Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, “Even the fringe of his cloak, all who touched it were
healed.”
Today’s given texts are from Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56. Strangely, they skip
great miraculous stories such as feeding five thousand with two fish and
five loaves of bread or Jesus’s walking on the water, which happened
between verses 34 and 52.
The starting verse 30 is followed by Jesus sending twelve disciples in pairs
for an evangelistic tour, with apostles giving reports of “all that they had
done and taught “ during their tour to Jesus. Disciples must have been
exhausted from their evangelistic campaign. Also, verse 31 reports that
even after their return from the tour, “because so many people were coming
and going, they did not even have time to eat. So, Jesus said to them,
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” “Quiet
place here means “solitary” or “deserted” place.
These passages speak to those of us who have felt like disciples —hurried
and harried. We lead a busy life, –so busy that we do not even have time
to eat or sleep—essential elements for humans to recuperate. We seem to
forget what it means to get “rest” to refill, refresh, or recover from being
dead-tired. Our leisure is filled with chores. When we go on vacation, we go
to places filled with traffic, noise, and many people. Isn’t that why we feel
more tired after coming back from vacation?
In this light, today’s text teaches us how to get “rest” to recuperate. Jesus
said, “Come with me to a solitary, deserted place,” away from people, busy
life, noises and distractions. Just you and me, let’s spend time quietly in a
solitary place where there is no one else. Now, let me ask, “When was the
last time you had “rest” with Jesus alone in a solitary place? Do you feel
tired and overwhelmed with things in life and with life? Perhaps it is time for
you to spend time alone with Jesus in a solitary place where there is
nothing and no one else but Jesus. A solitary place doesn’t have to be far
away in this light. It is a place where you can be away from your busy life,
noise, and distractions, which I observe many people cannot be away from
their distractions. When we have prayer vigils, I see some people bringing
phones turned on even when they come to pray. If you bring your busy life,
noise, and distraction to a solitary place like a deep mountain to get some
rest, you cannot have “rest.” You still live a busy, distracted life even in a
deep mountain with tablets and phones. On the other hand, if you are away
from a busy life and are in a solitary place but without Jesus, you cannot
find “rest” either because Jesus is the only one who can give us rest from
our weary and tired lives. Without Jesus, one finds desolation, emptiness,
or nihilism in a solitary place because one finds nothing there, losing
purpose in life. For us to have “rest,” we need to have two things: Jesus
and a solitary place.
In verses 33-34, when Jesus and His disciples came to a solitary place, a
large crowd saw Jesus leaving with His companions by a boat. They ran on
foot and arrived there ahead of Jesus. When Jesus saw them, He “had
compassion for them because they were like without a shepherd.” Jesus
saw each face reflected a need, a hunger, or a hurt. Jesus saw sheep who
were in a lot of trouble without a shepherd. They cannot fend for
themselves and are having difficulty finding the food and water they need.
Jesus was moved with compassion for the people in the crowd, and as a
faithful Shepherd, Jesus took care of their most pressing needs. He fed
them with the Word of God; “He began to teach many things.”
The “compassion” Jesus had for them was more than pity or sympathy, as
it means suffering with the one who suffers. The Greek verb for
compassion comes from the root word for intestines. Compassion is
something you feel in your gut. Compassion is what bubbles up in us when
we see someone else experiencing a pain we have experienced and know
all too well, –the internalized pain at the very core of our being. That was
the kind of compassion Jesus had for the crowd who came to the place
ahead of Him and His disciples, so Jesus began to feed them with the word
of God: “taught them many things,” as we see in vs. 34.
From this, we can see the relationship between a shepherd and a sheep.
The shepherd is to teach the word of God, instructing sheep in the way of
God, and sheep are to follow the shepherd’s leadership and instructions. If
sheep refuse to follow and insist on their ways, they no longer are the
sheep that the shepherd can care for. They have chosen their ways, going
astray from the shepherd’s fold.
As you all know, we have unhoused people in our midst. They have been
attending our church for quite some time now. Because they attend our
church, I consider them the same as other people in our congregation: the
sheep God has entrusted me to care for. Until they came to our church,
they did not belong to any church. They tried many but could not find their
home church, they said. I taught and trained them to pray while trying to
find housing. Temporarily, they stay at Catherine’s place. In caring for them,
their faith has grown, so Kathy said. She said, “You are the only pastor who
brought me closer to God.” Last Thursday, Kathy and Greg, who have been
living as a couple for twelve years, finally married in the eyes of God and in
the eyes of a few witnesses who came to bless their marriage. As a clergy,
I have officiated in many marriages, though not many. Among all those
marriages I officiated, the marriage of Kathy and Greg was one of the most
fulfilling, heart-warming, and moving marriages I ever officiated and
witnessed. I felt the Holy Spirit’s deeply moving in me while officiating; I
shed tears.
Kathy and Greg will leave Gillespie following my advice. I realized that I
could not give them the help they needed. All I can do for them is somehow
find housing and provide spiritual care while they need much more than
that. They need jobs, for one thing, and counseling and structured
guidance on financing, parenting, standing on their own feet, managing
their resources, etc. Also, I was afraid that instead of helping, what I was
doing for them might be just enabling them. With many prayers and fasting,
God helped me see that they are better off going to a bigger city that offers
all the help they need in a package. Kathy and Greg willingly and readily
accept my advice; they are ready to start anew with each other and their
son, who is in Saint Louis. Even though they leave Gillespie until they find
their new home church, I will continually be their shepherd if they remain in
God’s fold.
Lastly, I would like us to focus on Jesus’ healing. If we read the New
Testament, on the surface, it might appear that all those who came to
Jesus for healing were healed without exception. However, only those who
believed in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior were healed. If we recall,
Jesus did not perform miracles where there was no faith, for instance, in his
hometown. Also, Jesus asked people before he healed, “Do you believe
that I can do this?” (Matthew 9:28) In other words, it takes faith in Jesus
Christ to be healed of all sorts of diseases and sicknesses. If we read verse
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 it were healed. We note
here that they begged to touch even the edge, fringe, or tassel of his cloak,
and all who touched it were healed. It means they believed Jesus was the
Messiah, prophesied in the Bible.
If we go to Malachi 4:1-3, we see a reference to both the first and the
second coming of the Messiah. Malachi 4:2 states, “But for you who revere
my name, the Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings, and
ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves from the stall.” (KJB) The “Sun of
righteousness” here is the coming Messiah, and “his wings” refers to the
four corners of a Jewish prayer shawl that Jewish men wore. Jesus was
wearing a prayer shawl with tassels called tzitzit attached to the corners of
his cloak. The tassels of the prayer garment are seen as “wings” here
because in Malachi 4:2, “Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in
His wings’…” The word “wings” used here is the same word used for
“tassels” in Numbers 15:38.
In this context, those who begged to touch the tassels of Jesus’ cloak
believed that Jesus was the Messiah; they believed that the Messiah had
healing in His wings/tassels. With the faith we have in Jesus as the Savior
and Healer, we can be healed of all sorts of diseases and sicknesses,
including addictions. Those of you who want to be healed, may you be
healed with your faith in Jesus as your savior and healer. Amen!