Matthew 14:34-36 Mark 6:53-56

Matthew 14:34-36
34 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36 and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.
Mark 6:53-56
53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.
Popularity can be a very fickle thing.  It seems like one minute you can have it and then the next you don’t.  Gennesaret was a place where Jesus experienced this reality.  The last time He was in this place He made some pig farmers and the people very upset by casting the daemons out of a man and allowing them to enter in a heard of swine that ended up jumping into the lake, literally.  The people were fearful of such power and begged Him to leave.  Now He is back in town and the reception is completely different.  Perhaps they heard of the miracles of healing and the feeding of the multitude that had happened on the other side of the sea.  Whatever the case was, Jesus had suddenly become very popular in this place.  Unfortunately, it would not last very long.  The people seem much more interested in physical healing than hearing about spiritual restoration.

EXCITED PEOPLE: When the people recognized that Jesus and His disciples were back in their area they became very excited.  They ran around the entire area telling everyone that Jesus had arrived and they brought sick people from all over the place in order to be healed.  Many of the sick were unable to walk so they carried them on pallets to the places where they hoped Jesus would be.  Everywhere Jesus went there were sick people lined up that had hopes of healing.  Sickness can bring great desperation into our lives.  When we are sick, we have a hard time thinking about anything else.  However, health is not the greatest of our problems.  Behind all of our health problems there is a spiritual cause called sin.  Illness can shorten our lives on earth, but sin condemns us for all eternity.  We all feel our physical needs more keenly than we feel our spiritual needs.  It is important for us to use our physical ailments as a reminder of our spiritual condition and then take both of them to our Lord.

EXTRAORDINARY POWER: As the people were lining the streets waiting for Jesus to come by and in hopes of healing, the extraordinary power of Jesus was on full display.  People were being healed simply by reaching out and touching the fringe of His clothing.  All who touched Him were healed.  In previous healings Jesus had been more selective and intentional about who was healed.  However, John tells us that very few or the miracles of Jesus were actually recorded in Scripture.  Perhaps there were many more healings that Jesus performed that have not been recorded for us.  There is no shortage of power in the Lord Jesus.  He is able to heal all according to His will.  He is also able to forgive all who trust in Him and seek Him for liberation from sin.  His extraordinary power is not only able to cure us from the consequences of sin that appear in our lives in the form of illness.  He is also able to free us from the condemnation and the domination of sin.

APPLICATION: Use our physical weaknesses as a reminder of our spiritual needs.  Be proactive at taking others to the Lord Jesus so they can find salvation from the power of sin over their lives.  Reach out to Jesus and trust in His ability to meet all of our needs according to His amazing power.

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