Gennesaret - Matt 14:34-36; Mark 6:53-56; John 6:22-35

After the storm is calmed when Jesus reaches the boat, He continues traveling on with his disciples toward Gennesaret, which is near Capernaum, where most of the disciples live, and where Jesus has adopted to be his home. When the little group lands and the people there realized who He was, “they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.” I find it interesting that the people were so excited to see Jesus, that they went and got their sick for him to heal. It wasn’t just that they were interested in Him healing the people they loved, but these people also wanted Jesus to heal everyone who was sick. There was definitely a sense of community among many of these people, and the healing touch of Jesus was felt by more people because of their neighbors concern for their well being. I just thought about myself in that situation, if Jesus showed up in my town, I would go to him personally, but honestly, I don’t think that my first reaction would be to run and make sure that everyone knew he was here so that we could all enjoy his presence together. Maybe that’s something I need to work on, part of my member missionary work. Interesting note about the people believing they would be healed simply by touching the “hem of his garment,” JTC chapter 20, footnote 7 explains that in ancient Judaism, there was a “requirement made of Israel in earlier days (Numbers 15:38,39) that the border be fringed and supplied with a band of blue, as a reminder to them of their obligations as the covenant people. The desire to touch the hem of Christ’s robe may have been associated with this thought of sanctity attaching to the hem or border.” That puts a little but more perspective as to why so many people believed that the edges of Christ’s clothing had the ability to heal them.

After feeding the 5,000 people, he sent the people home, and went into the mountains to pray, but the people who went home didn’t realize that he was leaving and that he wouldn’t be there when they woke up the next morning. When they arose and realized that Jesus was gone, they were shocked and wondered how he could have left? They knew that his disciples had taken their boat earlier the night before, and they also knew that the same storm that tormented the disciples also precluded Jesus from taking a boat out on the water himself. JTC says, “they concluded that He must have returned by land round the end of the lake.” These people secured some boats and sailed over onto that side themselves to find him. They find him, as JTC says “probably as He sat in the synagogue, for on this day He taught there, some of the most intrusive of the crowd asked, brusquely and almost rudely, ‘Rabbi, when camest thou hither?’ To this impertinent inquiry Jesus deigned no direct reply; in the miracle of the preceding night the people had no part, and no account of our Lord’s movements was given them. In tone of impressive rebuke Jesus said unto them: ‘Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.’ Their concern was for the bread and fishes. One who could supply them with victuals as He had done must not be lost sight of.”

There must be some nuances of the ancient Jewish culture that I’m not aware of that indicate that the people were rude in their question and that they interrupted him, or that his answer was a rebuke, maybe I just don’t understand.  But Jesus’ response to the people’s question gives us reason to pause and consider. The people that recognized him from the night before on the other side of the lake, basically ask him, “when did you get here?” And he answers, “you don’t really believe in what I’m doing, you just want me to feed you more.” As far as I can interpret it, they give no indication as to their intentions in seeking out Jesus, in fact, they call him Rabbi, which to me signifies that they are showing respect to him as a spiritual leader. But we know that Jesus is able to perceive thoughts, so He must have divined their intentions in order to answer them in that way. The people answer Jesus’ rebuke by asking, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answers, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

This is where the people’s true colors come out, and we see that Jesus was correct in his knowledge of their true purposes in seeking him out. The people, who just the night before had watched as 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes became a meal for thousands of people with 12 baskets of left overs, these same people challenge the miracle worker, “What sign shewest thou then that we may see, and believe thee? What dost thou work?” Seriously? How about the sign of the feeding of thousands of people with almost no food? How about all the people in Gennesaret that were just healed? Then the people go further, “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” What a bunch of whiny little kids, if I were Jesus I would be furious! But of course he’s not because he’s amazing, he simply goes on to teach the people pure doctrine. This is just another example that miracles don’t convert, they only strengthen the testimony of those who already believe.

Jesus is incredibly restrained as he answers that “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread form heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” Either the people are just really dense or are purposefully trying to irritate Jesus, they answer, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” I don’t know how much clearer Jesus could make it when he answers, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” There is an interesting and profitable explanation for the Lord’s chosen words given by the IM which says, “Perhaps one of the most striking similarities between the ministry of Moses and the Savior is the use of ‘I Am’ statements. When Moses asked the Lord what to say when the children of Israel asked for His name, the Lord responded, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’ ‘I Am’- one of the names by which the Savior is known in the Old Testament- is recorded repeatedly by John, and Moses was told to use this name so the Israelites would know that Jehovah had spoken. John recorded that the Savior declared ‘I am the bread of life.’ He made other similar ‘I am’ statements during his ministry.” It was perspective shifting when put it together that the Jehovah of the Old Testament was the Jesus of the New Testament. I always thought that Heavenly Father was the God of the Old Testament, but that’s not correct, Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, only just in his spirit form.