Mark 6:53-56 (NIV)
53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 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.
Have you ever wondered how people recognized Jesus when he traveled?
I’m in San Antonio today, sitting in my customer’s cafeteria (where they have wireless internet) waiting for my 1:00 meeting to start. While checking my email, I read my “Daily Manna” email that I get from the International Bible Society. When reading this passage, God just really started stirring my heart. My customer is a very LARGE company and there are thousands of employees all across America. People walk in and out of the cafeteria all the time, but I have no clue who they are. Even though I have studied the org chart and I know who all the major players are and what their responsibilities are and lots of information about them, I don’t recognize any one of them.
So riddle me this Batman… in this day of electronic information, 24×7 news coverage, the world wide web, newspapers, magazines, ezines, websites, email, instant messaging, the ability to take a picture and send it across the world in moments, why don’t I recognize these very important executives that are so important to my profession? I cannot recognize someone I have never met. I cannot recognize someone who has not been pointed out to me.
Next question: How did the people in all these remote villages, towns and countrysides recognized Jesus? There was no newspaper. There was no TV. There were no cameras or photographs. Puzzling isn’t it? I’m not sure I have the answer to that, but that’s not the point of this blog.
And get this… there was no New Testament. There was no Scripture to study or commetaries to read. This was all real-time!
Would YOU recognize Jesus if he walked in your office? If he bumped into you at the market, would you immediately know who he was? That’s a sobering question… isn’t it?
Here’s the rest of the story… When Jesus showed up to the villages, towns and the countryside, “… they ran throughout that whole region…” begging him to touch the edge of his cloak. If Jesus was coming to your neighborhood, would you run to meet him? (I hear many of you say “yes… Of course!”). Would you drive to the next city to see Jesus? Would you drive to the next state? Would you hop a plane to go to another country to see Jesus face to face? Of course we would! Really, think about it! Suppose your browsing the USA Today website for the headlines and you read that Jesus incarnate is in some location. I’d drop everything and go to that location to see Him! How exciting that would be! That would be alot like the people of the villages “… running throughout the whole region…” to go to see Jesus!
So, why won’t we get out of our beds to meet him in our kitchens each morning? We don’t have to run throughout that whole region begging to touch His clothing. We are so privaleged to sit across the kitchen table and commune with him any time we want to. Our house is not a “tour stop” for Jesus. He is ALWAYS here… waiting for us. I don’t know about you, but to me He’s worth losing sleep over!
Running After Papa….