Simply Jesus – Week 12 | Embracing Untouchables

When we long to comfort someone but freeze — because of fear, ritual, illness, or the raw horror of watching a child slip away — what do we do with our hands? This message sits squarely in that tension: the awkwardness around touch after illness and social distance, the shame and isolation of being labeled “unclean,” and the gut-wrenching delay when life hangs by a thread. It names real scenes you’ve seen or dreaded: a crowd pressing in, a trembling woman reaching for hope, parents waiting on bad news. The sermon turns to two startling encounters where touch changes everything — not because it’s polite, but because it’s risky and redemptive. You’ll hear how an unexpected embrace undoes exile, how a touch speaks life into the seemingly hopeless, and how an ancient story reframes our fear of closeness into an invitation to belong. Stay for a closing image that makes the ordinary act of reaching out feel like a revival of hope.