The Fringe of Jesus Cloak

  

 

It doesn’t have to be much. It can be little. Maybe even tiny. But doing something, anything, that will bring you into the presence of God is just the thing you need to find a sense of healing in your life. 

 

In Matthew’s Gospel there is a story where people were crowding around Jesus wanting to be healed. They told themselves if they could just touch the fringe of his cloak they would be healed. Those that made the effort, and did touch his fringe, were indeed healed. 

 

Notice they didn’t have to have the master’s full attention. Jesus didn’t have to speak to them, lay hands on them, or cast out a demon from them. No, he was attending to other people. All that was needed was someone touching the fringe of his cloak and they were healed. 

 

While a big miracle every once in a while would be great, I believe more in the smaller things that God does in our lives. God’s presence in chickadees and nuthatches at the bird feeders. I see God’s presence in the way my grandson Holden loves up on his infant little brother. I’m touched by kind words, short texts, thankyou email’s that come over the computer. People gave me gift cards to Starbucks and Panera over the holiday. It wasn’t expensive but it was a message that said, “Here, take a break and have a cup of coffee on me.” God works this way for me. They’re like a touch of the divine. 

 

Each of these are ways to touch the cloak of Jesus. You don’t have to run up and tackle Jesus to get his attention. No, all you need is to just touch the fringe of his coat. It seems to be enough to get through the day. 

 

What about you? Are you striving to touch the hem of his cloak? 

 

This can be so easy that you’ll completely overlook it. A short prayer before eating. Stopping, looking around you at the winter day, taking a breath and giving thanks. Looking, really looking, at your spouse or partner and realize how beautiful they really are and how you’re blessed to have them in your life. Or even gazing into the mirror, and really looking at yourself and see a child of God.

 

I wonder what it must have felt like to touch the fringe of Jesus’s cloak. Did it feal like lightening? Was it a zing? Or was it more like a gentle breath, a passing by, that gently flooded into their soul. Were they healed right away, or did it take a while for the healing to flood through their body? 

 

The common denominator for these people was they all made an effort to come to Jesus. They bowed down, got on their knees, and stretched out and touched. 

 

Every day, may you make one small effort. Somehow, someway, stretch out and touch the hem of Jesus’s cloak and be healed. 

 

Steve 

 

Listen for my podcast, Cowboy Jesus, found on Podbean and Spotify.