Week 27 ———  Woman Healed by Touching His Garment
Matthew 9:20-22 — Mark 5:24-34 — Luke 8:42-48

Luke 8:42-48     As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.   And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.   She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately, her discharge of blood ceased.   And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”   But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”   And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.   And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Are you having a busy week? Let me tell you what Jesus was doing almost 2000 years ago this past week.  The Gospels tell us that Jesus began this week in 27 AD teaching in parables in Capernaum but then got in a boat with the disciples, and a storm came up, and Jesus calmed the storm just by speaking.  The next day, they arrive in Gadara, in Gentile territory, where Jesus encounters a demon-possessed man.  Jesus frees him and sends the demons into a herd of pigs.  The people are so scared by this that they ask Jesus to leave immediately.  So they get back in the boat and travel back to Capernaum. Jesus begins teaching to the crowd that gathered but is interrupted by a leader of the synagogue, Jairus, whose daughter is dying.  Jesus leaves to go to the girl, and the crowds all follow him, but on the way, he is interrupted again by a woman with a disease that no doctor can cure.  And you thought your week was busy.

A few weeks ago, I talked about Jesus healing the leper and the idea of uncleanness.  (https://swallownocamels.com/2024/07/15/july-15-27-a-d-jesus-cleanses-a-leper-40/)  Remember, three things can cause uncleanness: bodily discharge like this woman, the skin disease tsa’arat (often mistranslated as leprosy), and touching a dead body.   This woman was unclean due to her constant discharge of blood.  She was ostracized from society just as the person with tsa’arat would have been.  No one would come near her, and she could never worship in the Temple or offer any sacrifice.  To touch her would make you unclean, just as to touch a leper or to touch a dead person would make you unclean.  But Jesus had the power to provide not just a temporary solution to uncleanness but also a permanent solution.  He took away the skin disease; he healed this woman’s medical problem, and he brought the dead back to life.  And don’t miss that Jesus is on his way to Jairus’ house to touch the dead body of a girl we are told is 12 years old when he is interrupted by a woman who has been unclean for how many years? Twelve.  You aren’t supposed to miss the connection between these two times when Jesus cures that which can make us unclean.

Here is a video from “The Chosen” of the scripture above:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYEmdFyWBq8

We have heard this story many times.  But have you ever asked yourself, “What led this woman to believe that touching his garment would bring her healing?”  Where did she get that idea?  And it was not only her, but according to Mark’s Gospel, it was many people:

Mark 6:56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Fair warning:  This is a complicated explanation.  First, we must talk about the “fringe of the garment.”

The Greek word ‘kraspedon’ is translated in most translations (59 of 60 that I checked) as either ‘fringe of the garment’, ‘edge of the cloak’, ‘border of the garment’ or ‘hem of the garment’.  I only found one translation, Holman, that I think chose the most accurate English word to translate ‘kraspedon’.   The Holman Version says she “touched the tassel of his robe.”

Let me explain why that is the best translation.  Greek biblical dictionaries typically define ‘kraspedon’ as “a margin, specifically a fringe or tassel or border or hem.”¹  One way to look deeper is to see if you can find ‘kraspedon’ in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.  This translation called the Septuagint, was done around 200 BC by Jewish scholars and is the version Paul uses when quoting scripture to a Greek audience. (As the old song goes, “It was good for Paul and Silas; it is good enough for me.”)

We find it here:

Numbers 15:38  The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make kraspedon on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the kraspedon of each corner.

‘Kraspedon‘ is the Greek translation for the Hebrew ‘tzitzit.’  And we know what tzitzit are.  Modern Orthodox Jews still wear ‘tzitzit’ on the corners of their garments.  The English translations have no problem translating them as ‘tassels’ in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, it is usually translated as hem, edge, or border.  It is like they are afraid to make Jesus look too Jewish.

The passage in Numbers 15 continues:

Numbers 15:39   You will have these tassels to look at, and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.

The tassels are there to remember.  And don’t forget that, like all Hebrew verbs, remember is an action verb.  They are to remember, not just for the memory’s sake, but that you may obey.  It is not like they were walking along and their hand brushed against these tassels hanging from their cloak, and they say, “What’s that?… Oh, yeah, I must be Jewish!”

It is like wearing a wedding ring.  It is not for me to remember that I am married but to be reminded to keep the promises of the covenant I made when I got married.  It is almost cliche in a movie for a man to remove his ring before he goes (as the Bible says) “chasing after the lusts of your own heart and eyes.”  Now, it can also serve other purposes.  It can be for others to see and know I am married.  But the best reason is to look at and remember a commitment and the promises made.  

The tzitzit are similar.  They are there for others to see who you belong to.  They represent a bond with others because the way the knots are tied varies from tribe to tribe and from family to family.  They remind the wearer of a commitment and the promises made.  But what do the tassels have to do with remembering all the commands?

To understand this, you need to know about Gematria.  Gematria is very common in ancient languages. It is the idea that words have numbers embedded that can be important.  While most modern languages have letters (ABCs) and numbers (123s), most ancient languages, like Hebrew, did not, so their letters also served as numbers.

Here is the Hebrew language with number equivalents.

So, every letter and word can have an equivalent number.  

Here is an example to show how important this idea of Gematria was in those days. It is from an Assyrian inscription dating to the 8th century BC, the time of Sargon II.

“the king built the wall of Khorsabad 16,283 cubits long to correspond with the numerical value of his name.”

This king of Assyria built an almost 5-mile-long wall, but he built it precisely 16,283 cubits to match the number value of his name.  Gematria was an important concept.

We see it used in the Bible several times.  In Matthew’s first chapter, the author emphasizes Jesus as the son of David.  So, there is a genealogy that goes back to David and beyond.  But Matthew didn’t include everyone.  He carefully selected who was included and who he left out.

Matthew 1:17   So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Why does 14 matter?  With Gematria, 14 is David’s numerical value.  Matthew’s Hebrew readers would have recognized that Matthew is saying in the genealogy, “David, David, David!”

The best-known example of Gematria in the Bible is in Revelation.

Revelation 13:18   This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Many Bible translations have a footnote at that verse that says, “Some manuscripts have ‘616’.” Well, is it 616 or 666?  It depends on your Hebrew spelling.  Nero was notorious for his horrible torture and persecution of the Jews.  ‘Nero Caesar’ had two common Hebrew spellings; the number equivalent for one was 666, and the other was 616.  John was not saying Nero was the beast.  When John wrote Revelation, Nero was dead for over 20 years.  But the terror and persecution Nero brought upon the church is a picture of what the last days will be like.  Nero is a representative of a type of ruler that will arise.

Now that you understand Gematria, we can return to our question, “What do the tassels have to do with remembering all the commands?”

The numerical value of ‘tzitzit’ is 600, and each tassel is tied with eight strands into 5 knots.  600 + 8 + 5 =613.  The rabbis say there are 613 commandments in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible.  So, the tassels represent ‘all the commandments.’

Looking back at Numbers 15:38, why did God command a cord of blue in each tassel?

Numbers 15:38  The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel and tell them 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.

Blue or purple dye was costly.  In ancient times, most blue dye came from a gland of a tiny snail that lived in shallow water.  It was a complicated process to extract the dye, and it is estimated that it would take 36,000 snails to make a teaspoon of blue dye.²   You can see why blue was the color of royalty; no one else could afford it.  (So sorry, all you classical artists out there, Mary, the mother of Jesus, did not likely wear blue.)  But blue was the color of the high priest’s robe, and it is thought that the strand of blue in the tassels was to remind the Hebrews of their role as a member of the ‘kingdom of priests’ (See Exodus 19:6).

Now that we have discussed the tassel that the woman touched let’s return to our original question:  “What led her and many others to believe that touching the tassels that hung from Jesus’ garment would bring healing?”  It comes from a verse in Malachi:

Malachi 4.2  But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. 

But what do ‘wings’ have to do with tassels?  (I warned you this one would be complicated.)  The Hebrew for ‘wings’ in the above verse is ‘kanaf,’ which means the extreme part of something.  For a bird, the ‘extreme part’ would be the wing.  For a piece of clothing, the ‘extreme part’ would be the hem or border, specifically the corner of the hem.

Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 22:12, “You shall make yourself tassels on the four kanaf of the garment with which you cover yourself.  

The tassels were to be placed on the four corners of the garment, the ‘wings’ of the garment.  So when Malachi prophesies that the Sun of Righteousness will come with ‘healing in his wings,’ it was interpreted that the Messiah would come with healing in the corners of his garment. The woman in our story today knew the Scripture and recognized Jesus as the Messiah, knowing there would be healing in his tassels.  Did you know that scripture in Malachi?  You should.  Most of you sing a song about this scripture every year.  It goes like this:

Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace!
Hail the sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings, 
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that we no more may die,
Born to raise each child of earth,
Born to give us second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn king!”³

This song we sing at Christmas, heralding the Messiah, celebrates the Sun of Righteousness who came with healing in his wings.  (Now, hopefully, you are wondering about all the other phrases in songs you sing that you have never really thought about.)

This verse in Malachi was a very popular verse for the Israelites in Jesus’ day.  Living in a time when medicine was helpless in treating most diseases, there was hope for healing when the Messiah came.  This idea of the Sun of Righteousness, the Messiah, coming and bringing healing in his wings was well known.  There will be healing in the tassels of the Messiah when he comes.  So when Jesus came, and the people in Galilee saw his miracles and heard his teaching, they began to realize he was the promised Messiah.  This woman with the issue of blood, by grabbing Jesus’ tassel, is proclaiming him as the Messiah.

So Jesus tells her:

Luke 8:48    And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

It is not touching the tassel that made her well; her faith made her well.  She believed in her heart that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Sun of Righteousness, and then she acted on that belief.  She took a significant risk going into that crowd in her unclean state.  And she received more healing than she anticipated.  Jesus tells her, “Go in peace.”  And to Jesus, peace, Shalom, means total peace.  She has found peace with God.  Her relationship with God is in peace.

Twice, Jesus calls her ‘daughter.’  This woman’s family had likely rejected her because she was unclean, because of a medical problem that could not be cured.  But Jesus calls her ‘daughter.’  Jesus hasn’t just healed her; he has adopted her into his family.  As Paul says in Romans 8:15-17, “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” …we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

Let me finish with one more Old Testament prophecy about tassels:

Zechariah 8:23   Thus says Yehovah of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the tassel of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

Zechariah tells us there will come a day when people of all nations on the earth will take hold of the tassel of “a Jew,” asking to follow that Jew because they see that God is with that Jew.  That day is today.   People from all nations in the world are taking hold of the tassel of a Jew — Jesus — and saying, “I want to follow you.”

How important it is that we all take hold of the tassel of a Jewish man.  We can’t actually reach out and touch Jesus’ tassel today.  He is not walking around like he was in 27 AD.  But we can figuratively take hold of his tassel.  What does that mean?

Like this woman, to take hold of his tassel is to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness.  It is to demonstrate that belief by some public act.  Today, we come to the front of the church and say we believe Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God. and then we follow Jesus in baptism.  Then, remembering that the purpose of the tassel is to remind you of the covenant you made to follow God’s commandments, taking hold of his tassel is to commit to following Jesus’ commandments.  It is to see that blue string and remember that we are the the people assigned to be the kingdom of priests to this world..  We have a responsibility to carry Jesus’ message to those around us.  To take hold of Jesus’ tassel is to remember that there is still healing in his wings.  Jesus will heal us all – some now, some later, but all will be healed, and not only of their physical diseases but, even more importantly, their relationship with God will be healed.  And finally, to take hold of Jesus’ tassel is to be adopted into Jesus’ family.

Have you taken hold of Jesus’ tassel lately?   Do you need a fresh touch from Jesus?  Jesus is waiting for us to follow him.

1. Strong’s Concordance. “Krasperdon“.
2. The color of ‘tekhelet‘ and the processing of the Murex trunculus snail glands to produce dye is a very deep rabbit hole. You will find many articles online saying there is no way to produce blue dye in this manner and then several scientific articles detailing how it can be done. (There are also YouTube videos of peope producing the dye, of course.)
3. “Hark the Herald Angels Sing!”. Verse 3. (1739)