. . . and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well. (Matt 14:36 NKJV)
She came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel of his garment, and her bleeding stopped at once. (Lk 8:44 ISV)
As we read these two different reports, you’ll notice that in one “the hem” of Jesus’ garment was mentioned; and in the other, “the tassel” of His garment was touched by the needy, faith-filled woman.
In the Mosaic Law, God instructed His people regarding the corners, or fringes, of their garments. Jews were to “make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a “cord of blue on the tassel of each corner” as a reminder that they were God’s people called to keep His commandments (Numbers 15:37-41). It seems like a strange instruction until we learn that in the Ancient Near East, the corner of a person’s garment represented his identity; it was a symbol of who he was and what he stood for. (Source of above note: https://biblemesh.com/blog/why-were-people-healed-from-touching-jesus-clothes/)
According to the above historical note about the tassels of a person’s clothing in Bible days, the tassels represented a person’s identity. So, the woman with the issue of blood would have known that symbolism.
It helps us to understand that the woman not only reached out in faith and in need, but she also reached out with a desire to identify and connect with Jesus’ identity. She was humbly connecting with the Son of God, her Messiah.
In the same way, when we have a need, we would do well to follow this woman’s example. Draw near to Jesus with a humble heart; recognize and appropriate His identity; and reach out and touch Him by faith. In the biblical account of the woman healed of the issue of blood, Jesus established that He responded to this touch of faith!
He’s never too busy to perform a miracle for you!
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