Mark 5:21

"WHO TOUCHED ME?"

I. A STRANGE QUESTION TO DISCIPLES.

A. As usual Jesus was being mobbed.

1. He probably had difficulty walking because of the

press.

a. I can see Jairus slightly ahead of Him trying

to clear a path through crowd.

b. Hundreds are thronging, jostling, shoving,

pushing.

2. The disciples said, "You've got to be kidding, look

how the crowd is jostling you, and you say, who

touched me?"

II. A SELECTIVE QUESTION.

A. In all the pushing, shoving crowd one touched Him.

1. The disciples say, "hundreds have touched you.

2. "No, they have jostled Me, but one has touched Me."

B. There is a touch that makes a demand on Christ, there are

touches that make no demand.

1. You can be near to Him yet far away -

2. You may look into His eyes and never see Him -

3. You may sit here this morning, sing the songs, pray the

prayers, hear the Word, and never contact Him.

4. It is possible to touch Christ in such a way that it

brings no response.

5. It is possible to touch Him in such a way that it

demands a response from Him.

III. WHO TOUCHED HIM?

A. Out of the crowd there came a woman trembling and falling at

His feet.

1. She had a sickness that had caused her to be

excommunicated from the temple.

2. It gave her husband a right to divorce her.

3. It weakened her every day.

4. It caused her to be considered unclean, and everything

she touched to be unclean.

5. By human standards it was incurable.

a. She had spent her entire fortune going to

doctors, but was no better off.

b. In fact, she was worse off for she was now

broke, and her sickness was not cured.

IV. HOW DID SHE TOUCH HIM?

A. What made her touch any different from the hundreds who were

thronging Him?

B. Hers was the touch of faith.

1. In her heart she had said, "If I can just touch His

clothes, I shall be whole."

2. In all the jostling crowd one was moving toward Him

with purpose to touch Him.

C. The touch had become a point of contact to release faith.

1. It seems that faith often exists in three forms,

passive, active, and activated.

a. Passive faith is more or less believing that

God can do it.

1. It doesn't move mountains, in fact it'

doesn't move much of anything.

2. But He created the universe so He can

pretty much do anything.

b. Active faith believes that God will do it.

1. It anticipates the day He will.

c. Activated faith believes He will do it now!

D. We often need a point where we activate our faith.

1. This was, I believe, the purpose in Jesus touching so

many people as He healed them.

2. The value of laying on of hands.

E. Notice Jesus said to the woman, "thy faith" hath made thee

whole.

1. Not thy touch.

2. It is the touch of faith that brings a response.

3. Today, here amidst the crowd who have gathered some are

going to touch Him and go home whole.

V. THOSE WHO TOUCH HIM WlLL BE TOUCHED BY HIM.