Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 14:34

And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

34. the land of Gennesaret ] By this is meant the plain of Gennesaret, two miles and a half in length and about one mile in breadth. Modern travellers speak of “its charming bays and its fertile soil rich with the scourings of the basaltic hills.” Josephus describes the district in glowing terms ( B. J. iii. 10. 8). See Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 351.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

34 36. Jesus cures sick folk in the Land of Gennesaret

Mar 6:53-56, where the stir of the neighbourhood and eagerness of the people are vividly portrayed.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Land of Gennesaret – This region was in Galilee, on the west side of the Sea of Tiberias; and in this land was situated Capernaum, to which he had directed his disciples to go.

The hem of his garment – That is, the fringe or border on the outer garment. See the notes at Mat 9:20.

Remarks On Matthew 14

1. We learn from this chapter the power of conscience, Mat 14:1-4. Herods guilt was the only reason why he thought John the Baptist had risen. At another time he would altogether have disbelieved it. Consciousness of guilt will at some period infallibly torment a man.

2. The duty of faithfulness, Mat 14:4. John reproved Herod at the hazard of his life, and he died for it; but he had the approbation of conscience and of God. So will all who do their duty. Here was an example of fidelity to all ministers of religion. They are not to fear the face of man, however rich, or mighty, or wicked.

3. The righteous will command the respect of the wicked. Herod was a wicked man, but he respected John and feared him, Mar 6:20. The wicked profess to despise religion, and many really do; but their consciences tell them that religion is a good thing. In times of trial they will sooner trust Christians than others. In sickness and death they are often glad to see them and hear them pray, and desire the comfort which they have; and, like Balsam, say, Let me die the death of the righteous, Num 23:10. No person, young or old, is ever the less really esteemed for being a Christian.

4. People are often restrained from great sins by mere selfish motives, as Herod was by the love of popularity, Mat 14:5. Herod would have put John to death long before had it not been that he feared the people. His constantly desiring to do it was a kind of prolonged murder. God will hold men guilty for desiring to do evil; and will not justify them if they are restrained, not by the fear of him, but by the fear of people.

5. We see the effect of what is called the principle of honor, Mat 14:9. It was in obedience to this that Herod committed murder. This is the principle of duelling and war. No principle is so foolish and wicked. The great mass of people disapprove of it. The wise and good have always disapproved of it. This principle of honor is usually the mere love of revenge. It is often the fear of being laughed at. It produces evil. God cannot and will not love it. The way to prevent duels and murders is to restrain the passions and cultivate a spirit of meekness and forgiveness when young; that is, to come early under the full influence of the gospel.

6. People should be cautious about promises, and especially about oaths. Herod made a foolish promise, and confirmed it by a wicked oath, Mat 14:9. Promises should not be made without knowing what is promised, and without knowing that it will be right to perform them. Oaths are always wicked except when made before a magistrate, and on occasions of real magnitude. The practice of profane and common swearing, like that of Herod, is always foolish and wicked, and sooner or later will bring people into difficulty.

7. Amusements are often attended with evil consequences, Mat 14:6-11. The dancing of a frivolous and profligate girl was the means of the death of one of the holiest of men. Dancing, balls, splendid parties, and theaters are thought by many to be innocent; but they are a profitless waste of time. They lead to forgetfulness of God. They nourish passion and sensual desires. They often lead to the seduction and ruin of the innocent. They are unfit for dying creatures. From the very midst of such scenes the happy may go to the judgment bar of God. How poor a preparation to die! How dreadful the judgment seat to such!

8. Jesus will take care of the poor, Mat 14:14-21. He regarded the temporal as well as the spiritual needs of the people. Rather than see them suffer, he worked a miracle to feed them. So, rather than see us suffer, God is daily doing what man cannot do. He causes the grain to grow; he fills the land, and seas, and air with living creatures; nay, he provides in desert places for the support of man. How soon would all people and beasts die if he did not put forth continued power and goodness for the supply of our wants!

9. It is the duty of Christians to be solicitous about the temporal wants of the poor, Mat 14:15. They are with us. By regarding them, and providing for them, we have an opportunity of showing our attachment to Christ, and our resemblance to God, who continually does good.

10. A blessing should be sought on our enjoyments, Mat 14:19. It is always right to imitate Christ. It is right to acknowledge our dependence on God, and in the midst of mercies to pray that we may not forget the Giver.

11. We see the duty of economy. The Saviour, who had power to create worlds by a word, yet commanded to take up the fragments, that nothing might be lost, Joh 6:12. Nothing that God has created and given to us should be wasted.

12. It is proper to make preparation for private prayer. Jesus sent the people away that he might be alone, Mat 14:22-23. So Christians should take pains that they may have times and places for retirement. A grove or a mountain was the place where our Saviour sought to pray, and there, too, may we find and worship God.

13. In time of temptation, of prosperity, and honor, it is right to devote much time to secret prayer. Jesus, when the people were about to make him a king, retired to the mountain, and continued there until the early morning in prayer, Joh 6:15.

14. When Christ commands us to do a thing we should do it, Mat 14:22. Even if it should expose us to danger, it should be done.

15. In times of danger and distress, Jesus will see us and will come to our relief, Mat 14:25-26. Even in the tempest that howls, or on the waves of affliction that beat around us, he will come, and we shall be safe.

16. We should never be afraid of him. We should always have good cheer when we see him, Mat 14:27. When he says, It is I, he also says, be not afraid. He can still the waves, and conduct us safely to the port which we seek.

17. Nothing is too difficult for us when we act under the command of Christ. Peter at his command leaves the ship and walks on the billows, Mat 14:29.

18. Christ sometimes leaves his people to see their weakness and their need of strength. Without his continued aid they would sink. Peter had no strength of his own to walk on the deep, and Christ suffered him to see his dependence, Mat 14:30.19. The eye, in difficulty, should be fixed on Christ. As soon as Peter began to look at the waves and winds, rather than Christ, he began to sink, Mat 14:30. True courage in difficulties consists not in confidence in ourselves, but in confidence in Jesus, the Almighty Saviour and Friend.

20. Prayer may be instantly answered. When we are in immediate danger, and offer a prayer of faith, we may expect immediate aid, Mat 14:31.

21. Pride comes before a fall. Peter was self-confident and proud, and he fell. His confidence and rashness were the very means of showing the weakness of his faith, Mat 14:31.

22. It is proper to render homage to Jesus, and to worship him as the Son of God, Mat 14:33.

23. We should be desirous that all about us should partake of the benefits that Christ confers. When we know him and have tested his goodness, we should take pains that all around us may also be brought to him and be saved, Mat 14:35.

24. Jesus only can make us perfectly whole. No other being can save us. He that could heal the body can save the soul. A word can save us. With what earnestness ought we to plead with him that we may obtain his saving grace! Mat 14:36.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 34. The land of Gennesaret.] It was from this country that the sea or lake of Gennesaret had its name. In this district, on the western side of the lake, were the cities of Capernaum and Tiberias.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Mark relates the same, Mar 6:53-56, with no difference considerable. Christ had been in this country before, Mat 8:1-34, and in it wrought several miracles, so as they had a former knowledge of him. As soon as thy had knowledge of his being again come, they express their faith in him, and their charity towards their neighbours, in telling it abroad, and bringing sick persons to him. I know not why any should fancy any superstition in their desire to

touch the hem of his garment, considering how Mark expresses it, , which we translate, if it were but the border of his garment. It rather soundeth in my ears as a high expression of their faith; they believed there was such a fulness of virtue in Christ, that it flowed from him to every part of his garment. It was their faith in Christ, not their touch of his garment, that healed them. I am sure our Lord so far encouraged their faith, that he healed all those who touched his garment with that faith and expectation. The evangelist saith, they

were made perfectly whole. Their faith here plainly implied not only an assent to his power, but a confidence in his goodness.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And when they were gone over,…. That is, “the sea”, as Munster’s Hebrew Gospel adds, the sea of Tiberias, or Galilee;

they came into the land of Gennesaret; the same with Cinnereth, or Chinnereth, or Cinnerot, Nu 34:11 in all which places, the Chaldee paraphrase renders it by , “Ginusar”, the same word that is used in Munster’s Hebrew Gospel here: it was a country in Galilee, in the tribe of Naphtali y, bordering upon a lake, called the lake of Gennesaret; taking its name from the country, or the country from the lake: it was exceeding fruitful, full of gardens and orchards; hence we often read in the Talmud z, of , “the fruits of Genusar”, or Gennesaret, which are said to be exceeding sweet: and it is said to a be a country in the land of Israel, in which were many gardens; and by others b, a place in the land of Galilee (as it was) whose fruits were large and good; and was, as Josephus says c, thirty furlongs long and twenty broad. And thus the saints, after a long and troublesome passage over the sea of this world, arrive, at last, safe at their desired haven, and enter upon a most delightful country, a paradise, a garden of pleasure; where all delicious fruits and desirable things are enjoyed, even pleasures for evermore; where they shall be led to fountains of living waters, into fulness of joy; where all troubles will cease, and tears will be wiped away; and when they will have leisure and capacity to reflect upon all they have met with in their dangerous, and difficult voyage; and will admire the wonderful grace of God, which has been with them; and his divine power, which has appeared for them, and supported them, and brought them safe to eternal glory; and they ascribe greatness to Christ, as the Son of God, and for ever worship him as the eternal Jehovah, who has done such great things for them, as none but God can do.

y Targum Jon. in Deut. xxxiii. 23. z T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 44. 1. Erubim, fol. 30. 1. & Pesachim, fol. 8. 2. Vid. Jarchi in Isa. xxviii. 1. & Kimchi in Josh. xi. & in 1 Kings xv. 20. a Maimon. in Misn. Maaserot, c. 3. sect. 7. b Bartenora, in ib. c De Bello Jud. 1. 3. c. 35.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The People of Gennesaret Flock to Christ.

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.

We have here an account of miracles by wholesale, which Christ wrought on the other side of the water, in the land of Gennesaret. Whithersoever Christ went, he was doing good. Gennesaret was a tract of land that lay between Bethsaida and Capernaum, and either gave the name to, or took the name from, this sea, which is called (Luke v. 1) The Lake of Gennesaret; it signifies the valley of branches. Observe here,

I. The forwardness and faith of the men of that place. These were more noble than the Gergesenes, their neighbours, who were borderers upon the same lake. Those besought Christ to depart from them, they had no occasion for him; these besought him to help them, they had need of him. Christ reckons it the greatest honour we can do him, to make use of him. Now here we are told,

1. How the men of that place were brought to Christ; they had knowledge of him. It is probable that his miraculous passage over the sea, which they that were in the ship would industriously spread the report of, might help to make way for his entertainment in those parts; and perhaps it was one thing Christ intended in it, for he has great reaches in what he does. This they had knowledge of, and of the other miracles Christ had wrought, and therefore they flocked to him. Note, They that know Christ’s name, will make their application to him: if Christ were better known, he would not be neglected as he is; he is trusted as far as he is known.

They had knowledge of him, that is, of his being among them, and that he would be put awhile among them. Note, The discerning of the day of our opportunities is a good step toward the improvement of it. This was the condemnation of the world, that Christ was in the world, and the world knew him not (John i. 10); Jerusalem knew him not (Luke xix. 42), but there were some who, when he was among them, had knowledge of him. It is better to know that there is a prophet among us than that there has been one, Ezek. ii. 5.

2. How they brought others to Christ, by giving notice to their neighbours of Christ’s being come into those parts; They sent out into all that country. Note, those that have got the knowledge of Christ themselves, should do all they can to bring others acquainted with him too. We must not eat these spiritual morsels alone; there is in Christ enough for us all, so that there is nothing got by monopolizing. When we have opportunities of getting good to our souls, we should bring as many as we can to share with us. More than we think of would close with opportunities, if they were but called upon and invited to them. They sent into their own country, because it was their own, and they desired the welfare of it. Note, We can no better testify our love to our country than by promoting and propagating the knowledge of Christ in it. Neighbourhood is an advantage of doing good which must be improved. Those that are near to us, we should contrive to do something for, at least by our example, to bring them near to Christ.

3. What their business was with Christ; not only, perhaps not chiefly, if at all, to be taught, but to have their sick healed; They brought unto him all that were diseased. If love to Christ and his doctrine will not bring them to him, yet self-love would. Did we but rightly seek our own things, the things of our own peace and welfare, we should seek the things of Christ. We should do him honour, and please him, by deriving grace and righteousness from him. Note, Christ is the proper Person to bring the diseased to; whither should they go but to the Physician, to the Sun of Righteousness, that hath healing under his wings?

4. How they made their application to him; They besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment, v. 36. They applied themselves to him, (1.) With great importunity; they besought him. Well may we beseech to be healed, when God by his ministers beseecheth us that we will be healed. Note, The greatest favours and blessings are to be obtained from Christ by entreaty; Ask, and it shall be given. (2.) With great humility; they came to him as those that were sensible of their distance, humbly beseeching him to help them; and their desiring to touch the hem of his garment, intimates that they thought themselves unworthy that he should take any particular notice of them, that he should so much as speak to their case, much less touch them for their cure; but they will look upon it as a great favour, if he will give them leave to touch the hem of his garment. The eastern nations show respect to their princes, by kissing their sleeve, or skirt. (3.) With great assurance of the all-sufficiency of his power, not doubting but that they should be healed, even by touching the hem of his garment; that they should receive abundant communications from him by the smallest token of symbol of communion with him. They did not expect the formality of striking his hand over the place or persons diseased, as Naaman did (2 Kings v. 11); but they were sure that there was in him such an overflowing fulness of healing virtue, that they could not fail of a cure, who were but admitted near him. It was in this country and neighbourhood that the woman with the bloody issue was cured by touching the hem of his garment, and was commended for her faith (ch. ix. 20-22); and thence, probably, they took occasion to ask this. Note, The experiences of others in their attendance upon Christ may be of use both to direct and to encourage us in our attendance on him. It is good using those means and methods which others before us have sped well in the use of.

II. The fruit and success of this their application to Christ. It was not in vain that these seed of Jacob sought him, for as many as touched, were made perfectly whole. Note, 1. Christ’s cures are perfect cures. Those that he heals, he heals perfectly. He doth not do his work by halves. Though spiritual healing be not perfected at first, yet, doubtless, he that has begun the good work will perform it, Phil. i. 6. 2. There is an abundance of healing virtue in Christ for all that apply themselves to him, be they ever so many. That precious ointment which was poured on his head, ran down to the skirts of his garment, Ps. cxxxiii. 2. The least of Christ’s institutions, like the hem of his garment, is replenished with the overflowing fulness of his grace, and he is able to save to the uttermost. 3. The healing virtue that is in Christ, is put forth for the benefit of those that by a true and lively faith touch him. Christ is in heaven, but his word is nigh us, and he himself in that word. When we mix faith with the word, apply it to ourselves, depend upon it, and submit to its influences and commands, then we touch the hem of Christ’s garment. It is but thus touching, and we are made whole. On such easy terms are spiritual cures offered by him, that he may truly be said to heal freely; so that if our souls die of their wounds, it is not owing to our Physician, it is not for want of skill or will in him; but it is purely owing to ourselves. He could have healed us, he would have healed us, but we would not be healed; so that our blood will lie upon our own heads.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Gennesaret (). A rich plain four miles long and two broad. The first visit of Jesus apparently with the usual excitement at the cures. People were eager to touch the hem of Christ’s mantle like the woman in 9:20. Jesus honoured their superstitious faith and “as many as touched were made whole” ( ), completely (–) healed.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “And when they were gone over,” (kai diaperasantes) “And having crossed over,” having crossed the sea, from where they had been with and served the hungry crowds the previous late afternoon, near Bethsaida, the fish-house village on the Northeast of the Sea of Galilee.

2) “They came into the land of Gennesaret.” (eithon epi ten gen eis gennesaret) “They came upon (out upon) the land into Gennesaret,” also mentioned Mr 6:53. This was a rich plain district some four miles long and two miles wide, believed to be about half way between Capernaum and Tiberias off the West shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Mat 14:34

. They came into the country of Gennesareth. The Evangelists give that designation to the country which borrowed its name from the lake, though it is uncertain if it was not rather the name of the country that was bestowed on the lake; but that is a matter of little consequence. Our chief business is, to attend to the object which the Evangelists have in view. It is, to show that the glory of Christ was attested not by one or by another miracle, but that this part of Judea was filled with innumerable proofs of it, the report of which might easily be carried to Jerusalem and to other towns in every direction. Hence we infer, that singularly base and wicked must have been the ingratitude of that nation which wickedly shut its eyes from perceiving, and even endeavored, as far as lay in its power, to extinguish the brightness of the divine glory which was exhibited before them. Our present business is, to perceive, amidst so large an assemblage of miracles, the reason why Christ came, which was, that he might offer himself as a physician to heal all the diseases of all men (387) For we must bear in mind what Matthew had formerly quoted from the Prophet Isaiah, (Isa 53:4,) that in healing bodies he shadowed out something greater, namely, that he restores our souls to health, and that it is his peculiar office to remove spiritual diseases. (388) He is not now an inhabitant of the earth; but it is certain that, now that he is in heaven, he is authorized to bestow those favors of which he then exhibited a visible proof. Now as we labor under every kind of diseases till he heal us, let each of us not only present himself to him, but endeavor to bring others who need the same remedy.

That they might touch the fringe. There is reason to believe that they were under the influence of some superstition, when they limited the grace of Christ to a touch of his robe; at least, they defrauded him of a part of his honor, since they did not expect any efficacy (389) to be derived from his bare word. But that he may not quench the smoking flax, (Isa 42:3,) he accommodates himself to their ignorance. Yet there is nothing here that lends countenance to the views of those who seek the grace of God in wood, or nails, or robes; while Scripture expressly declares, that we have no right to form any conception respecting Christ but what is spiritual and consistent with his heavenly glory. The weakness of those who, not knowing that Christ is God, desired to make a nearer approach to him, was endured for a time. Now that he fills heaven and earth with the sweet savor of his grace, we must embrace—not with hands or eyes, but by faith—the salvation which he offers to us from heaven.

(387) “ En guairissant toutes sortes de maladies en toutes personnes;” — “by healing all kinds of diseases in all persons.”

(388) See Harmony, vol. 1, p. 251.

(389) “ Veu qu’ils n’esperoyent point de sentir aucun secours de sa vertu;” — “since they did not hope to experience any relief from his power.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat. 14:34. The land of Gennesaret.A plain two miles and a half in length and about one mile in breadth. Josephus speaks of its beauty (Wars, III. x. 8), and Dr. Robinson says, Its fertility, indeed, can hardly be exceeded.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mat. 14:34-36

Jesus on land.From the fact that this land of Gennesaret is only mentioned here and in Mar. 6:53-56, and from the parallel fact that the men who lived there do not seem to have recognised Christ at the first (Mat. 14:35), it has been thought by some that it lay outside the usual beat of the Saviour. If so, that may be why He chooses it now; being still anxious, it may be, not to come very much under the notice of Herod (see Mat. 14:1; Mat. 14:12). But even if so, we find that when He does come to this place He is the same here as elsewhere. Indeed, in some things, we here find unusual evidence of His usual mercy and power; as, for example, in the need dealt with, in the first place; the means employed, in the second; and the effect achieved in the third.

I. The need dealt with.Many things seemed to draw unusual attention to this. The unusual fertility and abundance of the neighbourhood, of which the commentaries tell us so much, from Josephus and others, would do so, to begin. Where every corner and all the growth of that garden-like land seemed to be ministering to the abundance of its inhabitants, it was the more striking and the more pathetic to find many of them in need; and in that kind of need, also, which, lying within a man, no outward wealth can supply. What signifies it to a sick man that he has the choicest of foods within reach? The largest possible supply of them leaves his necessity where it was; if it does not even go further and make its utter helplessness so much the more grievous. Further, the unusual efforts made by the men of that place to bring their sick within reach of the Saviour, tell much the same tale. Once they discovered who their Visitor was, they allowed no rest to any who could help in bringing any sick ones to His feet. No part of that region was left unvisited by them. None that were known to be sick were allowed to remain where they were. A lively proof, indeed, of the depth of the sympathy felt for their case. A sympathy shown all the more, in the last instance, by the language employed when brought near. They besought Him for His help (Mat. 14:36). They did sothey all did soalike the sick and the whole. The sick by their looks, if by nothing beyond. The whole by the extreme earnestness, by the tearfulness, of their words. Do not let these, our utterly needy ones, be without help.

II. The simplicity of the means.So far as the patients and their friends were concerned, nothing more was required, in the first instance, than that they should be brought somehow into the presence of Jesus. Only let Him know, of themonly let Him notice themnothing more was required. No external inducement. No evidence of worthiness. No appeal to vainglory. No offer of fee. All that was sought for was to move His compassion. All that was needed was to elicit His power. Nor was anything more required, in the second instance, than to be brought into contact with that. Any action of faith that sufficed to do that, sufficed to do all. Not merely the blessed person of the Saviour Himselfnot merely any part of any of the garments by which that person was clothedbut even that hem of His garment which, as it were, was little more than an appendage thereto, if touched only in that spirit, sufficed to do all. So far as the sick themselves were concerned, all who touched the border of His garment did all that was needed. That touch of faith comprised the very outside of all that was asked at their hands.

III. The perfection of the result.Two things especially are said here to impress this upon us. The first has to do with the universality of the result. There were no exceptional cases amongst the many cases brought for relief. No cases discharged only, as being less amenable than the rest. Doubtless, among so many, there were some of exceptional nature and depth. Some that would be brought, it is possible, with much less hope than the rest. Some who would say probably, and say so, moreover, not without some excuse for it, from their side of the matter, He can do nothing for me. Even such cases, howeverfrom His side of the matterwere just the same as the rest. He did for the worst there as He did for the best. The second special feature has to do with the thoroughness of these cures. They were not partial cures only, or half cures, or unfinished recoveries, or mere mitigations of evil; or of mere relief only, and not of removal; or of anything in short, at all less, in my way, of utterly banishing the whole sickness in hand. As many as touched were made perfectly whole (), were thoroughly saved (Mat. 14:36). This was true of them all. They went away from the Saviourall of them didwholly delivered from whatever evil they had brought to His feet.

We may apply the truths thus brought before us with great comfort and force, to the greater needs of our souls. He who thus did so much and so freely for the bodies of men has Himself drawn our attention to the deeper importance of their souls (see Mat. 10:28). We cannot doubt, therefore, but that He will be at least as willing to help us in this respect too. We may even argue, and that most legitimately, seeing that it was His infinite compassion only that moved Him to give such perfect relief to these touching cases of bodily suffering, that He will be even more willing, if that be possible, to give help to the soul. The deeper the necessity, the stronger the claim to such a nature as His. Nor can we doubt, on the other hand, His being in this case also, as able to help. He who was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him has obtained thereby a sufficiency of redemptive power for the very utmost of our needs (2Co. 5:21; see also Heb. 7:25). And that, such a power also, as can be secured by us by the simple exercise of faith, provided only and of course that it be faith, and not a mere substitute only for that simplest and yet most precious of gifts.

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat. 14:34-36. Miracles by wholesale.

I. The forwardness and faith of the men of that place.These were more noble than the Gergesenes, their neighbours, who were borderers upon the same lake. Those besought Christ to depart from themthey had no occasion for Him; these besought Him to help them, they had need of Him. Christ reckons it the greatest honour we can do Him to make use of Him. Here we are told:

1. How the men of that place were brought to Christ.They had knowledge of Him. If Christ were better known He would not be neglected as He is. The discerning of the day of our opportunities is a good step towards the improvement of it.

2. How they brought others to Christ.By giving notice to their neighbours of Christs being come into those parts, (Mat. 14:35). There is in Christ enough for all, so there is nothing got by monopolising. Neighbourhood is an advantage of doing good which must be improved.

3. What their business was with Christ.They brought unto Him all that were diseased.

4. How they made their application to Him (Mat. 14:36).

(1) With great importunity.
(2) With great humility.
(3) With great assurance of the all-sufficiency of His power.

II. The fruit and success of their application to Christ.

1. Christs cures are perfect cures.

2. There is abundance of healing virtue in Christ for all that apply to Him, be they never so many.

3. The healing virtue there is in Christ is put forth for the benefit of those that by a true and lively faith touch Him.Matthew Henry.

Mat. 14:36. The great Healer.As many as touched, etc. Our Lords miracles of healing had a twofold import; they were credentials of His Divine authority and also representations of the higher work He had come to do for the world. Physical disease is a type of moral disorder, and as Jesus dealt effectually with the one, so can He with the other.

I. Mans moral condition may be represented as one of disease.A state of disease is an abnormal state. This disease a very terrible one.

1. It is asold and as extensive as the race.

2. It affects the entire man.

(1) To this evil are to be referred the infirmities and deformities, the pains and sicknesses, that afflict the body and eventually bring it down to the grave. The physical evils from which many suffer are the direct fruit of their own wrong-doing. Infants suffer by reason of the solidarity of the race. Moral evil the root from which all physical evils spring.

(2) And the immaterial part of man is affected by this terrible malady as wellhis intellectual and spiritual nature, his mind and his soul. The understanding is impaired and darkened (Eph. 4:18; 1Co. 2:14). The judgment is deranged. The will perverse and obstinate. The affections turned from God, their true Object (Rom. 8:7). The conscience so affected that a man may act conscientiously and yet do wrong (Joh. 16:2; Act. 26:9). A loadstone near the needle may turn a ship out of its course. The memory has much greater affinity for what is evil than for what is good. And the imagination is ever deluding the soul. In addition to all this, man is insensible to his true condition. Sin affects the very organ by which itself can be detected.

3. It is a most virulent and contaminating disease.Like physical disorders, it has its stages. The worst man living might become worse still. Every sinner gives out an influence which is calculated to call forth into evil deed the latent evil slumbering in the natures of those around him. It is useless for a man to say I will keep my bad habits to myself; they shall affect no one else. There is a force in a mans evil example that must affect others, and that is calculated to draw out the depravity of their hearts in the same direction and make them like himself (Ecc. 9:18; 1Co. 15:33).

4. Left to run its course it must in every case terminate fatally.Man insensible to his condition. But if fully alive to his state would be powerless to help himself. Without strength. Nor is there any tendency to reaction or convalescence (Jer. 13:23; Jas. 1:15).

II. There is a fulness of healing virtue in Jesus Christ.He is the only physician who can deal effectually with mans case. The worlds specifics for the regeneration of society are good as far as they go, but not radical enough. E.g. Education, socialism, etc. But Jesus Christ is equal to the task of removing this disease in its most malignant forms (see Tit. 2:14; Php. 3:20-21, etc.).

III. The healing virtue which dwells in Jesus Christ is available for every sincere and earnest applicant.The diseased ones spoken of in the text were brought to Jesus by others, but they themselves touched Him. This implies:

1. That they were distressed about this diseased condition and anxious to be cured.Though the great moral malady renders its subjects insensible to their true state, a gracious, Divine influence is exerted upon their minds for the purpose of discovering to them their depravity and sin, and of leading them to the great Healer. If not healed, the fault is your own. You have received light, but have not improved ithave not thought on your waysThis is the condemnation, that light etc.

The deaf may hear the Saviours voice,
The fettered tongue its silence break;
But the deaf heart, the dumb by choice,
The laggard soul that will not wake,
The guilt that scorns to be forgiven,
These baffle een the spells of heaven.

2. That they had faith, more or less strong, in Christs ability and willingness to heal them.So we must not only cast away all expectation of being healed by any other, but must cherish the assurance that Christ is both able and willing to make us whole. Not that we must remain from Him until the assurance becomes strong. The all-important matter is to get to Christ and, I say, it is a sense of His ability and willingness to heal and save as well as a sense of need that brings the sinner to Him.

3. They were healed by a most simple method.A touch opened the communication between the springs of healing virtue that dwelt in Christ and their poor diseased selves. They could not boast of what they had done. All the glory of this work of healing was Christs. So in salvation (Rom. 4:16). Believe! Live by faith, and a complete cure shall be wrought in thee!H. M. Booth.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Section 35

JESUS HEALS SOME SICK AT GENNESARET (Parallel: Mar. 6:53-56)

TEXT: 14:3436

34 And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, unto Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place knew him, they sent into all that region round about, and brought unto him all that were sick; 36 and they besought him that they might only touch the border of his garment: and as many as touched were made whole.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

Jesus original purpose for the disciples was that they sail for Bethsaida near Capernaum. How is it that they disembark so far south of that city?

If Jesus had already performed so many miracles of healing in the general area of Gennesaret, how do you account for this report of so many people needing to be healed?

What evidence of generosity do you discover in the inhabitants of Gennesaret shown in what they did?

Why do you suppose they chose the particular method by which they would be healed, i.e., why try touch only the border of His robe?

Matthew reports that as many as touched were healed. Does he mean to imply that there were others who did not come to Jesus? Did Jesus ever heal each and every diseased person in any single area of Palestine? If not, why not? If so, how do you know this?

Do you think the Apostles helped Jesus with the healing done at this time? Or did they let Jesus do all the work of healing? If they did help Jesus, what is your proof that they did? If they did not, why do you think they did not? What was their relationship to Jesus at this moment, in contrast to their work during their own first evangelistic tour in Galilee?

What do these miracles prove about Jesus?

PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY

When Jesus and His Apostles had crossed over the Sea of Galilee, they beached at the plain of Gennesaret, mooring the boat at the shore. When they disembarked, at once the people recognized Jesus. The men of that area ran through the entire neighborhood to bring to Him all the sick people on their pallets to any spot where they heard He was. Wherever He went, whether in villages, cities or in the countryside, they laid their sick in the market places, begging Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment. And as many as touched it were healed.

SUMMARY

Although it had been Jesus order to sail for Bethsaida near Capernaum after the feeding of the five thousand, the strong north-westerly winds had blown the Apostles further south, so that shortly after Jesus boarded the boat, they beached at Gennesaret. They were recognized at once by the local people who began collecting their sick along the road Jesus must travel. He healed them all, as He made His way to Capernaum.

INTRODUCTION
WHY INCLUDE THIS SECTION AND
OMIT THE CLIMAX AND COLLAPSE?

As a matter of fact Matthew and Mark pass over in silence the stunning rejection of Jesus spiritual mission by the crowds that abandoned Him after the Capernaum discourse on the Bread of Life. (Joh. 6:25-66) It would hardly be thought likely that BOTH Matthew and Mark (the interpreter of Peter) should have neglected to describe an event that must have tested their personal loyalty to the limit. Unfriendly commentators see this section as just one of Matthews almost colourless little connecting passages with no definite connection with his general presentation of the Messiah:

After a few, brief summary verses (Mat. 14:34-36), composed on the model of those which we found in Mat. 4:23-25 and in Mat. 9:35, we find the discussion with the Pharisees and the specialists in the law, placed here because it belongs to the section on the bread.

This comment by Cuminetti (Matteo, 220), while reducing our text to a brief summation serving only a literary function, ignors the true, historico-theological editing by Matthew. His purpose is not to fill space nor simply to indicate chronological connections at this point. The very fact that two major eyewitnesses of Jesus ministry (Matthew and Peter, if we may presume to include his message as standing back of Marks Gospel) produce a version different that a third major eyewitness (John), a version which does not contradict the other two in any detail, should lead the reader to expect a difference in evaluations on the part of the witnesses, which, in fact, we have here.

Edersheim (Life, II, 636) takes the view that Matthew and Mark approach the climax and collapse of Jesus Galilean ministry from quite another angle than that of John, Whereas John deals with the critical message that widened the crevice between Jesus and the multitudes, Matthew and Mark deal with the critical position taken by Jesus that deepened the abyss between Himself and the champions of Jewish orthodoxy, the Pharisees. Edersheim endeavors, then, to harmonize the two presentations quite tightly, concluding that the reproof of the religious leaders (Matthew 15; Mark 7) preceded the Discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6). However, even a looser harmonization than he produces would still permit us to consider Matthew 15 and Mark 7 as those Evangelists treatment of Jesus deliberate conclusion of His popular ministry in Galilee. That is, even if we place the attack of the Pharisees as occurring after the Passover and return of the pilgrims to Galilee, or about two weeks after the feeding of the 5000 and the scandalous Bread of Life discourse, it could still be considered as the coup de grace of Jesus popularity.

On this basis, then, we may sense that Matthew and Mark intend only to omit the clash of popular views with those of Jesus, in order to illustrate the collision between Jewish official doctrine and the spiritual nature of Jesus doctrinal position. In effect, then, these two Evangelists do actually include the climax and collapse of Jesus popular ministry. If so, then what role does this present section play in their outline?

This section, when coupled with the following clash with the Pharisees (Mat. 15:1-20; Mar. 7:1-23) gives the impression that, while Jesus intended to sift the superficial from the serious followers (see Notes at Mat. 14:13 b), He did not ever intend to turn off the mercy of God from anyone. Rather, He kept right on showing men that God cared about them in practical ways. Thus Matthew and Mark, in this vivid scene at Gennesaret, clarify Jesus position before they record His verbal broad-sides levelled at the Pharisees representation of traditional orthodoxy.

This impression is heightened if we consider the pathos of the scene before us. Here Jesus appears only as a Healer of the sick. There is not even a suggestion that these healings were possibly accompanied by teaching. Other considerations would easily explain this absence of instruction, as for example, Jesus haste to return to Capernaum to strike the final blow to His popular following before Herod Antipas could effectively move to hinder Him, or perhaps He wanted to deliver the Bread of Life sermon before the people left for the Passover at Jerusalem, or in order to begin the private Training of the Twelve so much sooner, or in order to avoid the continuation, by a popular ministry in Gennesaret, of the very thing He must now bring to a close. Nevertheless, the sensitive reader can probably sense the grim fact that something is amiss, even in reasonably tranquil Gennesaret, because Jesus does not pause to teach this generous, solicitous folk. Why does He keep moving, pausing only long enough to cure this or that sick one and move steadily on to Capernaum? (Cf. Joh. 6:24-25; Joh. 6:29)

Is it possible that Matthew is pushing forward a theme he introduced earlier in his gospel? (Cf. Mat. 8:17; Mat. 12:18-21) Jesus is the healing Servant of Jehovah who moves steadily toward victory while steadfastly avoiding riots and demagoguery, mercifully helping the weak and making truth and righteousness to triumph. He could easily have avoided the Gennesarenes by ordering an immediate sailing to Capernaum without going overland and risking the loss of valuable time. Psychologically, then, Matthews presentation is essential to the overall picture of the Messiah, because he inks in this detail of Christs merciful kindness, before he sketches His terrible judgment of Phariseeism and rabbinical tradition.

The apologetic value of this miniature lies in its presentation of one more grand proof of Jesus right to reveal Gods message to the Jewish people, hence all the more reason why they should listen to Him, even if He turns immediately thereafter to cut official orthodoxy to pieces.

Then, conversely, the reader who reflects upon this scene and the one following, could appreciate the absolute sterility of Pharisean ideals when thrown into contrast with the concrete, down-to-earth practical human kindness exemplified by Jesus who continued showing the love of God to people who desired Him all too often for what they could get out of Him. The miserable helplessness of the Pharisees makes a striking antithesis to the vibrantly alive, openly caring and morally alert personal godliness of Jesus of Nazareth! No sooner did the Lord appear than people began to come to Him as a magnetic source of Life and Power; no sooner did the Pharisees begin to teach than the Law became an intolerable burden. Joy in righteousness began to drain out of even the simplest acts of life. (See Notes on Mat. 15:1-20.) The reader cannot miss the implication: righteousness is not something abstract and purely philosophical, but a message believed and acted upon that brings with it happiness, harmony, and healing to the soul, if not also to the body, And it is to be found in Jesus, not embalmed in tradition nor debated among the rabbis.

NOTES

Mat. 14:34 And when they had crossed over is Matthews way of concluding the incident where Jesus walked on the water, not an independent introduction to an unrelated section. Johns conclusion to the same event reads:

Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going, (Joh. 6:21; cf. Note at Mat. 14:32)

This arrangement is better than Lenskis arguments for placing this event after the Bread of Life Sermon, because the most natural connections indicated by Matthew and Mark suggest the natural conclusion of the overnight boat trip from the east side of the lake. Diapero means to cross over.

Cf. Arndt-Gingrich, 186; Rocci, 459, while admitting an extended sense: to go through in a figurative sense, however gives to pass across, to traverse, to cross, to ferry from one bank to the other as the literal meaning.

After the crossing they moored to the shore at Gennesaret. (Mar. 6:53) Lenskis view demands too much not in the text: (1) a supposed landing at Capernaum after the walking on the water, although Johns remark (Mat. 6:21) that they arrived at the land to which they were going need not mean Capernaum, as opposed to Gennesaret, but Galilee, as opposed to Gaulonitis; (2) the Bread of Life Discourse after which most of Jesus followers left Him; (3) an unrecorded sailing to Gennesaret, because Lenski used the aorist participles (diapersantes: crossed over) to cover the trip to Capernaum, leaving the sailing to Gennesaret unrecorded in Scripture. (4) Then, because the collapse at Capernaum is thought to have occurred first, the enthusiastic reception at Gennesaret, only a few miles south, is strangely inexplicable except on the supposition that Jesus had never been there and the Gennesarenes completely out of touch with events at Capernaum: The facts are more easily harmonized as follows:

Jesus walked on the water to the boat in mid-lake; called Peter to Him; walked with him back to the boat. The wind dropped (He calmed it?) and in no time at all the boat arrived on the west side of the lake. (Mat. 14:24-33; Mar. 6:47-52; Joh. 6:19-21)

The crossing concluded (diapersantes), Jesus and the Twelve find themselves immediately at the shore on the Gennesar Plain and moored the boat there. (Mar. 6:53)

Immediately recognized upon disembarking, Jesus walked through the Gennesaret region, healing as He went. (Mat. 14:35 f; Mar. 6:54-56)

He gradually made His way to Capernaum where He concluded His teaching in the synagogue. (Joh. 6:59)

Later-how much later no text informs us,Jesus was attacked by the Pharisees from Jerusalem. (Mat. 15:1-20; Mar. 7:1-23) Edersheim makes an interesting case for reversing these latter two items. (Life, II, 636)

On this view the enthusiasm of the Gennesarenes and the tolerant attitude of Jesus are perfectly explicable, because He had not yet so forcefully, nor so publicly, declared that crucial position that eventually ruined His public image in the minds of His superficial disciples.

They came to the land, unto Gennesaret. The boat came into port (prosormsthesan) presumably early in the morning after the night voyage across. The Plain of Gennesaret is located on the west side of the Galilean lake about two and a half miles south of the Capernaum-Bethsaida area, the original destination Jesus ordered the Apostles to reach when they sailed the day before. This coming to land so far south of their intended goal suggests that the wind they fought during the night blew out of the north-north-west. On the other hand, it might be rightly objected that after Jesus calmed the storm, they could have rowed (or sailed) to any destination He then chose. If so, it is interesting that He should have chosen Gennesaret: was it simply the closer shore? After breakfast did He desire to make good use of His time while deliberately staying away from Capernaum during at least the morning hours, in order to give people adequate time to collect back into Capernaum for the final show-down in the synagogue there?

Gennesaret is glowingly described by Josephus (Wars, III, 10, 8) in a paragraph that would do honors to the local tourism office of the Gennesaret Chamber of Commerce. The plain itself is about 3.7 miles long and 2.5 miles wide, but its fertility and fruitfulness more than compensate for its diminutive area. On its southeast corner was located the village of Magdala, the home of Mary the Magdalene. Was the woman whom Jesus healed of the hemorrhage also from this area? (See on Mat. 9:20-22; and note on Mat. 14:36.)

Mat. 14:35 And when the men of that place knew him, i.e., immediately recognized Him as soon as they disembarked (Mar. 6:54), they sprang into action. Their attention would have been drawn originally perhaps by the fishing boat full, not of fish, but of men. Upon closer investigation, they recognize Him who could bring instant aid to all their sick. The decision and instantaneousness of their reaction is perfectly understandable on the supposition that:

they had known Him from contacts with Him up at Capernaum, if He had never come to Gennesaret before;

they had their mind firmly decided upon this course of action in the event He should ever pass this way;

His arrival only triggered their reaction.

They sent into all that region round about and brought unto him all that were sick. Mark (Mar. 6:55 f) emphasizes the extensiveness of their preparations:

They ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was. And wherever he camein villages, cities or countrythey laid the sick in the market places, and besought him. . . .

Because the precise sequence of events from this point to the end of the Sermon on the Bread of Life and the Attack of the Jerusalem Pharisees is difficult to establish, we may assume that the urgency of these Gennesarenes is not based upon any declared intention of Jesus to be in Capernaum for the day, unless, in some unrecorded statement of His, He had warned them to hurry because of His scheduled stop in Capernaum. If Marks language, that speaks of a considerable healing ministry, seems too elaborate for one days activity, as if Jesus needed to spend more than one day in the Gennesaret area to accomplish all that is here affirmed, it must be remembered that John did not specify that the people found Jesus on the day following the miracle of the loaves. We merely interpret it so. (Joh. 6:22; Joh. 6:25) John may not have intended the tight chronological connection we think we see. However, Marks language is not objectively overstating the case, because, by planning His itinerary carefully, Jesus could well have worked His way through lots of people all the way from Magdala, at the south end of the Gennesaret Plain, clear to Capernaum, two and a half miles north of it, arriving at the synagogue in time for His decisive sermon on the Bread of Life,all on the same day.

What a contrast distinguishes the Gennesarenes from the Gerasenes, their neighbors on the opposite side of the Galilean Lake! Whereas the latter, upon His arrival there, fearfully rushed Jesus away (see on Mat. 8:28-34), the inhabitants of Gennesaret joyfully welcomed Him. The Gerasenes felt no need of the Lord; the men of Gennesaret not only recognized their own deep need, but also that of their sick folks at home. Marks language suggests that the Lord made a loop through the villages and towns in the Gennesaret area, making His way to Capernaum. Because His route was more or less clear to the local people, they could more easily run ahead of Him and anticipate His approach to a given point and assemble their sick there.

Mat. 14:36 And they besought him that they might only touch the border of his garment. What a contrast distinguishes the men of Gennesaret and the Nazarenes, their inland compatriots to the west! Whereas the latter were so totally indifferent to Jesus as not even to trust Him enough to ask Him to bring merciful healing to their people (see on Mat. 13:54-58), Gennesarets people gratefully rushed as many infirm people as possible to every possible point they imagined He would pass!

What a contrast between these people of Gennesaret and the woman healed at Capernaum when she touched the border of His garment: these men openly requested Jesus permission but she did not and had to be called from hiding to open discipleship and blessing. (See notes on Mat. 9:20-22.) The amazing request that they be permitted to touch His garment is the more curious, because nowhere else is it recorded that so many people desired that they be allowed to use this method to contact His power. Is it possible that news of the healing of the woman in Capernaum a short distance north of here encouraged them to request that they too be permitted to do so likewise? (Cf. by contrast Mar. 3:10; Mat. 8:8) Their magnificent respect for the Lord manifests itself, as Matthew Henry (Vol. V, 208) said it so succinctly: They approach Him

with great humility; they came to him as those that were sensible of their distance, humbly beseeching him to help them; and their desiring to touch the hem of his garment, intimates that they thought themselves unworthy that he should take any particular notice of them, that he should so much as speak to their case, much less touch them for their cure; but they will look upon it as a great favour, if he will give them leave to touch but the hem of his garment. . . . With great assurance of the all-sufficiency of his power, not doubting but that they should be healed, even by touching the hem of his garment; that they receive abundant communications from him by the smallest token or symbol of communion with him. They did not expect the formality of striking his hand over the place or persons diseased, as Naaman did (2Ki. 5:11); but they were sure that there was in him such an overflowing fulness of healing virtue, that they could not fail of a cure, who were but admitted near him.

In light of these suggestions, it is probably too low a view of their confidence in Jesus to affirm that their choice of the garment-hem by which to contact His power indicates an imperfect faith.

As many as touched were made whole. It is important to remember here that the modern expression; We are but touching the hem of the garment has nothing essential in common with this story, because that expression means to imply that we are only beginning to tap the potentiality of something. There is no connection between that notion and this story, because the people of Gennesaret experienced the full total cleansing, healing power of God by that touch, because theirs was a touch of humble, expectant, trusting faith! There is no indication whatever in the text that they would have been more greatly blessed, or would have tapped greater spiritual resources, if they had touched Jesus somewhere else, or approached Him in some other fashion. From this standpoint, Jesus granted their request with the same generosity with which He responded to Peters spontaneous proposal to come to Him on the water. His permission must not be construed as the superior condescension to ignorance and superstition, as if they thought His tassels to possess some magical power. It is, rather, His friendly bending to an enlightened request made in a climate of confidence. Who would not want to work with people like that? But these very open-hearted people will stand out in sharp contrast with the beady-eyed, narrow-minded, small-souled Pharisees and their selfish, contracted religion in the next section.

FACT QUESTIONS

What major events precede this incident?

What major sermon follows this incident?

How had Jesus and His disciples come to Gennesaret?

Locate the plain of Gennesaret and describe it.

Analyze the attitude of the inhabitants of this area toward Jesus.

How many people did Jesus heal in this area?

What method of healing did the people themselves prefer that He use?

Trace the general travel plan of Jesus from the time He left the Capernaum area by boat until He returned there. (Joh. 6:59)

EXPOSITORY SERMON:

JESUS CAME TO OUR TOWN

I. THE DEPTH OF OUR NEED (Mat. 14:35)

Gennesaret, however fertile, however fruitful, could not assuage the grief and heal the sick with its choicest food within their reach! Environment, however fine, is not everything!

So, upon His disembarking in our country we recognized Him.

We recognized that our day of opportunity had come.

Jesus had evangelized elsewhere in Galilee, but this was His first real visit, and perhaps His last, in Gennesaret, for all we knew, so we must seize the moment.

Application: Jesus was recognized because He was known; He was trusted and appealed to, because He was known. Men will be able to appeal to Him only to the extent that they KNOW Him. If His disciples neglect to make Him known, how can men call upon Him? (Rom. 10:14-17)

Our men spread the good word that the Great Healer had come to our land.

We knew that Jesus power was great enough to be shared with all.

We chose not to monopolize Jesus on the beach, but share Him in the neighborhood.

Unselfishly and quickly, our sick were assembled along His route in order not to have to ask Him to turn aside for anyone.

Application: If you have tested the goodness and power of Christ, you too will want to take the trouble to share that goodness with everyone around you, bringing them to Him to be saved, We can show no better love to our own people than by opening up to them all the benefits of the knowledge and power of Christ!

II. THE TRUSTING HUMILITY OF OUR APPROACH (Mat. 14:36 a)

We brought nothing to Jesus when we let Him know of our need:

No external inducements were offered Him, except the reality and extent of our need, to stir His compassion.

No certificates of faithful attendance at synagogue were offered as proof of our worthinessthose who approach this holy Lord must do so out of real humility!

We made no appeals to His pride; ours was an appeal to His mercy and an appeal that was fully confident of and totally dependent upon His power.

We offered Him no money: what earthly treasure could we pay to equal the value received when He turned the miraculous power of God to bless and heal us?

All we sought was the privilege to bring our sick into contact with His power.

Application: This is the only approach acceptable to Jesus Christ: we have no righteousness worth mentioning and must depend entirely upon His grace!

III. THE SIMPLICITY OF HIS METHOD: a mere touch of the tassel on His robe! (Mat. 14:36)

We knew that there was no particular efficacy in the robe itself, but in the Lord whose robe it was.

What an amazing condescension to the desires of this humble people!

This request is the more astonishing because of its universality: was the woman who had been healed earlier of the twelve-year hemorrhage from this area? (See on Mat. 9:20-22.) At any rate, had news of her healing encouraged these people to request that they too be permitted, in faith, to touch His tassel?

Application: While we should beware of mindless imitation of the formal patterns of someone elses successful approaches to Christ, yet their experiences can be valuable encouragement to us too. We may well make use of those methods of devotion which others before us have found so rewarding, i.e., Bible reading, regular prayer, fasting, giving, etc. Even so, we must choose among those means He has promised to honor, if we would come to Him and be blessed. Nevertheless, we must never despise even the humblest approach: some must look upon a brazen serpent to live, others must paint blood on doorposts, others must be immersed in water, others touched His garment, but all who did were blessed. And those who did not?

IV. THE COMPLETENESS OF HIS RESULTS (Mat. 14:36 b)

The sick were universally healed:

There were none who were given only temporary relief.

There were none whose complaint was rejected as too difficult for Jesus to correct.

There were none who went away hopeless, saying He could not help them.

All were thoroughly cured: Jesus stopped nothing short of banishing all existing sickness out of our land in the case of everyone brought to Him!

Application: He who can miraculously heal the body proves by that act that He can save our souls too. (Cf. Mat. 9:6; Mat. 12:28; Mat. 11:2-5) If a word or a touch can heal our bodies, our trust in His powerful word can bring healing to our sin-sick spirit, if we but earnestly turn to Him to request and so receive His gracious blessing! (Php. 1:6) If He can save the chief of sinners, He can save the tribe! (1Ti. 1:15-16) He is able to save for all time those who come to God through Him! (Heb. 7:25; 2Co. 5:21)

CONCLUSION:

In that day of judgment, will the men of Gennesaret stand up and condemn our generation, for they graciously and gladly brought their sick to the great Physician, whereas we could bring our friends and neighbors to the Prince of Life, so that they may have eternal salvation, but we have not done it? Are we consistently anxious for the whole neighborhood to have the joy of preparation for Jesus coming to our world?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Section 36. Jesus Debates With Jerusalem Pharisees about the Elders Traditions (Mat. 15:1-20)

Section 37. Jesus Liberates Syrophoenician Womans Daughter (Mat. 15:21-28)

Section 38. Jesus Feeds 4000 and Heals Many of Decapolis (Mat. 15:29-39)

STUDY OUTLINE

I. JESUS DEBATES WITH JERUSALEM PHARISEES ABOUT THE ELDERS TRADITIONS (Mat. 15:1-20; Mar. 7:1-23)

The attack led by the Pharisees (Mat. 15:1 f; Mar. 7:1-5): You break our rules !

Jesus counterattacks (Mat. 15:3-20; Mar. 7:6-23)

Before the Pharisees themselves (Mat. 15:3-9; Mar. 7:6-13): You break Gods Law to keep your rules!

Before the multitudes (Mat. 15:10 f; Mar. 7:14-17): Real defilement is not external, but spiritual!

Before the disciples privately (Mat. 15:12-20; Mar. 7:17-23):

Human tradition does not possess Gods authority, so will finally be eradicated.

Nothing eaten affects the soul; defilement proceeds from an unregenerate heart.

Sin defiles man like no ceremonies, foods or other externals ever could.

II.

JESUS LIBERATES A SYROPHOENICIAN WOMANS DAUGHTER (Mat. 15:21-28; Mar. 7:24-30)

Situation: Jesus desires privacy (Mat. 15:21; Mar. 7:24)

The Request by faith (Mat. 15:22; Mar. 7:25 f)

She came out of the depth of her distress.

She came despite the distinct disadvantages of her position.

She came despite her meager knowledge of Jesus.

The Relentlessness of faith (Mat. 15:23-27; Mar. 7:27 f)

Her resolution undaunted by Jesus seeming indifference.

Her resilience seen in her steady good humor despite desperation

Her reserve seen in her proper humility. D. The Rewarding of faith (Mat. 15:28; Mar. 7:29 f)

III.

JESUS FEEDS 4000 AND HEALS MANY OF DECAPOLIS (Mat. 15:29-39; Mar. 7:31 to Mar. 8:10)

Situation: Journey through Decapolis from Tyre and Sidon to Lake Galilee (Mat. 15:29; Mar. 7:31)

Many miracles of healing (Mat. 15:30 f; Mar. 7:32-37)

Jesus feeds the 4000 (Mat. 15:32-39; Mar. 8:1-10)

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(34) They came into the land of Gennesaret.The name, possibly a corruption of the older Chinneroth (Num. 34:11; Jos. 11:2; Jos. 12:3), belonged to the western shore of the lake to which it gave one of its titles, and included Capernaum, to which, as we learn from Joh. 6:17; Joh. 6:24, the disciples were steering. The region was one of singular fertility (the name has been explained as meaning the Garden of Sharon), and was then one of the most populous districts of Palestine.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

34. Land of Gennesaret The plain of Gennesaret. It is on the western side of the lake, immediately south of Capernaum. It is described by Josephus as having been a spot where nature was ambitious of lavishing her finest powers. Dr. Olin thus describes it: “This plain, which I think is about four miles in length by two and a half in breadth, is bounded eastward by the sea, and on the west by the mountains, which recede from the shore to Mejdal, and having made the compass of that side of the plain, again returns to the beach at its northern end. The two extremities of the plain are thus contracted to a point, while the western boundary along the mountain is curved, and the eastern on the sea is a nearly straight line. The soil is of a dark colour, very deep, and evidently of the greatest fertility.”

Over this beautiful plain our Lord and his disciples often walked, and there he uttered many of his discourses, drawing his illustrations from the varied scenes of earth, sea, and sky around him. As it lies south of Capernaum, the disciples, who started first toward Bethsaida for Capernaum, must have been driven far out of their course.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, to Gennesaret.’

We can only imagine the awe of the remainder of that voyage. They would never see Jesus in quite the same way again, for they now had a deeper awareness that He was, in some way that they did not understand, ‘on the divine side of reality’. But eventually they reached land, at Gennesaret, a plain on the north west shores of the Sea of Galilee, although there may have been a village which also bore the name. Up to this point, apart from Capernaum which had become Jesus’ home base, landing places after storms appear to be the only places that Matthew has identified during Jesus’ ministry (compare Mat 8:28, see also Mat 15:39). It is as though he remembered these places because he had felt grateful to be ashore again on firm ground. He was after all a tax-gatherer, not a sailor. For the whole see Mar 6:53-56.

Previously when He had ‘crossed over’ He had gone to ‘His own city’ (Mat 9:1). Perhaps the implication is intended that Capernaum is now also no longer His home. He now has no home (Mat 12:46-50; Mat 13:53-58). People must come to Him where He is.

Note on Peter.

The picture given of Peter fits in with all that we know about him, Peter the impetuous, Peter the determined, Peter the expectant, Peter the bold, Peter the failing, Peter who never lets go. He stands out in the Gospel as a leading light among the Apostles, but as one who through his impetuosity often did or said the wrong thing, which is regularly why he is mentioned. Always he leads the way, and regularly he finishes up with egg on his face. (In most groups there is someone like that). Here he ventures to walk on the sea at his own suggestion and ends up half drowning. Elsewhere He boldly asserts that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, and then tries to tell the Son of the Living God what to do, with the result that he ends up by being likened in his behaviour to Satan (Mat 16:16; Mat 16:22-23). He is privileged to be on the Mount of Transfiguration, but, feeling that he has to do something, makes an inane suggestion (Mat 17:4), and is left speechless and flat on his face (Mat 17:6), with his suggestion simply ignored. He boldly declares that he will never fail Jesus (Mat 26:33), and fails Him three times (Mat 26:69-75). Yet no one else would have even thought of venturing on the sea, no one else at the time had the courage to react to what Jesus was saying at all, no one else (apart from the one known to the High Priestly family) ventured to follow Jesus into the High Priest’s courtyard. Once his faith was made stronger his impetuosity and boldness would serve the church well. In any group there is usually a character, and Peter was that character.

Along with James and John he is selected out for the purpose of beholding special incidents (the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration, the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane), and he alone, as representative of all God’s true people, is conjoined with Jesus in being declared to be sons of God and therefore not due to be treated only as subjects liable to the Temple tax (Mat 17:24-27).

Nevertheless he is never appointed their leader. Nor does he ever make such a claim. And while he is prominent in Acts, the Apostles are on the whole all seen to act together, while when Paul speaks of those ‘reputed to be pillars’ he lists them as ‘James (the Lord’s brother), Cephas (Peter) and John’ (Gal 2:9) in that order. It was just that his character constantly brought him to the front, and resulted in him being chosen to make the first moves towards both Jews and Gentiles.

End of note.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Heals the Multitudes in Gennesaret ( Mar 6:53-56 ) Mat 14:34-36 tells us of how Jesus healed many that were sick in the land of Gennesaret. The people of the region of Galilee received His ministry and were healed as a result.

Mat 14:36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

Mat 14:36 Comments – We can see that the people had faith in Jesus, so that He might heal them. Since we cannot believe beyond our knowledge of God’s Word, we see that these people “had knowledge of Him.” This means that when they heard about Him, they believed He had the power to heal them. Therefore, they sought to touch Him, just as the woman of issue of blood sought Him and touch He to receive her healing.

Why was the anointing released to only one woman when a crowd of people were pressing against Jesus in Mar 5:30-34? We see the answer in verse 33 when Jesus said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” It is our faith in God that releases the anointing.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Safe arrival:

v. 34. And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

v. 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,

v. 36. and besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

The distance from the shore still remaining was covered in a moment of time, Joh 6:21. Both space and time are in the control of this Man, to whom has been given the fullness of divine power. They landed in the district of Gennesaret, a rich plain about four miles long and two broad. As soon as Jesus was recognized by some of the natives, they spread the news in all directions, and there was a repetition of former days. From all sides came such as brought to Him patients with every form and in every stage of disease. So fully were they convinced of His power to work miracles that they begged leave merely to touch the hem, or fringe, of His garment, which He wore according to Jewish custom; See chapter 9:20. A mere passing touch they felt to be sufficient as He hurried by. And they are not disappointed, since the touch of faith brings an immediate, complete cure. Even so all those that rely upon the power of God in the Word, though they thus touch merely His garment’s hem, shall find their sins forgiven through the merits of their Redeemer.

Summary. Jesus, after hearing of the execution of John the Baptist, which the evangelist relates, crosses the Sea of Galilee, feeds five thousand, spends a large part of the night in prayer, walks on the sea, and performs miracles of healing in the district of Gennesaret.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 14:34. They came into the land of Gennesaret The land of Gennesaret was a large tract of ground on the western shore of the lake, in part of which Capernaum appears to have been situated; for though St. Matthew and St. Mark only speak of their coming to the land of Gennesaret, and putting to shore there, (See Mar 6:53.) it is plain from St. John’s account, that Jesus, at his landing, came to Capernaum; for it was there the people found him, who followed in the morning to the other side of the sea. See Doddridge; and compare Joh 6:22; Joh 6:24; Joh 6:59.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 14:34 . Comp. Mar 6:53 ff. .] that beautiful district of Lower Galilee, stretching along the border of the lake, and measuring thirty stadia in length by twenty in breadth, Josephus, Antt . iii. 10. 8, the el Guweir of the present day; Ewald, Gesch. Chr. p. 334; Furer in Schenkel’s Bibellex . II. p. 324.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

C. CHRIST MANIFESTS HIMSELF AS THE HIGH PRIEST IN HIS SUFFERINGS; BEING REJECTED BY THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES OF JERUSALEM, OR THE THEOLOGICAL AUTHORITIES OF THE SCHOOLS

Mat 14:34-36, Mat 15:1-38

Contents:Secret landing of the Lord in Galilee, and His recognition. Accusation of the deputation from the synagogue at Jerusalem, that His disciples transgressed the traditions. Reply of Jesus, and rebuke addressed to the Pharisees of Galilee. Christs teaching to the disciples in reference to tradition. Jesus journeying into the heathen country of Tyre and Sidon, and the woman of Canaan. Second miraculous feeding of the multitude; or, second realm in the desert, as contrasted with that of the spiritual authorities, which allowed the people to perish from want.

1. The deputation from Jerusalem, and the rebuke of Jesus addressed to the Pharisees of Galilee. Christs teaching to the disciples in reference to tradition. Mat 14:34-36; Mat 15:1-20

Mat 14:34 And when they were gone [had passed] over,31 they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place had knowledge of him,32 they sent out into all that country round about,33 and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36And besought him that they might only touch the hem [fringe]34 of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.35

Mat 15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees which [who] were of Jerusalem,36 saying, 2Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by [because of]37 your tradition? 4For God commanded, saying,38 Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death [surely die].[39] 5But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his[40] father or his10 mother, It is a gift [devoted to God, a sacrifice], by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.41 Thus have ye made the commandment [law]42 of God of none [no] effect by [because of] your 7tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias [Isaiah] prophesy of you, saying, 8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth,43 and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. [Isa 29:13.] 9But in vain they do worship me, 10teaching for [as] doctrines the commandments of men. And [then] he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a [the] man [i. e., makes him legally unclean]; but that which cometh out of the month, this defileth a [the] man. 12Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14Let them alone: they be [are, ] blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall [will] fall into the ditch. 15Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17Do not ye yet [Do ye not],44 understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false 20witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a [the] man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a [the]45 man.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mat 14:34. Into the land of Gennesaret.As the time of persecution had commenced, they probably landed on a retired part of the coast. This appears, 1. from the manner in which the place where they landed is described; 2. from the circumstance that the people of that place brought sick persons from the scattered houses in the district, and that, according to Mark, Jesus passed through villages and towns before He appeared in the synagogue at Capernaum; while, lastly, this view is also supported by the analogous account of the landing, contained in Mat 15:39. The designation, land of Gennesaret, Mar 6:53, was given to the western shore of the lake; from which, indeed, the latter derived its name. According to Josephus (De Bello Judges 3, 10, 8), the district extended 30 furlongs in length and 20 in breadth, so that it must have comprised only a part of the western shore. Robinson (ii. p. 400) suggests that it extended from Khn Minyeh on the north to Mejdel on the south; in which case it would nearly embrace the modern district of el-Ghuweir, or the Little Ghr. According to Josephus, the climate of this district was very mild, and the soil fertile.

Mat 14:35. And when the men of that place had knowledge of Him.Meanwhile morning had dawned, and Jesus was immediately recognized by the people.

Mat 14:36. The fringe of His garment.Comp. Mat 9:20. Christ merely passed through the district, and the haste of His journey accounts for the manner in which the cures were performed; the expression being at the same time symbolical, and indicating on the one hand the most passing touch, and on the other the strong faith of the people in that district. We might almost have expected that tradition would have laid the scene of healing the woman with the issue of blood in the country of Gennesaret instead of at Paneas. If that woman lived here after she was restored, we may perhaps conjecture that ever afterward special importance attached in the mind of the people to this mode of healing. But we must remind the reader that Jesus passed through the lower district of the sea-shore when He performed that miracle.

Mat 15:1. Then met Jesus, etc.The following three sections (about the washing of hands, the woman of Canaan, and the second feeding of the multitude) are only related by Matthew and by Mark. Between these events and those formerly related, we must insert the address of Jesus, in the synagogue at Capernaum, concerning the manna of heaven (Joh 6:22-71), as also the festival of Easter, which, according to John 6, was close at hand, even at the first feeding of the multitude. From Luk 10:38, we would infer that Jesus had on that occasion tarried in Bethany, while the disciples went on to Jerusalem. In the Jewish capital, the disciples seem to have given offence by their bold statements and by the evangelical liberty of their conduct. Hence Jesus was now charged with heresy in Galilee, and was watched in the field. Then followed the healing of the man with the withered hand, and of him who was possessed with a blind and dumb devil, the last conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees of Galilee, the parables and probably the events recorded in Luk 13:1-9; Luk 13:11-17. Meantime, the deputation of Pharisees and scribes, with which our section opens, had arrived from Jerusalem; having been despatched partly on account of the offence which the disciples had given in the holy city, and partly on account of the report of the Pharisees of Galilee, to the effect that Jesus was too powerful for them, and that they required assistance from the capital.The arrangement of Matthew follows the order of things more than of time. After having related how the Lord was repelled by the ruler of Galilee, he now records the conflict between Jesus and the supreme authorities of the synagogue.

The Pharisees and Scribes.With the article.[1] We adopt the arrangement of Codd. B., D., Orig., etc., by which the Pharisees are mentioned before the scribes, although this is opposed by Lachmann and Tischendorf. The persecution at Jerusalem originated with the Pharisees, the scribes having given it a proper legal form in the shape of a deputation from the synagogue. This is no doubt indicated by the use of the article, and not, as Meyer supposes, the scribes who lived in Jerusalem and had come thence. The deputation represented the whole body of the Pharisees and scribes in Jerusalem. There are references to several such deputations in the New Testament.

Mat 15:2. Why do Thy disciples transgress?Referring to the occasion to which we have above alluded. The charge is at first urged in a cautious manner, although the Master is made responsible for the supposed transgressions of His disciples.The tradition, .A new and more dangerous mode of attack. Hitherto they had only charged Him with violating the Sabbath, or with supposed transgressions of the law itself. But now they based their accusations upon tradition, as of acknowledged authority. The miraculous cures of Jesus and His teaching might be urged in answer to their charges of violation of the law; but the disciples were apparently, transgressing the traditions without any excuse for it. The , . Hesychius. See the Sermon on the Mount. Within the circle of His disciples, Jesus had from the first declared Himself opposed to traditions, but their renunciation on the part of His followers had only of late appeared. This charge of the Pharisees is illustrated by the following extract. Meyer: The Jews attached greater value to tradition than even to the written law, appealing in support of it to Deu 4:14; Deu 17:10. More especially did they pay respect to the traditionary injunction of washing the hands before meals, to which it was thought Lev 15:11 referred. See Lightfoot, Schttgen, and Wetstein on the passage. Jesus did not reject this, tradition, viewing it merely as a custom (which was also common among the Persians, Greeks, and Romans). He only refused to recognize it as a binding or religious ordinance, and hence omitted it in urgent circumstances. The whole passage may be regarded as throwing a peculiar light upon the history of Pharisaism, with its hedge around the law, and upon that of the Sanhedrin and of the Talmud.

Of the elders.Fritzsche: The teachers of the law. Meyer: Our ancestors, with special reference to Heb 11:2. But we must not forget that the official of the Sanhedrin and of the synagogues were the theocratic authorities which administered and sanctioned the traditions of their ancestors.

Mat 15:4. Let him die the death.In the original Hbrew: , he shall surely die. The Sept. renders it, he shall end by death (by execution): .

Mat 15:5. But ye say.The change of the verb deserves notice. It is a gift, , , a sacrifice or gift to the temple. There are two significant omissions in the phraseology of the text. 1. or is omitted. If a person merely pronounced the word Corban over any possession or property, it was irrevocably dedicated to the temple. Thus it became a kind of interdict. Compare Lightfoot, von Ammon ii. 226. Mishna, , de votis. Joseph. Contr. Ap. 1, 22.2. But ye say, or make the tradition, Whosoever shall say to his father, or his mother, It is a gift! that with which thou mightest be assisted by me, Here Jesus breaks off and allows His opponents to state their own conclusion, which was as follows: he is free of his duty as a child. The Lord seems unwilling to draw, or at least to state, the sinful conclusion at which Pharisaism had arrived. Hence the aposiopesis, which appears most clearly in the language of Mark, is peculiarly suitable.2 Perhaps the inference might have been differently expressed by some of the Rabbins. Jesus, however, draws his own conclusion,3 which is: He will surely not honor his father or his mother. So Meyer. But Grotius, Bengel, and Winer regard this clause as being the words of the Pharisees themselves, implying: He need not honor his father, etc. But this view is improbable in itself, and contrary to the language of the text. [Not at all. Comp. my critical note 11 on Mat 15:5-6, p. 275.P. S.]

Mat 15:6. Made of no effect.More than merely transgressed. Some Rabbins (as Rabbi Eliezer) regarded the duty of children to honor their parents as higher than all the commandments. But the Jewish authorities insisted that vows, even if incompatible with this injunction, were binding.

Mat 15:7. Well (aptly, ) did Isaiah prophesy of you. Isa 29:13.Not in the sense of natural inspiration (de Wette), nor of prediction in the strictest sense (Meyer), nor merely of application (Maldonatus); but as in Mat 13:14 sqq. with special reference to Isaiah 6. We have here the other aspect of the hardening to which the prophet referred, in the shape of a pretended sanctity. As the statement of Isaiah in reference to the hardening of his cotemporaries was completely fulfilled in the cotemporaries of Jesus, so also his statement about their pretended sanctity; in other words, his verbal prophecy about his cotemporaries was, in this respect also, a typical prophecy of the times of Jesus.

Mat 15:9. In vain, .Meyer explains the expression as implying that it was fruitless (without moral result) and groundless (temere). In our opinion, it expresses the idea of emptiness or vanity, which includes groundlessness in point of principle, and fruitlessness so far as results were concerned. The Hebrew text has no expression corresponding to this ; but the Sept. may probably have translated from another reading.

Mat 15:10. Then He called the multitude.The Saviour turns away from these hypocrites, whose questions about the washing of the hands He does not even condescend to answer, since out of their own mouths they were convinced of making the commandments of God of no effect. Christ now turns to the people, and instructs them in the difference between Levitical and real defilement.

Mat 15:11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth;i.e., with reference to the relation between Levitical defilement and the , or profanus, in the real sense of the term. The Lord presents the Levitical idea of impurity in a moral light. The question is notto take the present instanceto be decided by the physical mouth (or the use of certain meats), but by the moral mouth (or the language). What is here said concerning the going into and coming out of the mouth, applies to the whole series of Levitical and moral injunctions concerning purity. The statement was in the first place, indeed, intended as a justification of His disciples on the charge brought against them by the Pharisees. But the inference was obvious, that all these injunctions required to be fulfilled in a higher sense (although this did not imply that the Lord denied their validity as Levitical ordinances). As a matter of course, when the symbol would be completely fulfilled, its outward representation must fall to the ground.

Mat 15:12. After they heard this saying.This remark is commonly referred to Mat 15:3-9. But we would rather apply it, with Euthym. Zigab, to Mat 15:11. Meyer. It is, indeed, quite true that it would have been impossible for them to have replied to Mat 15:3-9, while in answer to Mat 15:11 they might bring against Him the charge of subverting not only tradition, but even the written law. Still, their anger about His application to them of the prophecy of Isaiah must have increased their resentment and offence at His . Nor must we here omit to observe the moral distinction between giving offence to the Pharisees and to the least of the disciples.

Mat 15:13. Every plant.Referring to the teaching and the traditions of the Pharisees (Ewald, Meyer, etc.), not to their persons (Fritzsche, Olshausen, de Wette). At the same time, we should also bear in mind what was said in Matthew 13 about the identification of individuals with the doctrines which they professed.

Mat 15:14. Into the ditch.The cistern. Meyer supposes that the expression refers to Gehenna, implying that they were hopelessly lost. But, in our opinion, it primarily applies to historical and national, not to personal judgments. We infer this from the fact, that both classes of the blind are said to fall into the ditch,those who feel their need of being guided (or the people), as well as those who think they see, and assume to be leaders (sec John 9). The difference between them, however, was very great; and with reference to the Jewish people, comp. Romans 9-11.

Mat 15:15. Peter.Acting as the representative of all the disciples; see Mar 7:17.This parable.The whole discourse was parabolical, but sufficiently explained by the context, and not, as Peter seems to have supposed, a separate parable in the more limited sense of the term. It appears as if Peter had felt it difficult to distinguish between the symbol and the reality. Jesus had employed the physical as an emblem of the moral mouth, and in that particular His statement might be regarded as parabolical. But even in that respect the parabolical form had not been strictly carried out.

Mat 15:17. Do not ye understand?The place where the bodily functions are finally purified, is that where they terminate, (which, according to Suidas, designates both anum and sellam; derivatur enim . The term is evidently related to , by which the Sept. render the place where menstruous women underwent purification). But that which constitutes the true nature of man can only be cleansed if the heart, whence words and actions issue, is purified. And this is the only true purity, contrasted with which all symbolical purifications are of no value. (See above, the antithesis between mercy and sacrifice.) A symbol becomes null and void if applied against the truth which it had been intended to present to the mind. In that case its real object is lost, and it does harm instead of good. Compare here Mark.

Mat 15:19. For out of the heart proceed.The Saviour implies that evil works first pass through the channel of an evil mouth, thus disclosing the evil state of the heart.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. As the Gospel history unfolds, the gulf between the believing and the unbelieving portion of the people becomes wider. If the former would fain touch the hem of His garment in order to be restored, the latter excommunicate Him, because His disciples had offended against their traditions.
2. Let us mark the progressive hostility against the Lord. First the Pharisees of Judea, then they of Galilee, had pronounced against Him; while both are now combined against Him and His word. The expression, the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, clearly implies that they were a deputation from the synagogue, representing the whole body of the Pharisees and scribes.
3. No doubt the peculiar arrangement adopted by Matthew was intended to indicate this state of matters. Hence the description of Christs conflict with the secular authorities is followed by that of the assaults on the part of the Pharisees and scribes.
4. The increasing bitterness of His enemies appears also from the circumstance, that they now charged Him, in presence of the people, with setting at nought popular traditions. They evidently seem to have regarded the conduct of the disciples as reflecting the teaching of their Master. Hence the Lord feels called upon to set before the people the contrast between self-righteous traditionalism and the eternal commandments of God. This He illustrates in connection with the first and most special law of humanity. But the principle here laid down embraces a far wider range. It condemns all dead traditionalism which is inconsistent with life, and indeed every ecclesiastical ordinance which in spirit or in form is incompatible with the fundamental principles of our humanity, with the institutions of God, or with the demands of our moral nature.

5. The mere traditions of men are plants which our Father in heaven has not planted. They have sprung from temporal motives, were subservient to temporal interests, and became a temporal curse to those who blindly followed them. Hence also they shall at last meet with an earthly fate, and be rooted up. According to Heubner, the future tense, here used, must be regarded as implying that a certain thing must necessarily be done. But although it is quite true that Christ by His word roots up the principle of tradition in His Church, yet the actual process of uprooting will take place in the course of those judgments which the progress of history shall evolve. Comp. 1Co 3:13.

6. The antithesis between the mouth in the physical and in the moral sense involved a principle by which all the ordinances concerning meats were removed, in view of and as fulfilled by the law of the spirit. This, indeed, was the main ground of offence to the Pharisees. However, it was not the intention of the Lord to annul on this occasion these ordinances, as little as He meant to enjoin the cessation of sacrifices when He quoted the saying of the prophet, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. In the present instance also, a reference to the Hebrew expression would exhibit the right relationship between what was material and what immaterial (which had been perverted by hypocrisy), implying, as it did, that the latter was of no importance, and even contemptible, when contrasted with what in itself was material. On the symbolical import of these ordinances comp. the well known works on Old Testament Symbolism [by Bhr, Kurtz, Fairbairn], and the article Reinigkeit in Winers Bibl. Encycl. The religious lustrations prescribed in the law gave rise to the pharisaical ordinances concerning the washing of hands before meals. In His teaching the Lord goes back upon the fundamental principle of all lustrations, laying peculiar stress on the antithesis between what was external and what was internal, since the Pharisees were in danger of substituting what was intended as a symbol, for the reality to which it pointed.

7. The words of Jesus may be regarded both as a doctrinal and as a controversial statement. The charge of the Pharisees implied that He and His disciples were a company of defiled sinners. Our Lord retorts by showing that defilement really attached to the Pharisees, not in any outward sense, but by the wicked thoughts issuing from their hearts. The doctrine, that out of the heart come evil thoughts, is not inconsistent with the dogma concerning the devil, since Satan can only tempt man, not produce sin in him. Comp. Jam 1:14.

8. The moment when Christ turns from the rulers of the synagogue to address Himself to the people, is both highly significant in itself and typical. The same may be said of the fact, that immediately afterward He passed for the first time beyond the boundary of the Holy Land; not, indeed, directly into the coast of Tyre, although soon afterward into the territory of Sidon. Perhaps He found it necessary to impress upon the disciples, who as yet could not fully receive the contrast between Pharisaism and the religion of the Spirit, that the curse of defilement hung over the Holy Land. Similarly, Elijah, when he could no longer find a habitation in Judea, had passed into Phnicia, and even tarried there for a time.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The welcome and the ban which awaited the Lord on His return into His own country.The secret landing of the Lord anon a public event.The secret arrival of Christ a blessed event for the poor and needy who trusted in Him.How the Pharisees and scribes would have shut up the way of the Lord: 1. Opposing their human authority to His divine mission; 2. their vain scholastic questions to His heavenly Revelation 3. the objections of their traditionalism to His proclamation of mercy; 4. their miserable pretensions to His blessed reality; 5. their thoughts of death to His way of life.Sad decay of the once glorious synagogue.The small masters in the presence of the great Master. 1. They call on Him, who is the Judge and Saviour of the world, to rebuke His disciples; 2. to wash that hand which restores life and health; 3. to purify that mouth whose word and breath sanctify the world; 4. to hallow the meal of Him who is the bread of life.The traditionalism of the elders in its antagonism to the law of the Eternal One: 1. By a perversion of the law it dares to prefer charges against Him who is the personal law; 2. by its traditions it renders vain even the eternal commandments of God; 3. under the mask of sanctity it dares to condemn everlasting righteousness itself.Inseparable connection between zeal for traditions and hypocrisy.How the Lord brings to nought the plans of these zealots: 1. By replying to them, (a) throwing light on their doctrine; (b) on their character; 2. by turning from them, (a) giving liberty to the people by the word of liberty; (b) giving liberty to His own disciples by the call of liberty: Let them alone.Hypocrisy in its historical development: 1. What forms it assumed at the time of Isaiah 2. at the time of Christ; 3. in our own days.The unprofitableness and the judgments of hypocrisy: 1. It is a spurious service of the lips; 2. it is a vain and external service of the temple; 3. it is the vain service of the schools (unreal in the family, in the church, in the school, and in the state).Let us meet the hypocrisy of officialism by imitating the example of the Lord and turning to the people.The teaching of the Pharisees, and the doctrine of the Lord. 1. The former exalt what is sensuous above that which is spiritual, the external (as, for example, washings, fasts, prayers, almsgiving, etc.) above the internal; while Jesus sanctifies what is external by that which is internal. 2. The Pharisees convert the emblem into the reality, and thereby destroy it; while Jesus merges in and fulfils the symbol by the reality.The offence of the Pharisees.Objections to traditionalism: 1. It wants a divine origin. It has not its root in truth or in life, and hence has neither divine authority nor divine efficacy. It will give way before divine institutions (it is rooted up); it must give way before spiritual civilization, like heathenism, or like primeval forests.Let them alone ( Mat 15:13), or justification of the Reformation by the mouth of the Lord.The blind leaders of the blind. 1. What they have in common: (a) Their guilt; (b) their ultimate fate. 2. Wherein they differ: the blind leaders are responsible both for themselves and for those whom they mislead; but, on the other hand, it is equally sinful on the part of the blind to allow themselves to be led by blind leaders.The fall into the ditch.Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth into the mouth, etc.?Terrible import of these words of the Lord in regard to those who pass moral judgments upon points connected with merely outward observances.Even the mouth must be regarded as sacred to the Lord, and what it partakes becomes a spiritual feast, but only from its connection with, and dependence upon, the state of the heart.If we seek purity in external things, our purification, being of the earth, will pass away.That which proceedeth out of the mouth cometh forth from the heart.Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life, Pro 4:23.The deeds of the heart manifesting themselves by the words of the mouth.Whatever cleaves to and defaces an object contrary to its purpose, defiles it; hence the defilement of sin.The progress of that defilement which separates between the Lord and us: 1. Evil distinctions (exaltation of the outward over the inward); 2. adulteries (apostasy from the living God); 3. fornications (with the world and its pomp); 4. thefts (what is holy is taken from the Lord and given to the world); 5. false witnesses (lying accusations against what is holy); 6. blasphemies (see Matthew 12).What defileth a man before God: 1. Wherein defilement consisteth; 2. how it is contracted.How eternal purity answered the charge of defilement brought against it by impure sinners.How the wondrous beauty, purity, and delicacy of the emblem may be perverted into impurity, if it is set up in opposition to the reality which it was intended to foreshadow.

Starke:Nov. Bibl. Tub.: Those self-conceited hypocrites who boast of being the Church, are generally the worst enemies and persecutors of the kingdom of Christ. Full of impurity themselves, they represent as sin what is not sin, and spy out the liberty of Christians, Gal 2:4; 2Ti 3:5.What a shame that the name of God should be used as a pretext to cover ambition and covetousness! This the false church has always done.Quesnel: A desire for new inventions, and love for old errors and superstitions, are the fruitful source whence the disturbances of the Church spring, 1Ti 1:4-7.Cramer: This is the mark of all hypocrites and sanctimonious persons, that they treat as a matter of conscience things indifferent, while they deal lightly with things of which they should make a matter of conscience.Woe to children who would rather see the back than the face of their parents, who would rather commit them to the grave than support them!Quesnel: It is sacrilegious to devote to God what should have been given in fulfilment of duties to which the instincts of nature and the law of God equally point.Hedinger: Beware of sanctimonious people: they deceive the simple, but are ignorant of Christ.Nothing is to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, 1Ti 4:4.An unwashen mouth.The heart in its natural state a poisonous fountain of evil thoughts.Every plant, etc., 1Co 3:12.It is quite possible to be spiritually blind while possessing accurate knowledge of the letter and even outward learning, Isa 56:10.Nov. Bibl. Tub.: That which is external can neither defile nor sanctify what is within, but the mind and heart sanctify or defile the outward deed.Gossner: Lying traditions are turned into truth, and the Word of God and the truth of Christ are condemned as lies and heresies.God desires above all the heart.Look to your plants. What does not proceed from God is not tolerated by God.Preachers and hearers often lie in the same ditch of ignorance, worldliness, and pharisaical self-righteousness.

Lisco:It is characteristic of a false faith to exalt the traditions of men above the commandments of God.Gerlach:It is characteristic of sin that it cannot remain quiescent, but must manifest itself outwardly, and thereby be completed.A high reputation before men, and the applause of our cotemporaries, are of no avail in the kingdom of God if the new birth be wanting.That which is external remains such, even though a man have received it internally.

Heubner:Genuine and spurious purity.The false teachers calling the heavenly Master to account.They accuse Him of instilling into His disciples erroneous and dangerous principles.Let us not be astonished when we see the most vain and heartless persons arrogating to themselves the post of leaders in religious matters.Custom has frequently the most pernicious authority, and proves a fetter to the truth.Immense difference between the traditions of men and the commandments of God.Outward religious claims can never come into conflict with those of love.None could have been further removed from a religion without love and righteousness than Christ.Any religious or ecclesiastical usage which proves inconsistent with the law of love is an abomination unto Him.The words of the prophets always true.The human heart the same at different periods of time.Man has a natural tendency to hypocrisy.How careful are we to be outwardly pure, regardless of the state of matters within!To follow Jesus, we must be free from all human authority.The heart of man, which ought to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, naturally the dwelling-place of all abominations.

Footnotes:

[1][See my critical note 6, p. 275. Cod. Sinait likewise puts the Pharisees first.P. S.]

[2][The aposiopesis is clear in the parallel passage of Mar 7:11, after , but he omits the second clause altogether, viz. the words: () (), which create the only difficulty in our case.P. S.]

[3][This is inconsistent with the preceding remark that the Saviour was unwilling to draw or to state the conclusion of the Pharisees.P. S.]

[31] Mat 14:34.[, Ewald and Lange: da sie hinbergeschifft waren; G. Campbell: having passed over; A. Norton, Conant, and the N. T. of the A. B. U.: passing over; Rheims and Archbishop Kendrick (The Four Gospels, N. Y. 1849): having passed the water; Wiclif: whanne thei hadden passid ouer the see.P. S.]

[32] Mat 14:35.[Lange: da die Leute Ihn erkannten; Norton: when they saw who he was; Campbell, and Conant: knowing him, .P. S.]

[33] Mat 14:35.[ , into the whole neighboring country; Lange: in die ganze Umgegend; Campbell: through all that country; Conant: into all that country round (omitting only the about of the E. V.P. S.]

[34] Mat 14:36.[ correspond to the , which the Jews were directed to wear on the corners of the outer garments, Num 15:38 sq. Campbell, and Kendrick translate: tuft; Norton, and Conant: fringe; all the older English versions to A. D. Matt 1611: hemP. S.]

[35] Mat 14:36.[Campbell, Norton, and Conant drop: perfectly; but Lange retains it: (vollstndig) geheilt, ; Meyer: sie wurden durchgerettet, so dass sie sofort gesund aus der Krankheit hervorgingen.P. S.]

[36]Ch. 15, Mat 14:1.[Simpler and better with modern translators and revisers: Pharisees, and Scribes from Jerusalem (dropping: which were), even in case we retain the article before , which is omitted in the authorities of Lachmann and Tregelles, and also in Cod. Sinaiticus.P. S.]

[37] Mat 14:3.[ , or on account of, or for the sake of (Conant), but not: on the pretense of (Norton), nor: by (E. V. and Campbell). The preposition with the accusative seldom, if ever, denotes instrumentality; besides this would not suit the connection; for, as Conant correctly remarks, it was regard for tradition, as of higher worth and authority, which led them to set aside the word of God, and it is this with which they are here charged. The Vulgate correctly translates: propter traditionem vestram; the Peschito (Syriac V.) likewise; on account of your tradition; Wiclif, Rheims: for your tradition; Cranmer: because of; Tyndale and Geneva B. falsely: through, for which the Bishops B. and King James B. substituted by. All the good German versions have: um .. willen, or wegen, on account of.P. S.]

[38] Mat 14:4.[So according to the reading: . But the older reading of manuscripts, versions, and patristic citations, is , said (without commanded). So Lachm. and Tischend., while Alford retains . Lange puts geboten und (commanded and) in smaller type in parenthesis.P. S.]

[39] Mat 14:4.[ , lit: shall end by death, shall be executed, the inaccurate LXX rendering of the intensive Hebrew form , Exo 21:17; Lev 20:9.P. S.]

[40] Mat 14:5.[His before father and mother, need not be italicized; the definite article in Greek ( ) having here the force of our possessive pronoun.P. S.]

[41] Mat 14:5-6.[The translation of this somewhat difficult sentence, which is generally regarded as elliptical, but not necessarily so, depends partly on the construction (see Exeg. Notes), partly on the reading. The common text reads, Mat 14:6 : (which the E. V. co-ordinates with , as a second part of the protasis: whosoever shall say and honor not); but the majority of ancient critical authorities are in favor of the future: , either with (so Tischendorf and Alford), or without (as Lachmann and Tregelles read). The Cod. Sinait likewise omits , but reads , and inserts after the words: , which I have not seen in any other manuscript or critical apparatus (the reading is: , abridged for , etc.). The choice lies between the following explanatory translations: (1) But ye say: Whoever saith to his father or mother: A gift [i.e., it is an offering consecrated to God, and therefore not alienable to other use], whatsoever thou mightest be profited with from me [i. e., by which I might support thee]; and honor not ( , cordinate with , and second member of the protasis) his father or his mother (supply the apodosis: he shall be free, or is free, viz., from the obligation of the fifth commandment). And [words of the Saviour] ye have made the law of God of no effect, for the sake of your tradition. (2) Or, if we read () , and commence here the words of the Lord, we must translate: But ye say: Whoever saith to his father or his mother: It it a gift [i.e., an inalienable altar-offering] from which thou mightest be benefited by me, [supply the apodosis of the Pharisees: the same is not bound to honor or support his parents, since by doing so he would violate his vow, or alienate what belongs to God]. (And) he [words of Christ] shall in no wise honor his father or his mother. And thus ye have made the law of God of no effect, etc. So Meyer and Lange. But this ellipsis seems somewhat forced and unnatural. (3) Or, finally, we may regard the second clause, with Grotius, Bengel, Winer, and Conant, as the apodosis, no matter whether we read: , or . I prefer the latter (without ) as the older reading, and explain: But ye say: Whoever saith, etc., he (the same) shall in no wise honor his father or his mother. Thus have ye, etc. This explanation avoids the hypothesis of an aposiopesis and requires no supplement of an apodosis; it also retains the full force of , a strong negative asseveration, which in connection with the future expresses earnest dissuasion or positive prohibition (as in Mat 16:22 : ). If we retain we must explain it, with Winer: he too, i.e., in such a case (comp. Winers Grammatik, etc., 64 sub aposiopesis, p. 529, note: wer zu seinen Eltern spricht der braucht auchin diesem Falleseine Eltern nicht zu ehren), or rendor with Scrivener: he shall not then honor. At all events it seems to me most natural to regard the second clause as the apodosis of the Pharisees, which expresses their decision and neutralizes the fifth commandment. The Saviour thinks it unnecessary to refute them and simply states the result: Thus ye have made the law if God of no effect.Conant observes, that the ellipsis in the Common Version: he shall be free, is supplied from Bezas Latin Version: insons erit, and is one of the many evidences of its influence (often injurious) on King James revisers.P. S.]

[42] Mat 14:6.[The authorities are divided between , the commandment, , the law (Tischend., Alford), and , the word (Lachm. and Tregelles.P. S.]

[43] Mat 14:8.The words of the text. rec.: , are wanting in the oldest authorities [including Cod. Sinait.], and omitted in all critical editions [since Griesbach]. Probably an insertion from the Septuagint.

[44] Mat 14:17.[Leave out yet. The best authorities and editions read , not, for , not yet. Dr. Lange includes such, yet, in parenthesis.P. S.]

[45] Mat 14:20.[The Greek has always the definite article before in this section, and the E. Vers, thus renders it in Mat 14:18 : defile the man.P. S.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

“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.”

How delightful is it to behold Jesus, in those interesting moments, When fulfilling the Prophet’s prediction of him. It was one mark of his divine character, to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people. And here we behold the corresponding testimony Isa 35:4-6 ; Luk 4:17-18 . But what I beg the Reader more particularly to observe, in this account of Christ, is, how fully it manifested his character as the God-man Messiah. Think, Reader, I beseach you, what an endearing representation this is of Jesus, that by his living so many years in this world as we do, and combating with the same exercises as we combat with; how blessedly suited he was, having borne our sins, and carried our sorrows, to sooth the sorrows in others, which he bore himself. Oh! how suited also now in glory, to recollect in his own trials what he felt, and to feel for others. The Apostle makes this the very basis of all comfort. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted: he knoweth how to succour them that are tempted. Heb 2:18 .

Reader! let us gather a short lesson from the history of John the Baptist. To look at John, when falling a sacrifice at the instigation of a worthless woman, and to overlook the Lord in the appointment, is to consider second causes, and not the first; and very sure will it be, that we shall then make wrong conclusions. Here is a faithful servant of the Lord, borne down by oppression; and here is an incestuous woman triumphing in the godly man’s death. But what follows? Aye, there’s the grand concern. Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him. Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him. Oh, for grace, to eye the Lord’s sovereignty in all: for this alone will give energy to the lively actings of faith, and keep the soul in peace.

But let me turn from the servant to contemplate the Master! Oh, for grace to eye Christ, in the several blessed views here given of him; in feeding and supporting his people, and healing all their diseases, Precious Lord Jesus! do thou manifest thyself to my poor soul under that endearing character, as, Jehovah Rophe, the Lord that healeth the people. And oh! for grace and faith in lively exercises upon his person, blood, and righteousness; that while Jesus is coming forth to bless, my soul through the Holy Ghost, may be going forth to meet him; and like the people in this Chapter, may my faith be so strong in the Lord, that I may be convinced even the hem of Christ’s garment, touched by faith, will make me perfectly whole. Amen.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

Ver. 34. They came into the land of Gennesaret ] Where he presently found some that observed him. When God sets up a fight in any place, a burning and a shining light, there is some work to be done. A husbandman would not send his servant with his sickle to reap thistles and nettles only. The ministry sent to a place, is an argument of some elect there, 2Th 1:5 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

34 36. ] Mar 6:53-56 . Gennesar or Gennesaret , a district from which the lake was also occasionally so called, extended along its western shore. See Josephus’s glowing description of the beauty and fertility of this plain, B. J. iii. 10. 7. At its northern end was Capernaum, near which our Lord landed, as would appear from Joh 6:24-25 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 14:34-36 . Safe arrival . , having covered the distance between the place where Jesus joined them and the shore. : they got to land ; the general fact important after the storm. , more definite indication of locality, yet not very definite; a district, not a town, the rich plain of Gennesaret, four miles long and two broad.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 14:34-36

34When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

Mat 14:34 “When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret” There is ambiguity in the words “crossed over.” In Mar 6:45 there was a place called Bethsaida which meant “house of fish.” There must have been two Bethsaidas or else there was some confusion in the geography of the various accounts of the Synoptic Gospels. Jesus was staying in the territory of Philip the Tetrarch and not going back to the territory of Herod the Tetrarch. Gennesaret was primarily a Gentile area. Maybe this was His way of getting away from the Jewish crowds as He would later at Caesarea Philippi.

Mat 14:35 “and when the men of that place recognized Him” The exact same thing that happened in Mat 14:13 happens again and Jesus again took time to minister to needy people. They had the same kind of superstitious faith as the woman with the issue of blood in Mat 9:20 -they wanted to touch the tassel of His prayer shawl (cf. Mat 14:36). Jesus accepted and worked with even this weak faith. His compassion can be clearly seen even for these superstitious non-Jews.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Gennesaret. It was at the northern end of the lake and to the west of the Jordan (App-169). The Talmud identifies it with Chinnereth of the O.T. Josephus says it was about four miles long by two and a half broad.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

34-36.] Mar 6:53-56. Gennesar or Gennesaret, a district from which the lake was also occasionally so called, extended along its western shore. See Josephuss glowing description of the beauty and fertility of this plain, B. J. iii. 10. 7. At its northern end was Capernaum, near which our Lord landed, as would appear from Joh 6:24-25.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 14:34-36

14. JESUS IN GENNESARET

Mat 14:34-36

34 And when they had crossed over. . . . .unto Gennesaret. -“Gennesaret” was the region on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, of which Capernaum was the chief town, and from which the lake is sometimes named. The name signifies “garden of the prince.” The Sea of Galilee had three other names. It was called the “sea of Tiberias,” from the celebrated city of that name. (Joh 6:1.) It was called in the Old Testament “the sea of Chinnereth” or “Chinneroth” (Num 34:11; Jos 12:3), from a town of that name which stood on or near its shore (Jos 19:35). At the northwestern angle of the lake was a beautiful and fertile plain called “Gennesaret” and from that the sea derived the name of “lake of Gennesaret” (Luk 5:1). It is probable that the disciples left the eastern coast of the sea to go to Capernaum om the western coast, hut the storm had driven them out of their course and they landed south of Capernaum.

35, 36 And when the men of that place knew him.— Jesus and his disciples had often walked over the beautiful plain of Gennesaret and he had uttered many of his discourses to the people there and drew some of his illustrations from the varied scenes of earth, sea, and sky. So when he arrived at this time, and it was known, “they sent into all that region round about, and brought unto him all that were sick.” Messengers were sent abroad over all the country to gather in the poor subjects of distress and infirmities, that they might see this wonder-working man, and be healed by him. The greatest impression that they bad received of him was that he was able to heal their diseases; they were looking for temporal blessings and prized them higher than any spiritual blessing that Jesus had to bestow. They were so eager to be cured that “they besought him that they might only touch the border of his garment.” All who touched him “were made whole.” There was no exception; his mercy and power were not exhausted and their faith is manifested in their eagerness to touch the border of his garment.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

when: Mar 6:53-56

the land of Gennesaret: Gennesaret was a fertile district, in which were situated the cities of Tiberias and Capernaum, extending along the western shore of the lake to which it gave name, about 30 stadia, or nearly four miles, in length, and twenty stadia, or two miles and a half, in breadth, according to Josephus. Luk 5:1

Reciprocal: Num 34:11 – sea of Chinnereth Mar 1:21 – Capernaum

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

4:34

The storm being over, the ship resumed its journey and landed on the western shore of Galilee at the country of Gennesaret.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mat 14:34. And when they were passed over. This points to ordinary, not miraculous sailing.

To the land unto Gennesaret. Gennesaret was a fertile district, with a mild climate, on the western shore of the lake (also called the Lake of Gennesaret). It is nearly four miles long and half as broad. Modern name: El-Ghuweir.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe, 1. Our Saviour’s unwearied diligence in going about to do good: he no sooner landeth, but he goeth to Gennesaret, and healeth their sick.

Observe, 2. The people’s charity to their sick neighbours, in sending abroad to let all the country know that Christ the great physician was come amongst them.

Observe, 3. Where lay the healing virtue: not in their finger, but in their faith; or rather in Christ whom their faith apprehended.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 14:34. They came into the land of Gennesaret A large tract of ground on the western shore of the lake, in a part of which Capernaum appears from hence to have been situated. For though Matthew and Mark speak only of their coming to the land of Gennesaret and putting to shore there, (see Mar 6:53,) it is plain from Johns account that Jesus, at his landing, came to Capernaum, for it was there the people found him that followed him in the morning from the other side of the sea. See Doddridge, and compare Joh 6:22; Joh 6:25, with Joh 6:59. And when the men of that place had knowledge of him Or rather, the men, &c., , knowing, or having known him, namely, formerly; Jesus having ordinarily resided in that neighbourhood, and the inhabitants thereof having seen many of his miracles: sent out into all that country Christ having been absent some time, the people were glad that he was now returned, and sent messengers to all their friends and acquaintance in the neighbouring places who were sick, desiring them to come and be cured. And they, rejoicing at the opportunity, came as soon as possible, in great crowds, carrying their sick on beds and couches, and bringing them to Jesus. Thus those who have obtained the knowledge of Christ themselves, should do all they can to bring others to be acquainted with him also. And when we have opportunities of receiving instruction and other spiritual blessings, we should invite as many as possible to share with us. More than we think of would embrace the opportunities, if they were but called upon and invited to them. On this occasion, the number of those that came to Jesus was so great, that he could not bestow particular attention upon each of them. They and their friends, therefore, besought him to grant them the favour of touching, if it were but the extremity of his clothes, being certain of obtaining thereby a complete cure. Nor were their expectations disappointed; for as many as touched him were made perfectly whole Whatever the distempers were under which they laboured, not because there was any virtue in his garments, otherwise the soldiers to whom they were given at his crucifixion might have wrought miracles by them, but because Jesus willed it to be so: and because those who touched him confided in his power and goodness, and believed that he would thus heal them. It was in this neighbourhood that the woman mentioned Mat 9:20, had been cured of a bloody issue by touching the hem of his garment, and probably the information which these afflicted people, who now applied to Christ, had received of this fact, gave occasion to this peculiar exercise of faith in him. Observe, reader, the healing virtue that is in Christ is put forth for the benefit of those that by a true and lively faith touch him. Christ is in heaven, but his word is nigh us, and he himself in that word. When we mix faith with the word, apply it to ourselves, depend upon it, and submit to the influences and commands of it, then we touch the hem of Christs garment. It is but this touching, and we are made whole. On such easy terms are spiritual cures offered by him, that if our souls are not healed, we have only ourselves to blame. He could have healed us, he would have healed us, but we would not be healed: so that our blood will be upon our own heads.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mat 14:34-36. The Ministry of Healing Resumed (Mar 6:53-56*, abbreviated in Mt.).Jesus had not apparently visited Gennesaret before, but some of its people would have seen Him in Capernaum.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

14:34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of {e} Gennesaret.

(e) This Gennesaret was a lake near Capernaum, which is also called the Sea of Galilee or Tiberias; so the country itself grew to be called Gennesaret.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

3. The public ministry at Gennesaret 14:34-36 (cf. Mar 6:53-56)

This short section summarizes Jesus’ public ministry at this stage of His ministry. It shows that even though Jesus was withdrawing from unbelievers (Mat 13:54 to Mat 14:12) and giving special attention to the training of His disciples (Mat 14:13-33), He still had time to minister to people who were in need.

Gennesaret was a plain on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. There was also a village called Gennesaret on this coastal plain, probably very close to the modern town of Ginosar. The crowds recognized Jesus instantly when He got out of the boat, and they brought all types of needy people to Him for healing (cf. Mat 3:5; Mat 4:24). The woman with the hemorrhage had obtained healing from Jesus after touching the fringe of His cloak (Mat 9:20-22). Now many others pressed on Him with similar faith and found healing (Mat 14:36). The faith of these people contrasts with the faith of the disciples in the boat that was much greater.

These few verses do three things. They show the continuing broad appeal of Jesus’ ministry (cf. Mat 4:23-25; Mat 8:16; Mat 9:35-36). They show that Jesus continued to minister to the multitudes even though He concentrated His ministry on His disciples. Third, Jesus showed no concern with becoming ritually unclean through his contacts with the common people. He made people clean rather than becoming unclean with these contacts. This last feature sets the stage for the confrontation over clean and unclean in the next section (Mat 15:1-20).

And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)