Recognizing God’s Authority
Good Morning Friends,
The prayer shawl of the Hebrew male was a reminder of the authority of God and the personal and constant relationship God has with the Kingdom of Priests of the nation of Israel. It is about the law of God. So to touch the hem, fringe or tassel of this garment or to cut pieces of it off implies the healing presence of Jesus on the one hand and the deadly separation from God on the other. It is knotted together as a reminder of how God has knit us together. At its very essence, about having a faith…a heart seeking love that helps us in Recognizing God’s Authority.
Scripture: The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.
Numbers 15:37-41 (NRSV)
While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.
Matthew 9:18-22 (NIV)
and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
Matthew 14:36 (NRSV)
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, ‘David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.’ Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to look for David and his men in the direction of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds beside the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. The men of David said to him, ‘Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, “I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.” ‘ Then David went and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak. Afterwards David was stricken to the heart because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak. He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to raise my hand against him; for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ So David scolded his men severely and did not permit them to attack Saul. Then Saul got up and left the cave, and went on his way
I Samuel 24:1-7 (NRSV)
Message: Matthew, Mark and Luke record for us this remarkable sudden interruption in the life of Jesus of the lady with the blood issue. You can almost see Jesus talking to John’s disciples about fasting when a ruler approaches Jesus whose daughter has died. Jesus was leaving with the ruler and suddenly bursting upon the scene is this woman whose faith is so uncharacteristic of our time, to touch the hem of His garment.
Let’s take a moment today and open our lives as the life of this woman is laid bare before us, and allow her faith to challenge our faith in the convergence of today’s scriptures about the hem of a garment…about the authority of Jesus. We can learn a lot about faith from this woman. We can learn a lot about the supernatural authority of Jesus. For 12 years she had been trying all the natural mean of healing and it just was not working. In Jesus she felt the sense of an all-conquering power. She believed that He had the resources that could make her whole again. Many barriers had been placed upon her life, because of her condition. She lived and understood barriers. But her condition and state was no barrier for Jesus. His love transcends all boundaries and barriers in life even in a cave to stricken the heart of David so he might spare Saul. Friends we have a problem with faith…we have a problem with authority as it relates to authority within the church, our family and our personal experience in community.
But if you have a heart for God…if you believe Jesus is God… then you have been given certain authority to defeat the enemy of your soul. Only when we learn to operate in the God given authority we possess as Christians can we live victoriously… His authority is recognized, where He alone will receive the glory. Here faith is necessary for a miracle to be worked and at the same time a wondrous way of awakening faith in the love and authority of God.
Pray we experience the great presence and authority of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Pray we realize that faith and love have no boundaries. Pray we come as we are. Pray we do not place a barrier between us and God. Pray we recognize the authority of Christ. Pray we have faith to make contact with Jesus. Pray we never be cut off from God. Pray we have the faith to believe in the supernatural power and authority of a father’s love. Pray we desire a heavenly ruler instead of an earthly one.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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