When I read the Gospel of today, I continue to wonder why the people at Gennesaret wanted to touch only the tassel of Jesus’ clothing. I read a commentary that referred to such desire as a “pious humility.” Indeed, the people were humble to have asked for only a “touch” just like the hemorrhaging woman (Cf Mark 5:25ff). The reason could also be that the enormous crowd did not allow everyone who might have needed to reach further to touch more than the fringe of Jesus’ clothing. The lessons here are profound.
More Than Enough
First, anything from Christ is more than enough. God is enough. Remember when Paul needed his thorn taken away from him, probably in order to be a more effective minister of the Gospel? But the Lord wanted Paul to focus on Him alone, not on his own human abilities. God is enough even when we don’t have enough, whether it be prayer, faith, hope, charity, right disposition, love, etc.
Second, the Gospel informs us that people sent messages across the neighboring countries (which could also mean villages) and they brought all kinds of sick people who were all healed as they touched Jesus’ garment. We don’t know the number of people. But it sounds like it is quite a number. Here is the lesson: Christ is not overwhelmed by the enormity of our problems. He is up to the task—for “in my father’s house, there are many mansions” (Cf John 14:2) declares the Lord! Sometimes some people get discouraged at the size of the problems they are facing- and although it might seem too much for us, no problem is ever too big for God.
God is with Us
Third, every age is blessed with God’s presence in different ways—the Ark of the Covenant; the Prophets; the God-Man Jesus Christ; the Holy Eucharist, etc. God has always been with His people. Some people take advantage of His presence more than others. Think about those people at Gennesaret who could only access the fringe of Jesus’ clothing. There were people who had better opportunity to listen to Christ speak and ask Him questions and be healed by Him, but they rejected Him because He did not fit into their category of a Messiah. While some people lived (due to their faith) by touching the fringe of Jesus’ cloak, many others have pushed themselves out to the fringes of the Kingdom of God by rejecting to embrace the gift of God.
In our time, we have more than fringes of clothing. We have access to the Holy Eucharist. We have His Word.
Interestingly, if one only has access to the fringe of a cloak, it means the person is already at the borderline, outskirts, periphery of his/her environment and they are just hanging on to the last hope to survive. Does it have to take being in an extremely hopeless situation before a soul would cry out to Jesus and embrace Him completely? Jesus is not far away. The Word says, “The word is near you, and it is in your heart” (Rom 10:8). If only a tassel, a fringe of His cloak healed a whole town, how much more will His Real Presence that we receive on a daily or weekly basis!
