The Cleansing Touch

Title: The Cleansing Touch By Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Mark 5:24-34  30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" … 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.  34 And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, two scenes from a movie were referred to me for this text.  It is from a movie entitled Spitfire Grill.  The movie opens with a young lady named Percy who is in prison.  You find out later that she was put there for killing her step-father, who had abused her. The young woman, Percy is released and sent to work at a dilapidated restaurant called the Spitfire Grill.  The grill is run by an old woman whose son haunts the countryside due to PTSD.  That town treated the young ex-con as if she were unclean. In spite of this the young woman is a breath of fresh air to the town.  One day Percy goes up into the mountains searching for the man she calls "Johnny B", who is the old woman’s son: He eludes her, and she finally sinks down in a clearing, looking out over the mountains. With a look of unspeakable suffering, she begins to sing "There Is a Balm in Gilead." Silently, "Johnny B" walks up behind her and places his hand on her head. It is a moment of healing for both of them.  These scenes have several ties to our text for today.  We have a broken woman.  We have sin sick souls. We have a touch that heals

I.  Maybe we can get a grasp on this text through the idea of uncleanliness, not unlike that seen in that town toward Percy.

A. In Jesus’ day we have those who were looked upon as unclean too, as the town saw that young ex-con.  In Jewish priestly thought uncleanness was infectious, a human being might incur it by contact with any unclean person or thing (Lev. 5:3)

1. The law regarded three forms of uncleanness as serious enough to exclude the infected person from society. These were leprosy, bodily discharges, and contact with the dead (Num. 5:2-4). 2. But it’s hard to present this idea of uncleanness to people today.  We just don’t think the same way today.  But maybe we can look at it like this:  unclean things are like things that cause us to say “Ugh!”

a. Sometimes when we see something disgusting we say, "Ugh!" Parents may add, "Don't touch it!" b. You're walking in the woods or hiking on a mountain and see some droppings on the ground, you go, "Ugh!" and try not to step in it. There are some icky things in the world that we try to avoid.

B. For reasons we don't fully understand, the ancient Hebrews were brought to feel the same about a few things. Certain animals, foods, diseases, body fluids, and dead things made the people say, "Ugh! Don't touch them!" Such things were "unclean."  If you touched them you became unclean. Anything or anyone that you touched became unclean.

1. And being unclean was the opposite of being holy.

a. Being unclean meant that you couldn't come to the holy temple to worship the holy God. Anything unclean was unfit to be in the presence of the holy God. If you were unclean, you had to go through a rite of cleansing in order to be welcomed back into society and into the presence of God. b. And also being unclean refers to the relationship between people or things and God. In some ways it may be like someone telling another, "Don't touch me!" There is something about the relationship that is estranged. Unclean things and people were estranged from God and each other. They weren't supposed to touch each other.

2. In some ways their view of unclean things is like our saying, "One bad apple spoils the whole bunch."

a. Contact with one of these unclean things made you an unclean person. There is some truth to this. If you hang around someone with a contagious disease, you are likely to end up with the same sickness. b. If you hang around with the wrong group of people, their bad influence may "spoil" you. There are some good reasons to stay away from certain people and things.

3. In theology the opposite works too, but only with Jesus.

a. He is the good apple who takes away the “ugh!” He takes away the uncleanliness of our sin.  He did this through the cross – all of our “ugh” went on Him.  He took it all upon Himself b. Jesus' holiness transforms the people's uncleanness. Jesus raises them up to his level. Jesus makes them worthy to be in the presence of God. Jesus, as the one good, holy apple, can make all the bad apples become good.

II. The woman of our text was considered unclean because of her flow of blood that would not stop. For twelve years she could not be touched by a man. She was separated from society.

A. And then this woman comes up and touches Jesus.

1. Just ….His garment, but she believed that even such a touch would make her well. And she was right.  But She broke the cleanliness rules.

a. For twelve years she suffered and despaired, and with one touch her body was healed. Imagine her tears of joy. Relief would have swept over her. b. She had come up to Jesus with a stricken heart. Now she walked away, passing through the crowd, her heart singing.

2. But then Jesus said “Who touched Me?”  These words caused her to freeze in her tracks.

a. He knew. Jesus knew what she had done. Dozens of people, maybe hundreds were milling around Him, touching Him, but Jesus knew what she had done. With fear and trembling she came back to Him. She fell down at His feet and confessed everything. She had dared to touch Him. She did not ask Him to heal her. She touched His garment all on her own. But then Jesus gave her sweet comfort: “Daughter, go in peace, your faith has made you well.” b. Of all the men, and women, and children flocking around Jesus she was he only one who was healed. Only this woman who knew and confessed that she was unclean was healed.

B. this woman came before Jesus in faith --knowing that she did not deserve to come, but she came anyway; She knew that she dare not touch Him, but she touched Him anyway.

1. Unlike that woman if you think you are not a sinner, then Jesus has nothing for you. But there is no one who can honestly say this. 2. But if you are burdened with sin; if you cry with David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God!” If you come, like this woman, with all of your uncleanness, then you have a Savior, as she did, who makes you well, who makes you clean, who forgives your sins.

a. In this Jesus mixes everything up. Jesus doesn't become unclean by contact with the unclean people. They don't bring him down to their level. Jesus' holiness transforms their uncleanness. The flow of blood is stopped. The woman is healed.  People say, "Ugh" but, Jesus has no ughs!! He has a hug -- or at least a healing touch. b. A business executive became depressed. Things were not going well at work, and he was bringing his problems home with him every night. Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter. Then he would go into the den and read the paper using the newspaper to wall his family out of his life. After several nights of this, one evening his daughter took her little hand and pushed the newspaper down. She then jumped into her father's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him strongly. The father said abruptly, "Honey, you are hugging me to death!" "No, Daddy," the little girl said, "I'm hugging you to life!" This was the greatness of Jesus. He took people where they were and hugged them to life. That is precisely what we see Jesus doing here in this dramatic passage.

III. Sometimes our lives may seem full of ughs. We may think that we are terrible, rotten, ugh-ly people. Jesus doesn't think so. To him, there are no ughs. Whomever he touches becomes clean and holy and beautiful.

A. And so for you. Jesus has come and has brought you in, away from all the crowds, away from the world which is perishing.  Jesus gives you His word of pardon and life. In this world there would be nothing but uncleanliness for you. But He is here, here for you. He has cleansed you.

1. The hemorrhaging woman’s faith made her well not because she believed in Jesus’ ability to perform a miracle but because she trusted in him as her Savior.

a. Jesus is not a faith healer. He is not a traveling magician who works through sleight of hand to create an illusion. b. And he most certainly is not a TV preacher who promises answer to prayer if you call the number on your screen and have your credit card ready.

2. His stripes, his wounds, heal us of our terminal disease of sin. And faith in Christ, the faith of the woman healed, is faith in the Son of God to save. It is trust in the promise that your sins are washed away.

B. And you know what? Jesus gives you his word on this. And He backs up his promise of healing with medicine.

1. In Baptism He washes you clean and makes you His child.  This is medicine effective for life.  And there’s more. At his altar, he gives you his body and blood to eat and to drink — the very medicine of immortality. Here you receive forgiveness of the malignant sins that ravage your soul. Here your merciful God grants you pardon and peace, and makes you his holy people. He equips and empowers you to live a life pleasing to him, yet is right there to pick you up when you stumble. 2. And His medicine is for eternity because on the last day He will reach down to where you lie in the sleep of death take your hand and say to you, “My son, my daughter, arise.” And He will raise you and you will run around for eternity with Him.

CONCLUSION “You are clean.” Jesus says that to each of us here this morning. It is as personal as the words He said to that woman in our text.  It’s as personal as the words spoken over you when You were baptized. It’s as personal as hearing that word of absolution spoken over you, when you hear  “I forgive you all of your sins.” It’s as personal as the Bread and the Wine in your mouth. “This is my Body given for you.” “This is my Blood shed for you.” The words “for you” bring hearts to believe, and they create and sustain the faith those words bring.  In all this he personally makes you clean to stand before Him as his child.  Amen

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