Mark 6:56 (AV)
And whithersoever¹ he² entered,
into villages³, or cities⁴, or country⁵,
they laid the sick in the streets⁶,
and besought⁷ him that they might touch
if it were but the border⁸ of his garment:
and as many as touched him
were made whole⁹.
¹) Wherever.
²) Jesus.
³) The common sleeping place to which labourers in the field return, a village.
⁴) One’s native city, the city in which one lives.
⁵) The field, the farm, country place, neighbouring hamlet.
⁶) Literally: market or market place, used: for public debating, for elections, for trials (Acts 16:19), for buying and selling (Mark 7:4), and for all kinds of business.
⁷) Begged Him.
⁸) The extremity or prominent part of a thing, the edge, the fringe of a garment.
⁹) The word used here also means: to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.
Other translations:
And wherever He came into villages or cities or the country, they would lay the sick in the marketplaces and beg Him that they might touch even the fringe of His outer garment, and as many as touched Him were restored to health. [AMP] And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. [ESV] And wherever he went--into villages, towns or countryside--they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. [MSB] 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. [KJV] And wherever he went--into villages, towns or countryside--they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. [NIV] Wherever he went--in villages and cities and out on the farms--they laid the sick in the market plazas and streets. The sick begged him to let them at least touch the fringe of his robe, and all who touched it were healed. [NLT] Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well. [NKJV]
Some further information:
Whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country,
Let Him go where He would, He was always surrounded with patients.
Be it in the towns, in the cities, in the villages about the cities, wherever He came they laid the sick in the streets.
They laid the sick in the streets,
To be in His way, and begged for healing, or to be allowed to touch the border of his garment, as the woman with the bloody issue did, by whom, it should seem, this method of application was first brought in; and as many as touched, were made whole.
And besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment
Having heard, no doubt, of what the woman with the issue of blood experienced on doing so ( Mark 5:25-29 ), and perhaps of other unrecorded cases of the same nature.
We do not find that they were desirous to be taught by Him, only to be healed.
If ministers could cure people’s bodily diseases, what multitudes would attend them! But it is sad to think how much more concerned most people are about their bodies, than about their souls.
As many as
He made no mistake.
Touched Him
Or “it”, — the hem (border) of His garment.
Were made whole
All this they continued to do and to experience while our Lord was in that region. The time corresponds to that mentioned ( John 7:1 ), when He “walked in Galilee,” instead of appearing in Jerusalem at the passover, “because the Jews,” that is, the rulers, “sought to kill Him”; while the people sought to enthrone Him!
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In the previous verse we read that those who were in bad shape were taken on their mattresses to the place of where the Lord Jesus was heard to be there.
This presupposes that Jesus Himself traveled around the villages, and towns in the area of Gennesaret. This region at that time had several villages, and towns; it was a fertile plain.
Here Mark tells that in the village or city where Jesus came, the sick were placed in the streets, literally on the marketplaces (cf. Acts 5:15). To lay them on the marketplaces is in line with the custom of the Jews at the time to put handicapped people on the market square (which was usually located at the gate), so that others could come and encourage them or make donations.
Now those who brought them there (cf. Mark 1:40, 5: 10,12,22) begged Jesus, that those sick might at least touch the tassel of His garment (according to precept – see Numbers 15:38, Deuteronomy 22:12). – He wore a tassel on the four corners of His garment as a sign of God’s presence (cf. Matthew 9:20).
Evidently the story of the woman who was bleeding, who got better by touching Jesus’ robe (Mark 5: 25-34), had meanwhile become known. The same thing happens in this verse: All who touched Jesus were made whole; they were saved from their misery (cf. Mark 5: 27-28,31). It was evidence of the healing power that went out of Him.
In this way Mark shows the Lord Jesus again as the Good Shepherd for people who sought help from Him in their despair (cf. Mark 6:34).
Now let us reflect on this
And as many as touched Him were made whole. (Mark 6:56)
Healthy people don’t need the physician, but the sick need him. The people who touched the Lord Jesus knew that well.
They may have been ill for a long time and had tried everything to be cured of their illness. No one could have helped them. But now that they had touched Jesus, they were completely healed.
So it is today also in the spiritual life.
By nature we all suffer from a deadly disease, namely the disease of sin.
We really know nothing about this, any more than a healthy person knows what disease is.
We must discovered that we have that evil ailment. That is a work of God’s Spirit. He shows us, bye and through the law, that we are fatally ill.
Do you know about this in your heart?
If so, there is only one way to be healed.
That one way is, that we learn to touch the Lord Jesus through faith.
Whoever is allowed to do this, will become completely healthy.
And after that, you can appear before the Lord without fear.
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Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
Website: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
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