Crowds Follow Jesus - Mark 3:7-10
Crowds Follow Jesus
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard about 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 impure 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 others about him.
Reflection:
After another rigorous day of ministry, Jesus goes down to the lake for a little retreat, but the crowds won't have it. The news spread of the healings and exorcisms and his confrontation with the religious leaders. And the people came from all over the regions to see him. What we will find when we start operating in kingdom power is that it will be an attractional ministry. In order to keep a little distance, Jesus told the disciples to get a boat ready for him, as people just wanted to touch him thinking even this might heal them.
Then an ironic thing happens. The impure, or evil spirits, we might call them demons, fell down and cried out, "You are the Son of God!" They recognized his authority and knew right away where he came from. They could see the spiritual power at work in Jesus, even if others could only see the outward manifestations. But rather than jumping for joy that finally someone got it, he forbids them to tell others about it. Why? Because this is exactly the sort of the thing that will get him arrested and killed. Jesus knows that as his ministry and following grows, that the leaders would get more and more jealous of him, which would speed up his going to the cross. And he knew that he had other areas he needed to go to and announce the kingdom was at hand in word and deed.
A lot of people get freaked out by the talk of evil spirits or demons. But we don't need to. The same authority they recognized in Jesus, they see in a believer filled with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because it is the Spirit of Jesus. And that is why when we don't know what to pray the Spirit intercedes with words we don't even know. That is why we can discern when their is evil in our midst. That is why we can say "get behind me Satan" in the same authority he had and in His name. That is why when the disciples came back from the mission Jesus sent them on they said, "Even the demons submit to us in your name." So though we need to respect the spiritual powers out there, we never need to be afraid of them.
Remember perfect love casts out all fear! Amen.
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard about 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 impure 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 others about him.
Reflection:
After another rigorous day of ministry, Jesus goes down to the lake for a little retreat, but the crowds won't have it. The news spread of the healings and exorcisms and his confrontation with the religious leaders. And the people came from all over the regions to see him. What we will find when we start operating in kingdom power is that it will be an attractional ministry. In order to keep a little distance, Jesus told the disciples to get a boat ready for him, as people just wanted to touch him thinking even this might heal them.
Then an ironic thing happens. The impure, or evil spirits, we might call them demons, fell down and cried out, "You are the Son of God!" They recognized his authority and knew right away where he came from. They could see the spiritual power at work in Jesus, even if others could only see the outward manifestations. But rather than jumping for joy that finally someone got it, he forbids them to tell others about it. Why? Because this is exactly the sort of the thing that will get him arrested and killed. Jesus knows that as his ministry and following grows, that the leaders would get more and more jealous of him, which would speed up his going to the cross. And he knew that he had other areas he needed to go to and announce the kingdom was at hand in word and deed.
A lot of people get freaked out by the talk of evil spirits or demons. But we don't need to. The same authority they recognized in Jesus, they see in a believer filled with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because it is the Spirit of Jesus. And that is why when we don't know what to pray the Spirit intercedes with words we don't even know. That is why we can discern when their is evil in our midst. That is why we can say "get behind me Satan" in the same authority he had and in His name. That is why when the disciples came back from the mission Jesus sent them on they said, "Even the demons submit to us in your name." So though we need to respect the spiritual powers out there, we never need to be afraid of them.
Remember perfect love casts out all fear! Amen.
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