Matthew 14:34-36 Mark 6:53-56
|
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.
|
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.
Comments
Post a Comment