May I touch your shirt? (Luke 8:42-48)

Jesus healed the bleeding woman. telling her "your faith has healed you." To truly appreciate the miracles of Jesus we must look beyond the person healed. She was healed by her faith, and we are healed by our faith. But how and when? 

Chapters

• 0:12 May I touch your shirt?
• 1:22 The bleeding woman.
• 5:33 Ritually unclean.
• 6:31 Your faith has healed you.
• 10:33 Window into the future.
• 14:22 The Powers of the Age to Come

Transcript

48 The Bleeding Woman   (Luke 8:42-48 )                                                 

“May I touch your shirt?”  [0:12]

May I touch your shirt? In the Gospel of Mark (6:56) Jesus has crossed the Sea of Galilee and landed in Gennesaret. The people recognized Jesus. And wherever he went people brought the sick on mats. In villages and towns. In the countryside. They brought the sick to Jesus. “They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his garment, and all who touched it were healed.” (NIV)

Imagine walking through a crowd of sick people in a marketplace, and everyone is asking, “May I touch your shirt? May I touch your shirt?” They all want to be healed. They all want to touch his shirt.  

The Bleeding Woman. [1:22]

Well, today we have a sick woman who touches Jesus’ shirt. She doesn’t ask Jesus, “May I touch your shirt?” She just does it.  She just does it. And when this story ends Jesus will tell her that her faith has healed her. At the end of the lesson we are going to talk a bit about “her faith healed her.” There is a valuable insight which we will share—but first the story.  We are in Luke 8, starting in verse forty-two. 

Jesus is in Capernaum. He has just returned from casting demons out of two Gerasene men. And the demons went into some pigs, which ran down a hill and drowned in the sea.

So––he has come back to Capernaum. A crowd of people welcome him back. Jesus is on the way to Jairus’ house to help Jairus’ daughter (42). The crowds were almost crushing Jesus.  This woman who has had a bleeding disease for twelve years is in the crowd. 

For twelve years she has been talking to doctors. Mark says she spent all that she had on doctors––but she only got worse. I think it would be a tough thing to be a doctor and keep charging a patient––only to see them get worse. But that had been her life for twelve years. 

Bleeding diseases like this were extremely hard to cure. I don’t know what her doctors told her to do, but whatever it was, it did not help. The Talmud did not exist in her day. It came later. But in the Talmudic period (3–6 cent.) they suggested two approaches for a bleeding disease.

Get a cup of wine and sit at a place where two paths meet. Have someone come up behind you and frighten you and say, “Arise from your disease!”

That was one approach. But if that didn’t work, you could try this:

Dig seven ditches. Burn some vines in each one. Sit in each ditch one at a time with a cup of wine in your hand.  Each time you leave a ditch, someone must say, “Arise from your disease.” (Cambridge Bible Comm. citing Lightfoot)

I wonder if doctors told her to try anything like that? Probably not. But who knows? Whatever the physicians told her, it did not work. Luke is a physician. What would Luke have told her if she had come to him? 

Ritually Unclean  5:33

And not only did she have the burden of the disease, the law of Moses was clear: bleeding  made the woman unclean.  Lev. 15:19: She is unclean. Anyone who touches her is unclean. Anyone who sits on a chair she sat on is unclean. Anyone who lies on a bed she had lain on is unclean.  

What a burden on the woman. And her family if she had one. And, of course, she would not be able to enter the temple or the synagogue. 

“Your faith has healed you.”  6:31

So, now she sees Jesus.  Jesus heals paralytics. Jesus heals lepers and makes them clean. He casts out demons and sets them free. The power of the Lord is with him to heal. Even at this very moment Jesus is on his way to Jairus’ house to help his daughter––because his daughter is dying! 

So here is her chance!  She sees Jesus––she sees his garment. She has done it. The healing power went out of Jesus and she was healed.  Jesus felt the power go out—and she felt the bleeding stop. After twelve years of going to doctors––after twelve years of spending money––after twelve years of being unclean—her suffering has come to an end.  

Well, Jesus stopped and asked who had touched him? Everyone denied it––including the woman. Peter said,  “All of these people are crowding you and pressing against you.”

But Jesus continued to press the question. “I know the healing power went out. Someone touched me!”

Finally, this woman could not hide it any longer. She is trembling. She falls as Jesus’ feet and tells him why she touched his shirt. And that she had been healed immediately.   

Why was she afraid to speak up?  Well, I am sure because Jesus is an important person. And he is walking along with Jairus, who is the ruler of the synagogue. And that makes her nervous. It would make me nervous. 

But maybe, maybe this entire crowd of people could turn against her. Maybe. “You have a bleeding disease! You are unclean. And you forced your way through this crowd!”

How many people did she brush up against? Remember: if you touched a bleeding woman––if you touched her or sat in her chair––you were unclean! How many people did you touch and defile? Who all did you touch? 

Did you defile Jesus? Did you defile Jairus? Did you defile me? Do we all need to go home and wash our clothes and be unclean until this evening? 

Well Jesus was not concerned. He looked down and said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”  

(48). No need to tremble. No need to be afraid. Go in peace. Your faith has healed you. 

Window into the Future.  10:33

I said easy in the lesson that we would think about “your faith has healed you.” It is easy, very easy, for us to read this healing miracle and never think beyond Jesus and this woman. And that is true of a lot of Jesus’ miracles. So we think about Jesus and this woman. Her faith healed her when she touched Jesus. Good for her!

But we really need to think beyond the woman. What is the power of faith? The power of faith is to heal. Faith heals. When Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man let down through the hole in the roof, Jesus forgave his sins and he healed him. 

Healing is one of the great blessings of faith in Jesus. That is what faith does. Faith brings us the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and a lot of other blessings—and healing of all of these chronic diseases and disabilities—and even death itself. 

Not just for this woman. Not just for all the blind and paralyzed and lepers whom Jesus healed. Every woman of faith—every man of faith—will be healed because that is what faith does.    

I know what you are thinking. My congregation is full of people of faith. Good, sincere faith. Faithful people.

Me, myself—I have been led in singing by a blind man in Guyana. I have known elders with Parkinson’s disease. Preachers with cancer. I have seen women limping to Bible class to teach children because they need a hip replacement or knee replacement. I met a brother who was paralyzed from the neck down. 

We all know people like this. And we wonder why this woman was healed by her faith, but I am not healed 

by my faith? Why I am not healed by my faith? 

Power of the Age to Come  14:22

There is a very good answer to that question.  Now listen very, very carefully.  Follow this. Think about this.

In Hebrews 6:4, 5 there is a warning about falling away. It speaks about the “powers of the age to come.” 

These Christians had been enlightened. 
They had tasted the heavenly gift. 
They had shared in the Holy Spirit.
They had tasted the goodness of the word of God. 
And finally, they had “tasted the powers of the age to come.” 

They had “tasted the powers of the age to come.” 

It is abundantly clear in the New Testament that one day Christians will experience the full power of the kingdom. The full power of Jesus. The full power of faith. The full power has not happened yet. But it will happen. The power will come in its fullness. What will happen? 

Every time you read a healing miracle of Jesus, turn over and read 1 Corinthians 15:42. “So, will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” (NIV, 1 Cor. 15:42, 43)

The dead will be raised in glory. 
The perishable body will be imperishable. 
The diseased body will be raised in glory.
That handicapped and the deformed body will be raised in glory.
The dead will be raised in a body that is glorious and imperishable!   
The blind will see. The deaf will hear. The lame will leap like a deer. 

When will it happen? And how long will it take?  When will my faith heal my disease? My handicap? My deformity?  And how long will it take?  

In a flash. In the twinkling of an eye. When the trumpet sounds. In a flash. “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (NIV, 1 Cor. 15:52) It will happen when Jesus comes in glory and power and the dead are raised. 

I really do hope this changes the way you think about the healing ministry of Jesus. The people who saw Jesus heal and raise the dead saw his compassion.  A window into the heart of Jesus. But they also saw a glimpse into the future. A window into the power and glories to come at the second coming. 

Once again Jesus will raise the dead. He will  heal the blind, and the lame will leap like a deer. By faith in Jesus we will be raised. By faith in Jesus we will be healed. 

May I touch your shirt?

Now listen very closely. Follow this. Hebrews 6:5 says that Christians have tasted the goodness of God and the powers of the age to come. The “power of the age to come.” A number of scholars say that when Jesus healed and when Jesus raised the dead, Jesus was demonstrating the power of heaven which will come to all of us at the second coming. In other words—Jesus gave the people a glimpse into the future for all believers.  A foretaste of glory.  This is what faith will do for every man of faith. 

Jesus healed because every ailment will be healed at the resurrection. Jesus raised the dead because at the resurrection all will be raised. A window to help us see our future glory!  As Paul put it: “So, will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” (NIV, 1 Cor. 15:42, 43)

How do we know the dead will be raised? Because Jesus raised the dead.
How do we know the blind will see? Because Jesus healed the blind. 
The miracles of Jesus were not just about the people healed.  They were about us.  They were about the future. 

Foreshadowing the future. A window giving a glimpse into the glory to come.   

When Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man let down through the hole in the roof, Jesus healed him. That is what faith does. Faith brings bodily healing. 

Here is the question. Her faith healed her of this chronic bleeding disease. The lesson is about the power of faith. The lesson for us is about what does faith do for the believer? Faith heals. When Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man let down through the hole in the roof, Jesus healed him. That is what faith does. Faith brings bodily healing.  When Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man let down through the hole in the roof, Jesus healed him. That is what faith does. Faith brings bodily healing.  

But what about me? What about you? What about our faith and our chronic diseases? What about our faith and our disabilities? 

Now listen very closely. Follow this. Hebrews 6:5 says that Christians have tasted the goodness of God and the powers of the age to come. The “power of the age to come.” A number of scholars say that when Jesus healed and when Jesus raised the dead, Jesus was demonstrating the power of heaven which will come to all of us at the second coming. In other words—Jesus gave the people a glimpse into the future for all believers.  A foretaste of glory.  This is what faith will do for every man of faith. 

Jesus healed because every ailment will be healed at the resurrection. Jesus raised the dead because at the resurrection all will be raised. A window to help us see our future glory!  As Paul put it: “So, will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in glory.” (NIV, 1 Cor. 15:42, 43)

How do we know the dead will be raised? Because Jesus raised the dead.
How do we know the blind will see? Because Jesus healed the blind. 

The miracles of Jesus were not just about the people healed.  They were about us.  They were about the future. 

Foreshadowing the future. A window giving a glimpse into the glory to come.