“Who Touched My Cloak?” – Jesus Revealed Part IV

Sermon Title: “Who Touched My Cloak?”: Having Faith to Approach Jesus

Good News Statement: Jesus replaces our fear with faith

Preached: Sunday, January 29, 2022 at Dogwood Prairie UMC & Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Mark 5:25-34 Today’s scripture reading comes from the Gospel of Mark chapter five verses twenty-five thru thirty-four. In this passage, Mark reminds us, through the hemorrhaging women, that it takes faith to approach Jesus…

 

A Woman Healed

²⁵ Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years. ²⁶ She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well.” ²⁹ Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³² He looked all around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

 

Introduction:

 A guy named Joe finds himself in dire trouble. His business has gone bust and he’s in serious financial trouble. He’s so desperate that he decides to ask God for help. He begins to pray… “God, please help me. I’ve lost my business and if I don’t get some money, I’m going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the lotto.”  Lotto night comes and somebody else wins it.

Joe again prays… “God, please let me win the lotto! I’ve lost my business, my house and I’m going to lose my car as well”. Lotto night comes and Joe still has no luck.  Once again, he prays… “My God, why have you forsaken me?? I’ve lost my business, my house, and my car. My wife and children are starving. I don’t often ask you for help and I have always been a good servant to you. PLEASE just let me win the lotto this one time so I can get my life back in order.”

 Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open and Joe is confronted by the voice of God Himself: “Joe, meet Me halfway on this. Buy a ticket.”

How many of you feel comfortable calling on Jesus whenever you need him? You are driving somewhere, so you call upon Jesus for safe travels. You are working in the garden and you notice that your tomato plants are growing, so you call upon Jesus to have him grow your tomato plants. You are tinkering with an old tractor that ran yesterday but doesn’t even turn over today, so you call upon Jesus to start the tractor at the precise moment when you whack it with a hammer. You are in the middle of reheating a divine meal in the microwave and the microwave stops with a minute left, so you call upon Jesus to fix the microwave so you can eat.

Or perhaps, you receive news that a relative or family member has been diagnosed with a terminal cancer and given six months to live, so you call upon Jesus to perform a miracle—a life-saving miracle. Or maybe, you witness something on the news to the effect, “This evening an active shooter entered an elementary school and those injured, missing, or dead continue to increase:” so you call upon Jesus to rid this world of hate, bigotry, crime, and sorrow. How many of you feel comfortable calling upon Jesus whenever you need him? How many of you are willing to meet him half way?

For some of us, calling upon Jesus to hear our prayers is easier than seeking Jesus out in the crowd and meeting him halfway. For others, seeking and finding Jesus in the crowd is what is needed to feel whole again. The woman from our Scripture reading not only battles through the large crowd—pushing people out of the way, doing what she can to get to Jesus, similar to that of the four individuals who carried the paralyzed man to Jesus (Mark 2:1-12)—but when she gets to Jesus, she touches his cloak, the “fringe” (Matthew 23:5), and becomes healed. The miracle of the bleeding or hemorrhaging woman is a miracle that invites us to re-examine our faith in such a way that opens the door to the power of God, shows persistence in overcoming obstacles, and embodies action. This miracle is about faith. So now I ask you, do you have enough faith—just the way you are—to fight the crowd, take risks, so that you can touch the cloak of Jesus? Jesus replaces our fear with faith; but we must be willing to approach him, we must be willing to meet him halfway.

 

Body:

It’s not every day that a preacher will stand behind the pulpit and use the miracle of the bleeding woman to talk about faith (Matthew 9;18-26; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48). However, the story of this particular woman is quite compelling, powerful, and certainly life-changing especially as we find ways, as we improve our levels of courage and confidence, to approach Jesus in our own life.

Medically speaking, the suffering of the woman from our Scripture reading could be bleeding or hemorrhaging because of pre-existing uterine infections or from a previous pregnancy. This woman has been experiencing this bleeding, whatever may have caused it, for twelve years. She’s tired of this pain, of this suffering, and quite possibly of being excluded from society for enduring something she has no control over.

Biblically speaking, this woman is considered unclean. Leviticus 15:25 states, “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her menstrual impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean.” This woman’s impurity is transmissible to others as Leviticus 15:26 informs us. Anyone who has contact with her by “lying in her bed, sitting in her chair,” or touching her becomes unclean and is required to bathe. This woman is considered unclean and impure, and not welcomed to be out in public. But yet, here she is: suffering and risking her life to get to someone she has only heard about but never really seen.

When describing the suffering of this woman, Biblical Scholar David E. Garland, author of the The NIV Application Commentary on Mark, asserts that this woman has suffered on many levels. This woman, “suffers physically, living every day with the signs of…decaying…life. She suffers socially and psychologically, knowing that she is a contaminant.” This woman is suffering on many levels. From our reading, Mark introduces us to yet another level of suffering: social and economic status. Mark 5:25-26 asserts, “Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse.” This woman has become impoverished after depleting her wages on medical care. Nothing or no one has been able to help this woman; but here she is risking her life to get to someone she doesn’t know.

According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2021, “8.6% of people, or 28 million people, did not have health insurance.” In a follow-up article, the CDC reported that “8.7% of people who have incomes below the poverty level report severe psychological distress.” This woman, who has been suffering for twelve years—socially, psychologically, physically and medically, who is now part of the 8.6% of people without health insurance, who is living in poverty, who is no longer able to see a physician, is stepping out into the public, the crowded streets, to seek help and healing. She is giving everything she has to become made whole again. She is putting her faith to the test. How many of you have ever found yourself depleted of strength and will-power but knew that you needed to do something? Even though you felt as if everything was against you, you knew you had to keep going. This woman had nothing left, but yet she had a lot to offer: she had her faith.

Mark continues, “She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well’” (Mark 5:27-28). The gospel of Matthew states, she touched “the fringe of his garment” (Matthew 9:20-21). This woman sneaks up on Jesus, trying to be unseen. She doesn’t really know who Jesus is: she has just heard of what he has done to heal others. This woman was probably thinking, “This is my last resort, my last chance to be healed. I don’t know who this person is, but I’m putting my faith in him. If he can cast out demons, make the paralyzed walk, and restore a man’s hand, then certainly he can help me.” Whether touching his cloak or the fringe of his garment, this woman did something that everyone wanted to do: to touch Jesus and be healed. This woman did what we pray for everyday: to touch and hold the precious hand of our Lord and Savior, to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, to feel the divine travel through our body, and to embrace a healing miracle. She knew that touching Jesus would be risky, dangerous, and unthinkable. After all, she was considered to be unclean. Nevertheless, she did what she had to do. She risked her life to be healed, but in doing so her faith grew.

Immediately after touching the cloak of Jesus, Mark states, “[H]er flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease” (Mark 5:29). She is healed. After twelve years of suffering psychologically, she is healed. After twelve years of being publically ridiculed and called unclean, she is healed and made clean. After twelve years of being rejected by physicians, she is healed. And after twelve years of being afraid, her faith has healed her, the fear is gone. This woman is immediately healed from her disease. She isn’t healed tomorrow or next week: she is healed today, right now. All because she decided to take a risk and approach Jesus, her life has been changed. Her fear was conquered by her faith. Did you know that your faith is just as strong as her faith? You just have to believe. Jesus said, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23).

Are you ever afraid to approach Jesus? Are you afraid to approach him because you feel as if you can’t approach him because of past sins, things you have done or said or thought about? Are you afraid to approach Jesus because you don’t believe in yourself? What is keeping you from approaching Jesus and touching his cloak? Have you forgotten about that old hymn that says, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer… Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.” We all need to be healed, but are we letting Jesus, our friend,  know that we want to be healed? The woman’s willingness to present herself to Jesus, just as she is, allows her faith to open the door to the power of God. And from this power, the woman, like us, has the opportunity at a new life. By opening the door to the power of God, our faith becomes stronger; and we begin to no longer shy away from what Jesus is calling us to do, but we embrace it and see where it takes us.

Speaking of power, “Immediately aware that power had gone from him,” Mark writes, “Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my cloak?’” (Mark 5:30).  While preaching in the region of Galilee, Jesus is constantly being followed, placed in great crowds, and pressed upon. Mark writes “He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him…all that who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him” (Mark 3:9-10). After Mark introduces us to the near death of a man’s daughter, Mark informs us that “a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him” (Mark 5:24). Jesus is constantly being touched, but yet it’s this one touch that makes him pause because he realizes that “power had gone from him.” Mark uses the Greek word dunamin to describe this power. Dunamin is often translated as “power, strength, force, virtue, and might.” A part of Jesus has been transferred to this woman, who now has been given power and strength.

I can imagine, that as this power is being transferred from Jesus to the woman, the woman is hearing Jesus whisper the words of Joshua: “Be strong and courageous.” Five times throughout his book, Joshua says “Be strong and courageous; be very strong, be very courageous.” Additionally, when writing to the people of Corinth Paul reminds them, “Keep alert; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” When we allow our faith to help us be strong and courageous, we will stand firm in the faith as we face obstacle after obstacle after obstacle as we find our way to Jesus.

By standing firm in the faith, we will find ways to get to Jesus. By standing firm in the faith, we will find ways to bring others to Jesus. By standing firm in the faith, we will do whatever we can to touch the cloak of Jesus. No matter what life decides to throw at us, our faith will rescue us. With faith in Christ, we may feel afflicted but we are not crushed, we may be perplexed but we are not driven to despair, we may feel persecuted but we certainly are not forsaken, and we may appear to be struck down but we are not destroyed (2 Corinthians 9:8). The power that Jesus gives us is what is needed to make sure that we have what it takes to conquer today and every day; so that our faith is renewed, so that we can mount up with wings like eagles, run and not be weary, and walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). The woman, who receives healing power from Jesus, is our testimony today that we can approach Jesus without fear and just as we are.

Our text says that Jesus looked all around to see who had done it; “but the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth” (Mark 5:32-33). The woman is frightened: “fear and trembling” define the actions of the woman. Theologian Soren Kierkegaard explains that “fear and trembling” is a phrase used to acknowledge that one has given up everything  in hopes of infinite resignation. This woman is in fear and is trembling because by touching Jesus’ cloak has given up everything, resigned her life to Jesus, and is now under God’s control. She has confessed, “told him the whole truth,” and is now receiving a new life in Christ. Jesus could have gotten upset, dismissed the woman—as the disciples were suggesting when they comically answered Jesus, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” (Mark 5:31). But he doesn’t do any of those things; rather he accepts the woman as she is, listens to her, and commends her for her faith—her willingness to be strong and courageous.

Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:34). In the New International Version, it says “your faith has saved you.” The woman’s faith has saved her, healed her, and granted her a source of peace that resembles wholeness, well-being, prosperity, security, friendship, and salvation. In Hebrew, the woman has received shalom. Because the woman put her faith in action—approached Jesus in fear, putting herself in risk, overcoming obstacles, and touching Jesus—she is now healed and made new and living in peace, shalom. We may not always feel comfortable to approach Jesus, to get on our knees and pray, but at some point we must be willing to touch his cloak especially if we want to be healed. “Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.”

Conclusion:

The story of the bleeding woman is not just another miracle: it is a miracle about faith—about fighting the crowds to get to Jesus, about approaching Jesus as we are, about touching the cloak of Jesus, about feeling the presence of Jesus in our life, and about publicly being a witness of Jesus’ healing power for others. It is about reminding us that our faith makes us “strong and courageous” to do what God is calling us to do: everything is possible for those who believe and have faith.

This miracle reminds us: 1) Faith opens the door to the power of God—faith can be imperfect, it can be bold, it can be halting and fearful, it can be brave, and it can be life-saving; 2) Faith shows persistence in overcoming any obstacles—faith transfers divine power to those who are powerless so that they can be strong and courageous even when it seems impossible; and 3) Faith is embodied in action—it kneels, begs, and reaches out to touch Jesus. To the last point, I am reminded of a rabbinic tradition focused on Exodus 14:22, the Israelites traveling through the split sea. This specific tradition, suggests Garland, “Faith does not wait to see if the waters will divide and then step out. Faith steps out, trusting God to do what is needed.”  The woman did what was needed: she put her faith in action and trusted in Jesus. Now it’s our time to do the same: put our faith in action, approach Jesus just as we are, and trust him.

I leave you with these words written by Bill Gaither in 1963: “Shackled by a heavy burden, ‘Neath a load of guilt and shame. Then the hand of Jesus touched me, And now I am no longer the same. He touched me, oh, He touched me. And oh, the joy that floods my soul. Something happened, and now I know. He touched me, and made me whole. Since I’ve met this blessed Savior. Since He’s cleansed and made me whole. Oh, I will never cease to praise Him (to praise Him)
I’ll shout it while eternity rolls. Oh, He touched me, oh He touched me, He touched me. And oh, the joy that floods my soul. Something happened and now I know. He touched me and made me whole.” Don’t be afraid to approach Jesus. As a matter of Jesus is waiting for you to approach him and meet him halfway so that he can restore your faith and make you whole again. What are you waiting for? Amen.

 

Closing Prayer:

            Let us Pray…Dear Jesus, grant us the faith that guides us to you, that gives us strength and encouragement, and inspires us to approach you just as we are. O Lord, let us not be afraid to present ourselves before you and may we, with confidence, be healed and granted peace of wholeness and security as we allow our faith in you to save us. Amen.

 

Benediction:

The story of the bleeding woman, although strange, is your reminder that faith can change your life and that Jesus is waiting for you to approach him and touch his cloak whenever you need some extra healing. Give everything to God in prayer. Have faith and trust in Him. Go, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as you seek to touch the cloak of Jesus. And all God’s people said, “Amen.” Amen. Amen.