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Mark 3:7–19 (ESV)
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem 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. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 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. 13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Have you ever attended an event where a large crowd has gathered such as a concert where a music superstar was performing or perhaps a parade for your city’s sports team right after they won the title? I’ve only watched parts of those events as they’ve been reported on by media outlets, but I’ve always been impressed by the size of the crowds and the enthusiasm of fans who are sharing in the celebrations and festivities.
In our passage, we’re told that a “great crowd” followed Jesus and the people came from everywhere because word had gotten out about Jesus, “This guy Jesus is healing everyone who comes to him.” That would have been huge news in ancient times when we consider the limitations of medical efforts back then compared to what we know now.
And the healings are not just physical either. Mark notes that “unclean spirits” are cast out of people as well. N.T. Wright remarked that “Calling these forces ‘unclean spirits’ is a convenient way of saying two things about them. First, they are non-physical powers that operate upon, and sometimes within, a person. Second, they defile the one they inhabit, making such a person behave in ways that are untrue to their calling as a human being.”
It’s easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm and joy of the moment as Jesus heals people of their diseases and casts out the unclean spirits. But don’t miss the supremacy and authority of Jesus on full display.
Jesus’ authority of the natural is displayed through the physical healings that people experience from their diseases and Jesus supreme authority is revealed as the unclean spirits fall down before Him and declare the identity of Jesus as the Son of God (only God the Father has made that declaration so far in Mark’s Gospel- 1.11).
The authority of Jesus is also central when Jesus commissions the twelve to go out to preach and heal cast out demons in Jesus’ name. What’s interesting here is that both the number of apostles (12) and the conferring of authority upon them was a clear message to all Jewish people. Every Jewish person knew that there were twelve tribes in Israel, and the commissioning of these twelve as apostles who are given authority to preach and heal would have been a clear message to every Jewish person that the hope of Israel, the restoration that they’ve all been waiting for with the arrival of the Messiah, was now present and on the move in Jesus.
The incredible thing for us to realize is that the missional movement that was signaled on that mountaintop in verse 13 is still active and moving today in the hearts of Jesus’ missional disciples. It’s not the movement that people expected as the kingdom of God did not come about through political systems or military force. It came with forgiveness, love, healing, and mercy for all, and it persists today having never been quelled. Every Christian is invited and called to join this unstoppable missional movement that our culture longs and thirsts for today. As a missional disciple of Jesus, you hold a cup, will you give them a drink?
God bless you and know that you are constantly in my prayers.
Scott
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