Touching the Hem of His Garment - Matthew 14:36

Matthew the apostle wrote how Jesus and His disciples, “came into the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased”, and in chapter fourteen and verse thirty-six of his book, Matthew shares how the people, “besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment” Jesus where we read:

And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment:

and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

The verse reads, “And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment:”. Matthew began with the words, “and besought him” which means “and begged, entreated and summoned Jesus” “that they might only touch” or “so the people who were troubled could adhere, cling to and attached themselves to” “the hem” which means “the fringe or appendage hanging down from the edge” “of his garment” or “belonging to Jesus' cloak, mantle or tunic”. Matthew shared how the people surrounding Jesus desired to merely “touch” the “fringe” of His cloak.

The verse continues, “ and as many as touched were made perfectly whole. ” Matthew added the words, “and as many as touched” which means “and all the people who actually adhered, clung and attached themselves to Jesus' hem” “were made perfectly whole” which means “were preserved, cured, brought to safety and kept from perishing”. Matthew shared how every person who simply “touched” Jesus' garment were completely “preserved and cured”.

When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how people desired to come to Jesus because they believed He was the answer to their problem. They wanted only to “touch” the “fringe” of His clothing because they were confident they would be healed and restored if they did, and they were right. God desires that every person come to Him through His Son Jesus, and when they believe He is able to take care of any situation they encounter, they need only to reach out and “touch” Him while He is near.

Next time we begin a new chapter and see Matthew share how, “the scribes and Pharisees came to” Jesus, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.