Matthew 9:19-21

“So Jesus got up and went with him (the ruler who came about his sick daughter), along with His disciples. Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak. She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.” 

Matthew 14:34-36

“When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to al the surrounding region. People brought all the sick to Hi, and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were healed.”

 As Jesus got up to leave and attend to another need, the woman KNEW, she knew this was her last chance to be close to Jesus so she made her move. Maybe she was weak from her physical issues and couldn’t stand, or maybe with her weakness the crowd pressing in around Jesus pushed her to the ground. Either way, she was at His feet. That’s a sign of submission and desperation. She was both. In God’s sovereignty, she was in a position ‘to be that close’. It was that proximity to Christ and her faith in the Lord of All that healed her. She got close.

Later on we find that the word of that woman touching Jesus’ hem had spread far and wide. It was what people had heard that would cure them of all sorts of ills. All who touched Jesus hem were healed, just as the woman was.

 The woman had such a desperate desire to touch Jesus’ hem. I realize that I need to be that close to Jesus daily. I need to touch His hem in prayerful fellowship and through the Word, and in worship and praise of Him. While I do go to Him for daily restoration, I crave the closeness that fellowship with Him brings. I cannot share with others what I don’t have and I cannot share the Gospel of Christ if I have not been in close quarters with Jesus myself. I want the truth of what I know of Him to spread far and wide, but first, I need ‘to be that close.’

~cms~