According to the Gospel of Mark, as Jesus passes through Gennesaret, just after the account of him walking on water, all those who touch the edge, or hem, or fringe of his cloak are healed:
The same account is given in Matthew 14:34-36. In both the gospels, those who were sick aimed to touch the tassels (, kraspedon) of Jesus' garments, "which in accordance with , the Jew wore on each of the four extremities of his cloak".Meyer's NT Commentary on Matthew 9, accessed 20 January 2017
First-century historian Flavius Josephus refers to the Gennesaret area as having very rich soil.The Physical Geography, Geology, and Meteorology of the Holy Land by Henry Baker Tristram 2007 page 11 The town was perhaps halfway between Capernaum and Magdala.Lamar Williamson 1983 Mark pages 129–130
This account is seen by some as a vindication of the reverence paid to relics practiced in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. As John McEvilly notes, this is because Jesus, "far from condemning, as superstitious, the respect and reverence paid to the clothes which He wore, even directly sanctions it, by working miracles in approval of it."
See also Life of Jesus in the New Testament Ministry of Jesus Miracles of Jesus Parables of Jesus Christianity and fringed garments
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