Text: Matthew 9:20-22
(20) And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: (21) For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. (22) But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.[1]
Hope is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. A feeling of trust”[2]
Albert Barnes defines Hope as:
…a desire for an object, and an expectation of obtaining it.
If there is no desire for it; or if the object is not pleasant and agreeable, there is no hope, though there may be expectation – as in the expectation of the pestilence, of famine, or sickness, or death.
If there is no expectation of it, but a strong desire, there is no hope, as in cases where there is a strong desire of wealth, or fame, or pleasure; or where a man is condemned for murder, and has a strong desire but no prospect of pardon; or where a man is shipwrecked, and has a strong desire, but no expectation of again seeing his family and friends.
In such cases, despondency or despair are the results.
It is the union of the two feelings in proper proportions which constitutes hope.[3]
Hope is the place where desire and expectation unite:
A Thing Called Hope
She had been sick for 12 long years, but somehow she had not lost her hope. “She had gone to many doctors, and they had not done anything except cause her a lot of pain. She had paid them all the money she had. But instead of getting better, she only got worse.”[4]
She was ritually unclean and should not have even been out in the crowd, but there she was.
This was such a personal and private issue – an issue of blood – but fueled by desire and expectation – HOPE – and she quietly approached Jesus from behind.
She had no desire to make a scene. She simply had a hope kindled by an Old Testament messianic prophecy, and when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, she was expressing her faith in Him as the Christ:
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…”[5]
You have been holding onto your own quiet, personal, private issue of blood for some time now.
You may even think that nobody really cares about your situation. What you really want to do it quietly come to Jesus, just brush the hem of His garment because still resident inside you, despite how long, weary, disappointed and tired you have become in this struggle – you still have HOPE (desire and expectancy).
Don’t give up! The miracle is just a brush away.
The moment she touched the border of his garment, immediately her issue of blood stopped.
Jesus said, Who touched me? …Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
And when the woman saw that she was not hid [she had tried to be as inconspicuous as possible], she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.[6]
A Thing Called Hope
Is something you cannot afford to let go.
It is in the waiting where Hope is tested. The sometimes-insurmountable fear that this delay is just foreshadowing the disappointment to follow, but I hear Lord say…
Habakkuk 2:2-3, “(2) And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (3) For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
There is a future Hope beyond this world, but there is a present Hope as well: Romans 8:24-28:
(24) For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
(25) But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
(26) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
(28) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
A Thing Called Hope will hold you together when nothing else will:
- Psalm 38:15, “For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.”
- Psalm 42:5, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”
- His face is turned towards you with favor and salvations.
- Psalm 42:11, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (See: Psalm 43:5)
- If you hold onto hope, one day your face will display the joy within because you hoped in God.
- Job 14:7, 14, “(7) For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again…(14) If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”
[1] Emily Dickinson. (1861). “Hope” is the thing with feathers.
[2] Oxford Languages.
[3] Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible. 2 Corinthians 3:12.
[4] Mark 5:26, CEV
[5] Malachi 4:2
[6] Luke 8:43-48
(Preached on 11/16/2025 to the saints of Tornado Apostolic Church, Pastor Wilson Hudson)
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