Unusual Signs – Matthew 14:34-36

You don’t have to scour the internet very long to find testimonies of miracles people have experienced. Are all of them real? Of course not. But I have no doubt that many of them are and that God is the author of them. I found one, for example, by a new Christian whose step-father had just died and he was mourning the fact that he had given him only a tepid witness, being saved himself only a few weeks. He asked God for an unmistakable sign that his step-father had received the truth and believed. I’ll let you read here what happened.

Jesus did some unusual signs for people who believed. Maybe this will encourage you.

And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Matthew 14:34-36 ESV)

Unlike the opposition Jesus got from people who knew him and his works, the people of Gennesaret are quite welcoming, having heard of Jesus and what he could do.  The men of the place take the lead in getting others there who need healing.  Somehow they have come to believe that merely touching the hem of Jesus’ garment will heal them and their faith in that is not disappointed.

We might think of such faith as superstitious, but God is willing to honor faith in His Son with amazing results.  It was not Jesus’ hem that had the power, but Jesus by the Holy Spirit.  Nevertheless God gave these people what they needed through the vehicle they imagined was appropriate.  He made it appropriate.  What are we believing God for?  Even if our thinking is a little off, if our faith is directed at the One who loved us and gave himself for us, we should expect Him to do wonderful things.