Touching Jesus

Peter Frere | Luke 8:43-48 

The rules of the day were quite clear: any person with a discharge was unclean, and anything they touched became unclean. But when the person being touched was Jesus, things were bound to take a different turn. As Peter explains, physical touch can bring both good and harm, but it's important for human relationships, and Jesus used it for healing and to break down barriers.

This talk was given in our evening service. In the morning, our interactive All Age service used many physical symbols to explore the meaning of Lent, but the message format wasn't really suited to a podcast.

A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind [Jesus] and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

'Who touched me?' Jesus asked...

In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.'