CHRIST AS CREATOR -GYNAECOLOGIST HEALED A NEEDY WOMAN. Matt 9.

‘’Jesus arose and followed the ruler, and so did His disciples‘ after ‘this ruler came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘ My daughter hasd just died, but come and lay your hand onher, and she will live.’ (v18) Our Lord responded immediately to this urgent call.

However, ‘suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.’ The bible does not record he actual blood condition, but I have seen patients ina developing nation with similar con ditions ove a long period. Our omniscient Lord knew her blood condition - ( He did not need a complete b;lood picture as we would request before transfusion and the process of diagnosing her condition - and how desperate she must be.

‘ Shy, retiring, embarrassed, and weakened with the continual flow, she came from behind, thinking that no one would notice her approaching the Lord. The Lord Jesus knew her thoughts, as well as her physiological state. Let no hindrance, spiritual or physical, bar us from approaching the tender-hearted Saviour, who is Lord of the universe. He understands.

Tentatively, she reached out and ’touched the hem of His garment.’ Her strong faith impelled her, even as her last hope, for she had sought healing from many having spent all her resources on such treatment without response. Why did she reach out and touch the hem of His garment? We shall consider this in the light of the teaching of Exodus.

‘The woman had given much thought to her approach to the Lord for ‘She said to herself, If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.’ (v20) What did she know about the garment of the Lord? How did she regard Him? What spiritual insights did she have?

Where had she read of the garment of the high priest, as the Spirit of God had taught Moses in Exodus 28? She knew that the secret of Christ’s authority lay in His high priestly ministry as God’s only Son. That’s why she so boldly approached Him and touched Him. We must know the Old Testament truths as they reveal our beloved Saviour as great High priest.

In Exodus 28:31, she would have read ‘ You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.’ That was the heavenly colour as seen in God‘s great creation; and the Lord Jesus was her heavenly High priest. Upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarn, all around its hem and bells of gold between them all around. A golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around.’ (vv33,34) The colours of blue

(His heavenly nature ), purple ( His royalty ) and scarlet ( His calvary suffering) brought deep understanding to this searching woman. She recognised her High priest.

Why pomegranates on the hem of the high priest’s robe? They speak of Christ’s death in the brilliant red seeds, which fill the heart of the fruit. The seeds speak of resurrection life to propagate the next generation of fruit. The juice is so rich and satisfying offering the contentment which the Lord Jesus gives to the thirsting. This lady thirsted for love, compassion, understanding after years of rejection. Only the great High priest could fulfil her longing. You may seek your great high priest for different reasons than this woman.

Why should the golden bells alternate with the pomegranates on the hem of this special garment, as the high priest went into the holy place into the immediate presence of the eternal God. The pure gold bells sounded a clear witness of the Holy One of Israel. Aaron’s life hung on the faithfulness of GOD in this important function. The pealing bell showed that he moved in the immediate company of the eternal God. He would die if he failed his Lord as high priest. The woman understood that the Lord Jesus was no other than her great High Priest. She could not- dare not- lose this moment.

‘She touched Him.’ The Greek used a strong term. It wa not a flimsy touch. With all her remaining strength ( remember she was weak, having lost heavily for many years), she reached out and gripped him . As a frightened child awakening from a dream, or a person rescued from peril will grasp the rescuer, so she gripped her Lord and high Priest.

As a bulldog terrier grips its prey, a crocodile snaps at a grazing bullock, or an eagle on the wing tenaciously grips the helpless lamb, so she grasped the Lord. When your hour of crisis comes, ‘Grasp the hem of His garment, refusing to let go until He has blessed you.

This woman had the insight of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews 4: 14, reading ‘Seeing

then we have a great High priest, who has passed through the heavens, JESUS the SONOF

GOD , let us hold fast our confession.‘ Her great high Priest was within an arm’s length, and so to be grasped. It continued, ’For we do not have a high priest that cannot be touched ( or sympathise with ) our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

She knew that this Jesus Christ would be supportive of her.

Hebrews 4: 16 showed, ’Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ She was bold ; she came; Christ was merciful to her; She found grace in her desperate hour of need. The Holy Spirit had enlightened her. Come boldly and grasp Him - by faith.

Mark 5;29 gives a beautiful description of the outcome.’ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.’ She needed no CT scan or MRI to assure her, for she knew she was healed. He still heals.

‘And Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that virtue ( power ) had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd, saying ‘Who touched My clothes?’ (v30) He knew full well who had seized the hem of His garment. ‘His disciples rebuked Him, ‘You see the multitude thronging you, and you say,’ who touched Me?’ ‘And He looked around to see who had done this thing.’ Face to face and eye to eye with her Redeemer priest, ‘The woman fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down and told Him the whole truth. A flood of tears was inevitable. She would have seen the perfect love in His face and the compassion of His eyes.

‘He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.’ (v34) He dignified her in calling her ‘Woman’ , as He did to His beloved mother, Mary, at the cross. He gave her His peace, which truly passes all understanding. The Son of God pronounced her ‘healed of her affliction’.

Come with your deepest, most intimate need to the Son of God. Your Creator, Redeemer.