Anchor My Faith

Crowds by the Sea of Galilee

Scripture: Matthew 4:25; Mark 3:8-12; Luke 6:17-19

We ended the previous lesson with Jesus and his disciples moving on to another location with a great crowd following them. ^{“Lk 6:17} A great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people ^{Mt 4:25} followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, ^{Mk 3:8} and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him ^{Lk 6:18} to be healed of their diseases.” Jesus and his disciples have been traveling from place to place, teaching and performing signs and as he did the crowds continued to grow and as we saw in our last lesson, so has the opposition from the scribes and the Pharisees.

What is this “great crowd of his disciples” and how are they different from his twelve disciples and the great multitude of people? We know who the twelve disciples are and since “great crowd” describes a greater number, these disciples must refer to those who follow Jesus for the purpose of learning. We might call them students where the great multitude of people are mainly there to have certain physical needs met and to enjoy the social stimulation they are experiencing.

With a growing number of people there needs to be some form of crowd control so, ^{“Mk 3:9} [Jesus tells] his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him.” By being in a boat a short distance from shore, places some distance between Jesus and the people and elevates them above Jesus so that more people can see and hear Jesus as he teaches.

Luke now explains why the crowd is growing and why Jesus needs some separation from them when he teaches: ^{“Mk 3:10} for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him, ^{Lk 6:19} for power came out from him and healed them all. ^{Lk 6:18} And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.” People discovered that by simply touching Jesus they would be healed as healing power came from him. This was true, not only for those who were sick, but also for those troubled with unclean spirits. It is easy to imagine people trying to get to Jesus who were sick or who were bringing people who were sick. I can imagine the disciples being used to maintain some sort of order in the process.

When those with unclean spirits came to Jesus and the unclean spirit saw Jesus they responded in a way that Jesus didn’t like at the time: ^{“Mk 3:11} And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” ¹² And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.” Since the statements being made by these unclean spirits is true, why would Jesus prohibit them from speaking? Jesus is in the process of gradually identifying who he is through his teaching, which is backed up by demonstrations of authority. These unclean spirits are engaged in evil by trying to identify Jesus as the Son of God before Jesus has prepared the people to accept him as more than just a man. Identifying Jesus as the Son of God too soon would cause the people to reject him and destroy him as a blasphemer. Jesus has not yet laid out enough evidence before the people for them to believe that he might actually be the Son of God their Messiah and thus his strict orders to the unclean spirits to remain silent.

Prayer

Father, we identified three groups of people in this lesson: the twelve disciples, the crowd of disciples, and the great multitude of people. It is clear that each group mentioned is farther from Jesus in their personal relationship with him. Father, my challenge to my readers is, what group are they in, in respect to Jesus. Are they still on the fringe seeking some excitement and possibly being helped in some physical or spiritual way; or are they growing in head knowledge about Jesus; or are they seeking to become more and more like him? My personal question to them is are you a kingdom builder or a comfort seeker? Are you willing to risk everything for Jesus or do to you seek safety and security instead?