Touching The Hem Of His Garment

I would like to refresh ourselves on the story of the woman of the issue of blood. Please bear with me as I share a longer section of scripture than I normally do, but I feel that it is necessary to examine this story completely in order to share what is on my heart to share today.

“A large crowd followed and pressed around him (Jesus). And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 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.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Mark 5:24-34

The Struggle
I want us to get a clear picture of what is going on in this section of scripture.This is a woman who has been bleeding continuously for 12 years! She had been to every doctor known to man and quite possibly done and tried some things outside of the realm of doctors. In her day and age she was considered ritually unclean. In other words, she was a social outcast. She would have been treated much like a leper would have been treated in many cases. She was shunned from her community of family and friends. This woman was desperate to get any form of help that she could to become a functioning member of society once again. She had tried every avenue she knew to get herself back into good social standing, but everything she had tried failed. And not only did they fail, they had left her destitute, impoverished and penniless. Unable to help herself any longer she had heard of a Jewish leader named Jesus. Now Jesus himself was a very controversial man of His time. He went around healing people, forgiven people of their sins admitting that He was the son of God. The priests wanted Him dead, as well as many in the Jewish community. However, He had a very devout following and if the things this woman had heard about Him were, true then all she needed to do was merely touch the hem of His garment and her problems could be solved! One major issue still loomed over her head as she contemplated her decision to go search out Jesus. He was a Jew and she was unclean. According to Jewish law if she even so much as touched Him then He would be considered unclean as well. I believe this is the reason behind her seeking out to touch the hem of His clothing rather than His physical body. If she touched His physical body, beyond a shadow of a doubt He would have been labeled unclean. But by her touching His clothing and not His physical person, she would be able to justify that she did not touch Him, but rather His clothing and she could quite possibly plead her case.

With her mind made up she set out to find Jesus. I’m sure He was not a hard man to track down considering the news of Him traveled like wildfire. As she gets there, she sees Him surrounded by swarms of people all begging for Jesus’ attention. This woman only had one thing on mind by the time she caught up with the crowd. “Touch the hem of His garment.” That was her goal and nothing was going to deter her from attaining that one thing she came for! She forcefully and strategically worked her way through the crowd. Her body weak and fail, but her mind was strong and steadfast on this one thing. She had determined that she would die trying to get to Jesus if she had to. With Jesus in her sights her mind began to get even more determined. With a last stitch effort she crawls her way to His feet. With her pointer finger she ever so strategically touches the very hem of His garment and in that very instant she feels a change in her physical body. She feels the healing power of God rush into her like a raging river, restoring her body wholly and completely!

Jesus First
I want us stop here for just a moment and examine our own lives. When have we ever sought after God in such a way that no matter what happened we were determined to get to Him? I know for me, I have failed on this level more times than I care to admit. God’s desire is that we long to seek after Him, that we push through all of the distractions that this life will inevitably throw at us, and get to Jesus! Change can not come unless we get ourselves at His feet! Some of us are facing some pretty enormous challenges in our lives and we desire change to come, but it is never going to come unless we desperately seek out Jesus. This woman suffered for 12 years. She desperately wanted her situation to change, but it wasn’t until this woman whole heartedly sought out the Lord that change became her portion. She had gone down every other avenue first. She had made Jesus her last resort. This really should be the opposite. Jesus should have been her first and only avenue! Many of us make that same mistake. I know I am guilty of trying to figure things out on my own before ever taking it to Jesus. God desires that we cast all of our cares on Him, no matter how big or how small they may seem. 

A Greater Miracle
Let’s continue on in our story because there is one more thing here that I think is important to bring out. The instant that the woman touches Jesus, He feels the power leave Him. He knew that someone had just received healing. When Jesus poses the question to the crowd "Who was the person who just touch me?" It wasn’t because He did not know who it was. This question was truly a leading question. It allowed Jesus to see the heart of the woman. She laid herself at His feet and wept, confessing and sharing all that had just happened. She shared her reasons and intentions and basically laid her heart out in front of Jesus. The beautiful thing about this story is this, Jesus asked this question so this woman would come forward because it was in that moment of vulnerability that He was able to do an even greater work than her physical healing. Jesus healed her heart that day as well, a miracle she herself did not even expect to get!

The one thing Jesus is most concerned with is not our physical bodies, it is the condition of our heart! He desires for our hearts to be whole because ultimately we leave behind our bodies, but our souls stay with us in eternity. It is our hearts that connect with God, not our bodies. So we can see why Christ would desire our hearts get his utmost attention when it comes to the healing process. What a beautiful thing that God does for us. He heals our hearts! I am so thankful to be serving a God who is more concerned with the eternal things than the things that are merely temporary.

Lord, thank you that you desire for our hearts to be whole. Help us to be steadfast in putting off the distractions of this life and seeking you for the trials that we will inevitably find ourselves in. Help us not to go searching for other avenues to “fix” our problems, but help us to come to you first when we are struggling with things. We do not want for you to be our last resort but we desire to seek you and your kingdom first. Thank you that you are more concerned with the healing of our hearts then the healing of our bodies. You are concerned with all things eternal and that is a true blessing!