The Healings at Gennesaret

Today's Reflections

The Healings at Gennesaret 

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Mk 6:53-56

⁵³After making the crossing, [Jesus and his disciples] came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. ⁵⁴As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. ⁵⁵They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

THEY SCURRIED ABOUT THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY. Many people who have sick relatives and friends seek Jesus and find him as he disembarks from the boat. Upon finding him, they go in a frenzy, moving towards different directions in their attempt to fetch the sick and bring them before Jesus.

Mark presents Jesus as somebody who is constantly on the move and one who is close to people. He heals every sick person who is brought to him—in villages, cities, farms, and even in marketplaces. His compassion for the sick and the infirm is not mere pity but a genuine solidarity that touches the core of his being. It is a real kind of engagement that results to effective action. In fact, his comforting presence already brings hope to the suffering crowd.

Jesus, in healing the sick, is continuing the work of God as Creator, as first seen in Genesis. God who makes everything good is now restoring everything to its original condition of wholeness. Despite the din and disarray that characterize the crowd, Jesus is able to heal the sick.

Jesus our Divine Healer is able to heal us

until now despite the noise and confusion

happening outside us or within.