Mark 3:7-12 — Have a Boat Ready

Mark 3:7-12

Cove Where Jesus Likely Taught Crowd From a Boat...
Now planted in Olives

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 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. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

Comments:

Jesus became very popular because of what he was doing. He was healing the sick, delivering the possessed, and preaching hope to the lost. He didn't turn anyone away. It is an interesting side note that he had his disciples prepare a small boat to use to escape the press of the crowd. Mark's inclusion of such a detail smacks of an eyewitness' account (i.e., Peter’s memoirs).

However, we need to see that the Lord was not seeking the popularity of recognition for he openly rebuked the demons for revealing his true identity—the Son of God—and he regularly distanced himself from the crowds (after meeting their needs) in order to minister to those that crowds might prevent. What a contrast it is to so many of our popular leaders today that Jesus was as accessible as he was. He didn't slip out the back as soon as service was over, nor did he ride around in a bullet-proof "pope-mobile" or a multi-million dollar corporate jet, but the people pressed around him to touch him. They might not have known who he really was or why he came but they knew that he had what they needed and that he was willing to share. On this occasion, the little boat was there to prevent his being crushed by the crowd. Perhaps the boat was also kept ready for times of teaching so that it would settle the crowd from pressing around him as well as aid in the projection of his voice over the water to the large crowd. Jesus was as practical in ministering as he was accessible. Yet, it should be repeated that in being accessible to those who sought him, he did not seek the crowds and the cult of celebrity. His work was with his disciples and with those in the margins.

Do I make myself accessible to those in need or am I closeted away with my books, computer, house, and family? Where does the devotional meet the practical?

Lord Jesus, help me to follow your example, yet I cannot do so in my own strength. You are God the Son, and I need your strength if I am to have any lasting positive impact at all upon my family and upon the world. Yet keep me focused on your approval rather than that of the crowd that so quickly can change its mind.