Mark 3:7-12 (NIV): Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.
At this stage of His ministry, Jesus found it very easy to draw a crowd, but most of those coming to Him were coming for the wrong reasons. Some of them were sick, or brought friends or loved ones who were. They came to get in on the healing power that flowed through Jesus. Others were beset by demons, and knew that Jesus could free them. Still others came out of curiosity or thrill-seeking; they wanted to see a miracle happen.
These people came from a vast area. The people from Galilee were from the northern region of the country. Those from Jerusalem and Judea were from the center part of the country. Idumea was the extreme south. But people also came from the predominantly gentile areas east of the Jordan, and from the far northern Mediterranean coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon in Phoenecia. In other words, they came from pretty much everywhere! Jesus sometimes used a boat to put a little distance between Him and those huge crowds that would press and crowd Him right into the water, trying to touch Him to receive healing.
Of course, Jesus did heal the people. He did free those beset by demons. His demonstration of the reality of God’s kingdom was vitally important. But He also taught them from the shore and from the boat about God’s reality, His kingdom, and His longing for a relationship with the people He had created. Without the clear teaching, those people whom He had made whole, would simply go back and continue to live the same kinds of lives apart from God that they had been living, and would end up in a worse place later. So Jesus healed and He taught. He freed and He taught. And he urged the people to turn to God with all of their hearts so that their wholeness, their freedom, could be permanent.
Sometimes when Jesus was casting out demons they would yell out, “You are the son of God” before they left. That was a fact, but Jesus would shut them up with a word. It wasn’t that Jesus was afraid of them, or ashamed of who He was. But the people were not ready for this truth yet. They still had much to learn about the God who loved them and who wanted to save them. They still needed to understand who they were in relationship with God before they would be willing to see who Jesus was in relationship to God. All of that would come out, but Jesus knew that, for it to be effective, it needed to come out at the right time.
Father, we are so privileged to know so much more about You and Your kingdom than the people of Jesus’ day! But even knowing who He really is, even having experienced His redeeming power and His presence in our lives, it is still tempting to come to Him with our wants and needs in front; to crowd in on Him for a touch, and then not to stay close and quiet enough to learn from Him. Even the demons fell at His feet and recognized Him as Your Son. We should not do less any time we come. Help us, Lord. Amen.