One of the reasons
it’s important to understand the Jewish roots of our faith is that it helps us
understand the meaning of what we read in the Bible. For example, what did Jesus mean when he mentioned
that the Pharisees lengthened their tassels:
"But they do all their works
to be seen by men; for they...lengthen their tassels" (Matt. 23:5)?
In this case, the
difference in wording is very slight. Where
many translations put “and,” in Greek it actually says “but.” How does this change the meaning? “But
they do all their works to be seen by men; for they...lengthen their tassels, but they love the
place of greatest honor when reclining at dinner and the seat of greatest honor
in the synagogues”
(Matt 23:5,6). Did you catch the difference? When we translate the passage correctly, we
see that Jesus is not criticizing the lengthening of their tassels. The problem is that the Pharisees’ other actions
didn’t match this sign of religious devotion. “For they lengthen their tassels,” is something good, but then they sought honor for themselves, which is not good.
As a result, by their ungodly behavior they canceled out what otherwise
would be the meritorious action of lengthening the tassels. The problem is not with their tassels, but with
their lifestyle. And without a matching
lifestyle, the lengthening of the tassels is a sham. This is quite a different understanding of
this verse than what many assume it’s about.
But in the culture of Jesus’ day, this is the more likely meaning. People just haven’t understood it correctly because
of an anti-Jewish bias that has been in the Church’s thinking for many hundreds of years.
So why would Jesus
approve the wearing of tassels as a sign of religious devotion? It was in obedience to a commandment in the
Law of Moses: “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them that they will make
for themselves a tassel [tzitzit] on the corners [or edges or wings; kanaphim] of their garments…and they will put on the
tassel of each corner a cord of blue [techelet—a bluish or purple color]” (Num. 15:38,39). And what was the reason God commanded them to wear these tassels? “And it will serve as a tassel for you and you will see it and you will remember all the
commandments of the LORD” (Num. 15:39). They were to wear the tassels to remind them
of the commandments of the Law of Moses.
What this means, of course, is that Jesus and the disciples, who
carefully obeyed the Law of Moses, also wore these tassels.
The earliest
evidence from outside of the Bible that the Jewish people wore tassels comes
from the Black Obelisk, a carved stone put up by the Assyrian king Shalmanezer
III about a thousand years before the time of Jesus. This was the time of Jehu (841-814 BC), one
of the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel.
In fact, one of the panels on the obelisk shows King Jehu bowing down
before the Assyrian king (see picture below). Jehu had
brought tribute gifts to Shalmanezer, hoping that the Assyrians would help him fight
against the Syrians in Damascus. Unfortunately
for Jehu, it didn’t work out that way. The Assyrians later returned to
conquer and destroy Israel. But we did
get this nice picture out of their meeting.
This, by the way, is the first known picture of a person mentioned in the
Bible.
 |
| Detail of the Black Obelisk with Jehu bowing down before Shalmanezer III Jehu Obelisk Cropped by Steven G. Johnson / CC BY-SA 3.0 |
We can’t see what
Jehu is wearing very well, because he’s bowing down on his knees. But we can get a good view of his servants
who are carrying the tribute gifts (see picture below). They
all are wearing pointy elf-like hats and pointy shoes, which must have been the
fashion in those days. But we can also
see that they’re wearing a fringed outer garment over their tunics. This is wrapped around and then up and over
their left shoulders, where we can see—guess what—tassels sticking out.
 |
| Detail of the Black Obelisk showing the servants of Jehu bearing tribute gifts Public Domain |
Another early picture
comes from more than a century later, when the Assyrians destroyed most of the
southern kingdom of Judah. It’s a relief
from the Assyrian palace at Nineveh, the same city where Jonah the prophet
preached, showing the destruction of a city of Judah (Lachish) and the people
being taken into exile. The men of Judah
are shown with rounded hats and long ear guards (see picture below). Fashions had obviously changed since the time
of the Black Obelisk, or maybe it’s because of the season of the year, but the men from
Judah wear only a simple skirt-like garment.
And sure enough, coming out of its side is a long and wide tassel. Even a young boy is shown wearing the
tassel.
 |
| Detail of the Lachish Relief showing Israelites being taken into exile Lachish Relief, British Museum 5 by Mike Peel / CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Traditional religious Jews still wear tassels today. During the day, they wear them on a little vest under their shirts (the tallit katan), with the tassels sticking out at the waist and hanging down over their pants. Other than this, tassels are most commonly worn on a prayer shawl known as a tallit. This is worn only during times of prayer.
Sometimes they’ll pull
the tallit up over their heads while
praying. Maybe you’ve seen movies in
which Jesus is shown doing this. But this
custom started long after the time of Jesus. In his day, Paul tells us that “Every man
praying or prophesying with something on his head dishonors his head” (1
Cor. 11:4). So we can be sure that Jesus
and the disciples prayed with their heads uncovered.
Besides, the prayer shawls used today were invented long after the time of Jesus.
In his day, the tassels were still attached to the outer garment of their
everyday clothing. They also still had
the blue thread in their tassels, which is missing from most tassels today. Why don’t modern tassels have a blue thread anymore? Because in the Muslim conquest in the 7th
cent. AD, the purple dye industry was destroyed, and that particular bluish or purple
dye (techelet) was not available anymore.
If it was cold, of
course, they might wrap their cloaks around their heads, as Elijah did on Mt.
Sinai—not for prayer, but for warmth.
“And it was when Elijah heard it
that he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the opening of
the cave; and look—a voice spoke to him and it said, ‘Why are you here,
Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:13).
In Bible days, this
outer garment or cloak to which the tassels were attached was known by several different Hebrew names—me’il, salma, kesut, or aderet—which are usually translated as
either robe, mantle, or cloak. There
might have been some slight differences between them that are now lost to us
today. But we do know that in Jesus’
day, the cloaks were made of a single rectangular piece of cloth that was
wrapped around the body in different ways. How do we know that? From historical writings, ancient art, and
actual cloaks from the time of Jesus discovered in caves near the Dead
Sea.
For the poor, the
cloak doubled as a blanket in cold weather.
“If you ever take your neighbor's
cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, for that is
his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else will he sleep in?”
(Exo. 22:26,27).
Why did God choose
tassels on their cloaks as a sign of his commandments? Why not some other kind of decoration? As it turns out, tassels had an important
meaning in the cultures around Israel in the time of Moses. This meaning was lost until some
archeological discoveries were made at Mari in modern Syria, starting in 1933. Here the royal archives of a palace were
discovered with more than 20,000 clay tablets from the time of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob (about 1800 BC). The Mari
tablets tell us all kinds of interesting things about that time, and help us
understand many things in the Bible.
One thing the Mari
tablets tell us is that in the countries around Israel, tassels on a person’s
clothes were the sign of a high position in society: only the priests and the rich had
tassels. The poor did not, nor did the
slaves. But in Israel, God commanded
that everyone was to wear tassels.
Why? What did this mean? By having all of his people wear tassels, God
showed that every one of his people was important, not just some of them.
But why a cord of
blue? The dye for the color blue or
purple was especially valuable. Today,
with synthetic dyes, you can make any color.
But in those days, it was very difficult to make a blue or purple color
that would stay in the fabric. You could
use berries or certain minerals, but they would wash out quickly. About the only way to make a blue color that
would stay in the cloth was from a snail that lives in the Mediterranean Sea: the murex
snail.
Fishermen would
lower baited baskets into the water, and later bring up the snails. Then they would break open the shell and
bring out a tiny little bit of the dye.
It took tens of thousands of snails to make enough dye for a piece of
clothing. This meant it was very
expensive. As a result, it could only be
afforded by kings, and so was associated with royalty.
Remember when they
dressed Jesus in a purple robe, to make him look like a king? This was to make the false charge against him
more believable—that he was plotting a rebellion to make himself king. ("And
they clothed him in purple...and began to salute him, ‘Hail, King of the
Jews!’" Mark 15:17)
Or what about
Lydia, whom Paul met in the book of Acts?
She was a seller of purple fabric.
This means she was a wealthy merchant, who could help Paul with his
ministry. ("And a certain woman named Lydia...a seller of purple
fabrics..." Acts 16:14)
So why did God
command the children of Israel to put an expensive cord of blue in their
tassels? In the time of Moses, this same
bluish or purple color was used in the curtains of the Tabernacle as a symbol
of God’s royal authority. But he didn’t
keep this color just for himself. The
cord of blue in the tassels of every Israelite was a constant reminder of their
connection with the Tabernacle and with the God who dwelt there. It was to remind them that they were not an
ordinary people, but were God’s own special possession among the peoples, a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation”
(Exo. 19:6). The blue cord was a daily
reminder of their connection with the God of Israel.
Today, the tassels
worn by the Jewish people are all tied with the same pattern of loops and knots. But in ancient times, each person’s tassels
were tied differently. Let’s say we were
in a meeting and it got hot, and we all took off our cloaks and put them on the
side of the room. After the meeting, how
would we know who the cloaks belonged to?
By looking at the tassel, you could tell whose it was. The Mari tablets mention a prophecy sent to a
king by a pagan prophet that included a lock of his hair and a piece of his
tassel to prove his identity. By looking
at the tassel, you could tell who it belonged to. A tassel could even be impressed as a
signature on a clay tablet: you could do
business with it.
This information
helps us understand much more clearly many events in the Bible. For example, do you remember when Elijah went
to anoint Elisha as a prophet? This is
one of the things God told him to do on Mt. Sinai. We usually picture Elijah
laying his cloak gently on Elisha. But
in Hebrew it says: "And Elijah went over to Elisha and he threw his cloak to him. And
Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah and he said, ‘Please let me kiss my
father and my mother, and I will follow you'" (1 Kings 19:19-20). First, Elijah threw his cloak to Elisha. And then he must have turned around and hurried
off in the other direction, because Elisha had to run to catch up with
him. In all this, Elijah didn't say
anything to Elisha. But Elisha knew
exactly what it meant. How did he
know? Elijah's cloak represented his
personal identity and his prophetic authority.
When he threw it to Elisha, and Elisha caught it or perhaps picked it
up, it meant that he accepted God’s calling to follow Elijah.
Elisha must have
given the cloak back to Elijah, because later Elijah used it to strike the
water of the Jordan River, and it stopped flowing (“And Elijah took his cloak and folded it and struck the waters; and
they were divided on one side and the other, and the two of them crossed over
on dry ground,” 2 Kings 2:8). This
was just before a chariot appeared and separated them, after which Elijah went
up by a storm wind into heaven (2 Kings 2:11). But Elijah’s cloak had fallen off when he was
taken up. So Elisha picked it up, and then he, too, struck the waters of the
Jordan and they parted (“And he picked up
the cloak of Elijah that fell off him; and he returned and he stood at the edge
of the Jordan. And he took the cloak of
Elijah that fell off him and struck the water and said, ‘Where is the LORD, the
God of Elijah, even he?' And he struck
the waters and they divided on one side and the other; and Elisha crossed over,”
2 Kings 2:,13,14). What did this mean? That the anointing of Elijah was now upon
Elisha (“And the sons of the prophets
that were in Jericho opposite him saw and they said, ‘The spirit of Elijah has
rested on Elisha’; and they came to meet him and they bowed down before him to
the ground,” 2 Kings 2:15).
Or what about even
earlier, when Saul disobeyed the word of the Lord through Samuel, and Samuel
said that memorable line to Saul, “Is
there as much delight for the LORD in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices as
in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Look, to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention than the fat of
rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). To obey the
LORD is better than performing religious rituals. Why?
Because if you don’t, “rebellion
is like the sin of divination, and stubbornness is like wickedness and
idolatry; because you rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you
from being king” (1 Sam. 15:23). Disobeying
God is rebellion against God. And that’s
just as serious a sin as divination.
It’s as serious as worshiping false gods (idolatry). Because if you’re not obeying God, then
you’re obeying something which is not God, and that’s very serious. And because of this, God rejected Saul as
king.
So what did Saul
do? “And
Samuel turned to go and he [Saul] seized the corner (kanaf) of his cloak and it tore” (1 Sam. 15:27). Saul grabbed hold of one of the corners of Samuel’s
cloak. What was in the corners? The tassels.
He tore off one of the corners with its tassel from Samuel’s robe. So what did Samuel do? “And
Samuel said to him, ‘The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and
given it to your neighbor who is better than you” (1 Sam. 15:28). The prophet’s cloak was a symbol of his authority
from God. When Saul tore it, this was a
picture of his rebellion against God, attacking and rejecting God’s authority; and
so God would also tear the kingdom away from him.
Or what about the
time, several years later, when Saul, with 3,000 men, was chasing David in the
desert (1 Sam. 24:1-22). If you remember
the story, Saul needed to find what today we would call a rest room.
But where can you have any privacy in the desert? There are hardly any trees or bushes to hide
behind.
Sometimes we have
the same problem with our tour groups in the desert. It’s very hot and very dry. So I tell them to drink water so they don’t
get dehydrated. But after a while, water
going in means that water has to go out.
But where can we do that? There
are no gas stations or restaurants in the desert, in fact, no buildings at
all. So we take what we call a “wadi
stop.” The men go over behind a hill or
a rock on one side and the women go behind a rock or a hill on the other side.
Once we were way
down in the southern deserts of Israel in a very flat area. There was only one tree as far as you could
see with a couple of bushes by it. So we
told the ladies to go over there, and the men would do their business on the
other side of the bus. No sooner had the
ladies bared their bottoms than several military tanks suddenly emerged out of
their tank traps doing some kind of military exercise. And if that weren’t enough, at the same
moment a handful of military jets flew by very low overhead. When I looked up at the jets, I could see every
one of the pilots looking down at the ladies with their jaws hanging open. The ladies, of course, were even more
shocked, and scurried quickly back to the bus.
We sure got a good laugh out of that one.
Saul was in a more
rocky area than that, so he was able to spot a cave he could use for a rest
room. I’m sure he took off his cloak and went inside to do what he had to
do. But he had no idea that David and
his men were hiding, or actually living, inside that same cave. While Saul was busy, David snuck up and cut
off the corner of his cloak: “And David got up and he secretly cut off
the corner (kanaf) of Saul's cloak” (1 Sam. 24:4). What was on the corner? One of the tassels.
David’s men said to
him, now’s your opportunity to kill your enemy!
But David said he would never harm the Lord’s anointed (1 Sam. 24:6). In fact, he even felt bad about cutting off
the corner of Saul’s cloak (1 Sam. 24:5).
When Saul was
finished, he had no idea what had happened, and picked up his robe and walked
out. But a short time later, David came
to the entrance of the cave and called out to him: “See, the
corner of your robe in my hand” (1 Sam. 24:11). I could have killed you, but I didn't. I’m not your enemy! Saul said: "And now look, I know you will surely become king" (1
Sam. 24:20). Why did he say that? He saw David holding the symbol of royal
authority in his hand. And he realized
it wouldn’t be much longer before he had all the rest. ("And
now look, I know that you will surely be king, and the kingdom of Israel will
rise up in your hand," 1 Sam. 24:20.)
Or what about in
the parables of Jesus? Do you remember
the story of the Prodigal Son, the boy who ran away from his father and wasted
his inheritance? (Luke 15:11-32) This
was a really difficult child to deal with.
Can you imagine if one of your children came up to you today and
demanded their inheritance? What would
you say? ‘I’m not even dead yet, and you
want your inheritance?’ This was a
tremendous insult to the father. But the
father did it anyway: he gave the boy
his inheritance. And sure enough, the boy wasted it all and ruined his life. But what then did the father do when the boy
finally returned home? He put a ring on
his finger and gave him his best cloak to wear:
the one with the expensive tassels on it (“But the father said to his
slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him,’” Luke
15:22). If we were to put that story
into the modern day, we would say that the father gave him the keys to the car
and the credit card. What was the
meaning? To show that the son was accepted
back again completely, not as a servant, but as a son and an heir, just as if
he’d never left.
Or what about the
cloaks the people put under the feet of the donkey Jesus was riding on Palm
Sunday (Matt. 21:8). Why did they do
that? To keep the donkey’s feet from
getting dirty? I don’t think so. The donkey’s feet were already dirty. No, those cloaks with their tassels were a
symbol of the individual identity and authority of each of those people. It’s the same as if they had gotten down on
their knees and said, “I accept you as King Messiah. I’m willing to follow wherever you lead.”
Do you remember the
woman with the flow of blood, who tried to touch the tassel of Jesus' garment
(Matt. 9:20-22)? Her story is really a
very sad one. Because of that blood, she
was what the Jews call a zavah: she was in a state of ritual
uncleanness. A zavah makes anything unclean she sits on or lies on, or even that
she leans on. So let’s say that the
zavah woman sat on a chair. Anyone else
who sat there or touched it also became unclean (Lev. 15:26-27). This was a one-day contact uncleanness (Lev.
22:4-6). It meant you had to take a
ritual bath, and then wait until evening to be clean again. This was a real inconvenience. Who would want to come visit you if they knew
they would become unclean like that? Of
course, all women went through a similar condition for a few days each month
(Lev. 15:19-23). But she had been
unclean for twelve years! This was not
good news for her social life! That’s
why she spent all she had on what’s usually translated “doctors” (Mark 5:26). But these were not like doctors we have
today: they were more like native
healers or witch doctors.
For example, they
would take you to their temple, perhaps a temple of the Greek god Asclepius, and make you walk at night through a long,
dark tunnel, deep underground. You
couldn’t see anything while you were walking.
But unknown to you, there were openings in the roof of the tunnel, with
people waiting up there. When they heard
you walk underneath, they would suddenly pour water down on your head! I guess that’s what they call shock therapy. Or they might have you sleep in a room filled
with snakes. I don’t see how that would
help you. She wasted all her money on
“cures” like these, but instead of helping her, she only got worse.
But then she heard
about the ministry of Jesus. And she got
the idea to secretly sneak up and touch his cloak (“for she was saying to herself, ‘If only I touch his cloak, I will be
saved,’” Matt. 9:21). How could his
cloak help her? There was a tradition
among the Jews that when Messiah came, the “wings” or corners of his cloak
would have healing power. Where did they
get this idea? From Malachi 4:2, “The sun of righteousness will arise…and
healing will be in his wings (his corners).” The rabbis, just like Christians today,
associated this “sun of righteousness”
with the Messiah (Exo. Rab. 31.10). This
implied that when Messiah came, his “wings” or “corners”—that is, the corners
of his cloak—would have healing power. It
was a symbol of Jesus’ identity and his authority. She believed that if only she could touch his
cloak, she would be healed.
There was only one
problem with her plan: at the time he
was always surrounded by crowds. If she
tried to get close to him, she would have to press up against many people in
the crowd, making them unclean. Doing
such a thing was socially unacceptable!
No nice person would even think of doing such a thing. But she was desperate. Her condition had so humiliated her and ruined
her life that she was willing to do something socially unacceptable, because
she believed that if only she could touch the corner of his cloak, she would be
healed.
So she snuck up behind Jesus as best she could, and
reached out and took hold of one of the corners of his cloak (“And look, a woman who had been bleeding for
twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel of his cloak,” Matt.
9:20). And sure enough, she felt the
power of God go through her: she was
healed! So she turned around and tried
to leave as quickly as she could. But
Jesus noticed that something had happened.
He felt power go out of him. So
he began to call out, "Who touched
me?" (Luke 8:45).
Just imagine the
situation of this woman. She thought she
could carry out her plan secretly. But
now Jesus knew what had happened and was looking for her! How embarrassing! If he found her, what she did would be exposed
to the crowd and everyone would despise her!
If Jesus was anything like the other rabbis, he might even rebuke her
publicly! That's why, when she finally
confessed, she "came trembling and
fell down before him" (Luke 8:47).
She was humiliated before all those people!
The last thing in
the world she expected to hear were the kind words of Jesus: "Daughter,
your faith has saved you; go in peace"! (Luke 8:48). Some translations say, “your faith has made
you well.” But in Greek it clearly says
“your faith has saved you.” What faith
was that? Her faith that Jesus’ tassels
were the “wings,” the corners of the Messiah.
Her faith had brought her not only physical, but also spiritual
healing.
Even today, the
rabbis talk about coming to God as coming “under his wings.” Where do they get that from? It’s based on that beautiful verse from the
book of Ruth, when Boaz blesses Ruth for accepting Israel and Israel’s God: “May
the LORD reward what you have done, and may your wages be peaceful from the
LORD, the God of Israel, under whose
wings you have come to seek refuge” (Ruth 2:12). Those who come to faith in Jesus come under
the wings of the Almighty. As David said
in Psalm 91:4, “With his feathers,
he will cover you, and under his wings you will seek refuge.” What a beautiful picture this is
of those who come in faith to Jesus!
Jesus accepts us while we are still unclean, he heals us, and he sends
us out with a blessing.
We can’t touch the
tassels of Jesus’ cloak today. But we
can do something very similar to contact his identity and his authority. What is it?
To pray in Jesus’ name. Just like
the tassels of ancient times, the name of Jesus—Yeshua—represents the identity
and authority of the Messiah. And there
is healing in his “wings.” When we pray by
faith in his name, we make contact with his power: As he said in John 14:14: "If
you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."
Do you need to
touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak today for something in your life? Maybe you’re like that woman, trembling
because you’re not sure if he will accept you or not, not sure if he will
answer your prayer or not. But the Bible clearly tells us that he will accept you, if you come to him in faith. And not only will he deal with that problem in your life, he’ll send you out with a blessing. Amen? All you need to do is ask.
Let’s pray: Lord, we thank you for the tremendous love
you show your people when you help us with difficult situations in our lives. You know the problems we’re facing right now. In fact, you are the one
that brought us to this point where we cannot see the answer, where we cannot
see the solution, and in fact, it looks completely impossible to us. But you’re the God of the impossible. And when you do the impossible, no one else will get any of the glory. Only you. And Lord, when you overcome the impossible in
our lives, we’re going to give you all the glory. In Jesus' name.
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