Mark 3:7-12 – The Lord’s popularity

In these verses we can sense the mounting pressure the Lord was experiencing. So He and His disciples withdrew to the Sea of Galilee. People from all over just tracked Him. Verse 7 said a great multitude from Galilee followed to where He was, and so were multitudes of people from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea and also people from areas beyond the Jordan such as Tyre and Sidon.

The Lord’s popularity went out far and wide. When all these multitudes heard about His great works, they all came to experience for themselves. Knowing that they might pressed in to Him, the Lord told His disciples to station a getaway boat nearby in case the crowd get unmanageable. The Lord had healed many and so people with all kinds of sicknesses and conditions were pressing in to try to touch Him. Unclean spirits would recognize Who He was and would fall down before Him, shouting, ‘Your are the Son of God!’ The Lord didn’t need their publicity, so He sternly warned them not to reveal His identity.   

Despite His popularity, the Lord new His mission. Mark tells us later that He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. But what’s tragic about this account is this: the demons could recognize Jesus as the Son of God, but the multitudes could not. They could only see Him as a miracle-worker and as someone whom they could approach to have their needs met. The question each of us should ask ourselves constantly is this: What’s our reason in coming to the Lord?

Whatever we do let’s get our reason right for knowing the Lord. Let’s make seeking Him and His Kingdom our reason in coming to Him. For if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, all the real needs in our life will be met in Him.