When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 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.
Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)
Comment: A few chapters ago we read about the demon man, called legion, because there were many demons in him. He was cured and told to go and tell his story everywhere. I suppose that he did because Jesus releasing him from the bondage in which the demons had held ‘Legion’ was so vastly different! I think of him as an early itinerant evangelist! Gadara (Gadara was one of the 10 cities in the neighbouring region of Decapolis) is only a few kilometres away from the ‘land of Gennesaret’ which bordered the Lake of Galilee on its northern and eastern shores. I like to think but I have no evidence that ‘Legion’ went ahead of Jesus spreading His fame! But then the feeding of the 5,000 was in the south-eastern tip of Gennesaret and so that may have been the precipitating cause of the masses coming to be miraculously cured. Many miraculous healings occurred. The second part of the reading is just background reading for what we are to read about tomorrow! The fairly obvious point of what we are told about the Pharisees’ obsession with washing probably had little to do with cleanliness and much to do with getting points on their concept of God’s check-list of how obedient and subservient we are! Tomorrow we’ll see as to where this leads us!
Proverbs 14: 4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox. – You can be too clean! As immunologists are telling us these days about the need to let kids ‘play in the dirt’!
Prayer: Teach us please Father, to live a truly balanced life, but nevertheless balanced in Your Understanding.
As I read it! 