The Hem of His Garment
“And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.” But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.
Matthew 9:20-21
Jesus heals. When He stood in His local synagogue to read from the Torah, He chose this verse to describe His ministry, the reason why He came:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and to release the prisoners from darkness.” Isaiah 61:1
His ministry was a healing ministry. Over and over, the gospel writers recount His loving ministry to the broken, the weak, the rejected and the lame. When He saw sickness, brokenness and death, He was moved with compassion. Jesus came to heal us.
As our church prepares to host the Restoring the Foundations (RTF) seminar next weekend (see article below), I am struck by the power of the above Scripture. A woman who had suffered a horrible bleeding condition for years had the faith to reach out and touch Jesus’ garment. No fanfare. No screaming for His attention. By faith, she knew, or at the least she hoped, that one touch of Jesus’ robe would set her free. And the moment she touched Him, her healing came.
I can’t count the number of times Jesus has touched my life and healed me. I have been wounded by others and I have hurt myself by my own bad choices. Life has kicked me sometimes when I was down. When I was empty and broken, Jesus, our sweet loving Physician, reached down and touched me, and I was made whole again.
I believe we are in a Divine wave of healing right now. I see God moving everywhere to bind up the brokenhearted, to set free those captive to various things, and to proclaim freedom to captives. Are we listening? Are we reaching out to Jesus today in the humblest of faith, trusting that He will heal us if we can only touch Him.
One time a person came to Jesus and said, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me whole.” Jesus looked at them, and I bet He smiled with love and said, “I am willing. Be healed.” And they were made whole right then and there. We can learn from this story.
Jesus is willing to heal us. Are we willing to reach out to Him? Are we desperate enough that we would crawl on our knees to get to Him, if we thought we could get touched by Him? The beauty of the above story is that Jesus will REACH OUT TO TOUCH US, if we will ask Him.
Luke 11:9 says, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened up to you.” The door is open. The healing is available. If we as earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Perfect Heavenly Father give healing, wholeness and the Holy Spirit to every child who asks Him?
I ask the Lord today in faith that He would heal us all. I pray we would come to Him in humility and hunger, crawling if we have to. I believe God responds to faith. Even mustard seed-sized faith. He wants to heal. Ask Him to heal you.
Reach out. Touch the hem of His garment. Let His virtue heal you completely. He is willing, and He is able. And God heals us, let’s reach out to others who need the touch of Jesus as well. Let freedom come to every captive! Thank You Jesus!