Matthew 14:34 Having made the crossing, they landed at Ginosar. 35 When the people of the place recognized him, they sent word throughout the neighborhood and brought him everyone who was ill. 36 They begged him that the sick people might only touch the tzitzit on his robe, and all who touched it were completely healed.
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Mark 6:53 After they had made the crossing, they landed at Ginosar and anchored. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized him 55 and began running around throughout that whole region and bringing sick people on their stretchers to any place where they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went, in towns, cities or country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the tzitzit on his robe, and all who touched it were healed.
Peter is still dripping wet when they touch dry land at Ginosar. The poor guys hadn't even had a chance to air out before the people moved in on them all. No rest for the weary, right?
My very first question is this: How could they recognize Him? His face wasn’t posted all over Instagram, and I doubt a local caricature artist was churning out prints to be plastered all over the Land.
Maybe they heard about a guy with a beard and brown shoulder-length hair traveling around Israel with a group of guys. Really? Wouldn’t this describe every man that’s out hanging with his buddies during this time period? Outside of being Roman, everyone else likely looked similar overall.
But they were recognized.
Second question: Where did they hear about healing through the tzitzit? Was it that lady with the issue of blood? Did word get back to these people claiming that was the only way healing came? They weren’t too far away from where she was healed so it’s possible they spoke in some way.
We’re going to put these two points together but first we’ll start by pointing out the reasonable conclusion here is that these men were in the crowd when the woman with the issue of blood grabbed the corner of Yeshua’s garment. Afterall, this location and Capernaum were only a couple of miles apart. This would explain how they recognized Him and why they thought touching His garment was the key. (Of course, if Yeshua detected that they had found the “secret formula” I would expect Him to reprimand them and subsequently not let that process work. This is what gives us permission to test it with a different assumption.)
Just for fun, though, I’m going to take an unorthodox approach to this and float an alternative possibility.
Before we get there, I’d like to turn a bit and have a brief discussion on the relationship between Zebulun and Issachar. What does this have to do with anything? Bear with me.
Issachar was the ninth child of Jacob and 5th of Leah. Zebulun, his younger brother, was the 10th son of Jacob and 6th of Leah. Just to recap, Leah had 4 children, the handmaids had 4, then Leah had 2 more. Of course, Joseph and Benjamin were the final two from Rachel. But Issachar and Zebulun must have had a special bond. These two were separated by a good amount of time from their brothers through their mom so it makes sense we see these guys grouped in their blessings from both their father and Moses.
Genesis 49:13 “Z’vulun will live at the seashore, with ships anchoring along his coast and his border at Tzidon. 14 “Yissakhar is a strong donkey lying down in the sheep sheds. 15 On seeing how good is settled life and how pleasant the country, he will bend his back to the burden, and submit to forced labor.
Deuteronomy 33:18 Of Z’vulun he said:
“Rejoice, Z’vulun, as you go forth,
and you, Yissakhar, in your tents.
19 They will summon peoples to the mountain
and there offer righteous sacrifices;
for they will draw from the abundance of the seas
and from the hidden treasures of the sand.”
We also have information that the sons of Issachar had some sort of wisdom in discernment:
1 Chronicles 12:32 Of the descendants of Yissakhar, men who understood the times and knew what Isra’el ought to do, there were 200 leaders, and all their kinsmen were under their command.
“Tradition tells us that the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar complemented each other: Zebulon would make money in trade and Issachar would study Torah. Zebulon would support Issachar to allow it to spend their time learning Torah. On the map, the two tribes were side by side and shared a border.”
The point here is two-fold:
Now let’s get back to our story.
Have a look at this map:
See up there in the upper right, right near the top where it says “Genasareth” right near Magdala? That’s the spot these guys landed upon and is the location of our story.
While it is properly in the ancient territory of Zebulun, it isn’t unreasonable to assume that 1500 years later (and post-Assyria) that a few of those from Issachar and Zebulun may have settled back into this territory. We have evidence that some of the Northern Kingdom did return to the land and settled back in the north. In fact, the Samaritans were even further south down in Ephraim so it makes sense some of them could have made their way back home.
What if some of these people in this town were exercising their God-given gift of discernment?
If this were the case, they would have discerned Him, not just recognized Him. It also makes a little more sense why they chose to seek His tzitzits immediately:
Malachi 4:1 For the day is coming, burning like a furnace,
when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble;
the day that is coming will set them ablaze,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“and leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But to you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in its wings;
and you will break out leaping,
like calves released from the stall.
3 You will trample the wicked,
they will be ashes under the soles of your feet
on the day when I take action,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
4 “Remember the Torah of Moshe my servant,
which I enjoined on him at Horev,
laws and rulings for all Isra’el.
5 Look, I will send to you
Eliyahu the prophet
before the coming of the great
and terrible Day of Adonai.
6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children
and the hearts of the children to their fathers;
otherwise I will come and strike the land
with complete destruction.”
IF they were in fact the sons of Issachar, and IF they had the ability to discern the time they were in, and IF they could discern who He was, and IF they knew what Israel ought to do, THEN they would know that healing would be in His wings.
What are these wings?
From Jeff Benner:
The Hebrew word meaning "wing" is כנף kanaph [H:3671] but it is also the word for a "corner," as in the corners of a garment. The woman grabbed hold of his tsiytsiyt, which were tied to the "corners" of his garment because she knew that he had healing in his "corners."
His tzitzits were tied to the corners, or wings, of His garment. These people in need of healing knew from the prophet Malachi that if this was the location of healing, that’s what they needed.
So did these guys get word from the woman with the issue of blood to reach out to touch His garment or was she also a descendant of Issachar?