They Will Come: Mark 3:7-10
Establishing meaningful boundaries is an important survival skill. Sometimes you should put the phone down and not answer it, even if it makes your friends mad. Maybe you don't answer that text as soon as it comes in. There is a right time to say no, even to something good. We all need to know where to draw our line.
Mark 3:7 starts with Jesus withdrawing with His disciples to the sea. This verse follows the description about the religious elite seeking to destroy Jesus. In the greater scheme of things, this verse follows the story about Jesus inviting the man with a withered hand into the circle of judgment. Jesus may be willing to step into condemnation, but He does it smartly. He withdraws to the sea.
To protect His disciples, Jesus needs to take them away from the viper’s nest. Jesus knows that the man with the withered hand will be best protected if He withdraws and lets the anger of the religious elite simmer down. Jesus will readily stand in the way of condemnation. Jesus will invite other people into the same crosshairs. But He does so with compassion, concern, and a plan.
Despite gaining a reprieve from the religious elite, Jesus does not get a reprieve from the crowd. Jesus’ popularity is growing. Instead of people from Capernaum crowding in on His house, people from an area spanning Galilee to Idumea – which covers over a hundred miles – come out to see Jesus. Many of these people come on foot, or best-case scenario on some kind of horse or donkey. Jesus’ popularity is on the rise.
Is this is a good thing? Yes, the message about Jesus is spreading. Yet, look how the Bible talks about the crowd. They came because of what He was doing. They came because they could bring their sick to be healed. The diseased came so they could touch Him and find healing in His presence.
They aren’t coming to hear Him teach and preach. They aren’t coming so they can learn how to lead a godly life. They are coming so they can be cured of their physical ailments and get on with what they think is a normal life. Perhaps this states the case too hard, but the people come to get what they want from Jesus. They aren’t coming as followers and disciples; they are there as consumers. In fact, they are so insistent about getting what they want that Jesus is afraid He and His disciples might get crushed in the process. The crowds aren’t there out of a love for Jesus; they are there because of what they can get from Jesus.
Jesus knew the crowds would come for Him. He knew they would seek their own ends and look to touch Him, rub shoulders with Him, and do whatever it took to get His attention and a moment of healing. Establishing meaningful boundaries is an important survival skill.
