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| PLEASE PIN THIS IMAGE -The truth about the woman with the issue of blood that you've never heard. |
The eighth chapter of the gospel of Luke includes an encounter with Yeshua that is awesome even on the surface level. A woman who has suffered from continual vaginal bleeding for the past twelve years is completely healed when she touches the hem of Yeshua’s garment as He walks down the road, surrounded by a crowd. If you’ve ever had a baby and been annoyed, perhaps even a bit dismayed or disgusted, by the six-week-long post-partum bleeding, you can begin imagine the angst and frustration this woman must have experienced.
To make matters worse, back then, a menstruating Jewish woman was considered unclean. She was to keep to herself until Mr. Monthly took his leave, and then ceremoniously clean any fabric or surface her body touched during her period.
To be perfectly clear, the woman in this story had been living, and treated, like a leper for the past twelve years.
That much, you likely already knew.
You also know that when the woman touched the hem of Yeshua’s garment, our Savior felt power flow out of Him. And you likely have believed – like most modern Christians – that it was the woman’s faith in His healing power that drew that power from Him. After all, once she confessed what she had done, He told her that her faith had made her whole.
But the significance of Yeshua’s parting words to her goes much deeper.
He didn’t say them because she believed in His power to heal.
Nor because she was a faithful Jew.
Nor because of His compassion for her.
Nor because her faith in God was any stronger than those who surrounded her in the thick crowd that day.
Yeshua spoke those words because the woman’s actions – touching the hem of His robe – revealed something about her belief that you’ve probably never heard from a pulpit.
I sure never heard it from any pulpit. I figured it out recently after reading 1 Samuel 24.
The day David didn’t kill Saul… even though he could have
In this chapter, Saul is on the hunt for David with a bunch of soldiers. He ends up urinating inside the same cave which David and his men are hiding in. Saul’s back is to David while he relieves himself, and David’s men urge their leader to kill Saul while he has the chance.
David stealthily approaches Saul, but not to kill him.
To cut off the corner of his robe.
Prompted by a pastor on YouTube mentioning the symbolism of one man tearing off a small piece of fabric from another man’s clothing back in ancient Israel, I went in search of specifics.
Generally speaking, to rip off a piece of another man’s garment, let alone remove the whole thing, brought shame upon the man whose clothing had been disturbed. It was utterly humiliating.
Then I found an article that specifically discussed the exchange between David and King Saul that I mentioned above. The author of the article pointed out that back in those days, the hem of a king’s robe stood for power and authority.
Let me repeat that to make sure you heard me.
The hem.
Of a king’s robe.
Symbolized power and authority.
The woman with the “issue” had much more than faith.
When the woman with the bleeding problem said to herself, “If I could just touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed,” she wasn’t making a faith confession. She wasn’t simply recognizing Yeshua’s power to heal.
She was recognizing Him as a King.
Somehow, at some point during Yeshua's ministry, she had realized that this teacher was the awaited Messiah.
She had been taught that the hem of a king’s robe held power and authority.
Think about it. To touch the hem of His garment, she had to either squat down or get on her hands and knees. If any part of His garment had had power, why not just sneak over to Him, reach out a hand, and touch a sleeve? Or the back of His garment?
Yet, she went out of her way to touch the hem.
Because she knew what it meant.
And she knew who Yeshua was.
That was why, when our Savior discovered who had touched Him, He told her, “Your faith has made you whole.”
He wasn’t talking about her faith in His ability to heal.
He was talking about her belief that He was the King.
After you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor, go and tell your Sunday school class so that they, too, can be blown away.
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