And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him, And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
I tried to imagine the level of excitement that was stirred among the crowd. It says, 'when they were come out of the ship, straightway they recognized him. '
All Jesus did was get off the boat. He didn't organize any services, or provide any announcements of His coming or arrival date, no preparations, no upcoming big events . He just got off the boat to go to the people.
The people immediately recognized Him, {despite what Isaiah said, that there was no beauty that we should desire Him, that He was despised and and rejected of men, a man acquainted with sorrows.} Yet these people recognized the beauty of the Son of God immediately upon his arrival. They appreciated who He was. The only explanation I can think of for the reaction of these people to Jesus' arrival was that they convicted of Jesus divinity, convicted of their own sin, aware of His Holiness. It seems that these were the true preparations that had taken place prior to His arrival - their hearts were moved and sensitive to His holiness.
The people ran throughout the whole region, and brought the sick to the where they heard He was or would be, the direction or town perhaps He was on route to. Imagine how quickly the news would have spread by person to person, village to village. Imagine the excitement as the people hustled and bustled, bursting force in news to one another of His arrival! "He's here, He's just got off the boat. I heard He's headed in the direction of ... " Faith and hope would have leapt tremendously in their hearts as they relayed the information of his coming and whereabouts.
They quickly moved the sick along the streets and direction of His coming so that they might simply touch the hem of His garment. They truly believed in Him, that He was the Son of God and that He was a vessel of God's love & compassion for all humanity and for the sick and suffering. They believed in Him, that the hopes of being made whole were possible through this Man.
I imagine people took little thought to the demands of the present, and quickly tended to things as need be, and made themselves instead available for 'receiving the Son of God' with much joy and faith in their hearts.
"And as many as touched Him, were made whole."
5 comments:
Thank you Ruth. I am imagining the scene: filled with exitement, joy, hope, as they made their way to Him. Oh that hearts would be so prepared today, and that they would see the living Christ in us, Who is able to bring healing to their souls.
Ruth, Thank you for that post and reminder. The part that always gets to me was that Jeus healed EVERYONE that touched Him. He did not differentiate between different type of believers, Jews or non Jews. It was EVERYONE. That means he can and will heal Christians and non-Christians if we will be obedient and do our part.
Maureen,
I know, that's the way I 'caught' it too. Just thinking about the people all around the countryside, moving quickly to inform each other of the Good News. As much as they may have heard about "Jesus" , imagine meeting Him and catching a glimpse of Him. And seeing the love, compassion that He had, pouring forth for the multitudes.
Hi Royal Son,
I like what you shared on here. It just makes me think of His heart, how moved He truly was, to reach out to the lost, the suffering. His life was spent as a Servant always being poured out for others! He is such a great King!
thanks for visiting!
Isn't it interesting that Jesus' enemies never denied that He performed miracles. He was genuine and it was real.
Ike,
that is a good point. though they never denied the miracles, they were like vultures investigating the 'authenticity' of the miracles, the pharisees always showed up though, and if they couldn't discount the accuracy of the miracle, they would look for other areas to discount WHO He was. (like not obeying the traditions of the elders).
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