Jesus Heals All Who Touch Him

Scripture: Matthew 14:34-36, Mark 6:53-56 (NIV)

Matthew 14:34-36
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Mark 6:53-56
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Devotional

Jesus was remarkably a man of few words when it came to healing people.

• “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would!” (Matthew 8:13)
• “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” (John 5:8)
• “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” (Luke 17:14)
• “I am willing. Be clean!” (Matthew 8:3)
• “Be opened!” (Mark 7:31)
• “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43)

But in this passage we see that He sometimes said nothing at all. As Jesus traveled from place to place, people put their sick friends on mats and placed them in the marketplaces of those communities. When Jesus came by, “they begged Him to let them touch even the edge of His cloak, and all who touched it were healed” (Mark 6:56). Now that is faith!

Previously we explored the account of Jesus being rejected in His hometown of Nazareth (less than twenty miles from Gennesaret, where today’s reading takes place). There in Nazareth, “because of their unbelief, He couldn’t do any miracles among them,” except a few healings – presumably among those who believed (Mark 6:5).

Where there was unbelief, even the Son of God couldn’t say or do much.

Where there was strong belief, the Son of God didn’t have to say or do much.

Prayer: “Lord, give me great belief in you, to know that I can come to you and receive whatever you have to offer.

Poem

A Single Word, A Single Touch

A single word, a single touch
From many this would seem not much
But from the lips who spoke
“Let there be light!”
Or from the hand which molded
Clay to creation
Or from the lips which breathed
Life into nostrils
Or from the finger which wrote
The Word upon our hearts
A single word, a single touch
Brings forth the New Creation

Podcast: Week 21

Sermon: Week 21

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