We will return in a later sermon and devotional to 6:30-44, the feeding of the 5,000. We will talk about the feeding of the 4,000, Jesus walking on water and the disciple's confusion to Jesus' statements in 8:14-21, all in the same week.
Mark 6:53–56
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
In these short verses we see another one of Mark's summaries of Jesus' ministry in a particular time. He doesn't share any names or specific events, just general details, which makes it obvious that Jesus did far more in his ministry than the stories that we have documented in the gospels.
The wording of v. 53 is rather awkward in the Greek. The literal translation would be, "and when they had crossed over on the land, they came into Gennesaret and anchored there." Matthew's account in 14:34 smooths out the wording, "And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret." This gives more evidence that Matthew used Mark as a source and in his gospel he smoothed out some of the more awkward statements that Mark used.
However they got there, Jesus is surrounded by people everywhere he goes. His fame has reached such magnitude that he constantly surrounded by people looking to be healed. Ultimately this story points to the the kingdom of God coming in large proportions. This kingdom isn't just for the social elites or the few. It's for the ill, the hurting and needy people as well. This kingdom is invading the earth through Jesus. This text demonstrates the fulfillment of Jesus' "proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
Mark ends this summary with a fascinating statement, "As many as touched [the fringe of his garment] were made well." The case of the hemorrhaging woman was not unique. Everyone who touched even his garment was healed! Power over sickness and disease is just emanating off of Jesus.
The word translated "made well" is sozo in Greek. It is the same word used for salvation elsewhere in the New Testament. It is used in Jesus' exchange with his disciples in Mark 8:35, 'For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it." It's also the word used in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Clearly there is an eternal salvation connotation in these contexts. Yet, it's the same word used in our story here and in the case of the hemorrhaging woman, "And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Whereas finding little nuggets like this in Bible study can be interesting, it would be a major mistake to read eternal salvation into the meaning of this word in this context. Context is king. This saying was drilled into my head in seminary. Greek words, like English words, can carry various nuances in meaning based on the context and the author's usage. So, when doing word studies, the immediate context weighs most heavily into the meaning and always consult a lexicon (BDAG is the gold standard and the one I use) for the range of possible meanings of a word in that cultural context, because, as we know, words also change meanings over time. "Viral" only referred to something like the flu 30 years ago, now it most often is used to refer to a really popular post on social media.