Take Courage! Part 3

It is good to remind ourselves that taking courage doesn’t have to be us trying to muster up a confidence or some strength within ourselves. But rather we can choose to rely on an external source - Jesus Himself. He is fully able to remove whatever it is that is making us fear or to be downcast.

“And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him, and touched the border of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His cloak, I will get well.”But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” And at once the woman was made well.” Matthew 9:20-22 NASB

In this verse, we have a woman who had been suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years. Mark and Luke also record this event but it is only Matthew who records Jesus saying ‘Take courage’.

In the midst of the crowd of many, many people, this woman has the persistence and faith to try and get to Jesus. For in doing so she knew that she would be made well. “for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His cloak, I will get well.” Matthew 9:21

In those days, Torah observant Jews’ cloaks would have had tassels on. The "fringe" or the ‘hem’ in the verse refers to the tassels (tzitzit) on the corners of a Jewish man's garment or cloak, as described in Numbers 15:38-39 and Deuteronomy 22:12.

There was nothing magical about Jesus’ cloak, but the woman would have known and understood the scripture from Malachi 4:2 about healing in His wings.

“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” NLT

Kanaf is the Hebrew word for wing which can also be translated ‘corner’. So when the woman took a hold of Jesus’ tallit or His cloak she was taking hold of the Son of righteousness who had healing in His wings. The tzitzit or tassels would have been on the corners or wings of His garment.

Later in Matthew we read of others who also wanted to be made well in this way…

“And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.” Matthew 14:34-36 ESV

The Greek word used for fringe or hem is ‘kraspedon’ and is the same word used for tassels in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

For more on this fascinating insight about healing and the hem of His garment read this…

https://thebiblenerds.com/healing-in-his-wings-what-in-the-world-are-tzittzit/

Healings and miracles can happen everyday - even today. The woman here had been suffering for twelve years and no-one could help her. But she knew that when the Messiah came He would be able to not only help but heal her of her infirmity.

I’ve often said that we are a miracle family. We are thankful to the doctors and the medical profession for their expertise to help our son survive, especially during those critical early days after the accident. God indeed uses and gifts such people.

We are also thankful that we were able, like the woman in Matthew,  to reach out to Jesus to find help when we needed it. We were able to ask God to do in us what the medics couldn’t do. We needed courage to keep going, We needed that external assistance in our plight to help us find a way through. Looking back we can see that God was with us, helping us to take courage.

Just like the crowd that may have hindered the woman in getting to Jesus sooner, there are many things that will get in the way of us coming to Jesus. Fear, lack of trust, hopelessness, and sheer exhaustion to name but a few things can all hinder us coming and reaching out to Christ.

But when we do, we are rewarded just like the woman. ‘Take courage, be of good cheer woman your faith has made you well’, Jesus said.

It was faith that enabled the woman to believe that Jesus could heal her. But it was faithfulness in going after Jesus to find the healing that she so longed for.

We need both faith and faithfulness when we are struggling with life, or suffering and going through a dark time. We also need others to gather around us to encourage us to have a faith to believe and a faith that persists.

Take courage and reach out, pursue after Jesus today.

Prayer: Dear Lord, may we be a people that reach out to You in spite of the many obstacles that confront us. Like the woman may we recognise who You are and what You can do. Amen.