20.1.05 - Mark 3.7-12

Mark 3:7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

"Jesus was the first socialist, the first to seek a better life for mankind." Mikhail Gorbachev 1931-, President of USSR (1988-91). Today's Bible reading is about who Jesus is.

Why did Jesus withdraw to the lake?

In Chapter 2 and 3:1-6 Mark has recorded a series of events which antagonized the Pharisees and led them to plot with the followers of Herod to kill Jesus ( 3:6 ).

Many people followed Jesus from a wide area, including the South of the country. Why did they follow him?

Either to be healed, to have evil spirits exorcised, or to witness this. People would press forward to touch Jesus believing He could heal so He had His disciples have a boat ready, just in case He had to make a hasty retreat. The boat could also have been used as a floating pulpit.

Despite the crush and clamour Jesus graciously healed people and drove evil spirits from them. Because of their needs and the power of Jesus to heal and exorcise, the crowd did not think to question who this Jesus was. The evil spirits were in no doubt, but Jesus stopped them from telling who he was.

Why did Jesus do this? Perhaps to exert His power over them. There was a belief at that time that if you knew the name of someone you had some power over them. Jesus certainly showed the evil spirits that he was in complete control. Jesus showed He would obey the prompting of God, not the devil.

Jesus wanted to reveal himself to people when the time was right. He would not be dictated to by demons.

Also, people had the wrong idea about what the Messiah would be like. They expected an earthly ruler who would defeat the Romans by military force. They could not have coped with a heavenly King who defeated sin and death by being nailed to a cross. This is one of the reasons Jesus didn't publicly disclose who He was early in His ministry.

Even though they would not have a full grasp of who Jesus was, or what he would do, Jesus gave authority to his apostles to preach the good news ( 3:13-19 ). He was not going to let evil spirits carry out this task! It is ironic that, at this time, the evil spirits knew more about who Jesus was than His disciples!

This passage is, primarily, about who Jesus is. He is the Son of God. This is linked to what He did. He followed God's way, not the way of the crowd or of the evil spirits. In the crowd and the demons we see differing reactions to Jesus.

Jesus Christ

If you were to ask people today who Jesus was they might reply a great teacher, a prophet, a good person, a revolutionary. Today there are many people like the crowd. They do not truly know who Jesus is and why He came to earth.

We need to recognize who Jesus is and follow Him as our God.