We all know people who have been raised in sound, gospel-preaching churches. We know people who have heard the gospel a thousand times, but who have eventually left those churches untouched by the Saviour. Not only were they untouched by Christ, they didn’t reach out to touch Him either. But then by the grace of God, later the Lord drew some of them to Himself, and they reached out with a faith they never knew before, to touch the hem of His holy garment. Instantly they were healed of all their sins. This is the great message of this great scripture.
But rather than looking upon the woman and her faith, I’d like us to think more about Who it was she touched. I hope that you’ll find this to be a simple message about a powerful and wonderful Saviour.
It must noted first of all that we have an UNTOUCHABLE GOD in the touchable Christ.
For centuries there has been a group within Hinduism called the “Untouchables.” They were so lowly that they were not even considered to be a part of India’s infamous caste system. They were thought of as scum, lower than cattle, lower than dogs – untouchable. But this was only a title – because they could be touched. If anyone wanted to find out, those untouchables had skin, hair and flesh like any of the rest of us. If anyone touched them, they wouldn’t necessarily become sick; they wouldn’t become contaminated. It might have been easy to accidently brush against them in a crowded market if any of them dared to be there. They were touchable, but they were called “untouchables.” For the Son of God – “untouchable” is not just a title, but a reality in a very real sense of the word.
For example, Christ is untouchable IN HIS HOLINESS. Perfect righteousness is unattainable by any human being because of a radical problem in our natures. As children of our father Adam we are all sinners, and so corrupted by sin that “holiness” is a word alien to our personal dictionaries. But Jesus was not the son of any human father, despite being fully human and the son of human mother. Not only was He so holy that He wouldn’t even think about sin; He was so holy He couldn’t have sinned. His hatred of sin, His separation from unrighteousness, His sanctity of thought and deed were all divine. He was impeccable, completely beyond the filthy touch of sin. He could be touched and still can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but always without sin. This is one of the lessons mankind refuses to learn. If John Q. Public would learn how depraved and how far removed he is from the Lord, how much easier it would be for him to learn of true salvation. But as long as he thinks that his sin is less sinful than the Lord says that it is, he will always harbor a hope that he can save himself. As I heard even yesterday, it is essential that people become lost before they can be saved.
The people of the little Judean town of Bethshemesh learned a very hard lesson about the untouchable holiness of God. The Lord’s Ark of the Covenant had been captured in battle by the Philistines. That brought the judgment of the Lord upon them, until they sent it back to its rightful stewards. It came to a little community just to the west of Jerusalem. But the people of that town didn’t have the knowledge or respect for the Lord they should have had. And when they put their hands on and into the Ark – something that not even the priests could touch – the Lord judged and killed a great number of them. It was a painful lesson but they learned it and confessed, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?” Christ is completely untouchable because of holiness, and that means our only approach is through grace.
Christ is also untouchable in KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM – we can’t begin to compare to Him in knowledge. In chapter 11, Isaiah was prophetically describing this same Jesus, tying together both His holiness and his wisdom. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” Paul has told us that “in Jesus are hid ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Do you ever wonder or get worried about the future? Don’t – because as I said so poorly last Wednesday, there isn’t much that you can do about it. And secondly because Christ Jesus, who can do something about your future, knows all about it. And He has promised that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” The thing about which we need to be concerned is our relationship with Him, not our relationship to tomorrow. Are you touching Him? Do you have spiritual difficulties to which you can’t find answers; remember that the Lord wrote the Book. His omniscience is divine, and of course unattainable by you and me, therefore, we desperately need Him. There are occasions when I’m reading something and I come across a word which I don’t understand. It’s a wonderful thing that I don’t have to know the definition of every word and the meaning of every theological idea. I have a computer with all the definitions and phrases that I’ll ever bump into. And when it comes to things beyond this world and this age, I have an even greater help: I can reach out and touch the untouchable omniscience of the Son of God.
At same time the POWER of CHRIST is untouchable. Because the Lord Jesus is the infinite God, He has power beyond anything we can imagine. What is more powerful – the ant or the elephant? That all depends on the way that we measure them. The strength of the ant compared to its size and weight far exceeds that of the elephant. And how shall we measure the strength and power of Christ or Jehovah? Shall we use the volcano or the tsunami? There is incredible power in the splitting of the atom. But it needs to be remembered that it was the Lord who put that power there in the first place. What was more powerful – Mount St. Helens in 1980 or the conversion of the ring-leader of those who hated Christ in about the year 40 AD? What is greater – to kill 100,000 men in a matter of moments or to restore life to just one of those men?
The largest motors made by man are found in the big cargo ships that ply our oceans. I am told that they require a good sized crew of men to maintain and sustain them, not to mention all the fuel required to keep them going. But what is a mere ship in comparison to the power of the sun? And what is our sun in comparison to the really large stars in the universe? And what is one star in comparison to the billions of stars and other things which make up the universe? “In (Christ Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” The word translated “consist” there in Colossians 1 is “sunistemi” (soon-is’-tay-mee) – sustained. The Bible declares that Christ Jesus is the one who keeps, and sustains and maintains the universe. That power can be used for our blessing as children of God. But it needs to be remembered that He can withdraw His blessing and power at any moment.
These are just some of the ways in which Christ Jesus is the untouchable God. Because Jesus Christ is the infinite God, He has power above anything that we can imagine.
But this untouchable God is at the same time THE TOUCHABLE CHRIST.
He is high and lifted up – but attainable He is infinite – but revealed. He is supreme – but condescending.
For instance, He is touched in TRUE WORSHIP. Please turn to Luke 7:36: “And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.” This is an account of worship of the highest order. This woman’s tears were dew drops of humility and self-reproach over her sin. Her ointment was a very expensive love-gift to the Saviour. The washing of Jesus’ feet, was an expression of unadulterated love. This woman’s tears touched the Lord through that gift, as well as her hands, her hair and her heart. The best and surest way to touch Christ is through God-approved worship.
But then there were all the other people there at that meal. The host – that Pharisee – certainly didn’t touch the Lord. There was so much pride and arrogance in his heart; There was so much unrepented sin that he couldn’t blast his way through it with dynamite. It wasn’t that he was any more a sinner than the woman, but he wouldn’t admit to his sin. He wasn’t willing to bow and to worship the Saviour.
Christ Jesus can also be touched with THE RIGHT KIND OF JOY. As we learn from John 2, in Cana of Galilee there was a wedding. Since Jesus’ mother was there, and the way in which she was concerned about the reception, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn this was the wedding of a relative of the family. And certainly the Lord Jesus didn’t try to avoid the festivities. He had no comments, no criticisms or quarrels with what was going on. It seems that the Saviour enjoyed being around those who were delighted with His blessings.
I think that it is safe to say that Christ Jesus rejoices IN GODLY HAPPINESS. Over and over again He liked to use the word “blessed, blessed, blessed.” And of course the word refers to a godly or heavenly happiness. The monks of the dark ages were wrong – joy is a real part of the Christian life. And when you rejoice over the right things in the right way there is every reason to think that the Lord rejoices with you. But, when that joy is tarnished by sin, your snickering and chuckling will bring a dangerous frown to the face of the Lord.
On the other hand the Lord can be touched with OUR PERPLEXITY too. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” The Christian has the exhortation to cast all our care upon Christ, because He careth for us.
And there is one other thing: the Lord is TOUCHED IN OUR OBEDIENCE as well. Obedience and service, given in faith and love, make an umbilical cord to the heart of God. It is impossible to maintain any fellowship with Christ when we remain in a state of disobedience. Listen to the way that John describes the Christian life – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” From there Paul goes on reminding us of various aspects of our faith and service.
Christ Jesus is the Son of God – untouchable in holiness, but touchable through obedience.
But just because the Lord is untouchable, that doesn’t mean that HE doesn’t TOUCH US.
As we saw in Matthew 8, for instance, there was a LEPER touched by the Lord Jesus and healed. If there were any of the people of Israel who were considered to be untouchable, it was the leper. But such things don’t bother the Saviour. If there was any disease or human malady which depicted sin, leprosy was the clearest illustration. But Christ Jesus came into the world to touch and to save sinners like that man.
Later in Matthew 9, the touch of the Master’s hand gave SIGHT to a blind man. “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.” But the touch of Jesus’ hand wipes blindness away like the pulling back of a curtain.
The touch of Christ meant HEARING in Mark 7:33. Once again that man could hear birds, hear his friends, and he heard the voice of the Lord for the first time. Once again the House of God became a blessing to him. He could hear the singing and the praising; the preaching and the praying. Jesus’ hands meant BLESSINGS to the small children of Mark 10.
These are wonderful things, but how much more important was the touch of Luke 7? I go back to the Biblical illustration that I used last Sunday night. The Lord Jesus and His disciples were walking to or past the city of Nain. As they approached, a throng of people emerged from the city gates, many of whom were wailing, sobbing. Even the disciples could recognize immediately that this was a funeral. Eventually they discovered that this was the funeral of a widow’s only son. The mother’s burden so touched the Lord that He touched the bier, and life returned to the dead son. There are two ways to look at that miracle: as a illustration or as a reality. We need to use both eyes and see both.
Jesus of Nazareth – the Son of God – is the Creator and Sustainer of life. He can raise from death any young man, child or octogenarian. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” There is a day coming perhaps not more than a decade from now in which all of the dead, small and great shall stand in life once again, to be judged before this same Christ.” Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life, and all whom he touches shall live again. But there is a greater truth illustrated in the resurrection of that young man. Those who are dead in trespasses and sins shall all live again, when they are touched by the Saviour. And the opposite is also true, those who are not touched by Christ will live only in the sense of spending eternity in eternal death. If you have never been touched by the Saviour, then you are lost and bound for Hell. Make no mistake about it – without the touch of Saviour / Creator, you are a dead man.
But it is also absolutely essential that you understand that you are responsible to touch Him. Where would that poor suffering woman have been if she hadn’t touched the Saviour? The Lord has commanded us all, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” The exhortation is: “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:” “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.” Don’t worry over the scriptures which say, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Don’t look for excuses from any quarter, especially from the Word of God. It is our responsibility to seek, look, believe and touch.
But let me close by reminding you that it is possible to touch and REMAIN UNTOUCHED.
In our scripture, Jesus was surrounded by a multitude of people. Imagine the narrow streets of Capernaum and the crowds on this occasion. It was impossible for people not to be bumping into each other or brushing against each other. In fact that poor woman probably had to almost fight her way up in order to reach the Saviour. But for nearly everyone but her, those who touched Christ that day walked away with nothing. They wanted Him for the wrong reasons, or they didn’t know that they wanted him at all. It took a special woman with God-given faith to touch Lord, before anything was accomplished.
What a tragedy to touch the Saviour without effect. Don’t blame it on the power or the will of the Saviour. Every woman who wanted the Lord for reasons that glorified the Lord were bless as she was.
But how many people have touched the Lord – or visited our church – and walked away lost? How many have come through our services or spent years in our Sunday school and are still at the edge of eternity – lost. Don’t blame the Lord, or the Sunday School teacher, or the preacher. Don’t blame election, predestination, fore-ordination or supralapsarianism. There is no one to blame but the sin-deadened heart of that child or visitor. Anyone and everyone who has had a desire to touch the Lord and to be touched by the Lord has found a blessing similar to that of this woman.
But think of how it will be at the judgment at the Great White Throne, when so many will admit that they stood next to Christ, but they touched him not? Let it not be so with you. Repent of your sin and by faith touch the bleeding body of the sacrificed Saviour. Like this woman, you too can go home a changed person.