me? Yes, it's just for you. But Jesus says if it is real, you will live it out and you will stand in the middle of the crowd. Watch verse 45, Who touched me? Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said. You gotta love Peter. Master, the people are crowding in. They're pressing around you. Oh, Peter, have you ever noticed that Peter has this uncanny ability to fill silence with stupidity? Man, I love. You know why I love beer so much? We can relate to Peter. Amen. And if God can do things through Peter, I mean, actually, he's the leader of the church later on, man, that makes us all feel so good, right? He can do it through us.

Keep going. But Jesus said, Someone touched me. I know that power, man, that's strong. That power has gone out from me. Jesus said, Yeah, yeah. You know what? Lots of people are touching me. Lots of people are rubbing shoulders with me. Lots of people are around, we're bumping in. The crowd is pressing in, but Jesus looks at his disciples. He goes, Hey, but listen, this one was different. In fact, write this principal down. Many people touch Jesus casually, but only a few touch him intentionally. Man, do you see that in the story right here? You see in the story. Here's what that means. You don't get the power of Jesus just from being around Jesus. You don't get the power of Jesus just by showing up at a religious event, showing up where Jesus is going to be present. You get the power of Jesus in your life when you intentionally. What did this lady do? When you intentionally throw yourself at the feet of Jesus in submission and you grab ahold of the presence and the promise of who Jesus is, and you surrender your heart to Jesus, recognizing that you've tried everything else, but He is the only one that can save you.

That's the story. That's what we're seeing. So, my question to you is, how are you approaching Jesus today? Are you approaching him in this casual mentality of, hey, as long as I'm rubbing shoulders in the presence of other people who are touching Jesus and walking with Jesus, then I'm going to be okay? Or are you approaching him with a mindset of I need you and I desperately am surrendering to you? Or Is it just good enough for you to be with him in his convenience? This woman needed him. Jairus needed him. And watch what happens in verse 47. The woman seeing that she cannot go unnoticed. She 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. You know, this lady's like, Oh, no, right? You know she's like going, well, I'm healed. But what's going to happen now? Right? But then we see the greatest moment for all of us. And this is one of the greatest moments in the whole Bible. Don't miss this next moment, because here's what this next moment about to show us. It's about to show us what happens in our life when we fall at the feet of Jesus in a total stance of desperation and grab hold of His promise and put our whole self and fully expose our heart. He's about to show us this watch in verse 48. Then he said to her daughter, your faith is healed you.

That's good. Daughter, your faith has healed you. Now go in peace. You know what the word daughter is? It's just a term of affection. Daughter is a term of tenderness. In fact, this is the only place in the whole Bible that Jesus uses this term. And why is this amazing? Because I don't think you think this is as amazing as I think it's amazing. Let me tell you why this is amazing. No one wanted this girl. No one wanted to be in the presence of this girl, but now she's adopted by the Holy Father. No one would touch this girl, but now she's able to be embraced by the maker of the universe right here. Look at the contrast in this. This woman had nobody, but now she's been adopted by the father to the fatherless. That's the gospel. The gospel says that we came to Jesus when we were sick and fatherless and outcast and broken and deformed. And at our worst, because of sin and Jesus unexplainably, we don't know why, He loves us, and he puts his love on us.

The Gospel says we were worse than we thought. We were more wicked win than we can even describe. And everyone will turn from us. But Jesus, what does he do? He turns toward us. That's the gospel. The Gospel says he makes us his. He makes us his. And I know I'm the only person in the room that gets excited about this, but he makes us his. Despite where we've been. Look at verse 48 again. Then he said to her, Somebody needs to hear this over your life, daughter, your faith has healed you, go in peace. Go in peace. Go in peace. You know, let me just speak to the Old Testament nerds for a minute. In the Old Testament, any time somebody that was clean, touched something that was unclean, what happened? The Clean became what? Unclean, right? It's kind of like if I sneeze on you with a cold, right? You become unclean. It's not that I get rid of my cold, but, you know, it's how it works. What just happened in the story? The unclean touched the clean and became what? Clean. You know, this only happens when it's Jesus. But that's a trick question. Is Jesus unclean? Yes, or no? He became unclean. That's the cross, isn't it? Jesus took on this lady's defilement on the cross. The clean became unclean so that I can now be clean. Did you write that down? That is what happened in the story, right? Jesus takes on our uncleanliness on the cross and cleanses us. He is the payment for our sin, took on our defilement, took on our sin and sorrow, and they went to Jesus.

This is what Jesus' healing and salvation can come into our life, right? Second Corinthians 5:21. God made him who had no sin to become sin, so that I may become the righteousness of God. It's the Gospel. The heart of the gospel is a substitutionary death of Jesus. Only Jesus breaks the power of sin. Only Jesus breaks the power of death. Only Jesus has the power to heal us and set us free. And Jesus makes it available to this lady. He makes it available to you. It's the gospel. It's the gospel in the story. We got to go. We got a lot to go. Here we go, verse 49. Sorry, Old Testament got me just for a minute. Here it is verse 49. Oh, we got to hurry. While Jesus was speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus the synagogue leader and said this Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher anymore. Hearing this Jesus said to Jairus, don't be afraid. Just believe and she will be healed. When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone, this is Jesus, go in with him except for Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her.

Now, look, the scene shifts, right? We go from an incredible, joyous moment where this poor lady is healed. But now we are at one of the most toughest spots in all of life. And that's the loss of a child. The little girl dies, the text says, everybody is mourning, everybody is weeping. Of course, they are. But it's more than that because they would have already started the funeral. They didn't embalm. You died in Jewish times. They started the funeral, boom right there. It doesn’t matter who's around. We are in the funeral. Funerals were different for them. It wasn't like this solemn moment where you're quiet and you're trying to control your kids. The whole time it was a total mourn, screaming, yelling, you are taking on the pain of the people that were in the pain in a Jewish kind of society. They even described that they would tear their clothes in anguish. So, Dad and Jesus, they finally arrive late to the funeral. Right. And in Luke 8:52 Watch what Jesus says, Jesus says, Stop wailing. You got to love it. It's the first words. He's like, quit. Watch what he says, she's not dead but asleep. Oh, she's dead. But watch this. They laughed at Jesus knowing that she was dead. It's not like, ha ha, that was a funny joke. They're like scorning a Jesus. They're disappointed in Jesus. They think that Jesus is disrespecting the moment. Jesus sends everybody out right? In verse 54, it says this. Man, another key verse. But he took her by the hand, and he said, My child, get up. Man, that might be for you today, my child, get up.

Watch this. Verse 55, her spirit return. And at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them. Do not tell anyone what has happened. I mean, come on, really good luck with that, right? Jairus is just walking down the road the next day with his daughter. They're like? He's like me hmm. You know? That's all he's got. How's that going to work in the store? It's like things happen. I don't know right? Now, remember, all of Jesus's miracles were to show something about Jesus, right? They all had something specific that Jesus wanted to teach us. Jesus is on his way to heal this girl. He lets himself get kind of caught into this other miracle with the girl that he needed to heal. And Jesus lets this girl die. He, he, he's this. He's the Lord of the universe. He can do what he wants, right? He lets this girl die. Which seems very weird if you've been reading the book of Luke. Because in Luke chapter seven verses one through ten, we see Jesus heal someone from a distance. Remember, the guy came, he's like, Hey, could you please do this? And Jesus like, sends the healing bomb over to the other side, heals the person, right? But Jesus doesn't do this here. So, the question is, why doesn't Jesus do this here? Well, I say this a lot when you're reading the Bible. The answer is in the details. Watch what Jesus did in verse 54. He took her by the hand and said, My child, get up. Says two things to her, Mark, and Mark gives us the Aramaic and it's Talitha koum is the Aramaic. It literally just means little girl. Or scholars translate that as honey. Honey, he says, and then koum is Get up. There's no big speech or nothing here. Jesus is facing the biggest enemy on all of the fallen earth, right? And that is death. And he simply grabs this little girl's hand. It’s this, honey, honey, get, get up.

You know what Jesus showing us here? That even in death, if Jesus is holding your hand, you're just taking a nap. That's what He's showing us, you know, here's why. Because Jesus took the sting out of death. Let's get back to the gospel. Right. He this death feels so final. But it's not. Death feels so alone. But it's not. We feel so abandoned in death. But it's not. Why? Because Jesus has already faced the death that was alone. God, the father had to turn his back on God the son when he became sin. So that why? So that now when we walk through death, we don't walk through death alone. What did David say? We walk through the valley of the shadow of death. We don't walk through the full death because Jesus did that for us. He's already done it. And now when we do it, Jesus is holding our hand. He's the one who gives us life. He's the one who sits by our side. He's the one where our hand is in his hand. Do you ever notice when you read in the Bible that nobody ever dies in the presence of Jesus? Or nobody even stays dead when Jesus gets back on the scene. If you're going to die, you want Jesus by your side. That's the point of the morning, right? Right there. Right. It's a sign to us that we don't have to fear death. Jesus is with us. Think about this little girl for a minute and we spend too much time on this. When she rose from the grave, what's the first face that she saw? Who? Jesus. When she rose from the grave. Who's the first voice that she heard when she rose from the grave? Who is the person that was holding her hand? Believer, listen to me. That's a picture of death of those who know Jesus. That's a picture right here in the story. And she gets a good meal. I don't even know what that's for. I looked at that all week long. I don't know what the meal has to do with anything.

All right. Verse 56, I just thought it was cool. Here it is. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened. That's a little bit confusing until you realize the reason Jesus didn't really want this at this time to get out like this is Jesus already knew that his popular charity was huge, and that people were seeing him more as a physical healer than a spiritual healer. Does that make sense? It wasn't that he didn't want people to know that he healed. He just didn't want that to be the priority. Oops, somebody died. We better call Jesus, right? Oops, somebodies sick. Call Jesus. What about your soul? Don't care about that one. We just need him to do this. But that's a big point for us, is it not? Jesus cares more about your spiritual soul than He does your physical body. That's the point of the story. You see, the greatest thing that Jesus can give you is a relationship with him is to heal your soul, is for your heart to be his. It's not that he doesn't care about the rest of the stuff. He does care about the rest of the stuff. But a lot of people want Jesus to heal their body, heal their marriage, heal their situation, bless their lives. But the real question is, do you want him to restore you to the Lord? That's the problem. Yes, God wants to restore your marriage. There is not a marriage on this planet that God does not want to restore. He doesn't want you to get divorce, but God wants your heart first.

He wants your heart first. He wants to give you a new heart. You see, nobody in the Bible ever turned down a miracle, physical miracle from Jesus. Have you ever seen this? But many people turn down their souls, turning to Jesus. That's the point. Man, this is an amazing event. You know why? Because all it's doing is begging us to know who Jesus is. Let me give you for a little quick walk away, and I promise we're going to be done. We've already talked about them all. I'm just going to give them to you. Kind of. Number one, What's the text saying to us? Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus is what the text has shown us, right? Don't let the crowds, don't let others, don't let a sickness, don't let isolation. Don't let a feeling of yourself or a pride, any of that hinder you. Jesus can take it. Come to Jesus. He can heal you, Matthew 11:28 says, Come to me. Jesus says All you are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. Give you rest. Let me just ask you, have you tried everything else like this lady and nothing else worked? Jesus does.

And He wants to save your soul. Jesus is the one that slows down in the crowd. He's the one who sits by your bedside. We see that in the whole story. Have you given your life to Jesus? Not like are you religious? That's. That's dumb. Have you given your life to Jesus? Have you surrendered your heart to Jesus? Have you embraced him as your Lord? If you're like, Matt, I'm not sure. Today you need to give your life to Jesus.

Number one, come to Jesus. Number two, go public for Jesus. So, we're seeing in the story both of these people, both of these people, it was a shock what they were doing. Yes. Walking with Jesus is a personal thing, but it's not private. It's not private. Come to Jesus. After all, we're all broken people following a full savior. Come to Jesus, Matt. But what if I mess up? Won't people call me a hypocrite? Yes. Just like they call the rest of us hypocrites. It's okay. It's fine. Forget about it. Jesus says I call you a son or daughter. Stand for me. Let me just ask you, are you standing for Jesus? Are you standing when nobody is standing around you? Are you intentionally standing when everybody else is just in the crowd? After all, when Jesus calls you a son or daughter, who cares what anybody else thinks? He's the one that's by your bed when you are dying. Number three, never underestimate Jesus's desire for you. Isn't this what the text says right here? Never underestimate. It amazes me when I read this story how much Jesus wants to be with us, how much He wants to be. I mean, look back at the event. Look at Jesus' tenderness. Look how accessible he was. Listen, I'm a driven person. There are moments in my life, if you interrupt me, you will look at me and go, He hates me. I don't I'm just I mean, sometimes my mind is just in a direction. You never see that with Jesus. Why? Because He wants you to interrupt him. Because his goal in life is to save you and fill you with his presence. And that's what we see in the story. He's the same today.

Listen, he might not meet every physical prayer for healing, but I can promise you this. He will always save those who call on him. Always. That is a prayer that never is not answered in the exact way we know it. He will never not restore you. He will never not cleanse you if your heart turns. Number four here it is. Last one. Your life always displays what you truly believe about Jesus. Man, we can say all we want. We can speak all we want Wear all the Christian T-shirts we want. We come to church all we want. But your life will always display what you truly believe about Jesus. Isn't this what happened to both of these people in the story? Jairus, he's like, I don't care about position. I don't care about piety; I don't care about my stance in the community. What I care about is knowing that Jesus can heal my daughter and heal our family. The lady, she's like, Look, I'll take whatever consequence as long as I know the master is with me. Let me ask you this week, what's your life showing? What is it showing? Is it showing a life that's desperate to follow after Jesus? Or is it showing a life that is casually rubbing shoulders with Jesus? Lord God, the plea today, is quite simple.

First of all, the plea today is for people to meet you, to walk into a relationship with you, to trust you as savior and Lord. God, I know that there are people in here that that are seeking. God today, may it be the day of their salvation. God, all it takes is for us to be in the posture, as both of these people in the story. Of me saying, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I know that I am broken. And Jesus, I need you to save me, to give me life, to heal me, to give me hope. Now, with your heads bowed just in the quiet of this moment. I'm just going to ask you this morning, is that you? Do you need Jesus to save you? I mean, for real save you. Not like, hey, I might have done something. NO, no, no. Radically change your life.

If that's you today, as soon as I'm done praying in just a minute, let me ask you to do something. This is going to take some boldness, but we just talked about standing in the crowd, so it should work. As soon as I'm done, and we start this invitation this morning. Would you stand where you're at? Would you walk over here to your right, there's a little banner that says Next steps. And would you look at one of us, there will be a bunch of us over there. Will you look at one of us and just say, hey, I need Jesus today? And if you're online, you can click on the next steps form and walk through the grid and just indicate on there, Hey, I need Jesus, I'm trusting Jesus. Somebody will follow up with you from that next step. Do you need Jesus today? Matt, what are people going to say if I step out? They think that I'm a believer. Well, they're not the ones that really matter. Do you need Jesus? Number two, if you know Jesus, maybe today you just need to desperately fall at the feet of Jesus and say, Here I am, Lord. Lord Jesus, during this next couple of minutes, God, I just pray, Lord, that you move in our hearts. God save people right now. Bring people back to your feet. Let us see that we're not too broken, too despised, too poor, too rejected for you to love us. And God, show us that we cannot live a prideful life and seek you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, it's in your name.

Amen.

Let's stand together. If that's you today, man, we'll be right over here. We'd love to pray with you. Let's sing.

Follow Along with the Message

The Touch of Jesus

October 2, 2022

Luke 8:40–41
40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house.
Luke 8:42
…because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
Luke 8:42–43
…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.

PRINCIPLE: There is too messed up, too unclean, or too insignificant to not get Jesus’ attention.

PRINCIPLE: There is no one too good, too powerful, or too religious to Jesus.

Luke 8:44
She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.
Luke 8:44–45
44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
Luke 8:45
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
Luke 8:46
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

PRINCIPLE: Many people Jesus casually, but only a few touch Him intentionally.

Luke 8:47
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.
Luke 8:48
Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Luke 8:49–52
49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” 51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her…
Luke 8:52–53
…“Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” 53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
Luke 8:54–56
54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Luke 8:54
But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!”
Luke 8:56
Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
4 Takeaways from the Text

1. to Jesus.

Matthew 11:28–30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

2. Go for Jesus.

3. underestimate Jesus’ desire for you.

4. Your life displays what you truly believe about Jesus.

Additional Notes

 

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