Today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe.
When you reach out in shame and in guilt and condemnation, feeling unworthy and you touch the holy, you always feel like I'm not worthy to touch the Holy. But Jesus knew that something more needed to happen. And I love what happened here. The Bible says she told them the whole truth. And he said to her daughter.
Welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. My name is Wayne Shepherd. Yesterday we began an incredibly powerful message titled pain that Is Wrapped in Shame or Mark shared about the deep wounds we often try to hide, whether from divorce, addiction, incarceration,
or other painful chapters of life. Today, As we continue part two of this message, we'll see how encountering Jesus can break the chains of shame and give us a new identity. If you miss the first part of this compelling lesson, you'll find it at bird-stamps.org. But right now, let's join Mark Jobe with today's bold steps.
In fact, some of you are in this auditorium right now. You don't look like it because you don't wear it on your face. You don't carry a sign that says, this is my pain. It's a place that drives you. And anytime there's pain, we are driven towards relief. And in our relief. Sometimes we overeat. We overindulge. Some of us have tried to camouflage that pain or deal with that pain by, um, you have tried. You have gone down the road of workaholism to try to forget about
the pain. Some of you have tried to drink the pain away. Some of you have tried to smoke the pain away. Some of you have tried to sex the pain away. Some of you have tried to, uh, Achieve the pain away. Some of you have tried to, uh, just have fun. Fun? The pain away. You've tried a lot of ways to get away from that pain, but you know it's still there. The Bible tells us in verse 27 when she heard about Jesus. If you're taking notes, write this down. Faith is birthed by hearing and fueled
by our thinking. When she heard about Jesus. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, if I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. There's something about the name of Jesus. When she heard about Jesus. She never met Jesus. She didn't know Jesus. She'd never seen Jesus, but she heard about him. There's something about Jesus that when you hear about him. It bursts. Something inside of you. The hope, the healer, the Savior. When you hear about Jesus, there's
something you're wired spiritually to react and respond to. The name of Jesus. You're created by your divine creator to have a longing for relationship with him. You don't always know it. You can't explain it. But there's something inside every single one of us that desires a relationship with our creator. And when she heard about Jesus, something was awakened inside of her. In fact, I believe that there's some people here in this auditorium today that you can't
even believe you're in a church today. You're like, what am I doing in a church today? This is kind of crazy that me in a church, people are waving their hands like that. I'm like, this is so weird. I don't even know what I'm doing. What am I doing in a church? Some of you have wanted to run, but you know why you're here? Because you've heard about Jesus.
You don't know what it is, but there's something about the longing in your heart that desires to connect with the divine, that desires to connect with that which has made you. And you're you're you're afraid, but yet you're drawn. You want it, but yet you're afraid. You're not sure exactly what it is. When she heard about Jesus. It motivated her. And in her mind, she started to think, maybe if I just reach out and touch the hem of his garment, maybe if I just touch him, then
maybe I will be healed. Maybe he's the solution that I've been wanting, asking for, praying for, longing for in my life. In Matthew chapter nine, verse 21, when it tells this story, it uses the verbiage that she repeated to herself. So she kept repeating to herself, how many of you talk to yourself? Some of you say it's the only intelligent conversation I've had just talking to myself. Come on, you can admit it. Your spouse says, were you talking to me? No, I'm just talking to myself.
And sometimes we have this conversation with ourselves. And in her mind, she was saying, if I just touch Jesus, faith has been birthed in her. Faith that was undeveloped. Faith that was not really theologically grounded, but faith that had risen within her. This dream of if I just touch him, maybe I believe maybe he is the Messiah.
Maybe he's the one who he says he is. And so she thought to herself, if I can just touch it now, it doesn't tell us in Mark, but in Luke and in Matthew it tells us that she reached out and she touched the tassels on his garment. Now you say, well, what's that? Well, the tassel, if you know what a tassel is like a curtain or a blanket. We don't walk around with tassels typically now. But the
tassel was something that religious Jewish men wore. It was a like a blanket that they wore that had tassels on every on the four corners. Now, it was important to the Jewish man because these tassels had 613 knots in them. Those 613 knots represented the 613 laws of Moses found in the Old Testament. So when a Jewish man went to pray, he would put this. He would put this sort of outer garment over his head. The prayer garment and these tassels would hang there. It represented
the holiness of God, the law of God. And so when this woman reached out to touch the tassel on Jesus garment, these tassels represented the law, the holiness of God. So listen, this woman, full of shame and pain, is reaching out to touch something that represents the holiness of God. You see it there. When we reach out to touch that which is holy, immediately do we feel like I'm unworthy to touch that which is holy? And this is significant because Luke and Matthew indicate that it's the tassel
that she's reaching out to touch. It's an act of faith, and she's reaching out to touch, believing that, hey, Jesus, if I just touch you, maybe just the hem of your garment that something will be released and I will be changed. Then the Bible goes on and tells us. I love this. It says immediately when she touched the tassel, her bleeding stopped. Now I want you to picture what's happening. She's in a crowd. They're pressing up against each other. She's not supposed to be in a crowd. Anybody that
touches her is unclean. They don't know it, but she knows it. She feels like I'm making all these people unclean that touch me. But she's pressing through the crowd. They're bumping up against her. She's pressing and pushing, and she sees Jesus right over there. And in her mind she says, if I can just touch the hem of his garment. Have you ever been in a crowd that's really crowded and you're pressing up against each other and you feel like you're going to be smashed. Anybody felt
that way before? It's a scary thing, right? My son, when he was 16, he took me to a. A concert at the Metro. A bunch of screamo music. He said they were Christian. I couldn't understand a word that they were saying. It just sounded like this. And I said, son, are they Christian? Yeah, dad. They were packed out. Crowded. I was watching from the balcony and a girl next to her says, I was last year. I went down there in a mosh pit and they broke my jaw.
I said, wow. And so Josiah, my son, he looks at me and he says, dad, I bet you won't go down there. Don't dare your dad when you're 16. So next thing, I'm in the crowd like this, looking at my son up there going. And then a mosh pit breaks out right beside me. I look up at my son and I jump right into it, just all over, you know, acting crazy. And then no other one breaks out and I'm jumping, acting crazy. And then I get up there, I said, I hope no one saw me.
I walk out in front and someone comes up and says, hey, pastor Mark, um, great to see you at the concert. Yeah, I'm just here with my 16 year old son. They said, you know, we saw you in the mosh pit. It was really cool. In fact, we we tweeted it out. It's like, okay, thanks a lot. Yeah, but the crowd was pressing, pressing, pressing. And this woman is reaching out. She sees Jesus, the tassel. If I could just touch it. The Bible says that she's reaching out in shame, knowing
that everybody that she's touching is making them unclean. But she thinks in her mind. If I could just touch the hem of his garment. And so she reaches through the crowd and she touches the hem of his garment and suddenly she knows. The Bible says immediately, because faith works that way. Every good thing that comes from God comes via the faith. Faith is the conduit by which all the good of God travels. Grace comes through faith.
Salvation comes through faith. Healing comes through faith. She reaches out and she knows something has happened.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, and we'll continue this powerful message about breaking free from shame in just a moment. But first, I want to remind you of one of our most encouraging resources you can receive. Each week, it's absolutely free. It's Mark's email devotional called Bold Stepper Weekly. We love getting this. Mark, thanks for doing it.
Yeah. Each Monday morning, Wayne, a bold Stepper weekly is sent out via email early in the morning so that you can start your week the right way. Typically there's a devotional thought, but I also give updates on the ministry, what's happening here. And, uh, you know, as you're listening to this message, you may be dealing with shame and pain, and you need that regular reminder to look to God, understanding his grace and his acceptance. So it's in English,
but we also have a Spanish version. Uh, the English version has an audio link, so if you're driving, you can just listen to it so that you're not, uh, in an accident. Um, and, uh, whether you're working out or driving, you can also just listen to that audio link. And we want to encourage people, Wayne, how could they access this?
Just sign up at Bold Steps org. Again, it's absolutely free. There is no obligation of any kind. We just want to encourage you every Monday morning with Mark's Bold Stepper weekly. Sign up at Bold steps.org. Look for the devotional tab at the website. Thank you. Mark. Let's return to today's message now about finding freedom from shame through Christ.
She feels it in her body. The Bible says her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from suffering. And at once. So she's feeling it. The crowd still. Jesus is still walking. And she's there feeling it like something's happened. I feel it. I'm different. Jesus is walking. And then he stops and he says, who touched me? His disciples, who are trying to keep the crowd away, saying, what do you mean, who touched you?
Everybody's touching you. This is crazy. Get out of here! Jesus! No! Who touched me? You see, there's a difference between bumping in to the sacred and reaching out in desperate faith to touch the sacred. Augustine long ago said flesh presses, but faith touches. He can always distinguish between the jostle of a curious mob and the agonized touch of a
needy soul. There's a difference. You know, there's a lot of people in a crowd like this here on a Sunday morning, and you can bump up against the sacred, but it doesn't mean that everybody's reaching out in faith to touch the sacred. Oh, we're all around it. The sound, the music, the word, the Bible, the presence of Jesus. But not everybody receives the same. Because not everybody here is reaching out in desperate, faith filled focus to say, I need a touch of the Savior. You can be
in a crowd, listen like this. And someone right beside you. You may not even know, but God has touched them, dealt with them. Something is happening in their soul. And you may be sitting two rows back saying, hey, what's going on with that person? You know what? Because in their faith, they've reached out their invisible hand of faith. They've reached out to the God that they so desperately need and say, God, I need you. And something has
happened within their soul. O that maybe hasn't happened to everybody around them, because they've reached out in desperation and faith to touch the sacred. And as they had the supernatural power of God is released into their spirit and something divine is happening within their soul. Number four, our wholeness and healing is not complete until he touches the
core of our being. The Bible says in verse 32 two But Jesus I kept looking around to see who had done it, and then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet, trembling with fear, and told him the whole truth. I asked myself Jesus was in a hurry. There was a little girl that was dying. Why did he insist on calling out a woman who didn't want to be called out? He stops and says, where is she? Who touched me? The disciples of Jesus were in a hurry. Jerry is
his daughter's dying. This is important, man. Keep going. There's a lot of people around. Why are you stopping? He could have walked away, but he stopped. I think there was an important. There was an important reason that he stopped. He wanted this woman to have more than Healing. He wanted this woman to have wholeness. Can I tell you something? She could have walked away a healed woman, but never experienced the wholeness that she needed in her life. Because
her problem was more than just bleeding. Her problem was shame and condemnation. And I want you to notice that when Jesus says, who touched me? Who touched me? He's the Son of Man. He knows. He knows who touched him. He needed her to come out. He needed her to speak out. He needed her to acknowledge I am the one who you have touched. I am the one that God has worked in. Listen. The Bible says that she fell down in fear and trembling. Why was she fearful?
And why was she trembling? Because when you reach out in shame and in guilt and condemnation, nation feeling unworthy, and you touch the holy. You always feel like I'm not worthy to touch the Holy. It was her shame and guilt and condemnation that caused her to fall in trembling. But Jesus knew that something more needed to happen. And I love how Jesus. What happened here? The Bible says she told them the whole truth. And he said to her. Daughter, you know, it's the only place in the Bible where
Jesus speaks to a woman and calls her daughter. I don't know how old she was. But she needed to hear the sacred, the holy, the Messiah say to her, you're not rejected. You're not condemned. You're not unclean. You're not unwanted. Your daughter. She needed to hear him call her daughter. Because this was more than just healing. This
was about a relationship with the Messiah. You see, I believe that sometimes our shame and guilt makes us feel unworthy and unwanted as we approach the presence of Jesus. And God wants us to admit the truth about our story. Sometimes we have to come out with our truth. The truth about our story. We have to tell the whole truth about our story, because that's where the enemy keeps us in shame and guilt and condemnation. And then we need to accept the truth of God over our story.
When he says, daughter, you are healed. I believe today that if that doesn't happen, our voice stays silent. You know, some of us God is working in our life, but because we feel so much shame and guilt, we refuse to acknowledge publicly what God has done. Privately, she was healed. She should have been jumping and shouting, I'm healed after 12 years. But even though God had done a miracle in his life, in her life, she was silenced by guilt and shame. Shame had stolen her voice of celebration.
Jesus calls it out. Woman. Speak it woman. Don't be afraid. I've worked in your life. Now you need to say what I've done. You need to declare what's happened. You need to speak the truth over it. Other people need to hear it. And I call you daughter. I speak into your life as someone that's loved family, not as someone that's rejected. So as we close our service together. I believe that some of you need to find your voice of celebration. In fact, I believe that God is
doing some work already. We? I can't tell you in the last few months how many people I've run into that were so far from God, hadn't visited a church in a long time, but are being drawn to God. You know why? I believe the Spirit of God is calling people to himself these days. I'm not sure why, but God is calling people to himself. Drawing. People say come, come and you feel the tug. You sense it in your spirit, but you feel unworthy, guilty, condemned. But yet God calls you to himself.
So if the Spirit of God has spoken to your heart through this message, maybe you're a believer that has allowed himself or herself to go down a path that you know is contrary to God, and you're full of shame and guilt over it. And God is drawing you back. And maybe you're someone that you've never come to God, you've never surrendered, never repented. But there's a vacuum inside of your soul that's saying, I know I need God.
Either way, I want to pray for you. If you've never surrendered your life to Christ, this is the moment. I don't have to convince you. I don't have to twist your arm. You know that God is calling you because there's been signs in your life. You've. Your heart has been awakened to him. And so, father, we pause right now. I pray for that person that feels you're calling upon their life. I pray that today they would
stop fighting you. They would surrender. They would believe that Jesus Christ, you are all God and that you died on a cross to pay a price that we could not pay. I pray today that they would confess you as Lord and Savior and say, Lord, I surrender my life to you. I pray for that person that's a believer that's allowed themselves to slip and slide into dark grey areas, and now the enemy condemns them with shame
and guilt. I pray, father, today, that they will know that they are seen by you, and that you're calling them out of that with love, grace, and acceptance to forgive and change them. Father, so today I pray that the voice of the spirit would be heard loudly and that some would be responding even now as I pray. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
Yes, Amen. Thank you Mark. We've been listening and taking bold steps together today through the message pane that's wrapped in shame. And if you'd like to revisit any part of today's lesson or share it with a friend, visit our website at Bold Steps. Org. And while you're there, don't miss our current Bold Step gift, a transformative book
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To learn more about the difference your giving makes and to sign up to become a bold partner, just visit our website. And again, that's bold steps. And that's our time today. Tomorrow we'll hear a message where Mark will be challenging us to look where our treasure, heart, and value in life really is. It's called the Treasure Principles. So be sure to tune in for this important lesson
Wednesday here on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.