Mark 3: 7 – 12
The Desire Of All Nations
7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
If you have studied any of the Gospels with us you will understand that I like to see if there are any other Gospels that cover the same situation. Usually, Matthew, Mark, and Luke address the same event.
Matthew was one who walked with our Lord Jesus Christ for over three years. He was an eyewitness to all that he saw and heard our Lord do. Mark on the other hand transcribes the information of what our Lord did and said from the apostle Peter. Luke was a companion and fellow servant of the apostle Paul. He was a great investigator and used as reference the writings of Matthew and Mark, along with direct interviews of other eyewitnesses. What I find interesting is that our Precious Holy Spirit did not guide Luke into covering the facts that Matthew and Mark reported. So, let us take a look at what Matthew wrote.
Matthew 12:15-21, “15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
At first glance it would seem that Matthew won out in the amount of information given. He game us 7 verses to Mark’s 6 verses. However, if you look again you will see that in fact Mark gave us more of the facts of our Lord’s actions while the apostle Matthew was stirred as He witnessed our Lord’s action’s to think on how our Blessed Holy Master was fulfilling prophecy. This is why Matthew wanted all his readers to see our Lord’s fulfillment of ‘The Messiah’ as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah.
Stop and think for a moment. Suppose someone today showed up on the scene and did the wonders that our Holy King did? You and I both know that thousands who be wherever he went. This person would have plenty of reporters following his every move.
Do you remember our last study when our Lord cast out thousands of demons out of two men from Gaderene? This area was also known as Decapolis or the ‘Ten Cities’. Do you remember what the citizens of this area said to our Lord? They wanted Him to leave their area. You can note in the first verses that this area is not mentioned along with Samaria which as you well know did not have good relations with the Israelites.
Yet, please notice that the news of the words and works of our Holy Creator was reaching other countries such as Idumaea, Tyre, and Sidon.
7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.
If you have ever been in the service of others than you can relate to what I am about to say.
It seems that you in time come to be somewhat discerning regarding those who have a real hunger for change; a real desire to know our Precious Holy Adoni Yahweh more deeper; a real desire to want to do any service possible for our Savior.
Can anyone relate to what I am saying?
Then you have those who come and just take up your time; crying the blues without wanting any change; those who only want things to get better for them; and for those who only want to be served not give of themselves.
People had come from far and wide to see our Lord Jesus. Some came with real needs. Some wanted to hear His awesome teaching. Some wanted to see some miracles. Others came because they did not like him and wanted to find out something that they could report back to their superiors. Others came because He was an attraction. They might have been vendors that tag along with special events. Go to a sporting event or a concert; are there not people outside trying to hock their merchandise? ‘Hey, get you ‘Jesus’ T-shirt here?’
9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
When you watch the television or read the newspaper or articles on the internet regarding celebrities, you see how everything in this sinful world comes with a cost.
People dream of being the next rock star or Hollywood beauty or hunk. However, the achievement of this status costs these individuals their freedom. They cannot go anywhere without the public or reporters swarming them. They have no privacy.
We read in previous passages how our Lord would wake up early to get away so He could spend some quality time with our Heavenly Father. As soon as the people were aroused out of their sleep they wanted to know where He was.
You see I am not that great when it comes to being bombarded with those who I glean are not interacting with the right motives or reasons. I would have done the same thing that our Lord requested to His disciples – ‘9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude.’
I do not have a multitude coming my way, but I would like to take the boat and get out of dodge. If you ever saw the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie, you will remember the scene where all his students want to see him. He seeks out the window in his office. I can relate to that.
This is not what our Great, Loving, Compassionate, Merciful Holy God does though. He just wanted the boat to be around because the people’s desire to get to Him, even to just touch Him, could possibly get out of control. No, He, with His warm smile would just continue to heal all - 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.’
The many does not mean that out of a huge amount, He healed many of them. No, it means that there were many people who came to Him and He healed them all. What a Great God we have folks.
Now, we can see Matthew all chocked up in seeing Jehovah Rapha – The Lord our Healer at work. Observing our Lord, he saw the connection that the prophet Isaiah wrote about - 18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
The nations had heard of The Messiah and had come to see and hear him. Matthew recognized this prophecy happening before his very eyes. Yahweh Elohe Yisrael, The Lord God Of Israel, Is truly the desire of all nations.
You know, even a hard headed stiff person like myself, I believe, would also be moved to tears if I saw the same things Matthew saw.
