Let's just be clear about this.
According to the Jewish Law
touching blood
makes you unclean.
And,
if someone unclean
touches you
you become unclean too.
How selfish of this woman, then,
to touch the hem of
Jesus' garment,
just to stop her bleeding.
She doesn't even ask him.
She just does it.
She makes Jesus unclean
without Him knowing.
Not only is Jesus unclean
but all whom He touches
become unclean.
Who knows
how many people
become contaminated
just because this woman
wants to stop bleeding.
Who knows how many people
have had their relationship with God
damaged
by one woman's selfishness.
[PAUSE]
That's the way
a Pharisee might see it,
all fixated on the Law
and the Rite
and the purity.
But there is something
they will overlook.
Does the woman's bleeding stop?
Yes,
of course.
So,
how can someone unclean
on the outside of society
unable to approach God heal her?
This healing comes from God.
It means that Jesus is
not unclean.
Oh,
He notices the power leave Him
to heal her,
but see how He tells her
that her faith has made her whole.
He does not see selfishness.
He sees her trust in Him.
She knows that,
if He is the great Healer
that He has shown Himself to be,
if He is the Messiah
that she believes Him to be,
if He is the Son of God
that He claims to be
then He can never be made unclean.
She has complete faith in Him.
But she is scared
nonetheless.
It's scary having
your faith tested!
The devil likes to put
his little grain of doubt
in your mind.
But Jesus Himself says
that a grain of faith
can grow bigger than anything
and she has that grain of faith
enough to dare to touch Him
and be healed.
She lets go
of the grip of the Jewish Law
with its restrictions
on clean and unclean
and allows the cleanness
of her faith
to bring her to the One
Who, not only can heal,
but Who wants to heal.
And, to strengthen this point
He goes to a girl
whom everyone says is dead
and who laugh at Him
when He says she isn't.
And this dead girl
he touches
and the Jewish Law cries,
"Unclean!"
But the girl revives
and is alive
and cannot now be unclean.
Where has the uncleanness gone?
In Christ
it is nullified
- made nothing.
The only uncleanness
is the scorn
that pours out of
unbelieving,
unkind,
unfaithful hearts.
It is not what goes into a man
that makes him unclean
but what comes out of his heart.
[PAUSE]
Our faith in Christ
is the beginning of our healing
and comes from the same grace
that God gives to everyone.
We cannot make Christ unclean
with our presence,
we cannot contaminate His Grace
with our sin.
We can never despair
of the mercy of Christ
Who will forgive the sins,
no matter how great,
that we present to Him
in repentance and humility.
While we are contaminated
by the sins of those
around us,
while our sins can
and do contaminate
those around us,
they are blotted out
through the Love of God.
Our baptism
has made us clean
and started the process
of justification,
sanctification
and glorification
in us
which will continue
for as long as we turn to Christ.
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