After Jesus came to His disciples walking on the water, they immediately came to shore at Bethsaida, several miles northeast of Capernaum. From there they went back across the sea and "came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there" (Mark 6:53).
Gennesaret is from a Hebrew word perhaps meaning, "princely gardens." It is a small, fertile plain on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, about three miles southwest of Capernaum. It is the plain where Jesus earlier fed the five thousand.
"And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him" (v. 54). Jesus had sent the crowds home after feeding them with a young boy's lunch, but they had begun to gather again along the shore, anticipating His return. It didn't take any time at all for them to know that He was back.
So they "ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was" (v. 55). Wherever Jesus went throughout that region, the sick were brought to Him, looking to be healed. "Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment" (v. 56a).
If they might just touch Jesus! That was the thinking of the people. They didn't ask Him to lay hands on all of those who were sick. They didn't ask Him to pray for their healing. They asked nothing of Jesus. They asked only that "they might just touch the hem of His garment" (v. 56a). That's all; if they could just touch Him, they believed they would be healed.
What great faith on the part of these people! If they could just touch Him, if they could just touch His garment, they would be healed. Mark concludes, "And as many as touched Him were made well" (v. 56b). It was as they believed. All who touched Jesus were healed. No one was left out. All who trusted Jesus saw their every need met.
The same holds true today. Trust Jesus; come and touch Jesus, and He will meet your every need. Amen.
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