Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 6:53
And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore.
53 56. Miracles of Healing in the Land of Gennesaret
53. the land of Gennesaret is only mentioned here and in Mat 14:34. It is the same as the modern el-Ghuweir, a fertile crescent-shaped plain, on the north-western shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, about 3 miles in length and 1 in width. From its sheltered situation, and especially from its depression of more than 500 feet below the level of the ocean, its climate is of an almost tropical character. Josephus speaks of it as if it were an earthly paradise, in which every kind of useful plant grew and flourished. Jos. B. J. III. 10. 8.
drew to the shore ] or, as Tyndale and Cranmer translate it, “drew up into the haven.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 6:53-56
They laid the sick in the streets.
The multitude in affliction
I. A beautiful country, inhabitated by a multitude of sick.
II. A prompt recognition of a former benefactor-They knew Him (Mat 9:35; Mat 11:20-24; Mar 3:7-11).
III. Energetic exertion-And ran, etc.
IV. An affecting picture of human helplessness-Began to carry about, etc.
V. An admission that healing virtue dwelt alone in Christ.
VI. The infallible nature of the remedy. (F. Wagstaff.)
Jesus and His fulness
I. The landing. Wherever the Son of God landed there was blessing, peace, health, liberty.
II. The recognizing-Straightway they knew Him, If thou knewest, etc.
III. The gathering.
IV. The touching.
V. The healing. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
Touch Jesus and be healed
1. The touch was needy.
2. The touch was wise.
3. The touch was prompt.
4. The touch was believing.
5. The touch was personal.
6. The touch was unrestricted. There was no exception to the healing.
7. The touch was efficacious. No failure.
8. The lost will be inexcusable. (J. Smith.)
A crowd of eager applicants
;-It was after a walk through the village of Ehden, beneath the mountain of the cedars, our last Syrian expedition, in which we visited several of the churches and cottages of the place, that we found the stairs and corridors of the castle of the Maronite chief, Sheykh Joseph, lined with a crowd of eager applicants, sick people taken with divers diseases, who, hearing that there was a medical man in the party, had thronged round him, beseeching him that he would heal them. I mention this incident because it illustrates so forcibly these scenes in the gospel history, from which I have almost of necessity borrowed the language best fitted to express the eagerness, the hope, the anxiety of the multitude who had been attracted by the fame of this beneficent influence. It was an affecting scene, our kind doctor was distressed to find how many cases there were which with proper medical appliances might have been cured; and on returning to the ship, by the Prince of Wales desire, a store of medicines was sent back, with Arabic labels directing how and for what purpose they should be used. (Dean Stanley.)
Spiritual healing
I. The necessity for such an application to Christ.
1. You have a disease of guilt upon you.
2. You have a disease of corruption upon you.
II. The manner of it.
1. They persuaded themselves that Christ was able to do this thing for them.
2. They put themselves in His way.
3. Those who could not come of themselves, sought the help of their stronger neighbours; none of them were so unfeeling as to refuse the needful aid.
4. They earnestly prayed for the blessing which they desired.
5. They complied with the simple method which was prescribed. This was to touch Him.
III. The certain success of it-Made whole. (J. Jowett, M. A.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 53. The land of Gennesaret] This country lay on the coast of the sea of Galilee: it is described by Josephus as being exceedingly pleasant and fertile. It had its name of Gennesaret from , gen, a garden, and sar, a prince, either because the king had a garden there, or because of its great fertility.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See Poole on “Mat 14:34“, and following verses to Mat 14:36. The charity of this people to their sick neighbours is very commendable, and instructive of us as to our duty to do good to others, as to their bodily wants and necessities, so far as we are able; but how much greater is that charity, which is showed to peoples souls, inviting them to Christ that they may be spiritually healed! It was not their touching the hem of his garment, nor of his body, which healed these sick persons, those who had a hand in crucifying of him did both; it was the virtue that went out from Christ, upon the testification of their faith, by coming to him, and touching, and desiring to touch, the hem of his garment: neither is it mens coming to the congregation, and hearing the word of God, that will heal their souls, unless there goeth forth a Divine power from the Spirit of grace upon mens hungering and thirsting after Christ in his ordinances, and by faith laying hold upon the promise exhibited in the preaching of the gospel.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
53. And when they had passed over,they came into the land of Gennesaretfrom which the lakesometimes takes its name, stretching along its western shore.Capernaum was their landing-place (Joh 6:24;Joh 6:25).
and drew to the shoreanautical phrase, nowhere else used in the New Testament.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when they had passed over,…. The lake of Gennesaret, or sea of “Galilee”,
they came into the land of Gennesaret; [See comments on Mt 14:34]; to Capernaum, as appears from Joh 6:17 for Capernaum was in the land of Gennesaret; to which agrees what Josephus says, that the land of Gennesaret was watered with a very excellent spring, which the inhabitants of that place called Capernaum h:
and drew to the shore: this is omitted in the Syriac and Persic versions: and the Arabic reads, “and they cast anchors”.
h De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 35.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And moored to the shore ( ). Only here in the New Testament, though an old Greek verb and occurring in the papyri. H is roadstead or anchorage. They cast anchor or lashed the boat to a post on shore. It was at the plain of Gennesaret several miles south of Bethsaida owing to the night wind.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Drew to the shore [] . Peculiar to Mark. Rev., moored to the shore, though the meaning may be near the shore. jAnebh, he went up (verse 51), seems to indicate a vessel of considerable size, standing quite high out of the water. They may have anchored off shore.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
JESUS HEALED IN GENNESARET, V. 53-56
1) “And when they had passed over,” (kai dioperasantes) “And when they had crossed over the sea,” where they had intended to go.
2) “They came into the land of Gennesaret,” (epi ten gen elthon eis Gennesaret) “They came upon the land (landed the ship) into Gennesaret,” Mat 14:34.
3) “And drew to the shore.” (kai prosormisthesan) “And there they anchored,” they came to anchor their boat on the beach.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. HEALING ON THE PLAIN OF GENNESARET. 6:53-56
TEXT 6:53-56
And when they had crossed over, they came to the land unto Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. And when they were come out of the boat, straightway the people knew him, and ran round about that whole region, and began to carry about on their beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And wheresoever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 6:53-56
311.
Who was with Jesus at this time? Could thirteen men all get into one small boat? Explain.
312.
Please locate Gennesaret on the maphow large a district was this?
313.
Does the expression moored to the shore suggest there was no town here?
314.
How did the people know Jesus?
315.
Are we to conclude from Mar. 6:55 that many people followed Jesus carrying their sick from place to place? Explain.
316.
Why lay the sick in the market places? i.e. why select such a place?
317.
Wasnt it rather superstitious to desire to touch His garment? Why did Jesus permit it? Why was the touch effective?
COMMENT
TIMESpring A.D. 29.
PLACEThe plain of Gennesaret and the adjacent villages and cities.
PARALLEL ACCOUNTSMat. 14:34-36.
OUTLINE1. The Landing at the plain of Gennesaret, Mar. 6:53. 2. The gathering of many people, upon recognizing Him, to seek help, Mar. 6:54-55. 3. The superstitious desire of many people to heal the sick, Mar. 6:56.
ANALYSIS 6:53-56
I.
THE LANDING AT THE PLAIN OF GENNESARET, Mar. 6:53.
1.
Occurred just after the feeding of the five thousand.
2.
The boat was mooredor fastened to the shore.
II.
THE GATHERING OF MANY PEOPLE FOR HELP, Mar. 6:54-55.
1.
This happened immediately after disembarking.
2.
Prompted by their knowledge of Him.
3.
The whole region turned out to bring their sick wherever they found Him.
III.
THE SUPERSTITIOUS DESIRE OF MANY TO HEAL THE SICK, Mar. 6:56.
1.
Occurred in villages or cities or in the country.
2.
Sick laid in marketplacesthat they might at least touch His garment.
3.
Those who did touch were healed.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
53. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore.
And having crossed (the lake, from east to west) they came to (or upon) the land of Gennesaret, a small district four miles long and two or three wide, on the west side of the sea of Galilee, or lake of Tiberias, to which it gave one of its names. Josephus describes this district as the garden of the whole land and possessing a fertility and loveliness almost unparalleled. Capernaum appears to have been in or very near this delightful region, so that John (Joh. 6:17) describes this same voyage as a voyage to Capernaum. Drew to the shore, or came to anchor near it, or retaining the passive form of the original, were brought to anchor (or to land.)
54. And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him.
And they going out (or as they went out) from the ship, the men of that place (Mat. 14:35), straightway knowing (or immediately recognizing) him, whom they had often seen before, as they lived so near his home and the centre of his operation. It is an interesting thought, very often incidentally suggested in the gospels, that during the three years of our Saviours public ministry, his person must have become perfectly familiar to the great mass of the population, at least in Galilee. This, with the certainty that he retains his human body, and is to appear in it hereafter upon earth as he already does in heaven, should preserve us from a tendency to look upon all sensible and bodily associations with the person of our Lord as superstitious and irreverent, an error into which some devout believers are betrayed by their aversion to the opposite extreme of gross familiarity and levity in speaking of his glorified humanity.
55. And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was.
Running about that whole surrounding country, they began, i.e. at once without delay, and afterwards continued, upon beds (or pallets,) to carry about those having (themselves) ill wherever they heard that he was (literally, is, the graphic present) there. The construction of the last clause is ambiguous, being understood by some as an example of the Hebrew idiom which combines the relative pronoun with the adverb there, to express our relative adverb where; but this would require a pronoun in the first place. Others refer the first of the two particles to the place where they heard of him, and the last to the place where he actually was. But most interpreters prefer the simpler and more obvious construction which refers both particles to one and the same object, of whatever place they heard that he was there. The running about and carrying about may refer to the same act, or the former to the spreading of the news and the latter to the actual bringing of the sick. The meaning is not that each one was carried from place to place in search of him, but that some were carried one way, some another, so as to fall in with him in some part of his circuit.
56. And withersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment; and as many as touched him were made whole.
Country, literally, fields, as in Mar. 6:36 and in such English names as St. Giles or St. Martins in the Fields, i.e. outside of old London. Streets, or more exactly, markets or marketplaces, as in every other case where it occurs, but with greater latitude meaning than we now give to the English word. The Greek one according to its etymology and usage, means a place of meeting, especially for business, whether commercial or political, and therefore corresponding both to forum and market. The agora of ancient cities was an open place or square, sometimes immediately within the gates, but usually near the centre of the town. As denoting thoroughfares or public places, streets is therefore a substantially correct translation. The sick, or more exactly, the infirm, a synonymous express with the one in Mar. 6:5. If it were but, literally, even, only. This desire was only superstitious so far as it ascribed a magical effect to the mere touch, or regarded contact as essential to the healing power of the Saviours word. It may have been his purpose to reach greater numbers in a given time without destroying all perceptible connection between the subject and the worker of the miracle. (Compare Act. 5:15; Act. 19:12). This is not a mere repetition of the statement in Mar. 1:32-34, but designed to show that throughout the course as well as at the opening of our Saviours ministry, his miracles were many, those recorded in detail being only a few selected samples, and also that his constant practice was to heal all who needed and desired it, (J. A. Alexander)
FACT QUESTIONS 6:53-56
347.
In which direction had the crossing been made? How large was the plain?
348.
How can we explain the fact that Joh. 6:17 describes this same voyage as going to Capernaum?
349.
Why would the people of this district perhaps know Jesus better than some others?
350.
What incidental lesson can we learn from the reference to the human appearance or recognition of Jesus?
351.
There is no meaning in Mar. 6:55 of each one carried from place to place in search of Himwhat is the meaning?
352.
What is the literal meaning of the word country?
353.
Show the patience and love of Jesus in healing the sick.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(53-56) And when they had passed over.See Notes on Mat. 14:34-36.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And when they had crossed over they came to the land to Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.’
Having crossed over they moored to the shore. They were safe on dry ground at last, and now they had Jesus with them. All is well when we have Jesus with us. They ‘ran into the shore’ or ‘moored to the shore’ is an unusual expression and is possibly a technical term used by the fishermen of Galilee. A long rope no doubt reached from the boat to a post on the shore. ‘The land of Gennesaret’ was on the west shores of the sea of Galilee. It probably refers to the fertile and well populated plain, south west of Capernaum, or possibly to a fishing village in it, the feminine suffix transliterated ‘et’ being added to the name of the plain of Gennesar. This is attested to in 1Ma 11:67 (‘the water of Gennesareth’) and Josephus (Gennesar’). Compare also ‘the sea of Chinnereth’ mentioned in Num 34:11. The fact that they arrived here may be because the wind and waves had driven them off course so that they had no choice. Alternately perhaps there was a Bethsaida near here although there is no evidence of it.
The central purpose of this incident then was to help in revealing to the disciples that He was truly the unique Son of God (see Mat 13:33), but it has a secondary significance in that it reveals to all Who are His that He can be with them in every kind of adversity. The church did need not fear the winds and the toil that it had to face, because there is One Who is watching Who knows their toil and their concerns, and will come to their aid when the time is right, often in ‘the fourth watch of the night’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jesus Heals the Multitudes in the Land of Gennesaret ( Mat 14:34-36 ) Mar 6:53-56 gives us the account of Jesus healing the multitudes in the land of Gennesaret.
Mar 6:56
Mar 5:28, “For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”
Luk 6:19, “And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
New work for the Lord:
v. 53. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore.
v. 54. And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew Him.
v. 55. And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard He was.
v. 56. And whithersoever He entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought Him that they might touch if it were but the border of His garment; and as many as touched Him were made whole. On the western shore of the lake there was a region, Gennesaret, “the garden of the prince,” or the “garden of fertility,” a rich and beautiful country. Here they cast anchor or fastened their boat. But no sooner had Jesus stepped to the shore than He was recognized by some of the people living in that neighborhood, and there was a repetition of former experiences. They ran throughout the region and spread the news of His coming. And now the sick were brought to Him. Also, whether He walked along city streets or country lanes, the relatives of the sick, undiscouraged and unwearied, brought their unfortunate ones with the plea that they might touch but the border of His garment. As once before, chapter 3:10, He permitted the mere touch of His garment to work the miracle of healing. The people were worked up to the highest pitch of excitement at this time, which may have been augmented by the news of the miraculous feeding brought back by those that had been present upon that occasion. His sympathy and mercy were tireless in the interest of suffering humanity, but He was always concerned most about their souls, which He fed with the bread of life unto salvation.
Summary. Jesus makes a visit to Nazareth. sends out the twelve apostles, while His fame spreads to Herod, who had caused the execution of John the Baptist; He seeks rest, but is prevented by a great multitude of five thousand, whom He feeds in the wilderness; He walks on the sea and performs many miracles of healing in the region of Gennesaret.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
(53) And, when they had passed over they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. (54) And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him. (55) And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. (56) And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole,
I would appeal to the common sense and history of all mankind, whether the imagination can furnish a portrait so beautiful, so affectionate, and interesting, as is here drawn of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. The Prophet, ages before had said, behold, your GOD will come and save you! Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing. Isa 35:4-6 . And here we be hold GOD indeed in the person of his dear SON, surrounded by the sick and diseased of every description and character, while as many as touched him were made whole. Oh! for grace, to come to Him now by faith; for surely, none whom GOD the HOLY GHOST shall lead to Jesus, will the LORD send empty away.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
53 56. ] Mat 14:34-36 . The two accounts much alike, but Mark’s the richer in detail: e.g. Mar 6:53 , Mar 6:56 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
53. ] denotes the direction of their course, . the fact of their arrival : we can hardly make the distinction in English, but must render , to : ‘ towards ,’ or ‘ off ’ would not indicate enough. But ‘ into ’ (E. V.) indicates too much.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 6:53-56 . The landing (Mat 14:34-36 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mar 6:53 . ( from ), they came to anchor, or landed on the beach; here only in N. T.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar 6:53-56
53When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. 56Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.
Mar 6:55 This shows the need, the chaos, and the compassion and power of Jesus. This was also a lesson on the priority of people. Jesus always had time for them.
Mar 6:56 “the fringe of His coat” This refers to His “prayer shawl” (cf. Num 15:38-40; Deu 22:12). These people were desperate and superstitious and selfish.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
into = upon. Greek. cpi, App-104.
drew to the shore. A Divine supplement, here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
53-56.] Mat 14:34-36. The two accounts much alike, but Marks the richer in detail: e.g. Mar 6:53, Mar 6:56.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 6:53. , they drew to the shore) promptly.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mar 6:53-56
6. CURES IN GENNESARET
Mar 6:53-56
(Mat 14:34-36)
53-56 And when they had crossed over, they came to the land unto Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. And when they were come out of the boat, straightway the people knew him, and ran round about that whole region, and began to carry about on their beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And wheresoever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.–This is a beautiful plain on the western shore of the sea, about four miles long and two or three miles wide. Capernaum was at the northern end of it. As soon as Jesus had landed, as he passed on toward Capernaum, the people from “all that region round about” flocked to him with their variously afflicted ones, and besought him that they might only touch the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the land: Mat 14:34-36, Luk 5:1, Joh 6:24
Reciprocal: Jos 19:35 – Chinnereth Mar 1:21 – Capernaum
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Chapter 6.
The Things That Defile
“And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew Him, And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard He was. And whithersoever He entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought Him that they might touch if it were but the border of His garment: and as many as touched Him were made whole. Then came together unto Him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, Why walk not Thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer Him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. And when He had called all the people unto Him, He said unto them, Hearken unto Me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when He was entered into the house from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. And He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And He said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”-Mar 6:53 to Mar 7:23.
The Lapsed Multitude.
The brief verses at the close of chapter vi. form a connecting link between the wonderful story of the walking upon the sea and that of our Lord’s controversy with the Pharisees about the washing of hands. We know as a matter of fact that this incident did not follow immediately upon the miracle. For John tells us that on the day following the night of storm Jesus preached the wonderful sermon in which He announced Himself to be the Bread of life, and said that only by eating His flesh and drinking His blood could men gain eternal life. The result of that sermon was that Christ’s popularity was shattered, and the multitudes who up to this point had been enthusiastic in His cause “went back, and walked no more with Him” (Joh 6:66). Indeed, Christ found Himself practically reduced to His twelve disciples as the only followers in whose devotion He could trust, and upon whose loyalty He could rely. After the crisis He appears to have left Capernaum, and visited Gennesaret.
-And their Eagerness for Material Benefits.
But though the people had turned their backs on His teaching, they had by no means lost faith in His power. So His coming to Gennesaret converted the place into a kind of field hospital; for the people “ran round about that whole region, and began to carry about on their beds those that were sick, where they heard He was. And wheresoever He entered into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the market-places, and besought Him that they might touch if it were but the border of His garment: and as many as touched Him were made whole” (Mar 6:55-56). You notice that, if these people were not prepared to accept the spiritual truths Christ taught, they were only too eager to profit by the material blessings He bestowed. If they were not ready to take upon their necks His easy yoke, they were quite ready to fly to Him to get healing for their sicknesses and cure for their diseases. It is a curious phenomenon, this repudiation of Christ’s authority, combined with willingness to make a convenience of Him. But it is by no means a rare phenomenon. There are plenty of people who refuse to obey Christ, and still fly to Him to help them in their troubles. There are plenty of people who turn their backs on Him when He speaks to them about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, who yet appeal to Him when they are in distress. This making a convenience of Christ-wanting His gifts, but not wanting Him-is a pitiful business.
The Breadth of Christ’s Love.
But the marvel is that Christ responds to the cry even of those who have refused to obey Him. “He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luk 6:35). For see what happened in this case. These people were amongst those who “went back, and walked no more with Him.” And yet, when they came seeking Christ’s help, this is what I read, “As many as touched Him were made whole” (Mar 6:56). He did not withhold His help because they had refused their obedience. “As many as touched Him were made whole.” And He is the same compassionate and loving Christ still. We are often unthankful and disobedient. But when trouble drives us to Him, He does not cast our unthankfulness and disobedience in our teeth. He hurries to us with help and succour.
“Unwearied in forgiveness still,
His heart can only love.”
Hostility at Work.
Now it was about Passover time, as John tells us, that the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, and the incident of the storm, and the subsequent crisis amongst Christ’s followers took place. Perhaps, as Mr. David Smith suggests, the rulers had expected that He would come up to Jerusalem for the feast, and that they would be able to compass His overthrow. Disappointed in this, they seem to have sent down from Jerusalem a deputation of Scribes and Pharisees, to co-operate with the local authorities of Capernaum in scrutinising the actions of Christ-lying in wait for opportunities of bringing Him to book.
The Charge against Jesus.
It was not very long before they found ground for complaint. As in their previous accusation against Him with reference to the Sabbath, it was apparently the conduct of the disciples, rather than that of Jesus Himself, that was at fault. But probably they argued-and they were perfectly right in so arguing-that the conduct of the disciples in a measure reflected the teaching of their Master, and that, if they neglected a certain ritual observance, it was because Jesus had made them feel that the observance in question was trivial and unimportant. Now the particular thing that scandalised these spying Pharisees and Scribes was the fact that the disciples ate bread with defiled-i.e. unwashen hands. And then Mark proceeds to explain to the Gentile readers how it was that a trumpery omission of this kind could be construed into a mortal offence. “For,” he says, “the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders: and when they come from the market-place, except they wash themselves, they eat not: and many other things there be, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and brasen vessels” (Mar 6:3-4).
The Law and Tradition.
Moses had, as Dr. Glover says, very freely commanded washing. Partly for sanitary reasons, and partly also to emphasize the separateness of the chosen race, the Law required ablution on certain occasions. But these occasions, the “tradition of the elders” had indefinitely multiplied. They not only washed in cases of actual defilement, as Moses commanded; but they washed, for fear of possible and unconscious defilement. And so, for instance, as Mark here mentions, when they came home from market they washed, lest in the market they should have contracted defilement by unconscious contact with a Gentile. And a multitude of similar puerile rules tradition formulated, until life became a veritable slavery. And any breach of these rules was counted a heinous sin, to be punished by excommunication. This was the charge these Scribes and Pharisees brought against the disciples. “Why walk not Thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?” (Mar 6:5). They had committed the monstrous crime of breaking one of the multitudinous trumpery rules with which Rabbinism had burdened and encumbered human life.
The Charge Met.
What had Jesus Christ to say in answer to this charge? If it would be right to use the epithet “scornful” of Jesus, I believe it would be right to use it of Him here. There is a kind of splendid scorn of the blind folly that could exalt the washing of the hands into an article of religion. His answer to the charge is to brand those who made it as hypocrites. “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites.” And what is a hypocrite? Well, literally, he is a man who plays a part on the stage. That was what these Scribes and Pharisees, with their insistence upon petty and trumpery rules, were-mere play-actors, men who wore a mask of religion. They paid outward deference to God, but their heart was far from Him. What they had was not really a religion, but a ritual; and, as Isaiah reminded the Jews long before, you may have the ritual without the religion. “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord…. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth;… I am weary to bear them” (Isa 1:11, Isa 1:14). It was a case of ritual without religion. It was the publican, and not the Pharisee who boasted of his punctiliousness in the observance of religious duties, who went down to his house justified. God had no pleasure in the Pharisee and his prayers. They meant ritual without religion.
Ritual without Religion.
It was so in the case of these Scribes and Pharisees in our paragraph. They were scrupulous about ablutions, they held up their hands in pious horror at the bare thought of eating bread with unwashen hands, but they were careless about mercy and love and truth. Jesus calls them “hypocrites”-mummers, play-actors. Their punctiliousness was but ritual without religion. And I may go further, for not only may ritual exist without religion, but emphasized ritual is a dangerous enemy to religion. Laying undue importance upon the outward forms, you obscure the importance of the inner spirit. Once you exaggerate the importance of external rules, you minimise the importance of faith and love. Once ceremonialism comes in by the door, genuine religion has a way of flying out by the window.
An Example of its Working.
Palestine in our Lord’s day is an illustration of the truth of this. Religion had been smothered beneath ritual. Washing the hands counted for more than the devotion of the heart. They were careful of petty rules, and careless of the great commands of God. Take the glaring and monstrous case which Jesus cast up against them. The fifth commandment in the Decalogue was this: “Honour thy father and thy mother.” And by honouring them is meant not simply outward deference, but obedience in youth, and assistance, if required, in age. This filial duty is not only commanded by God, but it is ratified by the instinct of universal human nature. But Jewish casuistry had invented a way by which greedy and selfish men could evade that plain and obvious duty, and do so in the name of religion. Whatever was vowed to God was sacred to the uses of religion. It was corban-an offering-and must pass into the hands of the priests. It need not, and often was not paid at once; the money so dedicated was often employed by the owner during life, and only actually passed into the Temple treasury at his death. But the fact that it was corban placed it beyond the reach of ordinary claims; for they held it sacrilegious to apply to other uses what had once been dedicated to God. Now wicked and shameless men used this tradition about corban to evade some of their plain and primary responsibilities. Selfish sons, for instance, played this trick upon needy parents, and answered their piteous appeals for help by this very formula which our Lord here quotes, “That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is corban” (Mar 6:11). The peculiar odiousness of it lay in the circumstance that it was done in the name of God. Religion was used to justify selfishness and greed; or rather, devotion to ritual was allowed to stifle and destroy religion; “making void,” said Jesus, “the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered” (Mar 6:13).
A Modern Peril.
Now, has all this any message for us? Has it any pertinency to our time? I am persuaded that it has. These are days of developed ritualism. But let us never forget that ritual is not religion. The one can never take the place of the other. Religion is not a posture of the body; it is an attitude of the heart. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. In so far as ritual tends to emphasize the external rather than the internal, the form rather than the spirit, it is to be jealously guarded against, rather than fostered and encouraged. For you cannot magnify the little external things of religion, without thereby minimising the great and vital things.
Defilement-External and Vital.
All this talk about externalism had arisen from the complaint made by the Scribes and Pharisees about the “unwashen” hands of the disciples. It was only outward defilement that they seemed to have any notion of. Christ proceeds now to show what the true sources of defilement are. It was a lesson that not only these spying enemies of His, but the whole body of people, needed to be taught. So He called to Him the multitude, and said to them, “Hear Me all of you, and understand: there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him: but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man” (Mar 6:15). It was one of those great sweeping truths that Christ delighted to utter. It went right beyond ceremonial conditions to moral verities-beyond the outward to the inward. By this one word He swept away all those multitudes of regulations that tradition had accumulated, and indeed struck at the artificial distinction which the Mosaic law made between things clean and unclean-a regulation which had perhaps been useful in its day, but had served its time.
The Distinction and Difference.
The disciples realised that it was a broad and sweeping statement, whose bearings they did not all at once take in. And so when they were alone in the house they asked Him as to the parable. He, with some words implying rebuke, condescends patiently to explain it to them. And the gist of His explanation comes to this that, as Dr. Glover puts it, defilement arises not from food, but from faults. The centre of pollution is the evil heart. “Out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man” (Mar 6:21, Mar 6:23). “This He said,” remarks the Evangelist, “making all meats clean” (Mar 6:19). Yes, He did that; but He did much more. He revolutionised the whole notion of defilement. In the deepest sense there is no defilement, save moral and spiritual defilement. The only thing that really pollutes a man is an unclean heart.
A Personal Application.
Have we learned the lesson? I wonder whether even in Christian England there are not a great many people who are far more troubled about dirty hands than they are about a dirty soul! I wonder whether even to this day Society at large does not lay a great deal more stress upon correct behaviour than it does upon a clean heart! But, at any rate, let us be under no delusion. Our Lord “looketh upon the heart.” He tests and measures everything by what He sees there. A man is clean or defiled according as his heart is clean or defiled; and what defiles the heart is the evil thought. Go through this list, and examine yourself by it. Perhaps we can honestly say that some of the things that are in this terrible list are not in our hearts-fornication, thefts, murders, adulteries. But what about covetings? And what about deceit? And what about the evil and envious eye? And what about pride? Are none of them there? And none of them enter the heart without leaving a black and ugly smudge upon it. When I think of it all, I am tempted to cry out, like the leper, “Unclean! unclean!” For, like John Bunyan, I feel that sin and corruption do as naturally bubble out of my heart as water bubbles out of a fountain, until, like him, at the sight of my own vileness I fall deeply into despair. But there is One who can make my defiled heart clean again. No external cleansing can wash away the stains that evil thoughts make. “Though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord God” (Jer 2:22). “And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7). And so I turn to Him with the prayer, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary
3
Gennesaret was a narrow strip of country on the east shore of Galilee.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 6:53. Passed over to the land. The correct reading strengthens the view that there was no miraculous sailing, since it distinguishes the passing over to the land, and the coming to Gennesaret. The natural course of things is further apparent from the last phrase: moored there, i.e., came to anchor, or, made fast, possibly ran the boat on shore, although there is nothing in the original answering to the phrase: to the shore, of the common version.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here observe, 1. The unwearied diligence and industry of our Saviour in going about to do good: he no sooner landeth, but he goeth to Gennesaret, and healeth their sick. It was the great business and constant employment of our Saviour’s life to travel from place to place, that he might be useful and beneficial to mankind: he went to those that would not come to him.
Observe, 2. The people of Gennesaret’s charity to their sick neighbours; they sent abroad to let all the country know, that Christ the great Physician was come amongst them. There is a duty of love and mercy which we owe unto those that are in affliction and misery; namely, to afford them the best help, relief, and succour, we are able, both in their inward and outward afflictions.
Observe, 3. The suddenness and certainty of the cure; they touched him, and were made whole. The healing virtue lay not in their fingers, but in their faith; or rather in Christ, whom their faith apprehended.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mar 6:53-56. The Ministry of Healing Resumed.The disciples having set out for Bethsaida (p. 29), in the NE. corner of the lake, arrive at Gennesaret (p. 29) on the NW. side. The change of destination is usually attributed to the adverse wind. But Mk. says nothing of a change of course. The wind dropped, and, according to Joh 6:21 the disciples reached at once the place they first intended to reach. Either we must with John correct Mk.s Bethsaida to Capernaum or else Mar 6:53-56 is the true continuation of Mar 6:30-32, and Mk. has inserted the feeding of the 5000 and the walking on the sea into the narrative of another journey. The general description of healings is supplemented by the reference to the desire to touch the hem of Christs garment. The example of the woman with the issue of blood had clearly been influential.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Gennesaret was the name of a town and the name of a plain on which the town stood. The region was the northwest coast of the lake. It was so prominent because of its agricultural richness that another name for the Sea of Galilee was the Sea of Gennesaret (Luk 5:1). [Note: Cf. Josephus, The Wars . . ., 3:10:8.] It was an area of dense population.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER 6:53-7:13 (Mar 6:53-56 – Mar 7:1-13)
UNWASHEN HANDS
“And when they had crossed over, they came to the land unto Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. . . . Making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.” Mar 6:53-56 – Mar 7:1-13 (R.V.)
THERE is a condition of mind which readily accepts the temporal blessings of religion, and yet neglects, and perhaps despises, the spiritual truths which they ratify and seal. When Jesus landed on Gennesaret, He was straightway known, and as He passed through the district, there was hasty bearing of all the sick to meet Him, laying them in public places, and beseeching Him that they might touch, if no more, the border of His garment. By the faith which believed in so easy a cure, a timid woman had recently won signal commendation. But the very fact that her cure had become public, while it accounts for the action of these crowds, deprives it of any special merit. We only read that as many as touched Him were made whole. And we know that just now He was forsaken by many even of His disciples, and had to ask His very apostles, Will ye also go away?
Thus we find these two conflicting movements: among the sick and their friends a profound persuasion that He can heal them; and among those whom He would fain teach, resentment and revolt against His doctrine. The combination is strange, but we dare not call it unfamiliar. We see the opposing tendencies even in the same man, for sorrow and pain drive to his knees many a one who will not take upon his neck the easy yoke. Yet how absurd it is to believe in Christ’s goodness and His power, and still to dare to sin against Him, still to reject the inevitable inference that His teaching must bring bliss. Men ought to ask themselves what is involved when they pray to Christ and yet refuse to serve Him.
As Jesus moved thus around the district, and responded so amply to their supplication that His very raiment was charged with health as if with electricity, which leaps out at a touch, what an effect He must have produced, even upon the ceremonial purity of the district. Sickness meant defilement, not for the sufferer alone, but for his friends, his nurse, and the bearers of his little pallet. By the recovery of one sick man, a fountain of Levitical pollution was dried up. And the harsh and rigid legalist ought to have perceived that from his own point of view the pilgrimage of Jesus was like the breath of spring upon a garden, to restore its freshness and bloom.
It was therefore an act of portentous waywardness when, at this juncture, a complaint was made of His indifference to ceremonial cleanness. For of course a charge against His disciples was really a complaint against the influence which guided them so ill.
It was not a disinterested complaint. Jerusalem was alarmed at the new movement resulting from the mission of the Twelve, their miracles, and the mighty works which He Himself had lately wrought. And a deputation of Pharisees and scribes came from this center of ecclesiastical prejudice, to bring Him to account. They do not assail His doctrine, nor charge Him with violating the law itself, for He had put to shame their querulous complaints about the sabbath day. But tradition was altogether upon their side: it was a weapon ready sharpened for their use against one so free, unconventional and fearless.
The law had imposed certain restrictions upon the chosen race, restrictions which were admirably sanitary in their nature, while aiming also at preserving the isolation of Israel from the corrupt and foul nations which lay around. All such restrictions were now about to pass away, because religion was to become aggressive, it was henceforth to invade the nations from whose inroads it had heretofore sought a covert. But the Pharisees had not been content even with the severe restrictions of the law. They had not regarded these as a fence for themselves against spiritual impurity, but as an elaborate and artificial substitute for love and trust. And therefore, as love and spiritual religion faded out of their hearts they were the more jealous and sensitive about the letter of the law. They “fenced” it with elaborate rules, and precautions against accidental transgressions, superstitiously dreading an involuntary infraction of its minutest details. Certain substances were unclean food. But who could tell whether some atom of such substance, blown about in the dust of summer, might adhere to the hand with which he ate, or the cups and pots whence his food was drawn? Moreover, the Gentile nations were unclean, and it was not possible to avoid all contact with them in the market-places, returning whence, therefore, every devout Jew was careful to wash himself, which washing, though certainly not an immersion, is here plainly called a baptism. Thus an elaborate system of ceremonial washing, not for cleansing, but as a religious precaution, had grown up among the Jews.
But the disciples of Jesus had begun to learn their emancipation. Deeper and more spiritual conceptions of God and man and duty had grown up in them. And the Pharisees saw that they ate their bread with unwashen hands. It availed nothing that half a population owed purity and health to their Divine benevolence, if in the process the letter of a tradition were infringed. It was necessary to expostulate with Jesus, because they walked not according to the tradition of the elders, that dried skin of an old orthodoxy in which prescription and routine would ever fain shut up the seething enthusiasms and insights of the present time.
With such attempts to restrict and cramp the free life of the soul, Jesus could have no sympathy. He knew well that an exaggerated trust in any form, any routine or ritual whatever, was due to the need of some stay and support for hearts which have ceased to trust in a Father of souls. But He chose to leave them without excuse by showing their transgression of actual precepts which real reverence for God would have respected. Like books of etiquette for people who have not the instincts of gentlemen; so do ceremonial religions spring up where the instinct of respect for the will of God is dull or dead. Accordingly Jesus quotes against these Pharisees a distinct precept, a word not of their fathers, but of God, which their tradition had caused them to trample upon. If any genuine reverence for His commandment had survived, it would have been outraged by such a collision between the text and the gloss, the precept and the precautionary supplement. But they had never felt the incongruity, never been jealous enough for the commandment of God to revolt against the encroaching tradition which insulted it. The case which Jesus gave, only as one of “many such like things,” was an abuse of the system of vows, and of dedicated property. It would seem that from the custom of “devoting” a man’s property, and thus putting it beyond his further control, had grown up the abuse of consecrating it with such limitations, that it should still be available for the owner, but out of his power to give to others. And thus, by a spell as abject as the taboo of the South Sea islanders, a man glorified God by refusing help to his father and mother, without being at all the poorer for the so-called consecration of his means. And even if he awoke up to the shameful nature of his deed, it was too late, for “ye no longer suffer him to do ought for his father or his mother.” And yet Moses had made it a capital offense to “speak evil of father or mother.” Did they then allow such slanders? Not at all, and so they would have refused to confess any aptness in the quotation. But Jesus was not thinking of the letter of a precept, but of the spirit and tendency of a religion, to which they were blind. With what scorn He regarded their miserable subterfuges, is seen by His vigorous word, “full well do ye make void the commandment of God that ye may keep your traditions.”
Now the root of all this evil was unreality. It was not merely because their heart was far from God that they invented hollow formalisms; indifference leads to neglect, not to a perverted and fastidious earnestness. But while their hearts were earthly, they had learned to honor God with their lips. The judgments which had sent their fathers into exile, the pride of their unique position among the nations, and the self-interest of privileged classes, all forbade them to neglect the worship in which they had no joy, and which, therefore, they were unable to follow as it reached out into infinity, panting after God, a living God. There was no principle of life, growth, aspiration, in their dull obedience. And what could it turn into but a routine, a ritual, a verbal homage, and the honor of the lips only? And how could such a worship fail to shelter itself in evasions from the heart-searching earnestness of a law which was spiritual, while the worshipper was carnal and sold under sin?
It was inevitable that collisions should arise. And the same results will always follow the same causes. Wherever men bow the knee for the sake of respectability, or because they dare not absent themselves from the outward haunts of piety, yet fail to love God and their neighbor, there will the form outrage the spirit, and in vain will they worship, teaching as their doctrines the traditions of men.
Very completely indeed was the relative position of Jesus and His critics reversed, since they had expressed pain at the fruitless effort of His mother to speak with Him, and He had seemed to set the meanest disciple upon a level with her. But He never really denied the voice of nature, and they never really heard it. An affectation of respect would have satisfied their heartless formality: He thought it the highest reward of discipleship to share the warmth of His love. And therefore, in due time, it was seen that His critics were all unconscious of the wickedness of filial neglect which set His heart on fire.