Matthew 9 TEST

She touched the fringe of His cloak (v 20).

The fringe of His cloak meant she touched the tassels of the rabbinical shawl wrapped around Jesus. There are several likely reasons why the woman decided to touch the fringe of His cloak as she sought to be healed.

1. One possible reason for why she touched the tassels of Jesus’s rabbinic shawl may because she believed that they had a special power.
   
   Tassels (and phylacteries) were worn by Jewish religious leaders, including Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes, who often made a show of them to display their righteousness before others. The larger and more ostentatious the tassels, the more righteous the man who wore them was perceived to be (Matthew 23:5). Because of this, many people associated a leader’s tassels with his righteousness. This may explain why the woman was set on touching the fringe of Jesus’s cloak - she reached for the tassels, believing in the power and righteousness associated with them.
   
   
2. A second possible reason explaining why the woman touched the tassels of Jesus’s rabbinic shawl may be because she did not want to cause Him to become ceremonially unclean by touching His person.
   
   Of the first two reasons, this possibility #2 seems to be the more likely because, as we will see, Jesus praises the woman’s faith in Him (v 22). Jesus would not likely have praised the woman’s faith if her faith was in something other than Himself - such as a superstition concerning tassels like possibility #1 described.
   
   
3. A third reason, for why the woman touched the fringe of Jesus’s cloak to be healed, was because she was ashamed of her condition.
   
   If she had stopped Jesus, or grabbed Him, it would have likely caused a scene and potentially brought more shame upon her. By only touching the fringe of His cloak, she believed that could be made well without attracting unwanted attention.