Jesus was feeling power going out of him

JESUS WAS FEELING POWER GOING OUT OF HIM
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“And Jesus said, Somebody touched Me: for I
perceivedpower going out from Me.” Luke 8:46.
(NKJV)
New Living Translation
But Jesus said, “Someonedeliberatelytouched me, for
I felt healingpower go out from me.”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christ's Discriminating Notice
Luke 8:45, 46
W. Clarkson Who can help being interested in the woman who is the subject of this sacred story?
She has suffered long; she has wasted her substance in vain endeavours to be healed. Now a new
hope springs up in her heart; though excited by this hope she shrinks from the publicity which
she fears is necessary for its fulfilment. At last faith and hope triumph over timidity, and she
comes into the presence of Christ. We are sympathetically present in that crowd; we see her
stealing into it, pushing her way nearer and nearer to the Master, at length timidly stretching out
her hand and touching the sacred fringe of his garment. We almost pity this trembling woman,
albeit we know that she is healed, as Jesus turns and says, "Who touched me?" We know that it
is only by a great spiritual effort that she tells her story to the Master in the presence of the
people, and our hearts draw yet nearer in trust and love to that Divine Healer, to our Divine Lord,
as we hear him say, "Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in
peace." The incident may speak to us of -
I. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BODILY AND REAL SPIRITUAL CONTACT, "There are
times when hands touch ours, but only send an icy chill of unsympathizing indifference to the

heart; when eyes gaze into ours, but with a glazed look that cannot read our souls; when the
multitude throng and press us, but we cannot say, ' Somebody hath touched me,' for the contact
has not been between soul and soul, but only between form and form." We are very much
thronged in this modern life we live, but we are not very often touched to newness of thought
and feeling; and except we live a life of prayer and genuine human sympathy, we must not
expect to "touch" other souls so as to quicken and inspire them.
II. THE USELESSNESS OF ANY REMEDY BUT THE GOSPEL FOR OUR SPIRITUAL
NEED. This woman in her helplessness is a picture of humanity. It is sick with the worst of all
maladies - sin. It is suffering all the wretched consequences of guilt - weariness, restlessness,
misery, remorse. It often spends its resources on things which have no healing virtue, and which
leave it ill as ever. At length it repairs unto him in whom is no disappointment, in the shelter of
whose cross, and in the shadow of whose love, and in the sunshine of whose service is pardon for
every sin, comfort for every sorrow, rest for every soul.
III. THE DUTY OF DECLARING WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US. That sensitive heart,
trying to screen herself from the observation of the crowd, and wishing to come and go
unnoticed, was not rejected. Nevertheless, the Lord, by his repeated questioning, constrained her
to come forward and acknowledge the blessing she had received. Christ does not wish for an
ostentatious piety; he hates all pretence; but he approves and desires a suitable and grateful
avowal of our indebtedness to him. Though we come with a trembling heart, yet we are to come
and tell our friends what great things the Lord has done for us.
IV. THE DISTINGUISHING NOTICE CHRIST TAKES OF US. "Who touched me?" asked the
Lord. "Master, the multitude throng thee; is it wonderful that somebody should touch thee?
Anybody might chance to touch thee in such a crowd; can it matter who it was?" urges Peter.
"Ah! but that is not enough. Somebody, some one, hath touched me; there is one individual,
whom I distinguish from the others, that has laid an appealing hand upon me. You see nothing in
that touch but an accidental encounter. I see much more than that - the approach of a human
mind, the appeal of a human heart, the contact of a human soul with mine." This is the spirit of
our Lord's reply. And it conveys to us the important truth that we are not lost in the crowd. It is
not so true to say, "God loves man," as to say, "God loves men." "He tasted death for every
man;" "He loved me, and gave himself for me." There are no limitations in the Infinite One. The
fact that he controls the universe is no reason why he should not watch the workings of each
humblest human soul The vastness of the range of his observation does not diminish the fulness
of his knowledge of every member of his family. Disciples see only a pressing, pushing throng;
but the Master singles out the woman who has come to see whether her last chance will fail her.
The crowd may hide us from one another, but not from our Lord. God sees us, every one;
follows us; pursues us with his watchful and redeeming love; guides us with his hand; leads us
into his kingdom. But we must see that our touch is one that will call forth such a response as
this. Christ discriminates between the touch of this woman and that of the unmannerly crowd. It
is not necessary for us to have a full and perfect understanding of his nature, or even a perfect,
unwavering assurance of the success of our appeal. This woman had neither of these. It is
necessary that we should have what she had - earnestness of spirit, and a measure of genuine
faith in him. Then will he say to us, as to her, "Be of good comfort... go in peace." - C.

Biblical Illustrator
Came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment.
Luke 8:43-48
Life behind and life before Christ
R. P. Macmaster.We believe in the progressive character of the Christian life. It is like the
increasing light, which comes to us first as the dim dawn, then as the grey morning, and
afterwards as the noon-day brightness. This progress is connected with, indeed is essential to, our
highest well-being. It is a progress from good to better, and from better to best. Let us devoutly
think of our life in its relation to Christ.
I. THE FIRST STAGE IS LIFE BEHIND CHRIST. And what a picture this woman presents, as
she quietly presses her way through the thronging crowd, as if by stealth, to take away the
needed boon. She had tried life away from Christ; and that had proved a failure. Now she tries
life in contact with Christ; this proves an immediate success. When it is asked, What brought her
to Christ at all? we can only answer, She was driven by her sense of need, and drawn by her faith
in Christ. Driven and drawn. This, more or less, is the experience of all who come to Christ. A
sense of their need drives them; a knowledge of His character draws them.
II. THE SECOND STAGE IS LIFE BEFORE CHRIST. Had this woman gone away as stealthily
as she came, she would have gone away but half-blessed; she would have touched His garment
and been healed; she would not have tasted His love and been made happy.
1. Life before Christ is life revealing itself to Him. And what a wonderful saying that is: "She
told Him all the truth!" "All the truth" about what she had suffered; and that was a mournful tale.
And we have not risen to the glory of life before Christ if we are not accustomed to go and tell
Him every phase of our experience, all the truth about our sins and our sorrows, our hopes and
our fears. There may be phases of experience which we have never breathed into any human ear;
but we can whisper all in His ear, confident that He will neither betray our trust nor withhold His
sympathy. It takes a great many keys to unlock all the rooms of a great house; but the owner
carries a master-key that unlocks them every one. There are rooms in the house of the heart into
which few, if any, of our friends are admitted; but the master-key is in the hands of Christ, and
He can come and bring all heaven in His train.
2. Life before Christ is life working beneath His eye. The saintly Payson speaks of three classes
of Christian workers, and represents them as occupying three circles around Christ. In the outer
circle there are those who take rare side-glances at Christ; in the inner circle there are those who
occasionally look up to catch His smile; and in the innermost circle there are those who bring all
their work and do it beneath His eye. These last, in the truest, fullest, gladdest sense, stand in the
presence of Christ, and have life before Christ.
3. Life before Christ is life blessed with His friendship. He is my physician, and I am grateful to
Him; but He is my friend, and I am happy in Him. Oh 1 what a glory comes into the experience
of him whose life is blessed with the friendship of Christ! Others may doubt; he has the witness
in himself. Tell him that Christ is only a mythical character. You might as well tell him that the
flowers that are breathing their sweetness in his presence are only painted flowers, that the sun
which is pouring brightness into his chamber is only an imaginary sun. He perceives the

sweetness, he enjoys the brightness that come from Christ into his very soul; and with a
confidence that no sophistry can shake, with a love that no power can quench, he tells every
assailant, You may as soon reason me out of the consciousness that I am alive, as out of the
better and more blessed consciousness that I have the very life of God in my soul.
(R. P. Macmaster.)
Christ's particular sympathy and friendship
H. Bushnell, D. D.When a lone woman came up in a crowd to steal something, as it were, some
healing power out of His person, or out of the hem of His garment, He would not let her off in
that impersonal way. He compelled her to show herself, and to confess her name, and sent her
away with His personal blessing. He pours out everywhere a particular sympathy on every
particular child of sorrow. We have seen that He can love as a man loves another, and that such
is the way of His love. He has tasted death, we say, not for all men only, but for every man. We
even dare to say for me; who "loved me, and gave Himself for me." Nay, He goes even further
than this Himself, calling us friends, and claiming that dear relationship with us. "The servant
knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends." He even goes beyond this,
promising a friendship so particular and personal that it shall be a kind of secret or cipher of
mutual understanding open to no other — a new white stone given by his King, "and in the stone
a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
(H. Bushnell, D. D.)
The earnest touch
E. H. Chapin, D. D.How many feel the reality of a personal relation to Jesus? How many
consciously recognize that their lives are implicated with His life?
1. Of some, of many, it may be said that they touch Jesus with their respect. No doubt the
religion of Christ is respected. Christianity is at least a respectable institution, Nevertheless, all
this respect is not like that touch which was given in the earnest purpose of faith and need.
II. There are those who touch Jesus with their opinions. But, held as mere opinions, their
intellectual validity gives us no real contact with the Saviour. We may actually be what we claim
to be, exclusive possessors and vigilant guardians of orthodoxy, and yet be far from Him. The
essential thing is not what we think about Him, but what He Himself, in His personal relations, in
His healing, life-giving power, is to us.
III. Again, there are those who seek to touch Jesus through sacraments and ceremonies. The idea
of the woman appears to have been of this kind. She thought, "If I may but touch His garment, I
shall be whole"; whereas we know that the virtue went out of Him.
IV. There are those who touch Jesus timidly and fitfully. Their communion with Him is felt only
in impulses of intermittent enthusiasm or seasons of excitement, or it is held as a secret of which
they are ashamed. We must, indeed, respect the modesty of sincere faith, the sacred reticence
that guards the deepest and truest feelings of the heart. We know that religious emotion may
evaporate in words, and that sterling principle may be less demonstrative than the noisy ring of
cant. But, notwithstanding all imperfections, he who has really touched Jesus will in memo way
make the secret manifest, not in the mere profession of the lips, but in the confession of the life.
(E. H. Chapin, D. D.)
Who touched Me?

N. Adams, D. D.I. THERE IS GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THRONGING AND
PRESSING CHRIST, AND TOUCHING HIM, WITH FAITH.
II. SIMPLE FAITH IN CHRIST IS ALL WHICH IS NECESSARY TO SALVATION.
III. THERE ARE PREPARATIVES FOR FAITH. It may be said, "If believing in Christ be such
a simple and easy thing, why can I not believe at once, and be saved? I have tried to believe in
Christ, but hitherto without success." There are preparatives for faith. Yes, as there are
preparatives for cure, and healing, and rescue, so there are preparatives for faith. Preparatives for
cure and healing are being sick, or wounded, and feeling the need of remedies. So the woman in
the text had preparatives for faith in Christ by twelve years' experience of fruitless help from
physicians, Hope deferred had made her heart sick; she saw her property melt away; one new
physician had encouraged her to expect from Him a cure; and she was sinking into the grave.
These were the preparatives with her for saving faith. So that we may say, in general, that the
preparatives for faith are, a deep conviction that Christ alone can help us, and a persuasion that
He must save us or we perish.
IV. THIS WOMAN AFFORDS US A STRIKING ILLUSTRATION OF OUR DUTY TO
COME TO CHRIST, WITHOUT WAITING FOR HIM TO COME TO US.
V. SALVATION FOLLOWS INSTANTANEOUSLY UPON BELIEVING IN CHRIST.
VI. THERE IS NOTHING WHICH CHRIST SEEMS TO LOVE SO MUCH AS FAITH IN
HIM.
(N. Adams, D. D.)
The throng and the touch
Bp. F. D. Huntington.The woman reached out her hand and touched the Saviour's garment. What
was it that moved her hand? She believed. But in what did she believe? Not in herself, not in the
motion of her arm, not that she was doing anything that was an equivalent for the cure, or would
purchase it; nor yet did she believe that by standing aloof and waiting awhile till she was partly
restored, made stronger or more presentable, by some skill of her own, she should be more likely
to get the benefit desired; nor had she any theory whatever about the method in which the
curative power was to take effect. You do not find in her clear and urgent sense of need that
strange inverting of all reason that we so often see in men when they hesitate about coming to
seek heavenly grace in Christ's Church, pleading that they are "not good enough," not strong
enough, healthful enough, to be blessed by it. The soldier, after the battle, wounded and sick,
bloodstained and feverish, creeps along the hot and dusty road, longing only to die under the old
home-tree, and under the breath of a mother's lips. He comes to a hospital, and sees it written
over the door, "Whosoever will, let him come." Does he creep back, pleading that he is not well
enough to go in and be healed? What, then, did the woman believe? She believed that she was to
receive something, a real blessing, from Christ. This was what distinguished her, in her humility
and obscurity, from the sentimental crowd around her. This was that in her which was not in
them. Most graphic history of how many hearts l She believed that she could have that new life
by a touch. The reaching oat of her hand was an expression of that faith. Another signal might
probably have done just as well. In other cases a prayer was as effectual. But there must have
been two things: the faith that she should receive the benefit, and some act to embody that faith
and bring the benefit home. With faith, action.
(Bp. F. D. Huntington.)

Various touches
W. H. Aitken, M. A.1. There is the unbeliever s touch, like the impious touch of the unhallowed
hands of the soldiers who nailed the Saviour to the cross of Calvary. How many there are that
rudely and profanely handle the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ: they cannot leave Him alone:
yet even while they "touch" Him, they only so "touch" Him as to bring judgment and
condemnation upon their own souls, because the "touch" is the sacrilegious touch of unbelief.
The Philistines were bold enough to touch the ark, but they found there was death in the touch.
2. Then again, there is the cold "touch" of the critic. He is not profane: he is not irreverent: he is
simply critical. The character of Christ is the object in which they are performing their
experiments.
3. Then again, there is the fashionable "touch," which is much more common. Those who give
this "touch" to our Lord are to be found in all our churches and places of worship, not
unfrequently, probably once in a week; they have got their tribute to pay, and they pay it. Society
expects it of them.
4. Then there is the formalists' "touch," where the "touch" is everything, but the Touched
nothing! What is the most proper way of saluting Him whom you recognize as your Saviour?
How are you best to arrest His attention? Form, form, form, from beginning to end.
5. There is one way in which s larger number of persons seem to "touch" Him Without receiving
any help than in any other. It is the "touch" of indifference. There are many people who are no
critics: they won't give themselves the trouble for that. They will not be unbelievers: they will
not be at the pains to be infidels. These, then, my dear friends, are some of the different ways in
which we may "touch" Christ, and yet get no healing benefit. We should ask ourselves, How are
we to "touch" with good effect? Again, there may be difficulties in our way: but few of us have
such difficulties as that poor woman. The very nature of her disease was one which made her
shrink back from anything like publicity. She might have waited until He was not surrounded by
a crowd — waited for a more favourable opportunity. She says to herself, "I am going to be
healed;" she does not say, "I am going to try." How often do we hear that word "try." There are
two little words beginning with "TR" the one is "TRUST," and the other is "TRY." I wish we
were a little tender of the first, and less of the second. So, through the crowd she makes her way,
draws near, stretches out her hand, and "she touched Him." And now we have a blessed opening
up of the inner life of Christ, which seems to bring Him wondrously near to us. It is this: amidst
all the subjects that occupied His mind, there cannot proceed from Him the very slenderest
favour to any of the creatures whom He has made, but He is sensible of it. The reception of grace
shall be a mutual thing — a thing involving reciprocal consciousness, consciousness on our part
of our approach; consciousness on His part that we are approaching: consciousness on our part of
our stretching out the hand of faith; consciousness on His part of the flowing of the current of
His own Divine healing. There shall be no blessing stolen from an unconscious God. We shall
not get it from Him when He is asleep. We will not get it from Him when His attention is fixed
upon anything else. It is when His own blessed God-consciousness comes into contact with our
human sense of need that she miracle of grace shall be performed. Is it not a wonderful thing He
can think of us! — that, while He is giving us blessings every moment, He nevertheless gives
every blessing consciously? How near this brings God to us!
(W. H. Aitken, M. A.)
The touch

C. H. Spurgeon.I. Look at THE PATIENT.
1. Her courage. She was a woman who had suffered from a very grievous malady, which had
drained away her life. Her constitution had been sapped and undermined, and her very existence
had become one of constant suffering and weakness; and yet what courage and spirit she
displayed. She was ready to go through fire and through water to obtain health.
2. Note also her resolute determination. She would die hard, if die she must. She would not
resign herself to the inevitable till she had used every effort to preserve life and to regain health.
It is a hopeful sign, a gracious token, when there is a determination wrought in men that, if saved
they can be, saved they will be.
3. I admire also this woman's marvellous hopefulness. She still believes that she can be cured.
She ought to bare given up the idea long ago according to the ordinary processes of reasoning;
for generally we put several instances together, and from these several instances we deduce a
certain inference. Now, she might have put the many physicians together, and their many
failures, and have rationally inferred that her case was past hope.
II. THE DIFFICULTIES OF THIS WOMAN'S FAITH They must be weighed in order to show
its strength. The difficulties of her faith must have been as follows:
1. She could hardly forget that the disease was in itself incurable, and that she had long suffered
from it.
2. And then again she had endured frequent disappointments; and all these must have supplied
her with terrible reasons for doubting. Yet she was not dismayed: her faith rose superior to her
bitter experience, and she believed in the Lord.
3. There was also another difficulty in her way, and that was, her vivid sense of her own
unworthiness.
4. I do not know whether the other difficulty did occur to her at all, but it would to me, namely,
that She had now no money.
5. Perhaps the worst difficulty of all was her extreme sickness at that time. We read that she was
nothing better, but rather grew the worse.
III. THE VANISHING POINT OF ALL HER DIFFICULTIES. We read of her first that she had
heard of Jesus. It is Mark who tells us that, "When she had heard of Jesus." "Faith cometh by
hearing." The point to notice most distinctly is this. The poor woman believed that the faintest
contact with Christ would heal her. Notice the words of my text: "If I may touch but His
clothes." It is not, "If I may but touch His clothes" — no, the point does not lie in the touch; it
lies in what was touched. Splendid faith I It was not more than Christ deserved, but yet it was
remarkable. It was a kind of faith which I desire to possess abundantly. The slenderest contact
with Christ healed the body, and will heal the soul; ay, the faintest communication. Do but
become united to Jesus, and the blessed work is done.
IV. HER GRAND SUCCESS. Let me remind you again, however, of how she gained her end.
She gave to the Lord Jesus an intentional and voluntary touch. Yet note that she was not healed
by a contact with the Lord or with His garment against her will: she was not pushed against Him
accidentally, but the touch was active and not merely passive. And now see her grand success;
she no sooner touched than she was healed; in a moment, swift as electricity, the touch was
given, the contact was made, the fountain of her blood was dried up, and health beamed in her

face immediately. Immediate salvation! I heard a person say the other day that he had heard of
immediate conversion, but he did not know what to make of it. Now, herein is a marvellous
thing, for such cases are common enough among us. In every case spiritual quickening must be
instantaneous. However long the preparatory process may be, there must be a time in which the
dead soul begins to live. There may be cases in which a blessing comes to a man and he is
scarcely aware of it, but this woman knew that she was saved; she felt in herself that she was
whole of her plague. She had next the assurance from Christ Himself that it was so, but she did
not obtain that assurance till she had made an open confession.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Faith rewarded
T. M. Herbert, M. A.I. CONSIDER WHAT THIS SUFFERER SAID WITHIN HERSELF
(Matthew 9:21).
1. As displaying ignorance of the true nature of Christ. Impossible then to have the clear and
distinct ideas that we may now.
2. As displaying not only ignorance, but error, along with truth.
3. Was her faith, then, a foolish credulity? Not at all. She knew the wonders He had wrought on
others, and responded to the goodness and truth His language and demeanour expressed; and on
this convincing evidence she trusted Jesus, and was healed.
II. CONSIDER THIS FEELING TOWARDS CHRIST AS FINDING RECOGNITION WIDER
THAN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The world finds healing in the slightest contact with
Christ. How vast the number, outside avowed followers of Christ, who crowd Christian
sanctuaries Sunday after Sunday, with a more or less explicit conviction that it is good to be
there.
III. REMEMBER THAT CHRIST CALLS US, BEYOND SLIGHT CONTACT, TO THE
CLOSEST UNION WITH HIMSELF. This turning of humanity to Christ is like the turning of
flowers towards the sun, their life-giver. It exhibits a true and healthy impulse; but how many
forget that it is but the first step of what should be a close and continual approach to Him! There
is healing in His slightest touch, but what in a living union with Him who died that we might live
for ever!
(T. M. Herbert, M. A.)
The woman healed by a touch
Preachers' Treasury.1. A disorder which was endured.
(1)The disorder was unavoidably marked by much and painful privation.
(2)The disorder was long-continued and inveterate.
(3)The disorder had been aggravated by bitter disappointment.
2. The remedy which was resorted to.
(1)Observe the Being to whom the application was made.
(2)The spirit by which the application was distinguished.
(a)There was a display of confidence.
(b)There was the spirit of humility.

3. The blessing which was obtained.
(1)The communication of the blessing of healing was immediate.
(2)The communication of the blessing was free.
(3)The communication of the blessing was kind.
(Preachers' Treasury.)
Cured at last
C. H. Spurgeon.I. Consider, therefore, concerning this woman, WHAT SHE HAD DONE. She
had been literally dying for twelve years.
1. She had resolved not to die if a cure could be had. She was evidently a woman of great
determination and hopefulness. Insensibility has seized upon many, and a proud conceit: they are
full of sin, and yet they talk of self-righteousness. No doubt some are held back from such action
by the freezing power of despair. They have reached the conclusion that there is no hope for
them. Alas l many have never come to this gracious resolution, because they cherish a vain hope,
and are misled by an idle dream. They fancy that salvation will come to them without their
seeking it.
2. Let us next note, that this woman, having made her resolve, adopted the likeliest means she
could think of. Physicians are men set apart on purpose to deal with human maladies; therefore
she went to the physicians. No doubt she met with some who boasted that they could heal her
complaint at once. They began by saying, "You have tried So-and-so, but he is a mere quack;
mine is a scientific remedy." Many pretenders to new revelations are abroad, but they are
physicians of no value.
3. This woman, in the next place, having resolved not to die if cure could be had, and having
adopted the likeliest means, persevered in the use of those means. Have you been to Doctor
Ceremony? He is, at this time, the fashionable doctor.
4. But this woman not only thus tried the most likely means, and persevered in the use of them,
but she also spent all her substance over it. Thus do men waste their thought, their care, their
prayer, their agony, over that which is as nothing: they spend their money for that which is not
bread. The price of wisdom is above rubies. If we had mines of gold, we might profitably barter
them for the salvation of our souls.
II. We have seen what the woman had done; now let us think of WHAT HAD COME OF IT. We
are told that she had suffered many things of many physicians.
1. That was her sole reward for trusting and spending: she had not been relieved, much less
healed; but she had suffered. She had endured much additional suffering through seeking a cure.
Efforts after salvation made in your own strength act like the struggles of a drowning man, which
sink the more surely.
2. There has been this peculiarly poignant pang about it all, that you are nothing bettered.
3. We read of this woman, that though she suffered much, she was nothing better, but rather
grew worse. You are becoming more careless, more dubious than you once were. You have lost
much of your former sensitiveness. You are doing certain things now that would have startled
you years ago, and you are leaving certain matters undone which once you would have thought
essential.

4. This is a sad, sad case l As a climax of it all, the heroine of our story had now spent all that she
had. Welcome, brother! Now you are ready for Jesus. When all your own virtue has gone out of
you, then shall you seek and find that virtue which goeth out of Him.
III. This brings to our notice, in the third place, WHAT THIS WOMAN DID AT LAST.
1. Note well she resolved to trust in Jesus in sheer despair of doing anything else.
2. After all, this was the simplest and easiest thing that she could do. Touch Jesus.
3. Not only was this the simplest and easiest thing for the poor afflicted one, but certainly it was
the freest and most gracious. There was not a penny to pay.
4. This was the quietest thing for her to do. She said nothing. She did not cry aloud like the blind
men.
5. This is the only effectual thing. Touch Jesus, and salvation is yours at once. Simple as faith is,
it is never-failing.
IV. And now, poor convicted sinner I here comes the driving home of the nail. DO THOU AS
THIS WOMAN DID.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The woman who touched
T. Sherlock, B. A.I. MEN'S FAILURES. Human physicians could not heal. Sin incurable by self.
II. A SUPERSTITIOUS FAITH. Faith may grow in strange places.
III. AN ACTUAL TOUCH. We want the same living connection with Christ, and it is possible
still.
IV. IMMEDIATE HELP. No need to wait long; prayer answered often sooner than we expect.
V. A TREMBLER IN HIDING. Glad to have blessing from Christ, but fearing to reveal how
obtained.
VI. PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGMENT. Christ requires this. We must bear witness, &c. Free men.
VII. INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION. Christ will not pass us in a crowd.
VIII. GENEROUS ENCOURAGEMENT. He might have called her "rude" or "foolish." Not so.
He calls her "daughter."
IX. SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT. It was not any power lying in the touching of My
garment; it was thy faith that saved thee. Conclusion: The only one in the crowd blessed. Why?
Lack of faith, not lack of need. How near we may be to Christ, and yet not find true spiritual
healing or renewal.
(T. Sherlock, B. A.)
The healing of Veronica
S. Cox, D. D., G. MacDonald.Who is this wan, feeble woman that struggles through the swaying
crowd, and watches her opportunity to stoop and lay her hand on the Healer's garment? This, say
the Evangelists, is a poor woman afflicted for twelve years with a disorder, a haemorrhage,
which was then held to warrant divorce — a disorder which rendered her" unclean "in the eyes of
the law, so that she could neither enter temple nor synagogue. This, says Eusebius, was
Veronica, a woman of wealth and repute, who dwelt in Casarea Philippi, at the northernmost

extremity of the Holy Land, hard by the main source of the river Jordan, in a lonely valley at the
foot of Hermon. "I, Eusebius, have seen her house in that city. And to this day [some three
centuries after the miracle], before the gate of her house, on a lofty block of stone, there stands a
brazen sculpture; on the one side, a woman drops on her bended knees, with hands outstretched
as in supplication; and, opposite to her, stands a man, erect and tall, becomingly clad in a mantle,
who extends His hand to the suppliant. At her feet there springs a certain strange plant, which
rises as high as the hem of her garment; it is held to be an antidote to all forms of disease. This
they say, is a statue of Jesus Christ." Eusebius goes on to argue the probability that Veronica
caused it to be erected, since it was a custom of the Gentiles to erect statues to those who had
healed them; and Caesarea Philippi being, not a Jewish, but a Phoenician city, mainly inhabited
by Greeks, we have every reason to believe that Veronica herself was a Gentile. But whoever she
was, and whencesoever she came, she had heard of Jesus, and conceived a hope that He would
heal her. A woman who had spent all that she had, only to suffer more from her doctors than
from her disease, in her despair would be very apt to betake herself to One who at least
demanded no fee, and who was reported to have wrought many marvellous cures .... But why
does she select the hem, or border, of His garment? Perhaps because in her diffidence she
thought herself unworthy to do more. Perhaps because in her faith she thought even this would
be enough. Perhaps simply because she thought the border of His garment might be most easily
touched without attracting attention Beyond a doubt, her faith, though genuine, was darkened by
superstition. In His grace the Lord Jesus corrects and enlarges her conception; He disentangles
the truth in it from the error. But mark how He does it, how patiently, how gradually. At first it is
her superstition, rather than her faith, which is confirmed But why did He not let the poor woman
creep quietly away with her boon? Why compel her to tell her sad story of womanly pain and
suffering in so many ears? Simply because He loves her too well to let her go away with half a
blessing. Simply that He may teach her that it is her faith, and not, as she thought, her mere
touch, which has saved her. It is a pathetic story, a story —
1. Full of hope and gracious incentive for all who believe, however weak their faith may be.
2. Conveying also a lesson of warning. Many thronged and pressed upon Christ; many touched
His clothes; yet only one touched Him.
3. Teaching also a lesson of invitation. According to the Hebrew law she was impure, and made
all she touched impure; but she ventured to touch Jesus, and, instead of making Him unclean, He
makes her clean and whole. Now, whatever our sins may have been, we can hardly be farther
from hope than she. And however faintly we may turn to Christ, however ignorantly, we can
hardly do less than she who hid herself in the darkness and the crowd, and laid trembling fingers
on the edge of His garment, to see what would come of that. Jesus did not know her or her story
— did not know even that it was she who had touched Him. Yet she was healed. Why? Because
His will is always for the health and salvation of men. Virtue is stored up in Him, and flows forth
from Him at every touch of faith.
(S. Cox, D. D.)
THE WOMAN WHO CAME BEHIND HIM IN THE CROWD.
Near Him she stole, rank after rank;
She feared approach too loud;
She touched His garments' hem, and shrank

Back in the sheltering crowd.
A shame-faced gladness thrills her frame:
Her twelve years' fainting prayer
Is heard at last; she is the same
As other women there.
She hears His voice; He looks about;
Ah! is it kind or good
To drag her secret sorrow out
Before that multitude?
The eyes of men she dares not meet —
On her they straight must fall:
Forward she sped, and at His feet
Fell down, and told Him all.
His presence makes a holy place;
No alien eyes are there;
Her shrinking shame finds god-like grace,
The covert of its care.
"Daughter," He said, "be of good cheer;
Thy faith hath made thee whole";
With plenteous love, not healing mere,
He would content her soul.
(G. MacDonald.)
Glimpses of Jesus
W. Forsyth, M. A.I. THE SENSITIVENESS OF CHRIST. "Who touched Me?" Ruskin has said
truly, "We are only human in so far as we are sensitive."
II. THE YEARNING OF CHRIST FOR NEARER PERSONAL FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN.
The question must be interpreted by the result. Evidently what He desired was to bring the
woman nearer, and to establish more direct and abiding relationship between her and Himself.
III. THE JOY OF CHRIST IN CONFERRING BENEFITS UPON HUMAN SOULS. Mark —
1. The loving address — "daughter."
2. The comfortable words — "Thy faith hath made thee whole."
3. The gracious dismissal — "Go in peace."Learn —
1. That we should come to Christ in our need.
2. That we should commune with Him with the greatest freedom and openness.

3. That we should confess gladly and gratefully before men all the good we have received at His
hands.
4. That we should comply with all His solicitings, and ever seek nearer and. dearer fellowship
with Him as our Saviour and our God.
(W. Forsyth, M. A.)
The Healer
C. Stanford, D. D., A. M. Morgan.We have to trace the history of a touch. Let us inquire —
I. WHY THIS TOUCH ATTRACTED THE PARTICULAR ATTENTION OF THE
SAVIOUR?
1. It was the touch of a sufferer whose case before that touch had been desperate.
2. It was the touch of faith.
3. It was a touch that wrought an instant and perfect cure.
II. WHY DID THE SAVIOUR ASK THE QUESTION, "Who touched Me?" This excited the
wonder of the disciples.
1. Not from ignorance.
2. Not from exhaustion.
3. Not from displeasure. But
(1)To show that He marks the difference between thronging and touching Him. ("Many," says ,
"press upon Christ, in outward ordinances, but believers touch Him; it is by faith that He is
touched, so as to have virtue from Him.")
(2)To enlighten and invigorate the faith of her who touched Him.
(3)To assert His right to be glorified for what He has done.
4. That the interview might issue in the bestowment of His benediction.
(C. Stanford, D. D.)
Oh, dost Thou ask who touched Thy garment? Oh,
Sweet Master, hast Thou not turned back and viewed
How round Thee throng and press the multitude?
"Not all who throng and press for Mine I know;
But trembling, falling, one now Mine draws near,?
To tell of garment touched and ended woe,
The things she sought not, nor has heard, to hear;
Things present, things to come, her deeds revealing,
The fount of sin whose flowing none may stay,
Till breaks on Calvary the Fount of Healing,
All wounds to staunch, all tears to wipe away.
This Flesh, My garment, feels but faith's right hand;

All: many near Its hem, unhealed will stand!"
(A. M. Morgan.)
Virtue is gone out of Me
J. Champness.Virtue at one time meant strength, Now it is used to denote purity. Jesus meant
that power had gone out from Him. It is worth while to note that virtue cannot leave one and pass
to another without a loss to the giver. There can be little doubt that the sacred body of Jesus had
to suffer for being the medium of healing, and that very costly was the honour of being the shrine
of Divinity.
I. Virtue is gone out of Me to ONE WHO FAILED TO GET HELP ELSEWHERE. As a last
resource, she came and tried Jesus. Is she not a picture of many among us, who try everything
but the right thing, and also go anywhere rather than to the Saviour? There is Dr. Merryman. He
has a very large practice. He is the most popular of all the soul doctors, and has an amazingly
large connection among young people. If some one goes to him complaining of a sad heart, he
will prescribe a change, lively society, the theatre, dancing, &c. There is another of these
impudent quacks. I mean Dr. Devotee, who, like the famous Dr. Merryman, has a large number
of patients, but they are generally rather older; indeed, many of them have been under Merryman
till they were tired out; then they have gone over to the other side of the way .to try if Devotee
could help them. If you go into his waiting room, you will see some who have had
disappointments, blighted affections, &c. When you are shown into his room, you notice how
very grave he is — none of the flippancy of the other. He does not approve of Merryman's
prescriptions. Fasting and prayer and seclusion are his remedies. There is yet another of these
medical gentlemen you must look in upon. This is where Dr. Apathy lives. He is the favourite
doctor among men of business and commerce. They will tell you, "Merry-man is all very well
for the youngsters, and Devotee suits the women, but for a sensible practical man, commend me
to Apathy. Bless you, what I suffered before I went to him! I could not sleep at nights for
thinking I might lose my soul. Really business began to suffer; so I went to him, and he seen put
me to rights. When I told him my symptoms, he said, 'I understand you, my dear fellow, you
need a sedative. Stick to your newspaper, and give up all that nonsense about family prayer.'"
II. Virtue has gone out of Me to ONE WHO HAS OVERCOME GREAT DIFFICULTIES. This
poor woman must have found it very difficult to come to Christ, for at least two reasons.
1. She was ceremoniously unclean. And so are we. Yet we should not let this deter us.
2. There was the difficulty of the crowd. The people thronged Him; and no wonder, for He was
on His way to heal the ruler's daughter. The crowd was between her and the Lord.
III. Virtue has gone out of Me to ONE WHO HAS FAITH. DO not wait till you have altered
this, or improved that; all that can be done afterwards.
IV. Virtue is gone out of Me to one WHO MUST CONFESS THE TRUTH.
(J. Champness.)
The cost of service
R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.I. IN NATURE, WE HAVE WHAT HAS LATELY BEEN TERMED
THE PERSISTENCE, OR CONSERVATION OF FORCE.
II. THIS LAW OF COST IS ALSO ECONOMIC LAW. In agriculture, what we call the bounty
of nature, the gift outright, comes a long way short of what is needed even for merest comfort.

The spontaneous products of nature are scanty. So of all industry and useful art. To begin with,
there is the cost of raw material, come whence it may, from earth, or sea, or air. Houses, and
their furnishing, tax the quarries, the clay-yards and the forests. Our wardrobes suggest cotton-
fields, flax-fields, silkworms, flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, birds of the air, wild animals of sea
and land, from pole to pole. Even wigwams and bearskins are no gratuities. Every coarsest want
supplied, every adornment, every luxury, means work. Good things, fine things, cost.
III. THIS LAW OF COST IS ALSO MENTAL LAW. Mind is very much more than mere
passive capacity; it is vital, organizing force. Learning, rightly apprehended, is not mere passive
reception, as of water into a cistern, bringing with it all the accidents and impurities of roof or
aqueduct. It is water in oak, or elm, making its way up through living tissue, filtered as it
ascends, shaking out its leafy banner, hardening into toughest fibre.
IV. BUT THIS LAW OF COST IS PRE-EMINENTLY SPIRITUAL LAW. The so-called
passive virtues either are not virtues, or are not passive. Humility, patience, self-denial, and the
forgiveness of injuries, are battles and victories. So it has been, and so it shall be, in essence, to
the end. Redemption cost infinitely in eternity, and must cost in time. Human history almost
began with martyrdom. The blood of righteous Abel inaugurated the stern economy. Scarcely a
people have ever been evangelized without the baptism of blood. Scarcely a man has ever been
signally useful without the baptism of some great sorrow. We learn in suffering what we teach in
song.
(R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.)
Real contact with Jesus: a sacramental meditation
C. H. Spurgeon.I. First, then, IN THE USE OF ALL MEANS AND ORDINANCES LET IT BE
OUR CHIEF AIM AND OBJECT TO COME INTO PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST.
1. Note, first, she felt that it was of no use being in the crowd, of no use to be in the same street
with Christ, or near to the place where Christ was, but she must get at Him; she must touch Him.
She touched Him, you will notice, under many difficulties. There was a great crowd. It is very
easy to kneel down to pray, but not so easy to reach Christ in prayer.
2. Observe, again, that this woman touched Jesus very secretly. Beloved, that is not always the
nearest fellowship with Christ of which we talk the most. Deep waters are still. Nathaniel retired
to the shade that no one might see him, but Jesus saw him and marked his prayer, and He will see
thee in the crowd and in the dark, and not withhold His blessing.
3. This woman also came into contact with Christ under a very deep sense of unworthiness.
4. Notice, once again, that this woman touched the Master very tremblingly, and it was only a
hurried touch, but still it was the touch of faith.
II. THE WOMAN IN THE CROWD DID TOUCH JESUS, AND, HAVING DONE SO, SHE
RECEIVED VIRTUE FROM HIM. In Christ there is healing for all spiritual diseases. There is a
speedy healing. There is in Christ a sufficient healing, though your diseases should be multiplied
beyond all bounds.
III. And now the last point is — and I will not detain you longer upon it — IF SOMEBODY
SHALL TOUCH JESUS, THE LORD WILL KNOW IT. NOW, as Jesus knows of your
salvation, He wishes other people to know it.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)
She was not hid
C. H. Spurgeon.I. First, then, we say concerning this woman, that HER HIDING SEEMED
VERY EXCUSABLE. I have already said that if, in any instance, a cure might have been
concealed, this was one; and it was so for many reasons.
1. Because of this woman's natural timidity, and because of the nature of her malady.
2. In addition to this, remember that the Saviour did not court publicity. He laid no injunction
upon those whom He healed that they should tell every one of the marvel.
3. There was another reason why she might have thought she need not make a public confession,
and that was, that the Saviour was at that time exceedingly occupied.
4. Excuse might also have been found for the healed woman in the fact, that her cure would
make itself known by its results. When she reached home everybody would see that she was
quite another person; and when they asked how it came to pass, she could tell them all about
5. Another pretext might have served this woman, if she desired an excuse. She might truthfully
have said, "It is evident that an open confession is not essential to my cure, for I am cured."
II. Secondly, HER HIDING WAS NOT PERMITTED BY THE SAVIOUR. Her being brought
out had the best of consequences.
1. For, first, an open confession on her part was needful in reference to the Lord's glory.
Beloved, the miracles of Christ were the seals which God gave to His mission. If the wonders
which He wrought were not made known, the seals of His mission would have been concealed,
and so would have lost much of their effect. If this woman concealed her cure others might do
the same; and if they all did it, then Christ's commission would have no visible endorsement
from the Lord God.
2. Further, remember that our Lord's miracles were illustrative of His teaching.
3. But the confession had to be made for the sake of others. Do any of you wish to live unto
yourselves? If you do, you need saving from selfishness.
4. Do you not think that her public declaration was required for the good of our Lord's disciples?
When they heard her story, did they not treasure it up, and speak of it to one another in after
days, and thereby strengthen each other's faith?
5. But especially she had to do this for her own good. The Saviour had designs of love in
bringing this poor trembler forward before all the people. By this He saved her from a host of
fears which would have haunted her. She had been a very timid and trembling woman, but now
she would shake off all improper timidity. I have known many persons cured of timidity by
coming forward to confess Christ. Our Lord also gave her an increased blessing after her
confession. He gave her clearly to know her relationship to Him. He said, "Daughter!" Next
notice that He gave a commendation to her faith — "Thy faith hath made thee whole." Then the
Lord gave her a word of precious quieting. He said, "Go in peace." As much as to say: Do not
stop in this crowd, to be pushed about or stared at, but go home in quiet.
III. Thus I have already reached my last point: YOUR HIDING OUGHT TO BE ENDED.
1. Do you not think you owe something to the Church of God, which kept the gospel alive in the
world for you to hear?

2. May I be permitted also to say, I think you owe something to the minister who led you to
Jesus?
3. Besides, you owe it to yourselves. Are you going to be mere pats, fluttering out when none
will observe you, and hiding from the light? Are you going to be like mice, which only come out
at night to nibble in the pantry? Quit yourselves like men!
4. You owe it to your family. You should tell your household what grace has done for you.
5. Do you not think you owe it to your neighbours to show your colours?
6. Now let me hear some of your objections, and answer them. I hope I have been answering
them all through my sermon. Here is one. "Well, you know, I am such an insignificant person. It
cannot make any difference what I do." Yes, and this woman was a very insignificant person —
only a woman! God thinks much of the lowly: you must not talk so. Do not excuse yourselves
through pretended humility. "But coming out and joining a Church, and all that, is such an
ordeal." So it may be. In this woman's case, it was a far greater ordeal than it can be to you. Jesus
does not excuse one of his healed ones from owning the work of His grace. A dear lady, who has
long since gone to glory, was once an honoured member of this Church: it was Lady Burgoyne,
and when she wished to unite with us she said to me, "Dear sir, I cannot go before the Church. It
is more than I can manage to make a confession of Christ before the members." I told her that we
could make no exception for anybody, and especially not for her, who was so well established in
the faith that she could surely answer a few questions before those who were brethren and sisters
in the Lord. She came bravely, and spoke most sweetly for her Lord. Some of you may
remember her, with her sweet countenance, and venerable bearing. When she had owned her
Lord, she put both her hands on mine, and said emphatically, "With all my heart I thank you for
this; I shall never be ashamed of Christ now. When aristocratic friends call upon me I will speak
to them of my Lord." She did so constantly. You never found her slow to introduce the gospel,
whoever might be with her. She frequently said to me, "Oh, what a training that was for me! I
might have been a timid one all my days if I had not made that confession before the Church."
Now I say to you, if it be an ordeal, undergo it for Christ's sake. "Alas!" says one, "I could not
tell of what the Lord has done for me, because mine is such a sorrowful story." Was it not so
with this woman? "I have so little to tell," says one. That is a good reason why you should tell it,
for it will be all the easier for you to do so. He that has little to tell should tell it straight away.
"But perhaps people may not believe me." Did I tell you that you were to make them believe
you? Is that your business? "Ah!" says one, " but suppose after I had confessed Christ I should
become as bad as ever." Suppose that this woman had supposed such a sad thing, and had said,
"O Lord, I cannot confess that Thou hast healed me, for I do not know how I may be in six
months' time." She was not so mistrustful.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Grasping the "hem"
Dr. Koenig's Life of Dr. Simpson.Dr. Simpson on his death-bed told a friend that he awaited his
great change with the contented confidence of a little child. As another friend said to him that he
might as John at the last supper, lean his head on the breast of Christ, the doctor made answer, "I
fear I cannot do that, but I think I have grasped hold of the hem of His garment."
(Dr. Koenig's Life of Dr. Simpson.)
The touch of faith

Methodist Times. — A lady was being shown through a corn mill, worked by a river which ran
close by the walls. But all the wheels were in silent inaction. "Where is the power?" she asked.
She was shown a handle, and told to press upon it. She did, and the mighty force was instantly
turned on, the wheels moved, and the place was alive with activity. The power of God moves in
upon us at the touch of faith.
(Methodist Times.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(46) Somebody hath touched me.—What St. Mark
gives historically as a fact, St. Luke reports as uttered by our Lord Himself.
That virtue is gone out of me.—See Note on Mark 5:30. To St. Luke the word was probably
familiar as a technical term.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary8:41-56 Let us not complain of a crowd, and a throng,
and a hurry, as long as we are in the way of our duty, and doing good; but otherwise every wise
man will keep himself out of it as much as he can. And many a poor soul is healed, and helped,
and saved by Christ, that is hidden in a crowd, and nobody notices it. This woman came
trembling, yet her faith saved her. There may be trembling, where yet there is saving faith.
Observe Christ's comfortable words to Jairus, Fear not, believe only, and thy daughter shall be
made whole. No less hard was it not to grieve for the loss of an only child, than not to fear the
continuance of that grief. But in perfect faith there is no fear; the more we fear, the less we
believe. The hand of Christ's grace goes with the calls of his word, to make them effectual.
Christ commanded to give her meat. As babes new born, so those newly raised from sin, desire
spiritual food, that they may grow thereby.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleSee this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 9:18-26, and Mark
5:21-43.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary46. Somebody hath touched—yes, the multitude
"thronged" and pressed Him—"they jostled against Him," but all involuntarily; they were merely
carried along; but one, one only—"Somebody Touched" Him, with the conscious, voluntary,
dependent touch of faith, reaching forth its hands expressly to have contact with Him. This and
this only Jesus acknowledges and seeks out. Even so, as the Church Father Augustine long ago
said, multitudes still come similarly close to Christ in the means of grace, but all to no purpose,
being only sucked into the crowd. The voluntary, living contact of faith is that electric conductor
which alone draws virtue out of Him.
Matthew Poole's CommentarySee Poole on "Luke 8:41"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Jesus said, somebody hath touched me,.... Not in a
common and accidental way, but with design, and in the strength of faith:
for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me: for the cure of the person that had touched him, and
that not without his knowledge and will; See Gill on Luke 6:19.
Geneva Study BibleAnd Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone
out of me.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/luke/8-46.htm"Luke 8:46. ἐγὼ ἔγνων: Lk. puts into
the mouth of Jesus what in Mk. is a remark of the narrator. Vide notes on this incident in Mt. and
Mk.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges46. Somebody hath touched me] Rather, Some one
touched me. “They press; she touches.” Aug. “Flesh presses; faith touches.” Id. Our Lord’s
question was meant to reach the woman’s heart, comp. Genesis 3:9; Genesis 4:9; 2 Kings 5:25.
I perceive that virtue is gone out of me] Literally, “I recognised power going forth from me;” or
perceived that power had gone forth from me, if we read exeleluthuian. Comp. Luke 6:19.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT, MD
Luke 8:46 But Jesus said, "Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone
out of Me."
KJV And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of
me.
• for Lk 6:19; 1 Peter 2:9
• Luke 8:46 The Cost of Compassion - Ray Pritchard
THE WOMAN TOUCHED
WITH THE FINGER OF FAITH
Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me - Mk 5:30 explains
Jesus' initial perception of power passing out of Himself - "Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the
power proceeding from Him had gone forth."

For (gar) is a term of explanation - What is Jesus explaining? He is telling us how He was aware
that someone had touched Him (grasped the tassel). It was not because He was tugged backwards
by the woman's grasp, but because He sense the power flow out from Himself!
Was aware (1097) (ginosko) know by experience. Jesus experienced a draw on His supernatural
power!
John MacArthur comments on Jesus' declaration I was aware that power had gone out of Me
- The power of God is not an impersonal force flowing from Him to people. He was fully aware
of its action. No one ever receives the power of God into his or her life without acute awareness
on His part.
The power from Jesus resulted in supernatural instantaneous, complete cure of the woman's
condition. Jesus knew somebody with faith had touched Him and had been healed by His power.
Power (1411)(dunamis) describes inherent power residing in one by virtue of His nature. It is
power in the sense of that which overcomes resistance. Our word “dynamite” is the
transliteration of this Greek word but not its translation. Dunamis does not refer to an explosive
powder. The Greeks knew nothing about gunpowder. The sense is that a stick of dynamite
contains the inherent power to effect results, in this case bring about miraculous healing of this
woman's malady.
Luke's uses of dunamis (not used in John's Gospel) -
Lk. 1:17; Lk. 1:35; Lk. 4:14; Lk. 4:36; Lk. 5:17; Lk. 6:19; Lk. 8:46; Lk. 9:1; Lk. 10:13;
Lk. 10:19; Lk. 19:37; Lk. 21:26; Lk. 21:27; Lk. 22:69; Lk. 24:49; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:22;
Acts 3:12; Acts 4:7; Acts 4:33; Acts 6:8; Acts 8:10; Acts 8:13; Acts 10:38; Acts 19:11;
There is an interesting use in Luke 5:17 (see comments)
One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting
there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and
the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.
NET Note on had gone out - This is a consummative perfect. Jesus sensed that someone had
approached him to be healed, as his reference to power makes clear. The perception underlies
Jesus' prophetic sense as well.
F B Meyer- Our Daily Homily - Luke 8:46 But Jesus said, Some one did touch Me. (R.V.)
Amid the pressure of the crowd that crushed on Him from all sides, Jesus detected the light touch
of one thin hand, which drew from Him healing virtue. We may be very near Christ, and throng
Him, without touching; but no one can touch Him, however lightly, without deriving the very
grace needed.
We think of Jesus today amid the thronging crowds of angels and spirits of the just made perfeet.
Amid their voices will ours be heard? Amid the pressure of their attendance on his sacred person
will He stay to recognize our poor trembling touch? Amid the vast interests that depend on Him,
the government of the universe, the holding together and consistence of all things, is there any
likelihood of our need asserting itself successfully? See, He is hastening on to raise the dead;
there is the daughter of many a Jairus waiting for his summons, in the cemeteries and sleeping
places of the dead. Will He stay for me? Yes, always.
There is the touch of prayer and faith. Thou canst never exercise it, however simply, without

eliciting an immediate response. The conductor can detect the tiny note of a piccolo in an
orchestra; and Christ is moved by a whisper, a sigh, a tear, a touch. There may be a good deal of
mistake and superstition, as there was in this woman, who seemed to have thought that virtue
clung to his robes; but He will distinguish the soul of holy trust amid many false ingredients.
There is also the touch of affection. He knew when the woman crept to kiss his feet. He did not
instantly speak of it, but said afterwards, “From the time I came in she hath not ceased to kiss my
feet.” Not one loving expression from thy heart to his is lost on Him!
REAL CONTACT WITHJESUS NO. 3124
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER24, 1908.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“And Jesus said, Somebody touched Me:for I perceivedpower going out from
Me.” Luke 8:46. (NKJV)
[Other Sermons on the healing of this poor womanare Sermons #1809,
Volume 30—MAY I?; Sermon #2018,Volume 34—CURED AT LAST!;
Sermon #2019,Volume 34—SHE WAS NOT HID and Sermon #3020, Volume
53—GOODCHEER FROM GRACE RECEIVED—Read/downloadthe
entire sermons, free of charge, at http://www.spurgeongems.org.]
OUR Lord was very frequently in the midst of a crowd. His preaching was so
plain and so forcible that He always attracteda vast company of hearers and,
moreover, the rumor of the loaves and fishes no doubt had something to do
with increasing His audiences, while the expectationof beholding a miracle
would be sure to add to the numbers of the hangers on. Our Lord Jesus Christ
often found it difficult to move through the streets becauseofthe masses who
pressedupon Him. This was encouraging to Him as a preacher and yet how

small a residue of real goodcame of all the excitement which gatheredaround
His personalministry! He might have lookedupon the greatmass and have
said, “Whatis the chaff to the wheat?” forhere it was piled up upon the
threshing floor, heap upon heap, and yet, after His decease, His disciples
might have been counted by a few scores, forthose who had spiritually
receivedHim were but few. Many were called, but few were chosen. Yet,
whereverone was blessed, our Saviortook note of it—it touched a chord in
His soul. He could never be unaware when virtue had gone out of Him to heal
a sick one, or when powerhad gone forth with His ministry to save a sinful
one. Of all the crowdthat gatheredaround the Saviorupon the day of which
our text speaks, I find nothing said about one of them exceptthis solitary
“somebody” who had touched Him! The crowdcame, and the crowd went,
but little is recordedof it all. Just as the ocean, having advancedto full tide,
leaves but little behind it when it retires againto its channel, so the vast
multitude around the Saviorleft only this one precious deposit—one
“somebody” who had touched Him and had receivedpower from Him. Ah,
my Master, it may be so againthis evening! These Sabbathmornings and
these Sabbath evenings the crowds come pouring in like a mighty ocean,
filling this house of prayer, and then they all retire again. Only here and there
is a “somebody” left weeping for sin, a “somebody” left rejoicing in Christ, a
“somebody” who can say, “I have touched the hem of His garment and I have
been made whole.” The whole of my other hearers are not worth the
“somebodies.” The many of you are not worth the few, for the many are the
pebbles and the few are the diamonds! The many are the heaps of husks and
the few are the precious grains! May God find them out at this hour and His
shall be all the praise! Jesus said, “Somebodytouched Me,” from which we
observe that in the use of means and ordinances, we should never be satisfied
unless we getinto personalcontactwith Christ, so that we touch Him, as this
woman touched His garment. Secondly, if we getinto such personalcontact,
we shall have a blessing. “Iperceived powergoing out from Me.” And thirdly,
if we do geta blessing, Christ will know it. However obscure our case may be,
He will know it and He will have us let others know it—He will speak, and ask
such questions as will draw us out and manifest us to the world! I. First,
then, IN THE USE OF ALL MEANS AND ORDINANCES,LET IT BE OUR
CHIEF AIM AND OBJECTIVE TO COME INTO PERSONALCONTACT

WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Peter said, “The multitude throng You
and press You,” and that is true of the multitudes to this very day. But of
those who come where Christ is in the assemblyof His saints, a large
proportion only come because it is their custom to do so. Perhaps they hardly
know why they go to a place of worship. They go because they always did and
they think it wrong not to go. They are just like the doors which swing upon
their hinges. They take interest only in the exterior parts of the service—into
the heart and soulof
2 RealContactwith Jesus Sermon#3124
2 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 54
the business they do not enter—and cannotenter. They are glad if the sermon
is rather short, there is so much the less boredom for them. They are glad if
they can look around and gaze at the congregation— they find in that
something to interest them. But getting near to the Lord Jesus is not the
business they come upon. They have not lookedat it in that light. They come
and they go. They come and they go— and it will be so till, by and by, they
will come for the last time and they will find out in the next world that the
means of grace were not instituted to be matters of custom—andthat to have
heard Jesus Christ preachedand to have rejectedHim is no trifle, but a
solemn thing for which they will have to answerin the presence of the great
judge of all the earth! Others there are who come to the house of prayer and
try to enter into the service and do so in a certainfashion, but it is only self-
righteously or professionally. They may come to the Lord’s Table— perhaps
they attend to the ordinance of baptism. They may even join the church. They
are baptized, yet not by the Holy Spirit. They take the Lord’s Supper, but
they take not the Lord, Himself. They eatthe bread, but they never eat His
flesh. They drink the wine, but they never drink His blood. They have been
buried in the pool, but they have never been buried with Christ in baptism,
nor have they risen againwith Him into newness oflife! To them, to read, to
sing, to kneel, to hear and so on are enough. They are content with the shell,
but the blessedspiritual kernel—the true marrow and fatness—thesethey
know nothing of. These are the many, no matter into what church or
meetinghouse you enter. They are in the press around Jesus, but they do not

touch Him. They come, but they come not into contactwith Jesus. Theyare
outward, external hearers only, but there is no inward touching of the blessed
person of Christ, no mysterious contactwith the ever blessedSavior, no
stream of life and love flowing from Him to them. It is all mechanicalreligion.
Of vital godliness, they know nothing. But Christ said, “Somebodytouched
Me,” and that is the soul of the matter. O my hearer, when you are in prayer
alone, never be satisfied with having prayed! Do not give it up till you have
touched Christ in prayer or, if you have not gotto Him, at any rate sigh and
cry until you do! Do not think you have prayed, but try again. When you come
to public worship, I beseechyou, restnot satisfiedwith listening to the sermon
and so on—as you all do with sufficient attention and to that I bear you
witness—butdo not be content unless you get at Christ, the Master, and touch
Him! At all times when you come to the communion table, count it to have
been no ordinance of grace to you unless you have gone right through the veil
into Christ’s own arms, or at leasthave touched His garment, feeling that the
first objective, the life and soulof the means of Grace, is to touch Jesus Christ
Himself—and unless “somebody” has touched Him, the whole has been a
mere dead performance without life or power! The woman in our text was
not only among those who were in the crowd, but she touched Jesus and,
therefore, beloved, let me hold her up to your example in some respects,
though I would to God that in other respects youmight excelher! Note, first,
she felt that it was of no use to be in the crowd, of no use to be in the same
streetwith Christ, or near to the place where Christ was, but she must get at
Him—she must touch Him. She touched Him, you will notice, under many
difficulties. There was a greatcrowd. She was a woman. She was also a
woman enfeebledby a disease whichhad long drained her constitution and
left her more fit to be upon a bed than to be struggling in the seething tumult.
Yet, notwithstanding that, so intense was her desire, that she urged on her
way, I doubt not with many a bruise and many an uncouth push and at last,
poor trembler as she was, she got near to the Lord. Beloved, it is not always
easyto get at Jesus. It is very easyto kneeldown to pray, but not so easyto
reachChrist in prayer. There is a child crying, it is your own, and its noise has
often hindered you when you were striving to approach Jesus. Ora knock will
come at the door when you most wish to be retired. When you are sitting in
the house of God, your neighbor in the seatbefore you may unconsciously

distract your attention. It is not easyto draw near to Christ, especiallycoming
as some of you do right from the counting house or from the workshopwith a
thousand thoughts and cares about you. You cannot always unload your
burden outside and come in here with your hearts prepared to receive the
gospel. Ah, it is a terrible fight sometimes—a realtoe to toe fight with evil,
with temptation and I know not what! But beloved, do fight it out, do fight it
out! Do not let your seasonsfor prayer be wasted, nor your times for hearing
be thrown away, but like this woman be resolved, with all your feebleness,
that you will lay hold upon Christ! And oh, if you are resolvedabout it, if you
cannot getto Him, He will come to you and sometimes, when you are
struggling againstunbelieving thoughts, He will turn and say, “Make room
for that poor feeble one, that
Sermon #3124 RealContactwith Jesus 3
Volume 54 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 3
she may come to Me, for My desire is to the work of My ownhands. Let her
come to Me and let her desire be granted to her.” Observe againthat this
woman touched Jesus very secretly. Perhaps there is a dear sisterhere who is
getting near to Christ at this very moment and yet her face does not betray
her. It is so little contactthat she has gainedwith Christ that the joyous flush
and the sparkle of the eyes which we often see in the child of God, have not yet
come to her. She is sitting in yonder obscure corner, or standing in this aisle,
but though her touch is secret, it is true. Though she cannottell another of it,
yet it is accomplished. She has touched Jesus!Beloved, that is not always the
nearestfellowshipwith Christ of which we talk the most. Deepwaters are still.
No, I am not sure but what we sometimes get nearerto Christ when we think
we are at a distance than we do when we imagine we are near Him, for we are
not always the best judges of our own spiritual state. And we may be very
close to the Masterand yet, for all that, we may be so anxious to get closer
that we may feel dissatisfiedwith the measure of grace whichwe have already
received. To be satisfiedwith self is no signof grace!To long for more grace is
often a far better evidence of the healthy state of the soul. Friend, if you are

not coming to the table tonight publicly, come to the Masterin secret. If you
dare not tell your wife, or your child, or your father, that you are trusting in
Jesus, it need not be told as yet. You may do it secretly, as he did to whom
Jesus said, “Whenyou were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanaelretired
to the shade that no one might see him—but Jesus saw him and marked his
prayer—and He will see you in the crowd, and in the dark—and not withhold
His blessing! This woman also came into contactwith Christ under a very
deep sense ofunworthiness. I daresayshe thought, “If I touch the great
prophet, it will be a wonder if He does not strike me with some sudden
judgment,” for she was a woman ceremoniallyunclean. She had no right to be
in the throng. Had the Levitical law been strictly carried out, I suppose she
would have been confined to her house. But there she was, wandering about,
and she must go and touch the holy Savior! Ah, poor heart, you feel that you
are not fit to touch the hem of the Master’s robe, for you are so unworthy!
You never before felt so undeserving as you do at this moment. In the
recollectionoflast week and its infirmities, in the remembrance of the present
state of your heart and all its wanderings from God, you feel as if there never
was so worthless a sinner in the house of God before. “Is grace for me?” you
ask. “Is Christ for me?” Oh, yes, unworthy one! Do not be put off without it!
Jesus Christ does not save the worthy, but the unworthy! Your plea must not
be righteousness, but guilt! And you, too, child of God, though you are
ashamedof yourself, Jesus is not ashamedof you. And though you feel unfit to
come, let your unfitness only impel you with the greaterearnestnessofdesire.
Let your sense ofneed make you the more fervent to approachthe Lord who
can supply your need. Thus, you see, the womancame under difficulties, she
came secretly, she came as an unworthy one, but still she obtained the
blessing! I have known many staggeredwith that saying of Paul’s, “He that
eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself.” Now
understand that this passagedoes notrefer to that unworthiness of those
persons who come to the Lord’s Table, for it does not say, “He that eats and
drinks, being unworthy.” It is not an adjective—it is an adverb—“He that eats
and drinks unworthily,” that is to say, he who shall come to the outward and
visible signof Christ’s presence, andshall eat of the bread in order to obtain
money by being a member of the church, knowing himself to be a hypocrite,
or who shall do it jestingly, trifling with the ordinance—sucha person would

be eating and drinking unworthily and he will be condemned! The sense ofthe
passageis, not, “damnation,” as our version reads it, but “condemnation.”
There can be no doubt that members of the church coming to the Lord’s
Table in an unworthy manner, do receive condemnation. They are condemned
for so doing and the Lord is grieved. If they have any conscienceatall, they
ought to feeltheir sin. And if not, they may expectthe chastisements ofGodto
visit them. But, O sinner, as to coming to Christ—which is a very different
thing from coming to the Lord’s Table—as to coming to Christ, the more
unworthy you feel yourself to be, the better! Come, you filthy one, for Christ
can washyou! Come, you loathsome one, for Christ can beautify you! Come
utterly ruined and undone, for in Jesus Christ there is the strength and
salvationwhich your case requires!
Notice, once again, that this woman touched the Mastervery tremblingly and
it was only a hurried touch, but still it was a tokenof faith. Oh, beloved, to lay
hold on Christ! Be thankful if you do but getnear Him for a few minutes.
“Abide with me,” should be your prayer, but oh if He should only give you a
glimpse of Himself, be thankful! Remember that a touch healed the woman!
She did not embrace Christ by the hour together. She had but a touch and she
was healed! And oh, may you have a sight of Jesus now, my beloved! Though
it is but a glimpse, yet it will gladden and cheeryour souls. Perhaps you are
waiting on Christ, desiring His company, and while you are turning the
matter over in your mind you are asking, “Will He ever shine upon me? Will
He ever speak loving words to me? Will He ever let me sit at His feet? Will He
ever permit me to lean my head upon His bosom?” Come and try Him!
Though you should shake like an aspenleaf, yet come!They sometimes come
best who come most tremblingly, for, when the creature is lowest, then is the
creatorhighest—andwhen, in our own esteem, we are less than nothing and
vanity, then is Christ the more fair and lovely in our eyes!One of the best
ways of climbing to heavenis on our hands and knees. At any rate, there is no
fear of falling when we are in that position for— “He that is down need fear
no fall.” Let your lowliness ofheart, your sense ofutter nothingness, instead

of disqualifying you, be a sweetmedium for leading you to receive more of
Christ. The more empty I am, the more room is there for my Master. The
more I lack, the more He will give me. The more I feel my sickness, the more
shall I adore and bless Him when He makes me whole! You see, the woman
did really touch Christ, and so I come back to that. Whatever infirmity there
was in the touch, it was a real touch of faith. She did reachChrist, Himself.
She did not touch Peter, that would have been of no use to her any more than
it is for the parish priest to tell you that you are regenerate whenyour life
soonproves that you are not. She did not touch John or James—thatwould
have been of no more goodto her than it is for you to be touched by a bishop’s
hands and to be told that you are confirmed in the faith when you are not
even a believer and, therefore, have no faith to be confirmed in! She touched
the MasterHimself and I pray you, do not be contentunless you cando the
same!Put out the hand of faith and touch Christ. Reston Him. Rely on His
atoning sacrifice, His dying love, His rising power, His ascendedplea—andas
you restin Him, your vital touch, howeverfeeble, will certainly give you the
blessing your soul needs! This brings me to the secondpart of my discourse,
upon which I will only say a little. II. THE WOMAN IN THE CROWD DID
TOUCH JESUS AND, HAVING DONE SO, SHE RECEIVED POWER
FROM HIM. The healing energy streamedat once though the finger of faith
into the woman. In Christ, there is healing for all spiritual diseases.There is a
speedy healing, a healing which will not take months nor years, but which is
complete in one second!There is in Christ a sufficient healing, though your
diseasesshould be multiplied beyond all bounds. There is in Christ an all
conquering powerto drive out every ill. Though, like this woman, you baffle
physicians and your case is reckoneddesperate beyondall parallel, yet a touch
of Christ will heal you! What a precious, glorious gospelI have to preach to
sinners! If they touch Jesus, no matter though the devil himself were in them,
that touch of faith would drive the devil out of them! Though you were like
the man into whom there had entereda legionof devils, the word of Jesus
would castthen all into the deep and you would sit at His feet, clothed, and in
your right mind! There is no excess orextravagance ofsin which the power of
Jesus Christ cannotovercome. If you can believe, whatever you may have
been, you shall be saved!If you can believe, though you have been lying in the
scarletdye till the warp and woofof your being are ingrained therewith, yet

shall the precious blood of Jesus make you white as snow!Though you have
become black as hell itself, and only fit to be castinto the pit, yet if you trust
Jesus, that simple faith shall give to your soul the healing which shall make
you fit to tread the streets of heavenand to stand before Jehovah-Rophi’s
face, magnifying the Lord that heals you! And now, child of God, I want you
to learn the same lesson. Very likely when you came in here, you said, “Alas, I
feel very dull. My spiritually is at a very low ebb. The place is hot and I do not
feel prepared to hear—the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak—Ishallhave
no holy enjoyment today!” Why not? Why, the touch of Jesus couldmake you
live if you were dead! And surely it will stir the life that is in you, though it
may seemto you to be expiring! Now, struggle hard, my beloved, to getat
Sermon #3124 RealContactwith Jesus 5
Volume 54 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 5
Jesus!May the eternal Spirit come and help you and may you yet find that
your dull, dead time cansoonbecome your best times! Oh, what a blessing it
is that God takes the beggarup from the dunghill! He does not raise us when
He sees us alreadyup, but when He finds us lying on the dunghill—then He
delights to lift us up and set us among princes! Before you are aware, your
soul may become like the chariots of Amminadib. Up from the depths of
heaviness to the very heights of ecstatic worshipyou may mount in a single
moment if you can but touch Christ crucified! View Him yonder, with
streaming wounds, with thorn crowned head as, in all the majesty of His
misery, He dies for you! “Alas,” you say, “I have a thousand doubts tonight,”
Ah, but your doubts will soonvanish when you draw near to Christ! He never
doubts who feels the touch of Christ—atleastnot when the touch lasts. For,
observe this woman—she felt in her body that she was made whole, and so
shall you, if you will only come into contactwith the Lord. Do not wait for
evidences, but come to Christ for evidences!If you cannoteven dream of a
goodthing in yourselves, come to Jesus Christ as you did the first time! Come
to Him as if you never had come at all. Come to Jesus as a sinner and your
doubts shall flee away. “Yes,” says another, “but my sins come to my

remembrance, my sins since conversion.” Well, then, return to Jesus when
your guilt seems to return. The fountain is still open and that fountain, you
will remember, is not only open for sinners, but for saints!What do the
Scriptures say? “There shallbe a fountain opened for the house of David and
for the inhabitants of Jerusalem”—thatis, for you church members—for you
believers in Jesus!The fountain is still open! Come, beloved, come to Jesus
anew, and whateveryour sins are, or doubts, or heaviness, they shall all
depart as soonas you can touch your Lord! III. And now the last point is—
and I will not detain you long upon it—IF SOMEBODYSHALL TOUCH
JESUS, THE LORD WILL KNOW IT. I do not know your names. A great
number of you are perfectstrangers to me. It matters nothing— your name is
“somebody,” and Christ will know you! You are a total stranger, perhaps, to
everybody in this place, but if you geta blessing, there will be two who will
know it—you will and Christ will. Oh, if you should look to Jesus this day, it
may not be registeredin our church book, and we may not hearof it, but it
will still be registeredin the courts of heavenand they will setall the bells of
the New Jerusalemringing and all the harps of angels will take a fresh lease of
music as soonas they know that you are born again!— “With joy the Father
does approve The fruit of His eternal
love! The Sonwith joy looks downand
sees The purchase of His agonies!
The Spirit takes delight to view The holy
soul He formed anew And saints and angels join to sing
The growing empire of their King!” “Somebody!” I do not know the woman’s
name. I do not know who the man is, but—“Somebody!”— God’s electing
love rests on you! Christ’s redeeming blood was shed for you! The Spirit has
workedan effectualwork in you, or you would not have touched Jesus—and
all this Jesus knows! It is a consoling thought that Christ not only knows the
greatchildren in the family, but He also knows the little ones. This truth of
God stands fast, “The Lord knows them who are His,” whether they are only
brought to know Him now, or whether they have known Him for 50 years.
“The Lord knows them who are His.” And if I am a part of Christ’s body, I
may be but the foot, but the Lord knows the foot—and the head and the heart
in Heaven feel acutelywhen the foot on earth is bruised! If you have touched
Jesus, I tell you that amidst the glories of angels and the everlasting

hallelujahs of all the blood bought souls around His throne, He has found time
to hear your sigh, to receive your faith and to give you an answerof peace!All
the wayfrom heaven to earth there has rushed a mighty streamof healing
powerwhich has come from Christ to you! Since you have touched Him, the
healing powerhas touched you! Now, as Jesus knows of your salvation, He
wishes other people to know of it, and that is why He has put it into my heart
to say, “Somebodyhas touched the Lord.” Where is that somebody?
Somebody, where are you? Somebody, where are you? You have touched
Christ, though with a feeble finger, and
you are saved! Let us know it. It is due to us to let us know. You cannot guess
what joy it gives us when we hear of sick ones being healed by our Master!
Some of you, perhaps, have knownthe Lord for months and you have not yet
come forward to make an announcement of it—we beg you to do so. You may
come forward tremblingly, as this woman did. You may perhaps say, “I do
not know what I should tell you.” Well, you must tell us what she told the
Lord—she told Him all the truth. We do not want to hear anything else. We
do not desire any sham experience. We do not want you to manufacture
feelings like somebodyelse’s that you have read of in a book. Come and tell us
what you have felt! We shall not ask you to tell us what you have not felt, or
what you do not know. But, if you have touched Christ and you have been
healed, I ask it, and I think I may ask it as your duty, as well as a favor to us,
to come and tell us what the Lord has done for your soul! And you, believers,
when you come to the Lord’s Table, if you draw near to Christ and have a
sweetseason, tellit to your brothers and sisters. Justas when Benjamin’s
brothers went down to Egypt to buy corn, they left Benjamin at home, but
they took a sack forBenjamin, so you ought always to take a word home for
the sick wife at home, or the child who cannot come out. Take home food for
those of the family who cannot come for it. God grant that you may always
have something sweetto tell of what you have experimentally knownof the
precious truth of God, for while the sermon may have been sweetin itself, it
comes with a double powerwhen you can add, “and there was a savorabout it

which I enjoyed, and which made my heart leap for joy!” Whoeveryou may
be, my dear friend, though you may be nothing but a poor “somebody,” yetif
you have touched Christ, tell others about it in order that they may come and
touch Him, too! And the Lord bless you, for Christ’s sake!Amen.
Luke 8:40-56 6-04-06 “A Fingerof Faith!”
1. Intro: 1.1. 2 Stories in one! 1.1.1. One an anonymous poor woman, the other
a wealthy religious leader. 1.1.2. You’ve heard the saying, “The ground is level
at the foot of the cross.”
2. A HOUSE CALL REQUESTED!(40-42)2.1. HOPE WAITS! (40) 2.2. He
waits with many on the shore line of Galilee.
2.3. A RULER HUMBLED! (41) 2.4. Here this rich synagogue ruler lays it all
down.
2.5. WHEN LIFE SLOWS YOU DOWN!(42) 2.6. Thronged– verb means to
strangle. 2.6.1.Theyso pressedHim that it was hard for Him to move
forward.
3. BLESSED INTERRUPTIONS!(43-48)3.1. WHEN JESUS’BACK IS
TOWARDS YOU! (44) 3.2. HER DISEASE!3.2.1. How she suffered. So long.
This “flow of blood” was a constant“menstrual cycle”. Which made her
unclean. Which ostracizedher from the Temple, the synagogue. Orphanedby
society, as she couldn’t touch or be touched. 3.2.1.1.MosaicLaw segregated
for the sake ofhygiene, but people had a false conceptionof the nature of the
disease. Theythought it was a result of personalimmorality.
3.2.2. She tried everything, exhaustedall her resources.Tried“the Mayo
Clinic, UCLA med center, & Loma Linda” of the day. 3.2.3. She wentfrom
doctor to doctorwho filled her mind with hopes, & her body with folk
remedies. 3.2.3.1. Butall they really relieved her of was money. 3.2.4. But she

hears of a physician who charges no fee, asks for nothing in return, who has
no hidden agenda beyond making a sick world wellagain!1 3.2.4.1.Who
comes not to those with well-ordered lives, but to those whose lives are filled
with physical & moral chaos.
1 Ken Gire; Intimate Moments with the
Messiah;pg.48
2
3.3. HER DETERMINATION!3.3.1. Justbeing in the crowd is no assurance
of receiving the blessing. 3.3.2. Touching the Tassel!(border - fringe, or tassel)
3.3.3. ReadNumb.15:37-41 3.3.3.1. Before PalmPilots & voice messageswe
remembered things with strings. Like the string tied around a finger! 3.3.3.2.
Moses instructed, "And you will look at the strings, & you will remember all
the instructions of God…& you will be holy."
3.3.4. Puton the Tallit (Taleet)or prayer shawl. [Heb. tseattseat]3.3.4.1. [1]
Open with atarah facing you [2] recite the berachah [3] Kiss last word [4]
place over head for moment of meditation [5] place on shoulders.
3.3.5. Herfaith assuredher that Christ could bless her even when his back
was turned!2 Q: Can you also reachthis point? 3.3.5.1.Lastweek we learned
about having faith when Jesus is asleep!3.3.5.2.Canyou trust Him when His
back is to you? 3.3.6. Suchlittle faith, but faith it was![just a mustard seed]
3.3.6.1. He’s not waiting for you to do some greatfeat of faith for him. If you
did, your pride would try to own its own salvation!3.3.6.2.She only had a thin
thread of faith! 3.3.7. She took a Risk! – “If you take no risk…you’re not
alive!” 3.3.7.1. PlaywrightNeilSimon said, “If no one evertook risks,
Michelangelo wouldhave painted the Sistine floor.”3 3.3.7.2.“Youmiss 100%
of the shots you never take” Wayne Gretzke 3.3.7.3. Halfof life is “if.”
3.3.8. Whythis method? 3.3.9. Notreally written “if you can getto it, touch
it”! 3.3.10. Was it faith + a little superstition? 3.3.11.We know later in
Mat.14:34-36“Whenthey had crossedover, they came to the land of
Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognizedHim, they sent out

into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and
beggedHim that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many
as touched it were made perfectly well.” 3.3.12. There was nothing magical
about the Tallit; but there is something supernatural & miraculous about
Yeshua & His word!
3.3.13. She grasps it & it pulls Him back, not her hands but her faith!4
3.3.13.1.She releases& is sweptawayby the crowd. 3.3.13.2. Butit stopped
Jesus right in His tracks!3.3.13.3.Q:Has your faith ever stopped the Lord
like that? 2 SpurgeonAt His Best;#1825
3Galaxie Software.(2002;2002). 10,000SermonIllustrations. Biblical Studies
Press. 4 Ken Gire; Intimate Moments with the Messiah;pg.49
3
3.4. HER DELIVERANCE!3.4.1. Healed& sent on her way!
3.5. WHEN JESUS DOESN’T MAKE SENSE? (45)[back to Jairus] 3.6. All
this time Jairus was waiting! He had to be experiencing impatience! 3.6.1. But
Jesus was delaying, while the child was dying.
3.7. Who touched me? – “who cares”, “my daughter is dying, remember?”
3.7.1. Is this a multi-tasking issue? – A priority issue? – I was here 1st!3.7.2.
Illus: Some years back I was sitting w/Micalin emergencyroom at Rancho
Springs. We had already waiteda few hours, when they brought a drunk in
who didn’t want care, was cussing, screaming;& we were told his injuries
were serious & they’d have to attend to him 1st. To saythis most mildly, “I
was bitter at this man.” (I was here 1st!)
3.8. But the Lord has such a wonderful way of running the whole world at
one time. 3.8.1. Jesusis like the sun shining as it rolls onward in its orbit.
3.8.2. (Roseillus.) You cannever exhaustthe fragrance of His love & healing,
as you could never smell the fragrance completelyoff a flower!
3.8.3. Jesus wasn’ta coolcup of waterthat once drunk it is finished; but an
endless fresh stream, that will never run dry! 3.8.3.1. Rev.22:17 “Whoeveris
thirsty, let him come; and whoeverwishes, lethim take the free gift of the
waterof life.”

3.9. HER DECLARATION!(47,48)3.10. Jesuswouldnot permit her to steal
away& remain anonymous. 3.10.1. Jesusdoesn’tlike undercoverBelievers.
He likes blowing their cover. J 3.10.2. She would never had the opportunity to
Worship Him(fell down at His feet) 3.10.3. Nor, glorifyGod by her testimony
“he healedme!” 3.10.4.And, she would never have heard His specialwords of
blessing(48)3.10.4.1.Daughter – (a tender word) meaning she’s now in the
family!
3.10.5. Go in Shalom – Oh, blessedpeace.
3.11. Q:For what area of your life do you need to reachout & touch His hem
for today? 3.11.1.Do you need a phys healing? A spiritual healing (Salvation)?
An emotionalhealing that only Jesus couldever fix? A mental healing (you
feel like you’re losing it)?
3.12. Q:Would your life be more like those in the crowdthat might
occasionallybrush by Jesus in the rush hour of religious activity? (Ken Gire)
3.12.1.Close to His presence but far from His power?
4
4. TOO LATE? (49-56)4.1. WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD
PEOPLE? (49,50)4.2. Thenthe crash of doom ….she was dead! Forgetit!
4.2.1. Faithshaken, love wounded, hope destroyed. 4.2.2. Butbefore Jairus
could even react–GoodNews speaks. 4.2.3.Jairus heard the Word & trusted
that Word.
4.3. Made well! – “I just heard that!” (in vs. 48)4.3.1. Ahhh, blessedre-
assurance!
4.4. Facing the Future with Jesus!(51)4.5. How long was the gap in these 2
verses? 4.5.1. Canyou travel that far w/Jairus? He went in faith! 4.5.2. Here
he faced the future with Jesus!What a greatplace to be!
4.6. Sometimes in a crowd, other times awayfrom the crowds.

4.7. Faith’s TestAgain! (52,53)4.8. WhatJairus found returning home must
have rockedhis world one more time. 4.8.1. Weeping, wailing, howling,
lamenting…she’s was dead! - & there she lie.
4.9. Sleeping – when believers die, the body sleeps, but the spirit goes to be
w/the Lord 4.9.1. Eccl. 12:7 “ and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to Godwho gave it.”
4.10. Little Lamb! (54)4.11. In His mother tongue of Aramaic “Talitha
cumi”, “little lamb, arise!”
4.12. 3 MAIN LESSONS IN THESE 2 STORIES? (55,56)4.13. [1]2 effects of
man’s fall in the garden were? Disease& death! 4.13.1. Note:both are subject
to Jesus!4.14. [2]Salvation comes through faith, & the woman & Jairus
revealthe kind of faith that Jesus seeks. 4.15. [3]Jesus canbe trusted! 4.15.1.
Whether you are facing, or will face the pain & helplessness ofa lingering
illness like this woman; or the fearful reality of bereavement& death…JESUS
CAN BE TRUSTED!!!
4.16. End: 4.17. Jesusis passing by again this morning. Don’t miss Him.
Reachout & touch w/faiths little finger! 4.17.1.Crowds press, while Faith
reaches out& touches. 4.17.2.Will you remain part of the crowdor will you
reachout & grab onto Christ’s hem today?
http://messages.calvarymurrieta.com/new_testament/42-luke/01-42-06-008-
040.pdf
Who TouchedMe?
Luke 8: 40-48
We have read a very familiar passageofScripture; one that reveals great
truth and offers hope to all who read it. The events that we have read this
morning came during a very busy seasonin the ministry of our Lord. He had
entered a ship on the Sea of Galilee with the disciples and as He slept a storm

arose. The disciples came to Him afraid and Jesus rose and rebuked the storm
and the winds and sea obeyed. When they arrived at the shore, Jesus
encounteredthe maniac among the tombs of Gadara. The man was setfree
from demon possession, but the crowds desired Jesus to leave the country. He
has now returned to Galilee and was welcomedby many who were waiting for
Him.
This brings us to the passagethat we’ve read. This woman’s story is
actually in the midst of another story. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, hada
daughter twelve years of age who was dying at home. He had come seeking
Jesus to touch her. As they made their way, through the crowds, this woman
came and touched the Lord’s garment.
I would like to look at the circumstances ofthis woman’s life and the hope
that we find through it. Her life was in shambles, but a meeting with the
Masterchangedall of that. I want to considerthe question that our Lord
posed: Who TouchedMe?
I. The Tragedy Described(43) – And a woman having an issue of blood twelve
years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed
of any, This one statement reveals much concerning her.
A. She was Diseased– She was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years.
We likely can’t begin to imagine the grief and despair that she felt. Most
would grow impatient and give up in twelve days. Each day was more of the
same. Eachday just brought more despairand difficulty.
 This would’ve been especiallydifficult in Jesus’day. According to the law of
God she was consideredceremoniallyunclean. This affectedher life both
sociallyand spiritually. She was not allowedto fellowship with the public. She
was not allowedto worship at the Temple. She lived a life of solitude, as well
as physical suffering.

 Many today are unclean before the Lord. They are defiled by their sin and
have no fellowship with Him. They may attend the house of God, but they
can’t worship because there is no relationship.
B. She was Desperate – She had spent all her living upon physicians; neither
could be healedof any. This woman had done all that she knew to do. She had
been to every doctor she could
find. She had spent all her living in hopes of being cured, but couldn’t find
any healing. Mark’s gospelreveals that she had spent all she had, and was
nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. Life wasn’tgetting any better, in
fact, it was getting worse. Her situation worsenedwith eachpassing day.
 Many in our day are much the same. They have spent all their living
searching for real joy and peace. Theyhave spent their lives seeking that one
thing that could satisfy. Sadly, most of the time their lives don’t get any better,
but they continue to worsen with time. The endless searchcontinues with little
or no comfort. The searchwill continue until they meet the Lord. He alone has
the powerto transform our lives and give us that we so desperatelyseek.
 Healing is not found in the avenues of this world. Peace andcontentment
will elude those who seek it among the world. Many live lives filled with
tragedy because they never come to the realization that they need the Lord.
They are determined to work it out on their own and according to their plan.
 This woman’s plans and attempts ended in failure. You will never possess
what you need in life apart from Christ! There may be some small victories
and joys, but Jesus is the only answerfor the cares andtroubles of life. She
traveled from one doctorto another. Many today try one vice or pleasure
after another, but what they seek is not found.

I. The Tragedy Described(43)
II. The TouchDesired(42b, 44) – She had dealt with her infirmity for twelve
long years, but she had heard of One who gave her hope. Notice:
A. Her Challenge (42b) – But as He went the people thronged Him. Keep in
mind that the people were waiting for Jesus when He arrived in Galilee. This
event took place in the year of Jesus’popularity. His fame precededHim
whereverhe went. Long before Jesus came into to town, the word had spread
and crowds had gathered. If she was to getto Jesus, she had to overcome the
obstacle ofthe people. Quite literally the world stoodbetweenher and the
Lord. This was a challenge that had to be addressed.
 This same is true in our day as well. It has been over2,000 years and the
world still stands betweenmen and the Lord.
 This world doesn’twant you to get to Jesus. It has no use for Him. I can
assure you that if you getsincere in getting to Jesus, the adversarywill see to
it that there are obstaclesin your way. He will place all that he canbefore you
and cause you to focus on the difficulty, the storm, or the crowd.
 Church I want to speak to us for just a moment before we leave this thought.
We are here to exalt the Lord and point lost sinners and hurting saints to
Him. We are not here to be seenor heard. We are not here for our own
agenda. (Illus. the preacher, the portrait behind the pulpit, and the little girl’s
response.)We must not get in the way of those who need the Lord.

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