Touching the Hem of His Garment

In Matthew 14, we see some really remarkable things that Jesus was doing throughout His ministry. In vv.34-36, after having fed more than 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, and after having spent an entire stormy night on a boat in the water with His disciples, they arrived at a place called Gennesaret. Here Jesus was recognized and because they knew of His power to heal sicknesses, people from all over flocked to Him and begged for His miraculous power to make them better. This text reveals something that is quite fascinating when you think about it. We are told that as many as touched the hem of His garment, were made perfectly well. In fact, there is another point in Jesus’ ministry where a sick woman of many years came and touched His garment and He praised her for her faith. The point here is people touching His garment is associated with having a strong faith. Reaching out to touch the hem of His garment was a good thing.

Now obviously, we realize that Jesus is not walking around in the flesh today, physically and miraculously healing people of their sicknesses. But how many of us could sure use a spiritual healing? I fear that because Jesus is not a physical entity today as He was while living on the earth, that we have a tendency to automatically dismiss Him as one who cannnot be relevant in our lives. The people from Gennesaret knew exactly what to do when they saw Jesus because they recognized Him. They flocked to Him and reached out to touch Him because they knew He could make them better. I can’t help but wonder how many of us are reaching out to “touch the hem of His garment?” As we live our lives and are approached with various trials and hardships; as we struggle with sin or other personal problems, are we reaching out to touch the hem of His garment? Or are we afraid? Do we believe that we can be made spiritually well by reaching out to Jesus as these folks in our text did?

Let us recognize and trust the power of Jesus to make us what we ought to be spiritually. His word to us, prayer, the church and the fellowship that exists therein are all examples of what could constitute the “hem of His garment” that we should be reaching out to. The kingdom is within our grasp. And the beautiful gospel of our Lord is ready to save us (Romans 1:16)and place us in the kingdom. May we trust in Him enough to motivate us to beg and yearn for the hem of His garment!