Mark 6:56

‘And wherever he entered, into villages, or towns or the countryside, they laid their sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch if it were but the hem of his clothing, and as many as touched him were made whole.'

Whether He visited town or countryside they came for healing and laid their sick ‘in the marketplaces', that is the village meeting points where people met to talk and barter. True marketplaces would be restricted to the big towns. And He healed them all. His power was clearly manifested.

‘The hem of His clothing.' The hem or fringe or tassels worn by every orthodox Jew (Numbers 15:37; Deuteronomy 22:12), reminding men of God's commandments. Touching only His clothes was a sign of the deep respect that they had for Him. They did not feel that they should inflict their presence on Him by a firmer touch, but sought only a point of contact.

‘And as many as touched Him were made whole.' Note that it was because by their act they saw themselves as touching  Him  that they were healed. It was He and not the garment Who healed them. The clothes were part of the man. (There is no place for relics or ‘The Robe' here).

Outwardly His ministry was as successful as ever, but we note that while He must have used the opportunity for preaching Mark does not mention it, and in spite of His extensive travels this is true from now to Mark 10:1, where the preaching is in Judaea. (Contrast Mark 1:14; Mark 1:22; Mark 1:39; Mark 2:13; Mark 4:1; Mark 6:2; Mark 6:6; Mark 6:12; Mark 6:34). In fact the mention of teaching is now restricted to His disciples (Mark 9:30). And this may indeed be the explanation for the silence. Perhaps it was so that we may recognise a change of emphasis. The ministry in Galilee has reached its climax. And now the training of His disciples for the future must begin. Certainly He did continue to preach (Mark 8:1), as is emphasised in Mark 10:1 ‘as was His custom'. So He preached continually.

It should be noted how what happens here leads into the next incident. These people who were touching Jesus would not all be observing the laws of ritual cleanliness. Thus by their touch some of them would be rendering Him ritually unclean. But how do you make unclean the One Whose power makes you clean by full healing and restoration? It was just this kind of situation in the marketplace that persuaded the Scribes and Pharisees of the need for ceremonial cleansing before a meal because of the possibility of having been ritually defiled by contact with ‘unclean' people. Unlike Jesus they shied from the touch of ‘sinners', but they could not totally avoid it. It is very probable that any critical Pharisee who observed the touches of the crowd would have remonstrated about it.