He's Got This: Mark 4:1-2
Are you ready? Are you willing? Is your mindset right? Did you prepare? Do you believe you can? These are all important questions to ask whenever we set out to accomplish something. It can be a small something like making breakfast or a large something like passing a major exam or walking down the aisle to get married. To be successful, we need to be ready.
As we open Mark 4, Jesus is once more preaching out in the open. Not surprisingly, the crowd becomes so great and presses in on Him so much that Jesus needs to step out into a boat. Crowd mentality has an affect on Jesus. When people are surrounded by other people and packed densely together, people get pushy and start to think more about themselves and less about whom their actions impact. Human behavior typically gets more self-centered when we gather in quantities large enough to be considered a crowd. Anyone who has ever shopped at a store at Christmas, attended a concert, or tried to leave a ball game when it is over knows this dynamic well.
Jesus is ready, though. He steps into a boat and puts a literal barrier between Himself and the people. I love this dynamic. People think leaders should be in the thick of it all the time. The truth is, though, leaders often need distance. Leaders need space. Jesus can teach a crowd far more effectively from the boat than in the middle of the crowd.
This dynamic bears out physically speaking as well. Human bodies are great at absorbing sound. If Jesus stood – or worse, sat – among the people as they crowded around Him, nobody would hear a thing. By going out on a boat and creating space, His voice will naturally separate itself from the other voices. As He creates distance, people will need to be quiet to hear Him because He is farther away. He can also use the natural amphitheater effects most lakes produce to amplify his voice. Jesus understands the situation regarding typography as well as the situation involving the crowd.
Jesus is always ready to handle the situation. In fact, that’s been an undercurrent of this whole story so far. It’s not surprising – He is God, after all. Yet, He is always ready. The crowd comes; Jesus goes into open space where He can handle it. When the crowd becomes too much, He withdraws into places people don’t want to go. When the religious elite come to challenge Him, He steps up and handles them. When His family comes to reign Him in, He uses it as a teaching moment. When demons threaten to push God’s agenda too fast by revealing His identity too much, Jesus knows how to put on the breaks and handle it. Given any situation, Jesus is prepared.
Are you ready?
