Mark 3:7-12

We just entered a brand new book on this blog: Mark! Last blog I explained my hesitation with exegeting this text, due to its non-intuitive narration. We looked at Mark 3:1-6, where Jesus is exploding onto the religious scene. Jewish authorities took special notice of the Galilean carpenter, who was traveling around the region raising concerns about religious authority. The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus in a contradiction one Sabbath, attempting to convict Him of breaking ceremonial Jewish law. In the face of extreme judgement, Jesus performs a miraculous healing and teaches about doing good on the Sabbath. Today, though, we will be looking at Mark 3:7-12, where Jesus draws a huge crowd to the Sea of Galilee. Open your Bible and read the passage, and grab your copy of  Take Every Passage to Prayer, Volume 2- The Gospels by Charles Wagner to pages 179-180, for a deeper study of this passage.

After the healing in the synagogue, Jesus leaves the temple with His disciples. At this point in the story, we don’t see a group of 12, yet. Readers are given a picture of a select few friends of Jesus that accompany Him on the journey, as well as the larger crowd that wanted to get to know Jesus. We can assume that this crowd, following Jesus from the synagogue, was huge! The text tells us they came from Galilee in the north, Judea, Jerusalem, and Edom in the south, the Jordan River in the east, and from Tyre and Sidon in the west. Jesus is no longer a local celebrity, he is a regional phenom. Everyone in the modern territories of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan would have heard about some mysterious wizard that was healing people and speaking out against oppression. This new “prophet” was stirring the people’s hearts, and the people were not able to deny their curiosity. They traveled and followed Jesus to the Sea of Galilee. 

This growing crowd was starting to become concerning. Modern readers can totally sympathize with this, as we have seen multiple concert events where people easily die from trampling. I have seen multiple artists stop their entire sets to prevent concertgoers from being crushed by the crowd! Jesus was worried about this possibility, too. He tells His disciples, or His inner-circle, to prepare a boat for Him at the coast, so that they could retreat from the crowd. Moreover, there was another issue with this crowd. Due to the spread of Jesus’ miraculous healing stories, many in the crowd were sick and diseased, searching for a miracle themselves. Worrying about the health and safety of Himself and the disciples, the boat would prevent them from being exposed to the diseases of the crowd. 

I think the boat idea tells us a lot about Jesus’ ministry style. Jesus faced an administrative challenge, like many ministers experience on a Sunday morning. The disciples might have wondered, “Where are we going to put all these people?” Plus, this is not a normal crowd! This is a caravan of thousands of rowdy, loud, diseased, sick, and desperate people. Instead of hiding from the crowd, or sending them home, or leaving the disciples to deal with it, Jesus gathers His team. He makes a game plan. He executes it. The boat idea is especially unique, as it allows Him to still be present with the people who journeyed to see Him. He can see and hear the crowd, and the crowd can see and hear Him. This is the best possible option for Him, besides levitating in the air above the crowd (some megachurch pastors still attempt this technique during Christmas services). Jesus prioritizes connection, and we saw that a couple of weeks ago studying John 14. This is the same concept at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry!

Even though Jesus is focused on connection, there is a physical and metaphorical distance put between Him and the crowd. Physically, in order to prevent the spread of disease and the possibility of trampling. Metaphorically, in order to prevent Jesus’ full identity being revealed, as we see verses 11 and 12. Spiritually sick people were among the crowd of physically sick people. Unclean spirits took captive the souls of the vulnerable, which often manifested as physical symptoms. In the presence of God incarnate, the demons reacted and cried out “You are the Son of God!” The demons could not help but worship Jesus, as they knew He was coming. From the Garden of Eden, Satan has known that the line of Adam and Eve would produce a mighty king who would trample the head of evil.  However, Satan and demons are not omniscient, meaning they do not know everything that the Father knows. These demons are in the presence of God, probably for the very first time. It would make sense that they reacted violently to suddenly seeing their enemy, who their evil leader warned them about for centuries. Jesus does something unexpected here, though. Instead of teaching a lesson about demons, or verifying their true testimony, He tells them to be silent. Why is that?

Wagner observes on page 180 that if God wanted to reveal Himself through spiritual deities, He would have sent an army of angels to testify to humans. This is not God’s plan, though. He doesn’t want humans to learn about the nature of Jesus through demons, rather He wants Jesus to reveal Himself to the world. If you remember our discussion of Jesus comparing Himself to Jonah in Luke 11, Jesus wants to be a sign in Himself! He does not need miracles or signs, angels or demons, healings or curses, to testify on behalf of Himself. Jesus reveals the nature of God through His very existence, not through the actions that He performs. This is why Jesus hushes the demons, even though they were proclaiming truth on His behalf. No saying or action can fully reveal the nature of Jesus, and Jesus wants to make sure He is represented correctly to the nations. He knows how important His ministry is, and He wants to prevent misinformation from being spread. Thus, He tells the demons to be quiet. 

I think there are two key takeaways from this passage. First, Jesus’ administrative example with the boat idea is an amazing leadership tactic. He knew He needed to protect Himself, His staff, and His crowd, so that meant separating Himself. However, He did not allow this need for separation to isolate Him from His followers. Jesus’ leadership strategy is centered around connection, and the boat allowed Him and His followers to be safe, but still connected. Secondly, Jesus is a sign in Himself. Like we talked about in Luke 11, Jonah had a message to deliver to the people of Nineveh, but his journey there was a lived-out version of his message. Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites through his story, not the message. Jesus’ ministry functions in the same way. Jesus does not need signs or messages or demons to display His divine nature. His existence on earth is proof enough to the crowds that they should believe. That is what it means for Jesus to be a sign in Himself. Let us pray that we might be godly leaders on this side of Heaven, like Jesus did, and that we might have faith in our Heavenly Sign. 

Father, 

Be pleased, Lord, to deliver me! Lord, make haste to help me! Carve a hedge of protection around me, not of foliage, but of faith. Strengthen my faith so that I may see you as a sign in yourself. Let my leadership be motivated by my faith in you, like Jesus did. May all who seek you in that way rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” I am poor and needy, like the people in the crowd by the Sea of Galilee, awaiting a miracle for myself. However, I am not alone. You think of me in my time of trouble. You are my help, my deliverance, my Savior. Do not delay in renewing my heart, Lord! In your Son’s name, through the Holy Spirit, we pray, Amen.

Adapted from Psalm 40 ESV