TOUCHING THE HEM

TOUCHING THE HEM

Mark 5:21   ²¹ And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.

Jesus had just cast demonic spirits out of a man living in the tombs and mountains into 2000 pigs.

Mark 5:22-24   ²² And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

²³ And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

²⁴ And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

Thronged means to surround, a crowd of people.

Mark 5: 25-29   ²⁵ And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

²⁶ And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

²⁷ When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

²⁸ For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

²⁹ And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

First the woman had to believe that if she touched his garment she would be healed. She had heard about his healing power, and had faith that if she but touched his garment she would be healed.

What faith this woman had, she could have easily been stoned for being in public with an issue of blood. It wasn’t allowed for a woman to even touch a man when she had her time of bleeding.

The garment or cloak that she wanted to touch was a prayer shawl. It had four tassels, each tied with five double knots, which represent the 613 commandments in the Tora. She saw these tassels on Jesus’ garment.

She understood what it meant. She knew the Hebrew tradition.

The Hebrew word for hem is wings, the hem of Jesus’ garment was representing the 613 laws or commandments that Jesus was to fulfill at the cross.

This woman knew if she touched the hem of his garment she would be healed, or made whole.

When she saws the tassels or wings on his garment, she said to herself, there is healing in his wings. I must touch this garment.

At this period of time it was before Jesus went to the cross. This was a covenant God made with the Hebrews. Jesus was wearing that covenant, he was passing by with that covenant.

Mark 5:30-34   ³⁰ And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

³¹ And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

³² And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

³³ But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

³⁴ And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

It puts us to the question; how many would reach out to touch the hem of his garment with such faith.

Because Jesus did fulfill the 613 laws or commandments under the old law, you had to do good to get good.

Under the new covenant of grace, we have to accept what Jesus did to receive the blessings he has made available to us. It’s never going to be under the law again, it will always be under grace, because of what you believe in God’s word, under the new covenant.

It is all about faith, and how you use faith. All the promises that have been provided in God’s word, rest upon your faith in what Jesus provided at the cross.

You cannot get what grace has provided without faith, faith has to be involved. Your faith is going to start working as soon as you start acknowledging and admitting that you have already gotten what you ask for.

Hebrews 11:1   11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The substance that has been provided by grace will take the kind of faith that the woman with the blood issue had to get her healing. If you are a believer, everything is in your spirit. Whatever you need Jesus has already deposited it in you.

You need to know what faith is and how it operates, and our part in it in order to take possession of what grace has already made available.

This is not a case of us trying to get God to do something, God has already done it. Now all we have to do is possess it.

Faith is not something we do to get God to respond, that is under the law, with faith it is our response to what God has already done for us.

Faith is not God response. Faith is our response to what Jesus has already done, faith moves us. God has already moved through his beloved Son, Christ Jesus.

If God had not provided it independent of your effort and prior to your need, then faith can’t make it happen. It’s not about God manufacturing it when you have need of it.

The last words Jesus spoke on the cross, “it is finished”. It has all been done. We can’t get it done in the natural, you can’t receive from the supernatural by responding in the natural.

Faith does not cause a positive response to move God, why?

Because faith is a positive response from us not from God. God has already responded positively.

Hebrews 11:6   ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

This is why we must respond by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Having faith also means believing He is…