“And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 9:20 Mean?
A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years—ritually unclean, socially isolated, financially devastated by doctors who couldn't help her—approaches Jesus from behind and touches the hem of His garment. Everything about her approach is marked by desperation and shame: she comes from behind (not wanting to be seen), she touches the hem (the lowest, least intrusive contact possible), and she's been suffering for twelve years (an entire era of her life consumed by this condition).
The twelve years of hemorrhaging meant twelve years of ritual uncleanness under Mosaic law. She couldn't enter the temple. She couldn't participate in community worship. Everything she touched became unclean. She lived in a state of permanent religious and social exclusion. Her disease wasn't just physical—it had severed her from every meaningful connection.
Her decision to touch Jesus was an act of extraordinary faith combined with extraordinary risk. If discovered, she would be publicly shamed for making a rabbi unclean. She risked everything on the belief that touching even His garment's edge would be enough. And it was.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What has kept you approaching God from 'behind'—isolated, ashamed, minimizing your reach?
- 2.The woman touched the hem—the least she could reach. What's the 'hem' you can reach for right now in your relationship with God?
- 3.Twelve years of isolation. Have you been living under a condition that has cut you off from community, worship, or connection?
- 4.Her desperate, minimal touch was enough. What does that tell you about the amount of faith required to receive from Jesus?
Devotional
Twelve years. That's how long she'd been bleeding. Twelve years of ritual uncleanness—unable to worship at the temple, unable to touch anyone without contaminating them, unable to participate in the community that defined her identity. Twelve years of isolation, shame, and diminishing hope. And she comes up behind Jesus and touches the hem of His robe.
Everything about her approach reveals her condition: she comes from behind (she can't face Him), she reaches for the hem (the lowest possible point of contact), and she doesn't speak (she can't risk being identified). She's been so thoroughly marginalized by her condition that even her act of faith is minimized—the smallest possible touch, the least visible approach, the most discreet contact.
And it works. Not because the hem has magical properties, but because Jesus responds to faith wherever and however it reaches for Him. She didn't need a formal audience. She didn't need to make a public declaration. She didn't need to prove she deserved healing. She needed to reach. And reaching was enough.
If you've been isolated by something—a condition, a shame, a secret, a stigma—that has kept you from approaching God the normal way, this woman is your model. Come from behind if you have to. Touch the hem if that's all you can reach. Don't let shame set the terms of your approach. Reach for whatever part of Jesus you can get to. It's enough. It's always been enough.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For she said within herself,.... That is, she thought within herself, she reasoned the matter in her mind, she concluded…
The account contained in these verses is also recorded, with some additional circumstances, in Mark 5:22-43, and Luke…
We have here two passages of history put together; that of the raising of Jairus's daughter to life, and that of the…
hem of his garment See ch. Mat 14:36 and Mat 22:5.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture