In Matthew 9:20-22 Christ is revealed as the One with heavenly-ruled deeds-the fringe of His garment. Verses 20 and 21 say, “Behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years approached from behind and touched the fringe of His garment, for she said within herself, If only I touch His garment, I will be healed.” When the Lord Jesus turned and saw her, He said, “Take courage, daughter; your faith has healed you” (v. 22a).
The Lord’s garment signifies Christ’s righteous deeds, and the fringe signifies the heavenly ruling. According to Numbers 15:38-40, Israelite males had to wear a blue fringe on their garments, a ribbon in the color of blue. (Blue signifies heavenliness.) This meant that their lives, their walk, were restricted by a heavenly limitation. They were ruled, governed, and restricted by heavenly regulations. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He probably dressed in this way. Garments signify virtue in human behavior. The Lord’s garments signify His perfect behavior in His humanity, His human virtuous perfection. In the human virtue of the Lord Jesus there was healing power. Therefore, when the sick woman touched the fringe of His garment, the power of His virtue went out to her, and she was healed. Out of Christ’s heavenly-ruled deeds comes the virtue that becomes the healing power (Matt. 14:36).
To touch the fringe of the Lord’s garment was to touch the Lord Himself in His humanity, in whom God was embodied (Col. 2:9). By such a touch His divine power was transfused into the touching one through the perfection of His humanity and became her healing. God, who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16), became touchable in Christ through His humanity for her salvation and enjoyment.
As a pleasant person, Christ is not only the Forgiver, the Physician, the Bridegroom, the unshrunk cloth for making a new garment, and the new wine; He is also the One with healing power in the beauty of His human virtues. We who believe in Him, love Him, and read His word have been healed by His human virtue. The more we contact Him in prayer, the more we are healed. This healing is a matter of transformation. As we see Christ in His heavenly-ruled deeds and activities and contact Him, we are healed, transformed. This is our experience when we touch the fringe of the Lord’s garment. This fringe is the totality of all the Lord’s human virtues, and this totality issues in healing power. In this healing power there is a transforming element that changes our character.
The woman in Matthew 9:20-22 and the centurion in 8:5-10 both came to contact the Lord Jesus in the same way-with faith. This woman was healed through faith. Today the faith through which we are healed is the faith that is infused into us by Christ’s attractiveness. As we behold Him in His attractiveness, faith is infused into us.
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