Matthew 14 (34) And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. (35) And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; (36) and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
Mark 6: (53) And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. (54) And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him, (55) and ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. (56) 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.
This miracle is recorded in two of the Gospels. Being the passages are short I went ahead and displayed both. Though there is not a lot of events in this passage, there is a profound message to be heard. Here we will see an extreme sense of faith that we have only seen a few times before. In this passage His fame has spread well before Him. People knew who he was. People were running all around gathering up those who were sick and placing them to where they would be close to Jesus when He would come through. Their faith was so pure, they knew if only the border of His garment were to be touched, they would be healed. The scripture does go on and say those who touched Him were made whole.
In this passage the message is to just be near Jesus. You do not need to have an interaction with Him, you do not need Him to speak to you, you do not need Him to touch you, You do not need anything from Him but to only be near Him. Of course it is great to have the one on one experience with Jesus, but just His presence is enough, even for all or needs. We need to be in position to where we are always near to God.
Psalm 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all thy works.
Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore
We would find ourselves living a more joyful and peaceful life if we constantly yearned to be in His presence. Those of us that are married know that we can be in the same room with our spouse, even though we may not be interacting with each other, there is comfort, peace and security just being in their presence. Just to know that they are there.
I firmly believe we would see more great things from God if we would just stay in His presence instead of searching for this one great thing to happen. In the passage, the people did not seek after Jesus to come to them directly to take care of their sick, they knew that to just be close enough in His presence would be sufficient enough. His grace would be enough.
2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work
God’s grace is a constant fountain pouring out of Heaven. We need to purposely be in the path of God’s grace. We need to strive to be in God’s presence.
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 08/01/2023 08:52 AM ]
[ posted by Mike, 08/01/2023 12:10 PM ]
I love a good sermon.