Desperate for Change

During my time at Liberty University I heard hundreds of the worlds best speakers during our weekly gatherings. There are a handful of talks that I still remember. One of them has stuck with me for the wrong reason.

The Pastor that evening had a powerful presence. His tone both both compelling and intense. There was a serious urgency to his message. He was sharply calling people to turn from their sin and trust in Jesus.

Towards the end of the message it seemed as though he was offering an invitation to come forward. In the midst of thousands of students, one girl courageously stood up and went to the stage. I felt inspired by her courage.

When she reached the speaker he aggressively, mic in hand, told her to go back and sit down because he wasn’t done speaking. In that moment, it’s as if the whole crowd gasped.

This humble girl, desperate for change, desperate for Jesus, reached out for help only to have her hand slapped away by a strong speaker.

The female spiritual leaders immediately went to her aid. The pastor moved on, no apology. Not surprisingly, a few months later we saw the news report that this mega pastor was removed from his church.

Some of you are desperate for change. You know you need help. But you fear that if you reach out, you’ll be rejected.

Tonight, we will witness two people who reach out to Jesus for help. They were desperate for change. How will Jesus respond?

21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.

When this community leader fell at the feet of Jesus, he fell before a man who must have been exhausted. Likely, Jesus’ last period of rest was in a boat during a storm. His sweet sleep of trust got interrupted by panicking disciples. Then he did a miracle of saving a demon possessed man, only to have the town reject him and beg him to leave.

Now, Jesus finds himself interrupted again. Amazingly, selflessly, he drops everything to help this man by saving his daughter.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

There is a massive crowd following the healer on a mission. In the midst of the masses, the author zooms in on one woman. A woman who’s utterly broken. Her body is broken. Financially, she is broke. And her physical condition would have made her socially and spiritually broke.

Because of her constant release of blood, she would have been considered unclean during Jewish ceremonial practices. When in public, she would have had to declare herself unclean. She was living in quarantine. Isolated from spiritual events, friends, and touch.

27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

Though she had only “heard reports about Jesus” those stories were enough for her to have amazing faith in his ability to heal. In fact, she believed that he was so powerful that even if she just touched his clothes she would be healed. Jesus never said, “touch my robe and you’ll be saved!” There was nothing special about his fabric. Where did she get this idea? No clue. But what we do know is that she believed and she continued to affirm that belief to herself.

One of my favorite Pastors, Martyn Lloyd Jones, once wrote, “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.”

Though this woman could’ve been saying to herself, “I’m hopeless” “I’m broke” instead she says, “Jesus can heal me.” It leads her to reach out for Jesus, and with a touch, she is healed.

30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

imagine if our spiritual leader fell on his face to ask Jesus to save his daughter from dying... we all pack into cars to drive to his house.... and then Jesus slams on his breaks to help someone on the side of the road....

The woman is already healed. She got what she came for. Meanwhile, there is a dying 12 year old girl that needs to be saved. The disciples are rightfully confused by Jesus’ pause. Jesus’ priorities seem to be out of whack. “Your making contact with a crowd of people. Everyones touching you Jesus, let’s move on.” But he won’t because someone touched him with the touch of faith.

32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

An understandable reaction, no doctors could help her, but with one risky action of faith and she is healed. She recognized that she is in the presence of no ordinary man.

34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

This is the only woman that Jesus calls, daughter. Author, Hans Bayer wrote of this scene, “She went from the fringe to the family.”

Before saving the dying 12 year old daughter, Jesus wanted to heal a daughter of God who lived 12 years thinking she was rejected.

Amazing story. But you may be thinking. I can’t touch Jesus. He isn’t physically on earth. How can this story help me with my problems? I’m glad you asked.

Let’s press rewind to see four categories of people in this story. Think about which category you fit into...

Waiting on God (Jairus)

Jairus had an equal amount of urgency as the woman. His little girl was dying. Jesus comes to help him, but slows everything down to help another.

Sometimes you are asking God to help you with a desperate problem. Instead it seems like he’s helping everyone around you, just not you.

Learn from the stories of others. If the touch of a garment can heal a woman’s 12 year disease. Than the touch of Jesus’ healing power will be able to save Jairus daughter.

Don’t let the blessing other’s experience discourage you, let it remind you of God’s power and willingness to help you.

Interested in God (The Crowd)

The majority of people who interacted with Jesus that day was simply, the crowd. They followed him. They saw him. They touched him. But they were not healed like the woman. Why?

People tend to think that simply coming to church makes you a Christian. As if healing happens by osmosis.

Cell phone charger: I can have a cell phone charger in the same room as an outlet, but it will not charge. It may be near an outlet, but it will not charge. It must plug in.

Through faith, like the woman, we plug into the power of God.

Plug in to change by trusting in God.

Confused by God (The Disciples)

The third category is confusion. Each week as I prepare, I write down the emotion or feeling of the passage. One emotion is by-far the most common: surprise.

God will surprise you with what he does and what he does not do. The disciples are stunned that Jesus would pause a rescue mission to chat with an outcast. But at least they have the courage to ask him why he paused the operation.

Because of their question, they witness an answer.

Ask honest questions. With God, there are no stupid questions. Living in doubt by hoarding your questions is the stupid thing to do.

Desperate for God (The Woman)

It is believed that Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

This woman was desperate for change. To her credit she tried to find healing. For 12 years she spent money seeing doctors. But it didn’t work. In order to experience the change she desired, she needed to change her approach.

She became desperate to be healed by the teacher she had heard rumors about. And though she risked making everyone unclean by her presence, she reached for the one she believed could heal her. Through her faith she discovered...

Jesus desires to heal the desperate.

Take the risk. Reach out to God through any means possible.