Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
In biblical times, Jewish men wore tassels on the corners of their garments, adorned with a cord of blue as a reminder that they were a people set apart (Numbers 15:37-41). In the Ancient Near East, the corner of a man’s garment represented his essence; a symbol of who he was and what he stood for.
Self promotion wasn’t the purpose of these tassels, like the Pharisees who exaggerated theirs. For in the people of Israel, YHWH chose the least of the earth to be the chosen nation of the earth. Tassels were to glorify the deity—displayed in God’s honor.
When the Nameless One spoke of covenant contract, it was akin to spreading the corner of the divine garment to protect Israel (Ezekiel 16:8). David cut off a corner of King Saul’s garment, and “afterward David’s heart struck him” (I Samuel 24:5). These pangs of conscience seem strange unless we realize that in that act David had defaced Saul’s manhood and his divinely authorized kingship. When the monarch is emasculated the entire kingdom weakens.
Jesus, like all devout Jews of the day, wore tassels. The Gospels report that more than once people grasped the hem of his garment, such as in today’s reading. This may have come from the idea that the messiah would arrive with “healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2), “wings” (kanafim) also meaning “corners,” where the tassels were displayed.
First century servants, slaves, and debtors would hurl themselves on the ground, grasping onto the hem of their master’s garment, pleading for mercy—an act of supreme subjugation and surrender.
When people reached for the corners of Jesus’ garment, it was more than a grab for the most accessible part of his person. It was a gesture of supreme faith, grasping onto his very self—an act of total dependance and reliance on him.
There is a fee from Christ for this service and it is costly—our lives can never be the same again. Now our lives belong to him.
The hem of Christ is still available to us. Do we dare grasp it?
-Timothy J. Cronin