Matthew‬ ‭9:21‬ ‭

“For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.”” – Matthew‬ ‭9:21‬ ‭

To understand this passage, read Matthew 9:20 first. In that verse, we learned that the woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years approached Jesus from behind and not from the front and touched the hem of His garment. I also explained what the Levitical law says about someone with this condition because those laws help us understand why she acted the way she did. They provide us the background that explains her hesitation, her isolation, and the weight she carried before she reached out to Jesus.

If you are a woman or a man who feels unimportant, look closely at how the LORD Jesus moved in this woman’s life. Jesus stopped the crowd for her. Before this moment, He was on His way to Jairus’ house. Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue, a respected and important man. He was pleading with Jesus because his little daughter was dying (Mark 5:22–23). Everything about that moment says time is running out. Hurry. Do not delay.

But Jesus stopped the crowd in the middle of urgency, in the middle of a crowd, and in the middle of an important request. For a woman who had been isolated for twelve years because she was considered unclean. A woman who lost everything. A woman who had no title. No position. No influence. A woman who came from behind and tried to remain unnoticed.

Here we also see that God was not bound by time or circumstances. He was not pressured by status. He was not moved by titles or position. He was moved by faith.

How did this woman make Jesus stop the crowd for her? That is what we are about to learn in this passage. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” Now before we go deeper into that moment, let us look at the Gospel of Mark, because it gives us more detail about her situation.

Mark tells us that,

“Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” – Mark‬ ‭5:25-28‬ ‭

Mark gives us important details about what she went through. She sought help everywhere she could. She tried different doctors. She spent all her money. She endured treatment after treatment. Some historical writings suggest that certain ancient remedies for this kind of condition were harsh, strange, and even humiliating, often leading to further suffering rather than relief for the patients who underwent them. Whether every detail is certain or not, one thing Scripture makes clear is this: she suffered under their care. Instead of getting better, she grew worse.

I want you to contemplate this: her uncleanness, which separated her from God and from the people she loved is a clear picture of how sin works in our lives. Sin separates us from God. Scripture says, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2). Also, sin does not only create distance. It brings death. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Just as her condition kept her from full fellowship, sin keeps us from fellowship with God.

God is the very source of life. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). He also said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). He is our life (John 14:6). When we are disconnected from Him, we grow weary, dry and become spiritually lifeless (John 3:3). That is how serious sin is. God hates sin not because He hates us, but because sin separates us from Him and destroys us. That is why Jesus came to deal with sin. As it is written, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

The moment this woman heard about Jesus, light began to shine into her dark world. Hope began to rise in her despair. Her healing did not begin when the bleeding stopped. It began when she stepped out of her isolation and followed the crowd that followed Jesus. She risked being noticed. She risked crossing the distance the law required (Leviticus 15:27). Some may say she violated the law. Some may say she made everyone unclean by pressing through the crowd. But let me tell you the truth. We are all unclean!

Sin entered through Adam, and death spread to all men (Romans 5:12). Before the Law was even given, sin was already in the world (Romans 5:13). The Law did not create sin. It revealed it. The Law could declare her unclean, but it could not justify her or make her clean. “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20). The Law exposes our sin. It shows us our condition. It condemns our sinful nature. But here is its limitation. The law cannot cleanse! As it is written, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). The Law can diagnose, but it cannot heal.

That is why she needed more than the law. She needed Jesus!

Believing in Jesus is what saves her. But here is what I really want you to see in this passage. “When she said within herself…” Before anyone else heard it, she first declared it to herself. Before the miracle was visible, it was already alive inside her. Before it was broadcast in the open, it was born in the hidden place.
The light did not begin to shine when she physically saw Jesus. It began when she heard about Him in the darkness of her isolation. When she began to speak within, something shifted. Her confession of faith started in the secret place of her heart before her miracle appeared on the outside. That is how God works. He begins inside. What is formed in the heart is later manifested in life.

From her life, we learned that the miracle of God did not begin from the outside. It began within when she believed in Jesus. Before her body was healed, faith was awakened in her heart. So let me ask you, how do you speak to yourself? Do you speak life over yourself, or do you speak death? Scripture says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). What you say within will reflect your life.

Rahab saved herself and her family because she believed what she heard about the God of Israel, even while she was hidden in the massive walls of Jericho (Joshua 2:9–13; Hebrews 11:31). Ruth was restored despite her misfortune because she chose to believe in the God of Naomi (Ruth 1:16). The woman at the well, despite her past and broken relationships, began to be transformed when she met Jesus (John 4:28–29). What do all these women have in common? They all believed!

Now the question turns to us. How convinced are you, like this woman when she said, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well. How convinced are you that God can move your mountains?

Paul writes about the faith of Abraham and how his faith was counted to him as righteousness. He says,

“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”” Romans‬ ‭4:16-22‬ ‭

Many people question whether Jesus was defiled when the leper touched Him or when this woman touched Him. According to the Law, touching the unclean would normally make someone unclean (Leviticus 15:27 & 13:46). But they miss that we are all unclean no matter what. Abraham was counted righteous because he believed, not because of works or the Law. His righteousness came through faith. The faith of the lepers and this woman reached Him before their bodies were healed. Jesus Himself said, “Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24). Just as Abraham was counted righteous by believing, those who believe in Jesus are also counted righteous but those who refuse to believe they’re sins remain in them.

Here you see the power of faith. Faith made us righteous and move mountains. Isnt Jesus said, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). You do not call on Jesus while doubting Him. When you come to Him, you must come believing. Scripture says,

“So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark‬ ‭11:22-24‬)

And again,

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith does not come empty. Faith comes expecting. Faith is believing that God is able. The woman expected healing when she touched Him. And she received more than healing. She received restoration and identity.

Also, just this short and simple passage, We learned that repentance and healing do not begin in a church building. They do not begin in performance, rituals, or trying to look spiritual. They begin within!

As it is written,

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans‬ ‭10:9-10‬).

Her life did not begin to change when she stood in front of Jesus. Jairus stood before Jesus publicly and still struggling to believe that He is able to heal his daughter. The crowd pressed around Him. Yet not everyone in that crowd was transformed because there is a difference between brushing against Jesus and believing in Him. The LORD Jesus power was not activated by distance. It was activated by belief!

That is how salvation works. We recognize we are sinners (Romans 3:23). We recognize sin has separated us (Isaiah 59:2). And sin does not only separate us from God; it brings death (Romans 6:23). We come to the realization that we are hopeless in our condition. We cannot fix ourselves. We cannot cleanse ourselves. We are in need of a Savior. That is why Jesus came. He came to rescue us from this predicament. He bled and died on the cross to pay for our sins. And He rose again so that we might walk in newness of life.

And what does He ask of us? To believe! (John 3:16)