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Mar 25, 2018

Preconceived Notions

Preconceived Notions

Speaker: James Gallaher

Series: Transformation

Category: Sunday Morning

Whether it's about a person, a religion, or an old wives' tale, we all have preconceived notions about something. Jesus overcame several notions about who He was and His purpose in a way that dramatically transformed the lives of those around Him.

Most of us have something that was passed down, probably from someone we trust, that we eventually found out wasn’t true.

Israel was under Roman rule and the idea of being redeemed by a King was one that was easy to be excited about. Humans want their heroes to conquer and offer great things to the people, not to suffer and die.

Israel was looking for a King, what they would get was a Savior.

The problem with misconceptions is that they blind us from the truth, and Israel was missing who was among them.

Opening Scripture:

Matthew 16:13-16    Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Even after the resurrection, the disciples still didn’t understand.

Acts 1:6  So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Blinded by preference, by their own desires for a King, they were missing the truth of who was standing in their presence.

Mark 5:25-34   A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

What a Jew would have understood about this woman paints a far more pitiful picture than what we read here. Her particular affliction caused her to be ceremonially unclean which required her to be cut off from community. The worst part was that it was religion that kept her out, kept her isolated, kept her alone. To the Jews, being Jewish was everything. It was identity, it was community, and it was purpose. And now, by no fault of her own, it was gone.

vs. 25-26   A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse.

Can you relate? You’ve endured much, spent everything you had just to try and get back what you lost only to see things get worse?

Helpless and alone she waited, not for a King, but for a Savior…and then she hears of a Man.

vs. 27-28  After hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”

For 12 years she had been reminded daily of her condition and with hope now gone she makes a move. Because she was unclean, anything she touched would become unclean, and the penalty for such an act was either stoning or public excommunication. Imagine the desperation and pain that leads someone to such a decision to go and yet she went.

vs. 29  Immediately…

vs. 32  And He looked around…

Jesus will not allow anyone to receive glory from His back for only His full glory can be received from His face.

Jesus was adamant to reveal His approval of her, this woman of sorrow.

vs. 33  But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

She began to tell Him her entire life story, recounting the pain, the sorrow, and the isolation. And I can only imagine He stopped her mid-sentence with a smile and said, “My Daughter.”

vs. 34  Your faith has made you well.

This was a family term…not a term for someone who was unclean or who had broken the law.

Of all the people that touched Him in that crowd, there was one who got healed. The difference was she wasn’t looking for a King, she was looking for a Savior.

A lot of people miss the truth because of their preconceived ideas.

We have built a Jesus that fits our preferences. We live a religion that leaves us feeling isolated more than connected.

But for this woman, for the lonely, the unclean, it wasn’t effort that led to freedom, it was faith and trusting in Jesus.