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READ: Mark 6:53
CHALLENGE: Deposit Your Faith in Christ
Vv53-56 – When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 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.
Where is Gennesaret? It’s south of Capernaum where “the land is level, rising gently from the level of the Sea of Galilee, which is 650 ft. below the Mediterranean. Hills rise sharply on three sides. The main road from Capernaum to Tiberias runs through close to the sea shore.”
During the time of Christ, this plain was the garden spot of Pal. Josephus eloquently described the beauty and fertility of the land (Jos. War III. x. 8). The soil was rich like that of the Nile delta. The climate ranges from hot to temperate. Plenty of water for irrigation was available from streams flowing out of the surrounding hills, and from several flowing springs. The land produced an abundance of wild trees and flowers, as well as important crops such as grapes, figs, olives, walnuts (Josephus), rice, wheat, vegetables, melons. The rabbis spoke of this plain as “the Garden of God” and a “paradise.”
It was also called the paradise of Galilee. This is where Jesus and his disciples landed after Jesus fed the 5000 with five loaves and two fish and after Jesus walked on the wind swept wavy water. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognize Jesus and they ran to get their sick friends. For a chronically ill, blind, deaf, or paralyzed person to encounter the healing power of Christ was like winning the jackpot!
If you are at a concert and the lead singer or band member comes near to your spot, you’re estatic. Look … they’re right there! Can you imagine the feeling of being close to this divine healer? People run all around to gather up the sick so Jesus can make them better. The sick are lining the road on which Jesus walks, like people lining up for a parade.
Faith is never mentioned but it’s all about it. How often did Jesus say, your faith has healed you? What do you think of when you think of faith? You think of trust, right? But trust in what? Part of faith is what we believe. It’s the content that fills faith. Everyone has a container called faith. That which fills the container is what will steer your life in many ways.
Another way to look at it is this – faith has to be deposited somewhere. Where do you deposit your paycheck? Do you walk into the backyard and just throw it out in the yard? Do we walk up to a stranger and ask them to hold onto it? Do we throw it into the attic? I highly doubt that. Most of us have a bank whether brick and mortar or online. And that’s where you deposit your funds.
Every single person has faith, it’s just a matter of where we place it. Even an atheist has faith. Do you generically scatter your faith into the universe? Do you deposit it in self or science? Is it in a generic somebody out there? Is it in the stars? It depends on what you believe in. What is the content of your faith?
My faith has content. For instance, I believe that God created the heavens and the earth. I believe in the Bible. I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle’s Creed is a great statement of belief. I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
I know what I believe. But there is another aspect of faith and that is, I need God’s help – which is all the time! That’s the faith that we see here. It’s a belief that God can do something extraordinary in healing those who are sick. It’s the WHO that we believe in and trust.
So part of my belief is the WHAT! Part of my faith is the WHO.
(trans.) What do we learn about faith?
- FAITH IS AN ACTION
V55 – They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was
Isn’t faith just a thing that exists apart from any action? Like hope? The Browns fans will start building hope for the new season because we can hardly be worse! But hope is just a feeling that exists within. It shows up in optimistic feelings that usually survive through game one. And in this case, hope exists independently of any real reason for it! Can’t faith be that too? Just a thing that exists in our heart and encourages us on? A feeling apart from content and action. No, true faith cannot exist apart from reason and action.
What about salvation – I just believe, right. We look at salvation and we know that we have it by grace and through faith and we cannot earn it. It’s not by works and if it were, it would be earned and grace is absolutely free! Faith exists within and thus I believe and because I believe I can have eternal life.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Remember when God asked Moses to speak to the rock for water to come out and he hit it instead. He got into big trouble for that. There are times when they’re told to do nothing. Just speak … but he was to speak to it. So that was an action.
The people of Israel stood back and watched as God parted the Red Sea. They received manna for which they didn’t work! Right? But they did walk through the parted waters and they did collect the manna so the belief in God resulted in some action.
We believe in Jesus and we have eternal life and a home in heaven. Then what? Faith shows up in actions, it has to. We are called to repent. Called to follow Jesus. Encouraged to serve. Created for good works. Faith pairs with actions. The same is true with love. Love is something I feel but a true love is something I do as well. I cannot love and never make a sacrifice or place my will as secondary. It’s more than a feeling.
James says in James 2 that faith without works is dead. Absolutely and 100% dead. It’s not genuine. He points out that even demons believe and they tremble showing their faith. Faith spills into behaviors and is evident
James 2:14-17 – What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
In this story, true faith shows up in the people who bring their friends on mats to Jesus. They did what it took. They made a gurney. They found out where Jesus was. They exerted themselves to get there. The plain of Geneseret was about 3-4 miles wide so they potentially carried friends for a distance.
Noah believed and he built an ark. Abraham believed and he went to a land he had not known. Rahab believed and hid the spies. Belief shows up in action all the time.
There is no miracle in this story without a visible pursuit of God. For any of us here to say that we believe in God without pursuing God would be a meaningless statement. They believed and it showed up. Our faith will show up in our obedience. It shows up in our prayers and our Bible reading.
Put your faith to work! Believe in God and do what you can. Do you need a job. Look. Do you need money. Work. Don’t be like a baby bird in a nest waiting for mommy bird to stuff worms down your beak. One of the blessings of God is that we eat the fruit of our own labor (Psalm 128:2).
If you’re teaching, you can’t just sit back and say Spirit lead me as you do nothing. We need to study and prepare. I don’t say, “God supply my needs, I’m going to rest more”. That’s unbiblical. In fact, go to the ant sluggard and get your tail end in gear. They carried the sick. They placed the sick in the marketplaces.
- FAITH IS SEEN IN PUBLIC
What is a marketplace? What went on there? “The well-known “agora” or public square, frequently characterized by busy crowds, functioned as the center of public life in NT times. There children danced and played and the unemployed wandered about and perhaps eventually obtained a job. The haughty scribes and Pharisees strutted in the market place in search of honor and adulation. Sick people were brought there for the compassionate Jesus to heal.”
The term “market-place” in biblical times refers to a central area in a city or town where people gathered for the exchange of goods, services, and ideas. It was a bustling hub of economic, social, and sometimes political activity. The market-place was not only a place for commerce but also a venue for public discourse and community interaction.
People are selling and buying wares and working. This had to be one of the economic engines of the community where people bought and sold. So here, in the center of public life is where people also encountered Christ. Faith is not just in church, it’s in the community as well. It’s at your job!
Jesus ministered in the markets because that’s where people gathered. He wasn’t afraid to rub shoulders with tax collectors and the Mary Magdalenes of the world. He talked to the Samaritan woman at the well. He ate with sinners.
We make a lot of the separation of church and state but it’s gotten confused. That foundational principle means that the state cannot operate the church. Meaning the state is not allowed to govern church teaching in any way.
Separation of church and state does NOT mean that the church cannot have influence in the public sector. We don’t want to run God out of main street or social media platforms. We have faith and that faith will be lived out at school and at work and in sports and everywhere we are. When you work hard for the Lord. When you’re honest. When you’re moral. As you serve others and help the less fortunate. That’s faith that’s real. A real faith cannot be only visible on Sunday mornings.
So to all of you who are involved in the community as coaches, or board members, or workers, or fire fighters, or teachers, or government officials. Be that positive influence. And that’s the key, as they see your faith lived out, you’re a light for Christ.
- FAITH IS ALIVE
Faith is a living thing. Somehow, someway, it’s got to become alive within us. And if that fire has died out, perhaps it’s time to fan it back into flame. And sometimes the fire needs some more fuel whether it’s a problem or some spiritual breakthrough or revival. We need faith to be alive and well within. Jesus asked this question, “When I return to earth, will I find faith on earth, that’s a great question.
- A Living Faith Pleads in Prayer
They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched were healed.
Who is begging, the friends, or the sick. Is there a gauntlet of voices crying out for Jesus Christ?
The term begs is a strong term! It means to “call near”. You’re calling out to Christ to get His attention. Jesus is walking by so get his attention right now. If you were stranded or in danger and someone drove by, how would you handle that? A nod of the head? Or would you wave your arms and perhaps jump around a bit. If it’s urgent you act like it’s urgent.
And when calling out to God, if it’s urgent, we pray like it’s urgent.
The tense of this verb means that they were continually pleading. If you’re praying about something, keep hammering away because it’s the only way things are going to happen. I wonder if we plead enough?
Illustrations.
A living faith is going to throw oneself into prayer. We throw ourselves into many other things so it’s awesome to be able to seek God and pray to him on a regular basis. The 40 Days is great and the fast days are great as well.
Any prayers that you’ve stayed after? There’s no quit! A living faith takes prayer seriously.
- A Living Faith Helps Friends and Family
Who carries these people to Jesus? Friends and family. Where would be without our friends helping us? I wouldn’t have gotten where I’ve been without others.
Friends are an important part of carrying a person to Jesus. Like the friends of the paralyzed man carried him and lowered him through a roof to Jesus and he found forgiveness and walked. This is beautiful in and of itself.
We invite. We carry. We share the burden. We give guidance in pointing people to Jesus. We pray for each other. I think of Hur and Aaron holding up the arms of Moses as he prayed for victory. He couldn’t hold his arms up by himself so others helped him.
We help carry load even in our prayers for other people. But if we love our friends, we’ll help to carry them to Jesus. Have you invited anyone to church lately? Are we concerned? Are we an influence for Christ?
- A Living Faith Requires Reaching Out for Jesus
The sick had to reach out and touch Jesus Christ. The friends could take them there but they had to touch the robe and then they were healed. So, from a mat. From off the ground. They reach out and touch him.
Your relationship with God is up to you. At some point, you have to put the proverbial hand out and reach for Jesus. No one can do this for you.
Did clothing heal these people or did their faith heal them? It was their faith, right? Nothing but pure faith. However, what activated the faith? It was a small step. Faith and action merge into a healing faith. It’s the first step.
There has to be that step that activates a living faith. Remember the criminal on the cross. He stuck up for Jesus and he asked Jesus to remember him when He entered his kingdom. Jesus said that today you will be with me in paradise. What happened at that time? It was that simple acknowledgement of sin and saying the words. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. What if he would have just thought the words rather than really do anything about it?
We need to say the words. Make that confession. Perhaps for you it was taking the step of coming to church.
Think about what happened when they were healed. The physical corruption of illness was removed. Now we must believe that there’s a removal of corruption from the soul of the sinner, right? We’ve become new. So if somehow we are acting corruptly, that’s wrong.
Faith is Alive, Faith is Public, Faith is Action
Romans 10:9-10 – If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
All who touched were healed. This reminds me of the simplicity of faith. Any of you today who need to reach out and touch Jesus!