23 August 2010 (Shanee/Matzah) Day #161, 5934 AM
Teshuvah #15 Unclean
Understanding the Tzitzit Touch
"And Rebbe, Melech haMoshiach (Yah'shua/Jesus) got up and, with his talmidim (disciples), followed Him. And hinnei! An isha (woman) hemorrhaging twelve years approached Him from behind and touched the garment of Rebbe, Melech haMosichiah's tzitzit (tassels). For she was saying to herself, If only I might touch His garment, I will receive refuah (healing). Turning and seeing her, Rebbe, Melech haMoshiach (Yah'shua/Jesus) said, Chazak (Be strong), bat (daughter) of Me! Your emunah (faith, trusting) has brought you rufah (healing). And the isha (woman) was healed from that hour" (Mt.9:19-22, OJB)
The story of the unnamed woman with an issue of blood is familiar to most of you, a woman healed when by faith she touched the hem of Yah'shua's garment and was healed instantly. According to Luke and Mark, Yah'shua immediately sensed when the healing power or virtue had exited His body when she touched His tszitzit. Her illness specifically was a permanent period which never ended, not only making her incapable of having children during this twelve years but also presumably causing her considerable discomfort as well as draining her of energy. I know what the monthly cycle is like for some of you sisters. Since she was having a permanent menstruation, this would also have made her ritually unclean and unable to participate in the religious life of Old Covenant Israel.
Tzitzit are the tassels which men of the covenant are required to wear, even today. They are traditionally received at the age of twelve when boys become men and take their Bar Mitzvah. They are a public testimony to the community of believers that they are living the commandments of Yahweh and are accountable to both Elohim (God) and the community of Israel for their behaviour. (Women do not wear tzitzit - they are accountable to their fathers or husbands and instead wear a headcovering). Yah'shua, as an Israelite also under covenant, and who obeyed the commandments flawlessly (unlike all of us), therefore wore the mandatory tzitzit. As such, then, the Messiah was the embodiment of the commandments, the Living Commandments or Torah. When the woman touched the hem of His garment where the tzitzit were attached, she was acknowledging Him as the Messiah - the Living Christ.
The woman with an issue of blood is, however, more than just a Judhaite with a medical problem. She represents not only her tribe (Judah), the 12 Tribes (represented by the 12 years she had had this illness), but the whole of unfaithful mankind. In her unclean (unsaved) state, she stoops down to the ground (an act of humility) to touch the source of everlasting life represented by the tzitzit, the Living Torah. She is a picture of making teshuvah - making repentance - and the elements involved: acknowledging the Saviour, humbling oneself, making contact with the source of saving power, and being delivered from sin!
We are all of us like that woman in a permanent state of uncleanness without the Saviour. However, all we have to do is trust in Him, humble ourselves, acknowledge our need to be obedient to the commandments, and call upon His redemption!
Continued in Part 2
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