The Hem of His Garment

I have been blessed, over the past couple of days to hear a few of the sessions from the Revive our Hearts True Woman Conference. As always, they are excellent. Tonight, Pastor Chris Brooks was sharing from Isaiah chapter six. I’ve read that passage many times, but tonight as I was reading it, I really contemplated the phrase, “His train filled the Temple.” The Temple was enormous – one of the largest structures that Israel would have for reference. It would be like us saying, the train filled the Empire State Building. This enormous place couldn’t even contain the train or hem of his garment. However, it is more than just the size. The Temple was not only one of the largest buildings they would have had for reference, but it was also the most holy. It was the place of sacrifice and worship. This was the place where atonement was made, yet Isaiah sees the very lowest part of God’s garment there. This picture reinforces the glory and majesty of God. It is this glory that the angels could not look upon. It is the glory that made Isaiah cry out in utter horror, “Woe is me! For I am undone” (v. 5).

That term for “woe” is a picture of dismay and lamentation. The term, “undone” literally mans to be cut off or perish. Isaiah understood, instinctively, that what he was seeing was not meant for unredeemed human eyes. Isaiah fully expected to be struck dead. He hadn’t asked for the vision, but God gave it to him. In the midst of a people who were mourning because their favored king, Uzziah had died after contracting leprosy due to the pride in his heart, God gave Isaiah a glimpse of why man cannot approach God on our own terms. Uzziah thought he was holy enough to offer sacrifices in the Temple. The priests stood up against him and Uzziah became angry. Many in the nation did not understand why God judged Uzziah so harshly. His own son, Jotham, did many wonderful things, but refused to go to the Temple after what had happened to his father. Uzziah did not have a high view of the Holy one who sits enthroned in Heaven and whose hem alone can fill the entire Temple. Isaiah was given a vision of this one who reigns over all things. As the Psalmist wrote, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Ps. 115:3). Do not lose sight of the greatness of God. Even our large places are small to him. He sits enthroned and no circumstances of our life or world will take him by surprise.

However, as I was listening to Pastor Brooks, I couldn’t help but think of another hem in the Bible. In Luke 8:43-48, we are introduced to a woman who is utterly desperate. She has had an issue of blood for twelve years. We may read that and think, how terrible, painful, or inconvenient. However, what we may not consider is how isolating this would have been. This woman has spent twelve years being ceremonially unclean. It would have prevented her from worshipping corporately at the Temple. It would have forbidden intimacy with a husband and would have isolated her from her family. Anyone that touched her would be ceremonially unclean for a time. In the Jewish culture, that was not something to be taken lightly. She would not have been able to work. Luke tells us that she spent, “All her living on physicians.” Yet she could not find healing. She had exhausted all human options and had reached a place of desperation. She risked ridicule and even persecution in an effort to see Jesus. She didn’t try to cause a scene, but Matthew tells us that she had faith that, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well” (Matt. 9:21). The previous verse tells us she, “Touched the fringe of his garment” (Matt. 9:20). She touched his hem.

I know that the garments Jesus was wearing on those dusty streets was not literally the same as the “hem” that Isaiah recounted. However, both indicated the presence of God. Isaiah saw him in the fullness of his glory. The woman saw him as her healer. Isaiah thought he would die. The woman came trembling before him, terrified of what she had done. Can you imagine the many times she had been rejected by religious leaders who wanted nothing to do with a woman that would limit their ability to engage in the traditions of their laws? Yet she has touched a Rabbi. She reached out in faith, not knowing what would happen, but believing that he could do what the wisest men money could buy could not. I love the account in Matthew because it says that Jesus turned and saw her. It draws attention to the fact that Jesus’ pronouncements to take heart, to go in peace, to be healed were spoken to the deepest needs of her heart. He knew her circumstances and the absolute hopelessness that she had lived with for years. She had never been more known or loved.

Jesus came to earth for many reasons. We are so thankful for his salvation. However, he also came to be Emmanuel. He came to be God with us. He walked on earth with a hem that could be touched. With a few exceptions such as the mount of transfiguration, resurrection, and his ascension, his glory was not displayed in the same way that Isaiah saw it. One day, he will return in full glory and majesty. Every eye will behold him, and every knee will bow. Yet in the meantime, we all have our burdens. We may not have been bleeding for twelve years, but we all have something we are struggling with. Family conflict, financial challenges, personal temptation, discouragement…the list is endless.

Still, I would encourage you tonight to know that the God whose train filled the Temple, is the same one whose hem could be touched. Jesus came to tear the veil in two. He came to reconcile us to God so that we could boldly approach his throne (Heb. 4:16). He sees us, knows us, loves us, and died so that there would be no separation – no anxiety about approaching him in our deepest needs. Don’t spend your living looking for healing and rest in every place except Jesus. Reach out to him and trust that he still rules, but that he also still loves. He is holy and wholly separate than sinful man, but Jesus came that we might have life and to be the very way that leads to healing and the presence of God. He came to be our peace, life, joy, comfort, righteousness, strength, and King. Don’t diminish his glory by imagining him as only a nice teacher who loves us. He is both completely other and infinitely dear. He is the Most-High God, and he is Abba Father. He is Sovereign over all and an ever-present help in times of trouble. We can’t choose the attributes of God that we would like – otherwise he would cease to be God. Give him glory and worship for his greatness and trust that in all his majesty, he still sees, and better yet – he still loves.