So Mark chapter 6 and reading
from verse 53. And when they had passed, that
is Jesus and his disciples, 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 the 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Our theme today is perhaps characterised
by the little phrase, the generosity of Jesus, by which I want to
consider with you the goodness and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ
to all those people who came to him or were brought to him
for healing and for help. there was a generosity in the
Lord Jesus Christ with respect to all of these people who came. And I want us to notice especially
the point that none who came to him were turned away empty. But before we get on to that,
I want to make an application from the opening verse of these
four that we've read together, this reading that we have, which
in a sense kind of stands alone and a little bit separate from
the other three verses insofar as it describes the coming of
the Lord to the coasts of Gennesaret rather than the experience of
the Lord and his disciples and indeed the people after he arrived. And this is what that verse says.
It says, and when they had passed over, that's the Sea of Galilee,
they came into the land of Gennesaret and drew to the shore. Gennesaret means Garden of Riches
and it seems to refer to a small stretch of land that was so highly
regarded for its goodness, for its fertility, for its beauty,
for its well-watered ground, that it
was known as the Paradise of Galilee. So here in this area
around the Lake of Galilee and the little towns and villages
that surrounded the lake, here was a section called Gennesaret
that was highly prized as the Garden of Riches. And it was
here that the Lord brought his disciples and their little ship,
after he had fed the 5,000 the previous afternoon, and after
he had walked upon the water in the early hours of darkness
that day. And I say that it was here that
the Lord brought them, because it appears from John's account,
John's Gospel, the account of this miracle in John's Gospel,
or this event in John's Gospel, that it was indeed a miracle.
If we had read John's account of the Lord walking on water,
we would have read these words. When the Lord was walking on
the water and the disciples were afraid, the Lord speaks to them
and says, it is I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received
him into the ship, and this is the point that's interesting,
and immediately, The ship was at the land whither they went. Now, that's despite the fact
that we're told in Mark's gospel, or Matthew's gospel, that they
were probably only something like 25 or 30 furlongs off of
the coast on the other side of the lake. But when the Lord came
into the boat, immediately the ship was at the land whither
they went. And I think there's a delightful
picture there because if we consider the believer's life your life's
experience and mine to be like a voyage or a journey, just like
these disciples rowing hard but not moving forward very much,
then we can draw some parallels here. I spent a little bit of
time in the last year or two fishing in Montana and I had
never fished in the way that the folks over there fish, but
I learned that if you wanted to float a stretch of river,
it was always best to float downstream. There was no point in rowing
against the current. It was much too hard. And that's
what the world calls to believers to do. They say, go with the
flow. Go, roll with the current. But
the reality is that we cannot go with the flow, and that the
believer's life is often like trying to make headway against
the current, against the flow of this world's affections, this
world's desires, this world's values. But hard as it seems
now, the land before us is a garden full of riches. That which the
Lord has prepared is a mansion, a paradise of good things, so
wonderful it is beyond our imagination to describe. So let the blessedness
of that land, Gennesaret, that heavenly home, that Christ is
bringing us to. Let that comfort us when the
waves are high and when the wind is contrary. And I'm telling
you this now so that you will be prepared before time. Because if you're not in the
midst of a crisis now, well, I'm sorry to tell you, you very
soon will be. But in those dark days and difficult
times and trials and problems, remember that there is a garden
of riches laid out before us to which the Lord is immediately
bringing us. Soon, very soon, we will see
the Lord. There are three thoughts that
I want us to concentrate upon in these last three verses of
Mark chapter six. Three things that I would like
to leave with you today. And this is really just beginning
on these thoughts. There is a little saying, I'm
sure you've heard it. People use this saying about
a person that they might know or they might meet. They say
that they leave a lasting impression on those that they meet. Someone
who leaves a lasting impression on those that they meet. The saying is this, once met,
never forgotten. I'm sure you've heard that before.
Once met, never forgotten. Why? Because that person, for
good or bad, leaves a lasting impression even in just one meeting. And I feel sure that for good
we could say that about the Lord Jesus Christ. If you met him
then you never forgot him. You never forgot that you were
in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm sure Jacob never
forgot that he had been in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're told that when the
disciples landed here at Gennesaret, we're told of the people straightway
they knew him. And I thought that was very interesting.
Straight away the people knew that the Lord had arrived. They
knew Jesus by sight and they knew him by reputation. They knew his miracles and they
knew his doctrine. That's because they had heard
him before. They had heard him preach. because
it was here, in this place, at this little stretch, that the
Lord had sat in the boat and taught the people who gathered
by the seashore. He had pushed the boat out a
little bit from the side because of the press of people, and he
had taught them sitting down in the boat. But let us note
And this is really the important point, I guess. Let us note the
reaction of these people, of whom it is said by Mark, straightway
they knew him. They did not gather round the
Lord Jesus Christ as we might expect them to. That's what I
would have expected. But we're told, rather, they
ran through that whole region roundabout and began to carry
about in beds those that were sick. And this is the first thing
that I want us to just pause and consider for a little while.
What these people did when they realised Jesus was in their presence. They ran through that whole region
round about and began to carry about in beds those that were
sick. Perhaps those who ran included
some who had been healed before by the Lord Jesus Christ. What
a thought that is. I perhaps let my imagination
run a little bit away with me here, but let me just paint a
picture for you. There's somebody standing at
a window in their house and they see someone running, and they
say, here comes that lame woman running. I wonder what's got
her so excited. And then the next thing, they're
standing at their window, and they see that lady, and she's
heading back, and over her shoulder, she is supporting an injured
person. and she's heading back down the
way that she's come. Or they're looking out the window
and they see, here's a man and he's carrying a little boy in
a bed. And they think to themselves,
wait a minute, isn't that the man who was the crippled beggar? I wonder where he's going with
that child in the bed. But you see, that must have been
exactly what happened because that's what Mark described. They ran through that whole region
roundabout and began to carry about in beds those that were
sick. That's exactly what they did.
And it shows that those people wanted others to benefit from
the Lord as they themselves had. They did not forget what the
Lord had done for them. Of course not. How could they?
Christ once met is never forgotten. And if the Lord Jesus Christ
ever is revealed to you and me to be the Son of God with power,
as Paul describes Him, then rest assured, we will not forget the
Lord Jesus. If we see Him to be the Son of
God, crucified, buried, raised and ascended, it will change
us forever. our walk will not be the same
afterwards. If the Lord Jesus Christ forgives
our sins, if the Lord Jesus Christ makes us righteous with God,
if the Lord sets us at liberty from the curse of the law and
the condemnation and accusations of Satan, we will not forget
that. And furthermore, we will desire
others have what we have too. We will be like Andrew, and we
will find Peter and tell him. We will be like Ananias, and
we'll tell Paul what we know, or Saul as he was. We will be like Lois and Eunice
and we will tell our children and our grandchildren that we
once met the Lord and this is what he did for us. And nor is this that is described
to us here by Mark in this verse, the people running hither and
thither and carrying out in beds those that were sick, that's
not contrived or manufactured in any kind of way. That's not
an exercise that a church would put on or a church course in
personal evangelism. It was a spontaneous and genuine
act of affection for those that they knew were ill and they wanted
them to have the healing that flowed from the hands of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I think that we can enter
into that even as believers today. We who have known something of
the grace of God in our own lives. and we who have those around
about us who yet need to know Christ as their Saviour. And
whether we carry those people on our backs or whether we carry
them metaphorically to the throne of grace in prayer, we do so
sincerely. because their need is laid upon
our heart. And that's true evangelism. That's true Christian witness. Once known, never forgotten. And that leads us to our second
point today. We're told by Mark here that
as many as touched him, They ran through and they began to
carry out in beds those that were sick, where they heard he
was, and were told, as many as touched him were made whole. And I want us to note the generosity
of the Lord Jesus Christ here. These poor, needy, sick and sinful
souls that were brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter
their need, no matter their condition, no matter the severity of their
diseases, no matter their infirmity, no matter the duration of their
illness. Remember the Lord healed that
man at the Pool of Siloam who had been there 38 years. Everyone who came to the Lord
Jesus Christ, everyone who reached out in faith, they were all healed
who touched the Saviour. And I think that this emphasis
that Mark gives us here upon the touch, the touch is a blessed
encouragement to every sinner who feels their need of mercy. There are grounds here in these
few verses for reaching out to the Saviour as He is presented
to us in the Gospel. There is warrant here to hope
that what He has done for others, He will do for you. Here is someone
in there, they're saying, come, come with us. Come, we'll help
you. Come, we'll carry you. Come, we'll take you to the Lord.
Look what He has done for us. Look at this one Jesus who has
died. Look at this one who has forgiven
us. Look at this blood that has cleansed
us. There's precedent here. There's
form and there's example. And oh how generous the Lord
is. He turned no one away. Not one of all of those who reached
out to Jesus in faith, who was able to touch even the hem of
his garment, was left unhealed. Every one received what they
needed. So let that magnanimity of our
Master mold our approach also. Who can come to Christ? You can,
because the Lord Jesus saves sinners like you. Gloriously,
blessedly, emphatically, enduringly, and completely. Who can come
to Christ? You can, because the Lord Jesus
heals the hurting. the grieving and consoles the
inconsolable, he is able to help you in your need. Who can come
to Christ? You can. And it matters not if
you are eight or eighty, because as many as touched him were made
whole. all for a touch of faith. When God the Holy Spirit gives
to a sinner a sense of need and a glimpse of Jesus Christ in
the gospel and a reason to hope that their touch will succeed,
there is no doubt about that outcome. All who came were healed
and no one went away disappointed. No one went away sad. No one
was passed over. No one whom God the Holy Spirit
shall lead to Christ will God the Son send away empty. Such is his generosity. May God
give us grace to come to the great physician, to the great
healer, and come today. And my third point is this. There's
two little words at the end of this passage that ought to gladden
the hearts of all the Lord's people. And it's these. All who touched Christ were made
whole. Made whole. And this is our third
point today, and then we're done. Made whole means that the job
was completed. When these people, by faith,
touched the Lord Jesus Christ, they didn't begin a course of
treatment or find themselves getting progressively better
afterwards for a period of time. They were made whole. The lame
man was made whole. The deaf woman was made whole.
The blind child was made whole. The diseased and the disturbed
and the distressed, they were made whole. And what's more, I think that
if a leprous man reached out in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ,
then the Saviour healed his arthritis and his toothache as well. because
they were all made whole. So let me suggest what the disciples
learned from this incident and what you and I should take from
it also. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
leave a job half done. Salvation is a complete work. Every demand is satisfied. Every need is fulfilled. Isaiah
could say, he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. That which the
Lord Jesus Christ endured, that which he suffered, that work
upon the cross dealt with our problem. won us forgiveness. It gained us acceptance with
God. It merited that righteousness
that God is pleased to bestow upon his people, those for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ died. This was the great work of the
covenant. This was the great work of grace and mercy that
the Lord Jesus Christ himself and himself alone, the only fit
one to do this, the God-man, achieved and accomplished for
his people, there by his sufferings and death. With his stripes we
are healed. It's nothing to do with us. It's
nothing to do with our energies or our abilities or our merits
or our works or anything that we can. It's a done deal. It's
a completed work. The hymn writer says, by his
sufferings, death and merits, by his Godhead, blood and pain,
broken hearts or wounded spirits are at once made whole again. I wonder where the hymn writer
got that phrase made whole. I think he got it from Mark.
By Christ all these things are done. Do you see what this is
saying? By what the Lord Jesus Christ suffered, we have a full
redemption. We have a complete salvation. We have perfect acceptance with
God. Nothing is left wanting. Our holiness, our righteousness,
our acceptance is perfect with God in Christ. Does Satan accuse you Does Satan
come to us and tell us that we're poor Christians, if we're Christians
at all? You tell him that Christ's stripes
healed your soul. Tell him Christ has made you
whole. Does our flesh still stumble and fall in this world? confronted
with the temptations, remember your perfection is not in yourself
but in Christ and in his righteousness and in God's free grace. We are complete in him. We're made whole. Does the law still spread its
shadow over our peace and our liberty? Friends, our wholeness is not
negotiable. If God says we're whole, we're
whole. No matter what anyone else says,
no matter what you say in your own mind, in your own heart,
about yourself in those times of darkness and in those times
of depression. Your own opinion doesn't matter.
If God says you're accepted, you're accepted. Or as John puts
it, It's always nice if we can bring a Biblical phrase to support
our contentions. As John says in chapter 8 verse
36 of his Gospel, If the Son shall make you free, ye shall
be free indeed. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,
His death, His blood, his perfect sacrifice is the source and success
of our wholeness. And no one gets to take that
from you. No more than had someone come
along to these people in the land of Gennesaret and tried
to take away from these men and women that Jesus of Nazareth
had healed their bodies. If they'd come and said to them,
no, no, Jesus didn't heal you, they would have looked them in
the face and they would have laughed and they would have said,
what? Look, look. No one can take from us that
we are made whole. when the Lord Jesus Christ has
been revealed to us, when we have touched Him and He has touched
us. We live by faith. We live in
the light of the promise of God. We live in the light of His covenant
declarations. And if God declares us whole
and makes us whole in the Lord Jesus Christ, we gain nothing
by doubting His word or worrying that it's not so. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1,
verse 20, May we take comfort and encouragement from this little
episode of the Lord's healing of these blessed people in the
land of Gennesaret. Amen.