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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew 14, I want to begin reading 
at verse 13, and our subject, or our text this morning, is 
going to be the end of the chapter, verses 34 to 36. The beginning 
in verse 13. When Jesus heard it, he departed 
from there by boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the 
multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities. 
And when Jesus went out, he saw a great multitude, and he was 
moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. When it 
was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a deserted 
place, and the hour is late. Send the multitudes away, that 
they may go into the villages and buy themselves food. But 
Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them 
something to eat. And they said to Him, We have 
here only five loaves and two fish. He said, bring them here 
to me. Then he commanded the multitudes 
to sit down on the grass. And he took the five loaves and 
the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke 
and gave the loaves to the disciples. And the disciples gave to the 
multitudes. So they all ate and were filled. 
And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments that remained. 
Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides 
women and children. Immediately, Jesus made His disciples 
get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while 
He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes 
away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when 
evening came, He was alone there, but the boat was now in the middle 
of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now 
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on 
the sea. And when the disciples saw him 
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost. And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to 
them, saying, Be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. And 
Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, command me 
to come to you on the water." So he said, come. And when Peter 
had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go 
to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind 
was boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried 
out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched 
out his hand and caught him, and said to him, O you of little 
faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, 
the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat 
came and worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God. When they had crossed over, they 
came to the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that place 
recognized him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, 
brought to him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might 
only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were 
made perfectly well. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Holy and our Gracious Father, 
we thank You for the Word of God. We pray now for the ministry 
of Your Holy Spirit. We pray that He would illumine 
our hearts and our minds, that He would cause us to see and 
appreciate great things concerning our Savior. We bless you and 
we praise you for your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you 
that you sent him forth, born of a woman, born under the law, 
to redeem those under the law. We thank you that he lived in 
our behalf, he died on our behalf, he rose again, and he now sits 
enthroned at the right hand of God Most High, where he makes 
intercession for his people, where he saves to the uttermost 
all who draw nigh unto God through him. We as well have the promise 
of His coming in the future to judge the living and the dead. 
And our heart's desire, God, is that everyone here in this 
place would be fit and ready for His coming, that each and 
every one would be clothed in a righteousness not their own. 
As Pastor Cam pointed out, this alien righteousness that is imputed 
by God given, received by faith alone. May you do that work today 
which is impossible with men. May you reach down and may you 
save sinners. And may you do this for the glory 
of the triune God, for the exaltation of your great and holy name. 
And that men would see, men would know, men would be aware that 
there is a God in heaven and earth who saves sinners from 
their sins. We ask that you would wash us 
now and purify our minds and our hearts and help us to receive 
with thanksgiving the Word of God. And we ask through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, our focus 
this morning is on verses 34 to 36. And it's basically a summary. It is a transition into a new 
block of narrative. And we see several of these summaries 
along the way in Matthew's Gospel. We see them in chapter 4, chapter 
8, chapter 9, chapter 12. We see them, of course, here. 
and then in chapters 15, 19, and 21. And some might be tempted 
or inclined to say, well, it's just rehearsing stuff that we've 
already seen, it's just rehearsing things that we've already known, 
so let's just kind of run through it quickly. I kind of like to 
look at them as the Selahs of the Psalms. You know that word 
that is printed in the margin of the Psalter, that word Selah? Well, there is no consensus on 
the absolute certainty of what that word means, but for the 
most part, scholars, commentators, biblical theologians affirm that 
the word kind of means to pause, to reflect, to meditate. In other 
words, as you are singing these psalms, don't just go through 
it in a rote sort of a fashion. but actually pay attention, take 
heed to what is written. And I wonder if Matthew is doing 
that along the way in his narrative. He wants us to reflect, he wants 
us to pause, he wants us to wonder, he wants us to marvel at the 
Son of God. It is wonderful to see Jesus 
in his interpersonal relationships with men like Peter. It is good 
to see Jesus walking on the sea to his disciples and rescuing 
them from the storm. But it's also good to see Him 
appealing and dealing with people in mass when multitudes come 
to Him and they implore Him for healing, and the Scripture says 
that He heals them all. In other words, what we have 
to do within this passage is a demonstration and a manifestation 
of the Son of God. This was confessed in verse 33, 
by the disciples. After Christ shows mastery over 
the waves, after He shows mastery over the winds, after He does 
these things in terms of comforting His people, it says in verse 
33, then those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him, 
saying, truly, you are the Son of God. Well, I don't think it's 
accidental that as we get to Gennesaret, Matthew indicates 
that they recognized Him. What does Matthew want? He wants 
us, likewise, to recognize Him. He wants us to observe. He wants 
us to stand in awe. He wants us to consider not only 
who the Son of God is, but what is a fitting response in light 
of that. So Matthew sets forth this landing 
in Gennesaret and we'll look at it under three considerations. 
First, the setting of the miraculous display of power Verse 34. Then 
secondly, the recognition of the Son of God in verses 35 and 
36. And then thirdly, the manifestation 
of divine power in verse 36b. But note first in verse 34, when 
they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. Now 
when you compare this passage with John's gospel and you compare 
it with Mark, you kind of puzzle a bit about what's going on in 
terms of direction. I don't think there's any contradiction. 
The way I understand it is they originally launch off from Gennesaret 
to go to the east side of the Sea of Galilee. But because of 
the storm, they're blown off course and they arrive back to 
Gennesaret. In John's Gospel it says as they 
were heading toward Capernaum, which would make sense. If you 
leave Gennesaret, which is on the northeast shore of the Sea 
of Galilee, to go to the other side, Capernaum is only about 
three miles from there. So they probably got a few miles 
in, the storm came, blew them off course, they go back to Gennesaret. And that is a particular land 
that, as I've already mentioned, is close by Capernaum. It's about 
three miles south and west of Capernaum. And Capernaum is a 
place where Jesus has done many of his mighty miracles. We see 
this in Matthew chapter 4. We see it in Matthew chapter 
8 and chapter 9. He goes about in Capernaum healing 
people raising the dead, doing those things that are unique 
to the Divine One, doing those things which are unique to the 
Lord Christ. And so it would be the case that 
people living just three short miles away would have heard about 
Him. And that's something that Matthew 
punctuates in his gospel narrative throughout, is that his fame 
spread. Jesus' fame spread. The idea 
is this, when people came into contact with him, or they heard 
his teaching, or they saw these miraculous displays, they would 
go home and they would tell others. This is a great pattern. This 
is something that we as the disciples of Christ ought to practice. 
We have seen the Lord and we'll see that manifested here in Gennesaret. The men recognize Him and they 
send out to all the regions to bring the sick to this particular 
Son of God. This is a great pattern to spread 
the fame, to spread the name, to spread the honor and the glory 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes people get converted 
and they say, I really want to serve the Lord. You know what 
the best way is that you can serve the Lord? By serving the 
Lord. Do what you're supposed to do 
where God has called you and do it as a light that shines 
in a crooked and perverse generation. And as you have opportunity, 
hold forth the word of truth. You may not necessarily be called 
to pioneer missions. You may not necessarily be called 
to pulpit ministry. You may not necessarily be called 
to what they now term full-time Christian ministry. But each 
and every one of us, according to the Apostle Peter, has been 
called out of darkness into marvelous light so that so that we may 
proclaim His praises, so that we may testify of His glory, 
so that we may declare His most holy name. In the services of 
the church we do this. When you sing these hymns and 
psalms and spiritual songs, it is to proclaim His praises. Tonight 
as we observe the Lord's Supper, what are we going to do corporately 
as a church? We will proclaim the Lord's death. 
until He comes. Do you see that so much of what 
we do corporately together is reflecting upon the glory and 
the name and the majesty of our great God. So they are in Gennesaret. Notice secondly the recognition 
of the Son of God in verses 35 and 36a. They recognize Him. When the men of that place recognized 
Him. This is interesting because one 
of the things that Matthew is doing throughout this portion 
of his gospel narrative is showing us the differing responses to 
Christ. Isn't he? What happens at the 
end of chapter 13? Jesus is in his own hometown. He's in Nazareth. Do they recognize 
him? No. He says a prophet is not 
without honor except in his own country. When Jesus is walking 
on the sea, do His disciples recognize Him? No. They fear that it's a ghost. 
They're exceedingly afraid. They think it's more likely that 
the ghost of a man who drowned in the Sea of Galilee is walking 
on the sea than that God Himself is with us. And yet, when we 
get to this backland region, this place that has not been 
mentioned up to this particular point, this place which is relatively 
obscure, when the men of that region recognized Him. Again, 
I think Matthew is working off of this confession in verse 33. It is good to recognize Jesus. It is good to understand who 
He is. If you are here this morning 
and you've been with us in our studies in Matthew, you have 
had enough knowledge or enough information presented to you 
to make this certain confession that Christ truly is the Son 
of God. Recognition of who He is in His person. Recognition 
of who He is in His work. Recognition of who He is in His 
power. Recognition of who He is in His 
mercy and in His grace. These men saw this. They recognized 
Him and then know what they do. They sent out for sick people. When the men of that place recognized 
Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to 
Him all who were sick." It's not glorious. You see, here's 
what they thought. Not only is He the Son of God, 
again, I'm linking this very closely with what's preceded. 
Not only does he possess intrinsic authority and power, not only 
does he multiply loaves and fish, which incidentally, look at this 
in the narrative as well. He's sovereign over food, he's 
sovereign over storms, he's sovereign over illness, and in the larger 
context of Matthew, he's sovereign over your sin! Do not tarry! Do not wait! When there is this recognition 
of the Son of God, go to Him. This is what Matthew is saying 
to you this morning. So these men send out throughout 
this entire region, they understand that He's got power, they also 
understand that He's got mercy. We can bring our sick to Him. 
We just sang this in 393. I really hope that you pay attention 
when you sing. Again, it's not simply to please 
people. It's not so that the internet 
presence, people go, wow, that church, they sing pretty loudly. 
It's not just so we can say the singing was loud. What's the 
purpose for singing, according to Paul and Colossians? Teaching 
and admonishing one another. That's why it's imperative we 
sing biblically sound doctrine. This is why we sing intellectually 
sound hymns and, of course, the Psalter. It's because we're communicating 
back to God in praise and adoration, but we're communicating to one 
another as well. And when we sang that heart hymn 
in 393, we sang, come ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, 
sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you. The men of that region understood 
that. Jesus stands ready to save you. Heart goes on to say, full of 
pity, joined with power. You see, if Christ had the ability 
to multiply loaves and fish, to walk on the sea, to cease 
the winds, and to heal illness, and he had all that power and 
majesty at his disposal, but he didn't exercise it, that would 
be problematic, wouldn't it? Yes? Everybody with me? He's 
got power. He's got sovereignty. He's got 
majesty. He's got the resume. But does he have the practice? 
Does he put it into being? Does he affect it? Hart goes 
on to say, he is able, he is able, he is able, and then he 
underscores it with this, he is willing, doubt no more. That's 
what the men of the region understood. He is able. He is able. He is able. They also understood 
that he is willing. Doubt no more. Bring your illnesses 
to this Christ. Bring your illnesses to this 
son of God. Bring your illness to this master 
of the waves. And now notice what happens. 
brought to him all who were sick, and then verse 36, and begged 
him that they might only touch the hem of his garment." Again, 
we see this sort of thing in Matthew's gospel. And I think 
if we can read between the lines, Matthew is saying, come to this 
one. Don't wait until we get to the 
end of the gospel to say, okay, I'm going to believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. You need to come to Christ now. He is able. He is able. He is able. He is 
willing. Doubt no more. Some say, well, 
look at this. It's almost like magic here. 
They simply wanted to touch the hem of His garment. I don't think 
that's magic. I think that's faith. They understood 
the virtue of the Son of God, that if we just get close enough 
to Him, and just touch the hem of His garment, by virtue of 
His person, we will be healed. This isn't magic incantation. It could have been some superstition 
among the people. Matthew doesn't comment one way 
or the other, but what is true, and what is obvious, and what 
is on display, is that these people understood that Christ 
had power, and that He had a willingness to part with it in order to save 
them. from their ailments. It's beautiful. And then note the way they come. 
They begged him that they might only touch the hem of his garment. So a man who's facing certain 
death via a particular disease becomes importunate. You know 
what importunate means? That means you don't stop knocking 
until you get an answer. As a pastor in a church where 
there are people that are ill and You see these sorts of things. 
There's an importunateness in the hearts of meat people that 
don't want to be ill. They don't want to have injury. 
They don't want to be laid up. That's legit. That's good. So there is in them this desire 
to get well. Some of them manifest it by googling 
everything. I mean, they can tell you more 
about a particular disease and a particular nuance and whatnot 
than probably most doctors would do. They haven't made peace with 
their ailments. They haven't made peace with 
their maladies, but rather they want to part with that. If there 
was a man that could bring a cure, I do not doubt that they would 
come and beg him and entreat him. You know what's really intriguing 
about this passage is that the physically ill see their maladies 
and they see their ailments and they see their problems and they 
beg for healing. What's even more disconcerting 
or what's really sad about this on the contrast is that there 
are people here right now that are spiritually ill. There are 
people here spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins. 
There are people here that could care less about Jesus at Gennesaret. There are people here that just 
want the clock to speed up a little bit so we can go home and eat 
tacos or whatever it is that we do on a Sunday afternoon. 
You see, here's what I'm going to suggest to you. If for a moment 
you see your sin, if for a moment you understand the holiness of 
God, if for a moment you realize the great chasm that exists, 
you will beg for healing. We studied Judges 13 on Wednesday 
night. Manoah, the father of Samson, 
could teach us all something very important about worship. 
When Manoah and Missus offer up a burnt offering to the Lord, 
the angel of the Lord ascends in the fire. This just blows 
Manoah away. You know what he says? We will 
surely die because we have seen God. You say, well, aren't you 
overreacting, Manoah? Don't you know that Jesus, gentle, 
meek and mild, is our friend and he just sits with us and 
he drinks tea with us? No, Manoah understood something 
about the dreadfulness of God's holiness. He understood something 
about the fearfulness and the terror of a sin-hating God. You see, some of you have never 
come to that point. Maybe it won't be as pronounced 
as Manoah, but have you seen God in His holiness? Have you 
listened to the angels in the prophet Isaiah? Holy, holy, holy 
is the Lord of hosts. I realize that in modern vernacular, 
we have translated that into happy, happy, happy, and all 
He wants to do is make us happy. But that's not what the angels 
say. They say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The 
whole earth is filled with His glory. You see, when you understand 
just something of that, and then you see yourself in comparison, 
you see yourself as unholy, unholy, unholy. The Puritan John Owen 
says, we labor to convince men of this or that sin. He says, 
when they're nothing but sin, You don't need me to come to 
you this morning and say, look, this is something that's wrong 
in your life. I mean, we can do that, go through the Decalogue, 
but there is a great breach between heaven and earth because we are 
in Adam. All have died in him. And if 
you are here this morning and you are outside of Christ, I 
am here to tell you there is a day of reckoning coming. And 
the only way of escape is to come to this Jesus, who in Gennesaret 
had the ability to heal physical distress, physical calamity, 
physical ailment. Because I think these physical 
healings along the way, and Matthew's narrative points to the bigger 
truth of Matthew 1.21. He will save his people from 
their sins. So many people in the church 
get caught up with the supernatural manifestations of healing that 
they miss soul healing. You say, well, Butler, you don't 
know anything about it. You haven't had cancer. You don't 
have a withered hand. You don't know how difficult 
it is to walk in my shoes. I know what my Savior taught 
in Matthew 5. He says that it's better to go 
to heaven named than to go to hell whole. What's his point? There is something more important 
than simply enjoying 80 years of undisturbed harmony in this 
lower world. This is a drop in the bucket 
to eternity. It's gotta be one of the tactics 
of the devil to get us more fastened, more rooted, and more interested 
in what's going on right before our eyes than in the thought 
beyond the grave. It's gotta be! How many of you 
young people ever give thought to the reality that you may pass? 
How many of you young people are old people? I've got to tell 
you, I don't wake up in a given day thinking this is going to 
be my last. Edwards resolved, I'm going to try and live every 
day as if it's my last. He was godly. I'm not. I don't 
think that way. As Edward says elsewhere, there 
are innumerable ways of men going out of this world. See, we don't 
give this thought. As long as we have food for today, 
as long as we can breathe for today, as long as we have water 
for today, as long as we have our coffee, as long as we have 
our immediate needs met, why think beyond the grave? We all 
know that James says, don't think that way. Your life's a vapor. It's here for a time and then 
it's gone. You need to come to Christ. You need to come to the Savior. 
You need to beg Him. Can I just touch the hem of your 
garment? Now, I love this. Some of the commentators refer 
to this, whether it is the case or not. Probably the hem of the 
garment is that referred to in the book of Deuteronomy and Numbers. 
What did a Jewish man wear? He wore tassels on his garment. 
Why? To remind him of God's law. That 
was their equivalent of a bracelet that said, what would Jesus do? 
Jesus is the perfect man, subject to the law of His Father and 
doing the will of God every step of the way. His efficacy is seen 
even in the clothes that He wears for us. These men know, they 
realize, they understand, if I just touch the hem of His garment, 
I will be whole, I will be healed. And may I say to you this morning, 
If the hem of His garment brings physical healing to those in 
distress, what does the wholeness of His life and His death and 
His resurrection bring to needy sinners? I'll tell you what it 
brings. Romans 4.25. He was delivered 
up because of our offenses and He was raised up for our justification. There is everything in Christ 
that you, the sinner, needs. There is everything in Christ 
that you, the sinner, must have. There is everything in Christ 
that you, the sinner, ought to flee to Him for. There is mercy, 
there is grace, there is health, there is healing, there is wholeness, 
there is comfort, there is blessing. Paul describes it in Ephesians 
1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who 
has blessed us with what? Every spiritual blessing in the 
heavenly places in Christ. You say, but Paul, my back hurts. 
Paul, I've got some issues in my body. Yeah, but you've got 
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Paul 
would say, yeah, I've got some problems with my eyes, and I 
walk with a bit of a hobble now, and my back looks like a map. Because unbelieving Jews took 
their whips and opened it up for the cause of Christ. But 
he would say, I have all. I have everything. I think this 
is what this narrative weaves together for us. The one sovereign 
over food, the one sovereign over storms, the one sovereign 
over illness is sovereign over your greater illness, which is 
sin. That's the point. This is what 
he wants us to know. Spurgeon says, our king is master 
both on land and water, whether it is on the Sea of Gennesaret 
or in the land of Gennesaret. Gennesaret is another name for 
Sea of Galilee. His supreme power and majesty 
are infallibly proven. Now notice the manifestation 
of that power. So they begged him that they 
might only touch the hem of his garment. We saw this with that 
woman who had the issue of blood in Matthew chapter 9. Here it 
says, and as many as touched it were made perfectly well. This is why I know that Matthew 
wants us to understand something, not only of the physical healing 
that Jesus Christ brings, but of the spiritual healing. The 
same verb is used that we find in Matthew 1.21. He will save 
his people from their sins. All along the way in the narrative. 
Every time that our Lord Jesus Christ heals somebody. Every 
time that He puts food in someone's mouth. When He tells the wind 
to cease. When He stops the waves from 
their tumult. All of these are evidences. All 
of these are proves. All of these are exhibits that 
He has the greater power to forgive sin. Remember that? Matthew chapter 9. Jesus is in a house. Full of 
people. Four men have a friend that's 
a paralytic. And they want Jesus to heal the 
man. So they open up the roof and they lower their friend down. 
And when Jesus sees that man, he says, son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you. I 
could hear it now in a church service. Wait a minute, Jesus, 
you didn't heal him. He's still on his bed. You still 
can't walk. How could you tell him to be 
of good cheer? Because his sins are forgiven. You see how carnal we read texts? It didn't work. Well, of course, the audience 
felt the vibe, as we might say. And the Pharisees reasoned in 
their hearts, who does this man think he is? Who does this man 
think he is? Mark and Luke flesh it out for 
us. Matthew doesn't need to because his Jewish audience would understand 
what they were asking. Who can forgive sins but God 
alone? That was the issue. Jesus says, 
in fact you can look back there in Matthew chapter 9, We're at 
verse 3. And at once some of the scribes 
said within themselves, this man blasphemes. But Jesus, knowing 
their thoughts, said, why do you think evil in your hearts? 
For which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or to 
say, arise and walk. And we spent some time looking 
at that. What is easier to say? It's easier to say your sins 
are forgiven you because we don't know. You ask me to forgive you, 
and I say, I forgive you. I might not. But if I smile and 
I look convincing, you think that I actually did. Now, I don't 
hopefully practice this sort of thing. You ask my forgiveness? 
Sure, you're forgiven. But it's easy to say this, isn't 
it? It's easy to say to the man who's paralyzed, your sins are 
forgiven, because no one really knows if the transaction has 
been enacted. Now, notice what Christ goes on to say. but that 
you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive 
sins. Then he said to the paralytic, 
Arise, take up your bed and go to your house. And he arose and 
departed to his house. You see, when the man arose, 
when the man took up his pallet, and when the man walked off, 
that illustrated, that served as an exhibit, that demonstrated 
and furnished proof of the fact that a greater miracle had transpired. That's what Jesus says, but that 
you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to 
forgive sins, he says to the paralytic, arise. So when the 
young man or man, whatever age he was, arose, what does that 
evidence? That Christ has transacted with 
him the forgiveness of sins. Again, we live in a context and 
a culture, at least in certain wings of the Christian church, 
where we want to say, yes, the gospel, yes, the spiritual activity, 
yes, the forgiveness, but let's see people healed of their maladies. Now, I'm not against this, and 
I believe God the Lord does this. I believe God the Lord does this. 
I don't believe Benny Hinn does this. I don't believe guys who 
have big cars and big houses and big wives with more makeup 
on that would shame Jezebel herself have the power to heal people. I don't believe that for a moment. 
But can God heal? Absolutely. Should you pray to 
God for healing? Absolutely. Should you pray to 
God that His will be done? And if it is the case, Lord, 
that you're going to leave this thorn in my flesh, the way that 
it happened with Paul, then let me trust and let me realize and 
let me know that that thorn was specially made for me to teach 
me lessons. That's faith, isn't it? Isn't 
that how we're supposed to walk? Why use it when calamity comes? 
We throw off faith. Everything's by sight now. God 
must be mad. God must hate. God must not... No, no. God knows 
you. He's going to bring you through 
this because He wants you to be more like His Son. And unfortunately, 
we don't learn how to be like His Son sitting on a beach in 
Hawaii. We learn how to be like His Son 
when we're going through the thick of it. Because that's how 
His Son learned. Obedience through suffering. 
Hebrews 5. Notice Matthew 14 again. They begged him that they might 
only touch the hem of his garment. This really connects as well 
with what's going to follow in 15. What happens in 15? Pharisees, religious leaders, 
whine, grumble, and complain. Why is it that your disciples 
eat with unwashed hands? Ceremonial uncleanness is the 
issue in chapter 15 verses 1 to 20. Matthew's foreshadowing for 
us, we've got very potentially unclean people touching Jesus. 
You can't have that if you're a Pharisee and a scribe. You 
don't rub shoulders with riffraff. You don't walk about the multitude 
because you might get infected by them. Haven't we learned as 
Jesus walks among the riffraff, not only does He not get infected 
by them, but His holiness affects them. He's the actual one man 
in history that could do that. We all think we can. We can go 
be holy and let our holiness fall off on everybody else. Generally, 
their unholiness falls off on us. D. A. Carson says, because 
the stricter group, such as the Pharisees and the Essenes, counted 
it an abomination to rub shoulders in a crowd, one never knew what 
ceremonial uncleanness one might contract, Jesus, unconcerned 
about such things, neatly sets the stage for confrontation over 
clean and unclean. As in chapter 8, verses 1 to 
4, remember? Lord, if you are willing, you 
can cleanse me, said the leper. He Himself cannot become unclean. Instead, He makes clean. It's beautiful. You come, confess your sins to 
your elders. You come, confess your sins to 
your parents. You come, confess your sins to 
your equals. And you might get contagious, 
or they might get defiled by the things that you bring to 
them. Not with Christ. We bring our malady, we bring 
our filth, we bring our sin, and what does he do? Look at 
the end of the text. As many as touched it were made 
perfectly well. Again, Spurgeon, listen to what 
he says. The people asked little, didn't they? Think about it. They didn't come to Jesus and 
say, can we go to coffee with you? Can we have a conference 
with you? We set up a tent. Can you be 
the miracle worker for us? They don't do that. They ask 
little. Can we touch the hem of your garment? You see, a sinner 
who understands his sin only wants relief. He doesn't need 
conferences. He doesn't need tent meetings. 
He just needs the blood of Jesus to wash him from his sins. There's 
an importunateness about it. Spurgeon says, the people asked 
little. They begged that they might only 
touch the hem of his garment, but they received much, for they 
were made perfectly whole. In no case was there any failure. 
In every instance, the work was complete. Their humble request 
was founded upon a precedent, was urged by earnest spirits, 
and was accompanied with practical sympathy. Therefore, it was not 
refused. How glad that whole region was 
made. Remember last week, we sort of 
mused on what happened when the disciples went home from the 
Sea of Galilee for breakfast. Their wives said, why are you 
late? He said, you wouldn't believe it, honey. We saw the master 
walking on the sea. You wouldn't believe it. The 
storm was blowing, the waves were tall, and this one walked 
on the sea. Kind of mused about Peter. He's 
eating his Cheerios, and he says to his wife, not only would you 
not believe that he walked on the water, but I stepped out 
there as well. Now granted, it wasn't long because 
I was afraid of the boisterous wind, but I did do it. What do you think happened in 
Gennesaret this day? Look at what the text says. They sent 
out into all that region, brought to him all who were sick, and 
begged him that they might only touch the hem of his garment, 
and as many as touched it were made perfectly well. As many 
as touched the hem of his garment were made perfectly well. If 
you say you're bouncing back from the physical to the spiritual 
too much, I say no. Again, I think that that's Matthew's 
point. That's the purpose of the Gospel accounts. It is to 
show us the power and the majesty of the Son of God, and to show 
us from the lesser to the greater. If He's going to heal these physical 
infirmities and distresses, He will certainly heal spiritual 
infirmity and distress as well. The Geneva Bible captures it 
beautifully. It says in that Christ healeth 
the sick. We are given to understand that 
we must seek remedy for spiritual diseases at His hands, and that 
we are bound not only to run ourselves, but also to bring 
others to Him. It's a great summary of this 
great summary. And there are a few lessons before 
we close. First, we need to understand 
the Apostles' portrait of Jesus. That's what you're getting with 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You're getting their portrait. They may not have had an artistic 
bone in their body. They may have been like some 
of us who draw stick figures to represent men. But they weave by the power of 
the Holy Spirit a glorious portrait of the Son of God. And because 
the Son of God is so glorious, the Lord calls for four of these 
portraits. Matthew wants us to understand 
Jesus' power. That has not been abundantly 
clear yet. Let me tell you. He has power. 
He has ability. He has authority. He has sovereignty. 
Knox Chamberlain says it this way, all who touched the edge 
of His garment were healed, which implies that all those more directly 
in touch with Him were cured as well. And then he says this, 
such is the predictable might of the person revealed in 14.13-33. Such is the predictable might 
when we get to Gennesaret from the man displayed previous. that 
can multiply fishes and loaves, that can walk on the sea, that 
can cease the wind. Certainly if He's sovereign over 
those things, He's sovereign over the creation as a whole. And whatever malady, whatever 
ailment, whatever illness that these people in Gennesaret brought 
to Him, He was able to make them perfectly well. It's beautiful 
language. Did you ever consider that in 
the gospel? You've been made perfectly well. I realize it 
doesn't always look like that. But your perfectly wellness comes 
as a result of that doctrine specified in Philippians chapter 
3. Not having my own righteousness 
which is from the law, but that righteousness which is from God 
through faith in Christ. That's perfect. That garment 
that is given to you in that blessed transaction called justification 
avails with God. You've been made perfectly well 
by justifying grace. Your sins are forgiven you. A 
righteousness has been imputed to you, received by faith alone, 
a faith that God Himself gave to you. Now, in the life of sanctification, 
there's a lot of imperfections. There's a lot of issues, there's 
a lot of challenges, there's a lot of trials, a lot of difficulties, 
a lot of room for growth. But on that grand day when the 
Son of God is revealed, when the Son of God comes in the glory 
of His Father with all of His holy angels, taking vengeance 
on them that know not God and those who do not obey the gospel, 
how is it on that day we will be accepted into that eternal 
kingdom? It is based on the work of Christ 
alone. That's it. We are justified freely 
by His grace. Now again, do not mistake what 
I am saying. I'm not preaching antinomianism. When you are justified, you will 
pursue sanctification. You will have the Holy Spirit. 
You will put on the Lord Jesus Christ. You will make no provision 
for the flesh to fulfill its lust. Romans 8.13 is a reality. If by the Spirit you put to death 
the deeds of the body, you will live. But on the day of acceptance 
into the eternal kingdom, it's not because I put it off the 
most, or I read my Bible more, or I was more faithful in my 
church attendance than everybody else. It is for the doing, and 
the dying, and the rising of Christ that we find entrance 
into that eternal bliss. Please get that down. When you have that down, it makes 
you want to do good things. It makes you want to pursue good 
works. It makes sanctification a bliss 
and a joy and a thankful thing, rather than, I've got to do this 
in order to secure my place with Christ. No, I get to do this 
because my place with Christ is secured by His precious blood. He's got power. But as well, 
He's got compassion. Davies and Allison, say no names 
are named. That's what's good about these 
summaries. No names are named. No individual persons are followed 
up on. No specific personalities are interviewed. They say no names are named, 
no individual characters are introduced. We are simply told 
that Jesus healed the masses. See, as nice as it is to focus 
on a Matthew and his call, to focus on that paralytic and his 
healing, to focus upon the individuals, isn't it nice to sort of walk 
through the gospel narrative and see Jesus with outstretched 
arms just grabbing a bunch of people and healing them? Isn't 
that nice too? I'm sure if you're a fruit picker, 
it's good to pluck one or two or three at a time. It's probably 
nice to have a machine that shakes trees so all the fruit falls 
off. Right? There's something appreciable 
about that as well. Look at how much fruit we've 
got. That's what Matthew's doing. Look at how much fruit he's got. 
Look at how much power there is. Look at how much compassion. Again, Davies and Ellison, this 
reinforces the impression conveyed through Matthew that Jesus did 
not neglect the common individual, but rather identified with ordinary 
and especially helpless people. These weren't the leaders, these 
weren't the religious, these weren't the upright. This was 
the garden variety sinner, living at a particular time in Gennesaret, 
limping, hobbling, suffering. They come and touch the hem of 
his garment and Jesus heals them and makes them whole perfectly. 
He's a great Savior. In the Apostle's portrait of 
Jesus, we get his power, we get his compassion, we get his mission. 
We get his mission. To whom does Jesus go? Is it 
just the religious folk? Is it just to the polished folk? 
No, the very gospel itself is going to end on that high note 
with which it begins. The introduction to Matthew's 
gospel puts Jesus in the context of Abraham. He is the son of 
Abraham. The end of Matthew visits that 
theme when Jesus tells his disciples to go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations. Wasn't this the promise to Abraham? 
Abraham, you are going to be the father of many nations. Abraham, 
look north, look south, look east, look west. You're going 
to inherit all of this. Romans 4.13, Paul tells us that 
Abraham would be the heir of the world. Why? Because of his 
seed. The mission of Christ is comprehensive. He doesn't simply come to the 
lost sheep of the house of Israel. He comes for Gentiles. He comes 
for helpless. He comes for poor. He comes for 
people like you and me. He comes for the rabble. He comes 
for the sinner. He comes for those who cannot 
save themselves. This is the point. People that 
could only get near enough to touch the hem of His garment 
were made perfectly whole. Whether he ever talked to them, 
whether he knew their names in terms of his humanity, whether 
he investigated further on their life circumstance and situation, 
whether they were fraud, whatever, he just came and he touched them 
and they lived. There's lessons in this passage 
for disciples. They recognize Jesus. These men 
of Gennesaret recognize Jesus. We ought to be able to recognize 
him as well. By that I mean we ought to know 
our scriptures. We ought to know who Jesus is. We ought to be 
able to give a little more than an elementary answer as to who 
Jesus is and why he came. Secondly, disciples receive him. They don't say, get out. Brunner 
calls this section, Gennesaret's model reception. While Nazareth 
is pushing him out, Gennesaret is saying, come, dwell, stay, 
be here. Isn't this the heart of a disciple? 
Isn't this the way we ought to function and operate? Thirdly, 
they tell others of his presence. You can't miss that. Though it's 
a summary, though it's transitional, though there's lots of these, 
in each of the summaries there's a little detail, a little particular 
that perhaps isn't in the others. Look at the men of this region. 
When the men of that place recognized him, they sent out into all the 
surrounding region, brought to him all who were sick. There's 
a compassion not only in the Savior who's able to heal, but 
there's a compassion in the disciple who wants to bring people to 
be healed. They testify. They declare. They speak up. Now, that's going 
to look differently in every situation. I'm going to tell 
you, you've got to show up here on Saturday morning at 9 o'clock. 
I'll give you a portion of a map, and you canvass Stanley and Princess 
and Margaret, and you make sure you give out 25 tracts. And when 
you're done, then we'll have considered it done. No. It's 
an artificial means. If somebody does that and they 
want to do that, praise God from whom all evangelists flow. But at some point, at a certain 
instance, at a certain place, and may God bless in such a way 
that it will be sooner rather than later, you need to be able 
to say, I was blind but now I see. And it's because of Him. Isn't 
that the testimony of that man born blind? The Pharisees want 
to have this major theological debate with this fellow. And 
I love the way he deals with that. He essentially says, I 
don't know what you're going on about, but this much I know. 
I couldn't see, and this man healed me. And then he gets really 
cheeky with them, and he says, do you also want to be his disciples? I bet they love that man. This is our privilege, church. Again, there's a model, there's 
some models of evangelism out there that are so fake, so artificial, 
so rigid, so structured. You've got to do this. Fill out 
your time card. How many souls have you led to 
the Redeemer? That's on the one hand, but on 
the other hand, there's no dumb people in Zion. No mutes. People speak up for 
the Savior. And that's what we find here. 
And then thirdly, we've got lessons for the disciples. We've got 
lessons for unbelievers. I don't know who you are. God 
knows who you are. But in this passage we learn, 
first, a recognition of who Jesus really is. He is truly the Son 
of God. There's a lot of dispute and 
a lot of debate and a lot of argument, and it has been this 
way for 2,000 years about who Jesus is. Whatever Darwin may say, or whatever 
the alternate views and competing theories might suggest, or whatever 
the philosophers have mused over their long beards, it is inescapable 
that Matthew and Mark and Luke and John set him forth as the 
Son of God. They set him forth with absolute 
sovereignty, absolute power, and with great grace, mercy, 
and compassion. So if you're here this morning, 
again, perhaps the first time, perhaps the 50th time, and you've 
heard this, you need to recognize it. This is who Christ is. Secondly, and I've alluded to 
this, you need to realize that if a touch of his hand brings 
physical healing to the distressed and gennesaret, what will faith 
in his person, faith in his work, belief in who he is and what 
he's done do for a needy sinner? The Scripture is clear. When 
that Philippian jailer comes to Paul in Barnabas, and he says, 
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? What do they tell him? Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. His life, 
His death, His resurrection is fully able and powerful to heal 
you of your sins. Thirdly, you need to understand 
to come to Him in faith. It's faith. You say, I don't 
have faith. Ask God to give you faith. You 
say, well, that seems counterproductive. No, God is the giver of every 
good and perfect gift. There's nothing counterproductive 
about going to God in prayer. Believe on Him. That's the message 
of the gospel. That's what it's about. You see, 
if you go to a place of worship in a church and they say, go 
out and try harder in order to go to heaven, they've misunderstood, 
they've misspoke, they've preached heresy. It is by grace alone, 
through faith alone, as Pastor Cam pointed out from Philippians 
3, Christ alone that any sinner gets from this point A of sinfulness, 
depravity, wretchedness, death, and undone-ness to that point 
B of great blessing and privilege and glory. It's faith. Sid, faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. That is a promise from the scripture. 
That is a promise from God Most High. That is what the text testifies. Young people and children, yes, 
we often warn you, stay away from peer pressure that will 
bring your soul down. Stay away from people that are smoking 
crack and looking at porn and doing all those sorts of things. 
But realize this, if you stay away from the crack pipe and 
you never look at porn, but you haven't come to Christ, you will 
be lost. No man ever went to heaven because 
they didn't smoke crack. No man ever went to heaven because 
he didn't look at porn. Any man, every man goes to heaven 
who looks to Jesus Christ. That's what the gospel is all 
about. That's why it's good news. That's why Christ came. And then know that when you come, 
there's everything in him. Some of us are able to remember 
what life was like before being Christians. Some of you, brethren, 
thank God Almighty. You can say there was never a 
time I wasn't believing the gospel. The Lord got a hold of me when 
I was a young person, a young child, and I just grew up in 
that context of believing in Him. Others of us lived out with 
the pigs for a while. We craved hog food. We craved 
garbage. We craved stuff that should shock 
people. And we heard the gospel, and 
we heard people tell us about Jesus. And we threw it off, and 
we resisted, and we rejected, and we said, you know what? If 
I give up all this hog food to go to Him, then I'm the loser. If I give up my sex, or I give 
up my drugs, or I give up my rock and roll, or I give up my 
friends, or I give up my this, whatever idol it is, Solomon 
says it well, Behold, I have found this, God made man upright, 
but they sought out many devices. Your devices may not be my devices, 
my devices may not be your devices, but we all have devices. See, 
the sinner thinks that if I give all this up for Jesus, then I'm 
the loser. Those of us who can remember 
can testify. We're not the losers. We didn't lose anything. We gained 
everything. Give up the muck, the garbage, 
the filth, the sin. Listen to the prophet Isaiah. 
Why do you spend your wages on that which does not satisfy? He says, come to me for abundance. This is what Christ says in John 
10. I came that they might have life and that they might have 
it abundantly. And I know that those health 
wealth guys say that means big cars and big houses and big wives 
and the whole spiel. The abundance there is the peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ that blood and resurrection 
brings and secures. That's the abundance that I know 
when I lay this wretched head on its pillow, that if I die 
before I wake, and as cheesy as that may be, God the Lord 
will take my soul. Come to Him and you will never, 
ever be the loser. You will never, ever be disappointed. As the Apostle says, whoever 
calls on Him will not be disappointed. Well, let us pray and ask the 
Son of God to bless His Word and to put it in our hearts. 
Father, we thank You so very much for Your dear Son. We thank 
You for His ministry. We thank You for His power. We 
thank You for His mercy and His kindness and His willingness 
to heal people. And we thank You for His willingness 
to heal us of that great malady of sin. We thank You for forgiveness. We thank You for the righteousness 
of God that has been given to us. I pray that You'd open hearts 
and open eyes and open minds to see and to recognize that 
Christ is the Son of God. And may sinners here today, by 
Your grace, believe on Him that they might have everlasting life. 
Go with us now, we pray, in Jesus' holy name. Amen.