Mark 6:53-56--Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

Mark 6:53-56
English Standard Version
​
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

---

I've included a map today to show you where we are at.  We're on the western side of the Sea of Galilee to the southwest of Capernaum (the place that seemed to be "home base" for Jesus and His apostles during much of His ministry).  We skipped talking about the events that happened on the other side of the Sea of Galilee--Mark wants us to feel like Jesus didn't really get any significant break from the crowds and that as soon as He got back, the crowds were waiting for Him and the whole region was full of people wanting to see Jesus so that He could heal their sick and cast out the unclean spirits that oppressed people.

Jesus didn't just stay in one place and make everyone come to Him.  He travelled to all the small towns and villages as well as the countryside and marketplaces.  Everywhere He went, people, by faith, just wanted to touch the hem of His garment (probably one of the tassels on the hem of His garment) so that the y might be made well, and all that did so by faith were healed.

There's no one specific person here that can be named as a witness to these events as Mark's point is that Jesus is now famous in the whole region and the truth about who He is and what He can do is so widespread that people are travelling from all over to see Jesus.  It's going to make it hard for Jesus to go into any cities, so He's going to spend more time in the countryside and in the places that the Jews normally wouldn't go--some trips to the Gentile areas on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and some trips through Samaria to preach the good news to the Samaritans and heal the sick there (especially those who were lepers) and cast out demons from those possessed and oppressed by these unclean spirits.  The next couple chapters in the book of Mark will be part of Jesus' ministry to these lands that were promised to the Jews, but which were mostly occupied by Gentiles and Jews who lived like Gentiles.