Sermon Notes
Who Touched Me? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 8
Pastor Jericho Toilolo
Mark 5:24-34; Leviticus 15:25-30
- There is a significant difference between being around Jesus and placing our faith in Jesus.
- Mark 5:30-33
- Jesus wants our whole truth or none of it.
- Luke 14:26-30; Mark 5:34, 10:52; Luke 7:50
- Salvation is unattainable without surrender.
Reflection Questions
- What moments have you felt like the woman, reaching out to Jesus?
- In what moments have you felt like the disciples, not quite understanding what Jesus is doing?
- Reread Mark 5:24-29. What differences do you see between the woman and the crowd? How do you see the theme of surrender and faith in the life of this woman?
- Think of a moment when you needed a merciful touch from God. Think of that space and ask God to show you where Jesus was in that space. What was he like? Did he say something to you? He called the woman, “daughter” — what is he calling you?
Scriptures To Meditate On
“A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.”
Mark 5:24-29 NIV
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Matthew 5:8 NIV
Resources
Article | 3 Ways To Surrender Your Will to Christ by A. Craig Troxel and Crossway
“We are thick-skinned against temptation yet tenderhearted toward holiness. We are entrenched against the world, yet we yield to God. We pray, ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,’ because our heart is not truly right until it bows in awe before the sovereign king.”
Spiritual Practice To Try
This week, explore the spiritual practice of simplicity. This is an outward discipline that helps us counteract the influence to find value and meaning in what we own and what we do.
We focus first on the kingdom of God – and then everything else will come into its proper order. Richard Foster wrote, “Seeking first God’s kingdom and the righteousness, both personal and social, of that kingdom is the only thing that can be central in the Spiritual Discipline of simplicity.”
This week, when you feel the need to acquire, seek God’s kingdom first. When you feel anxious about a need, seek God’s kingdom first. When you feel the tug of an addictive activity or food (social media, caffeine, chocolate, wine, etc.), seek God’s kingdom first.
Something To Think About
While “digging deeper” (see what I did there?) into this week’s sermon and text, I discovered some varying ideas about the unnamed woman in the crowd. Some scholars and pastors have found her faith small, timid, and somewhat superstitious. I discovered that Charles Spurgeon had thought differently of this woman’s faith.
Her wanting to touch Jesus’ garment was not out of superstitious thinking, it was great faith that led her to believe that a touch of his robe would cure her. In discussing her great faith, Spurgeon said, “She believed that this would be enough, and so it proved. Oh, that we were as eager to be saved as she was to be healed! Oh, that we had such confidence in Jesus as to be sure that if we come into contact with Him … He can and will save us!”
This is not a story of a frail woman doomed by her female body. This woman took great risks and had such great faith that she stood out from the crowd. Many in the crowd were touching Jesus, but not the way this woman did. Jesus is alive and here today and he’s accessible to you. Will you be a part of the crowd or will you reach out in great faith?
And however you’re reaching out to Jesus today, he sees you and he loves you. It’s not timid. It’s not small. If Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”, can say, “Oh, that we are as eager as she was!”, then we can also seek to live lives of great faith like this woman.
Blessings,
Lydia Long