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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 14:34 - 14:36
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_14:34-36
34When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.
Mat_14:34 "When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret" There is ambiguity in the words "crossed over." In Mar_6:45 there was a place called Bethsaida which meant "house of fish." There must have been two Bethsaidas or else there was some confusion in the geography of the various accounts of the Synoptic Gospels. Jesus was staying in the territory of Philip the Tetrarch and not going back to the territory of Herod the Tetrarch. Gennesaret was primarily a Gentile area. Maybe this was His way of getting away from the Jewish crowds as He would later at Caesarea Philippi.
Mat_14:35 "and when the men of that place recognized Him" The exact same thing that happened in Mat_14:13 happens again and Jesus again took time to minister to needy people. They had the same kind of superstitious faith as the woman with the issue of blood in Mat_9:20 -they wanted to touch the tassel of His prayer shawl (cf. Mat_14:36). Jesus accepted and worked with even this weak faith. His compassion can be clearly seen even for these superstitious non-Jews.
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