SERMON OUTLINE

A Sick Woman Who Met Jesus   Mark 5.21-34

Introduction

This true story of a woman healed by Jesus from an incurable affliction is a picture of the spiritual healing that we all need in Jesus Christ.

The Woman Had an Incurable Affliction v25-26

-Bleeding for 12 years, weak, suffering, no more money, isolated as unclean, shame

-We have a spiritual affliction called sin. We were born with a sinful nature and sin against God. We lie, steal, lust, and murder. We have spent good works, rituals, and charity to cure our sin but are bankrupt and in sin and must face God for our eternal destiny.

The Woman Came to Jesus for Healing v27-29

-Heard about Jesus. Mark 6.56. Was convinced she could be healed. Persistence and determination to touch Jesus.

-We must be convinced that we are sinners and that Jesus came forgive us and give us eternal life. Then we must seek Jesus with persistence and determination.

Jesus Affirmed the Woman’s Healing  v30-34

-Affirmed his love and her inclusion in the family. Her faith. And her healing and peace.

-God includes us in His family and He is our Father. John 1.12-13. Faith is trusting Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life. God gives peace and the assurance of eternal life.

Conclusion

Come to Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life.

SERMON NOTES

A Sick Woman Who Met Jesus  Mark 5.21-34 (Mt 9.18-22; Lk 8.40-48)

Introduction

-This true story of a woman healed by Jesus from an incurable affliction is a picture of the spiritual healing that we all need in Jesus Christ. This woman’s story of physical healing reflects the spiritual healing that many of us here have received and that some of you here still desperately need.

The Woman had an Incurable Affliction

-The first fact that is pointed out to us is that this woman had an incurable affliction. v25-26 [Read]

-This woman had suffered from bleeding for 12 long years. Whether this hemorrhaging was constant or irregular, it caused this woman much suffering, and with the loss of blood much weakness as well.

-Not only did this woman suffer from her bleeding but she also suffered a great deal from the many doctors she consulted for a cure. Not only did she get worse and not get better under the care of her doctors but she also spent all of her money seeking help, so that she ended up in greater suffering and without the financial means to seek any more help.

-Finally we need to remember that this woman would have been isolated, lonely and shamefully treated because she was considered ceremonially unclean under the Law of Moses. (Leviticus 15.25-33) Because of her constant bleeding she could never perform the rituals that would enable her to be recognized as ceremonially clean and would allow her to reconnect with society.

-This woman was suffering greatly. She had no more resources to seek help with. And she was required to live as unclean, in isolation and shame. In her incurable condition she had very little hope for a better future.

-Every single one of us here can align ourself with this woman because we too once had an incurable affliction, not a physical affliction, but a spiritual condition that left us with little hope for the future and with no hope for eternity. That incurable spiritual affliction we all had is called sin.

-Sin is not a physical affliction but a condition of the heart. Even though sin is not a physical affliction, sin does cause much physical, mental and emotional suffering in this life. We often do not connect the consequences of our physical, mental, and financial suffering with sin against God but sin is indeed the cause of much of our pain and grief in life.

-Sin is a spiritual affliction of the heart that we were all born with. Each one of us inherited a sinful nature from our first parent Adam. Because of Adam’s sin we were born under the condemnation and wrath of God. It is because you were born with a heart condition of sin that you so easily sin against God.

-The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of God’s standard. Every person in this room has sinned against God because we were all born in sin. Have you ever lied to someone? Then you are a liar. Have you ever stolen anything? You are a thief. Have you ever entertained in your mind a sexual desire for someone? The Bible calls that adultery even if the thought never becomes an action. Have you ever been angry and even hated another person? The Bible equals that attitude to murder. You are not spiritually healthy. Before God you are a liar, a thief, an adulterer and a murderer and much more. You have a terminal spiritual condition called sin and if you are not healed from that spiritual condition of sin it will eventually lead you to hell. Your sin condition is serious, worse than this afflicted woman’s physical condition.

-You can go out and spend all your good works trying to cure yourself of sin and trying to earn your way to heaven, and your sin condition will only get worse. All the church rituals you pile up cannot make you into a good person before God. All the charity you devote to others to earn God’s favor will not cure your sin. Today you stand on the edge of eternity in the condition of sin with your resources exhausted, in danger of eternal suffering and without hope of eternal life.

The Woman Came to Jesus for Healing

-The second fact in our story is that the woman came to Jesus for healing. v27-29 [Read].

-The woman had heard about Jesus. She had heard that Jesus had the power to heal even if people just touched him. (Mark 3.10) Mark 6.56 says, “Wherever Jesus went – into villages, towns or countryside – they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged Jesus to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.” Having heard that Jesus could heal, this woman was convinced that if she could touch the cloak of Jesus she would be healed. With persistence and determination this unclean woman pushed her way through the crowd and touched the cloak of Jesus. This woman knew that her only hope for healing was Jesus and she would let nothing get in her way. Matthew and Luke in recording this story tell us that the woman touched the edge of the cloak of Jesus so she must have been bending down or even kneeling down when she touched Jesus. Her persistence and determination paid off. She was healed of her long term bleeding.

-If you are not aware this morning that you are spiritually sick with sin, you do not need Jesus. But I want you to know that your sin will not go away by itself. One day you will stand before God in your sin and eternally suffer the consequences of your sin. This woman was all too aware of her sickness and her desperate need, and convinced that Jesus could heal her made it her one goal to get to Jesus and touch the hem of his garment. When she touched Jesus she was healed.

-Perhaps you have heard that Jesus is the Savior from sin and that he can forgive your sin, give you the Holy Spirit, and fill you with the peace of God and the assurance of eternal life if you come to him. Are you convinced that you need Jesus to save you from your sin and that without the forgiveness of Jesus all hope for eternal life is lost? Jesus says come to me and I will forgive you and give you the gift of eternal life. When you make it your goal to come to Jesus and are willing to find Jesus at any cost, God will forgive your sin and make you into a new person.

Jesus Affirmed the Woman’s Healing

-The final fact in this true story is the affirmation of this woman’s healing. v30-34 [Read]

-Jesus knew that this woman had touched him and that his power had healed her. The woman knew what had happened to her and came to Jesus and fell on her knees before him and told him the whole truth. The response of Jesus is so encouraging. Jesus calls her “daughter”. By this Jesus affirmed that she was very precious to him and that he loved her and that she was part of the family of Israel. Then Jesus said, “your faith has healed you”. Jesus viewed her persistence and determination to touch him as faith in him and that faith in him brought her healing. Many others that day touched Jesus in the jostling and shoving of the crowd but only this woman touched Jesus with faith and that faith brought the healing she was seeking. Finally Jesus said, “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering”. This woman no longer had to suffer physically and socially from her affliction. She could now live in peace and be reconnected with society as a clean person.

-When we come to Jesus in our condition of sin, he will forgive us and restore us into the family of God. John 1.12-13 says, “To all who received Jesus, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”. When you come to Jesus, he will make you part of his family and God becomes your Father, all because the condition of sin that separated you from God has been removed by God because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for your sins.

-We come to Jesus by faith. Faith believes that Jesus can and will forgive sin and give eternal life to the sinner who comes to him. Like the woman who persisted and was determined to be healed by touching Jesus, so the one who knows their sin and knows that in Jesus Christ there is forgiveness of sins, and comes to Jesus and will settle for nothing less than God’s full forgiveness and the peace of God, will be rewarded and forgiven.

-If you know that you are still in a condition of sin and need God’s forgiveness in your life I want to invite you to take a step of faith this morning. I want to invite you to make your way through the crowd and come to the front and receive God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

-Finally those who find forgiveness of sin in Jesus will know the peace of God and freedom from sin and will have the assurance of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

-This morning we are going to celebrate DeAnna’s spiritual healing in Jesus Christ. We are going to hear her confess her faith in Jesus Christ. DeAnna has found healing for her sin condition in Jesus Christ. You too can find this healing as well.