Illus: An actor went to see a new agent one day and said, “You must have a look at my act; it really is innovative.”
The agent gave him the nod, so he flew up to the ceiling, circled the room a few times and landed smoothly on the agent's desk.
The agent said, “So you do bird impressions, what else can you do?”
The Lord did not have a difficult time at all making a good impression. This passage deals with the tremendous impact the Lord Jesus made while He was here on earth.
Illus: You heard it before but it bears repeating.
“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.
He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.
He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is central figure of the human race and leader of mankind's progress.
All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the kings that ever reigned, have not affected the life of man as much as that One Solitary Life.”
The Lord Jesus’ impact upon people is incompre¬hensible. In only a short time after He started His ministry, people from everywhere began to seek after the One called Jesus of Nazareth, the promised Messiah.
Notice, the Word of God says "A great multitude...came unto Him." This is not an over exaggeration when the Word of God says this was a GREAT MULTITUDE … IT WAS A GREAT MULTITUDE!!!
Illus: Speaking of exaggeration reminds me of a lawyer that had died and arrived at the pearly gates. He was known to throw numbers around loosely.
To his dismay, there were literally thousands of people ahead of him in line to see St. Peter.
However, to his surprise, St. Peter left his desk at the gate and came down the long line to where the lawyer was, and greeted him warmly.
Then St. Peter and one of his assistants took the lawyer by the hands and guided him up to the front of the line, and into a comfortable chair by his desk.
The lawyer said, "I don't mind all this special attention, but what makes me so special?"
St. Peter replied, "Well, I've added up all the hours for which you billed your clients, and by my calculation you must be about 193 years old!"
We are all guilty of throwing numbers around loosely to impress people. But the Word of God does not do that. When God’s Word says it was a GREAT MULTITUDE, it was just that!
But when this GREAT MULTITUDE began to gather around Him, the Lord did something that some might consider unusual.
Look at verse 7, we read, “But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a GREAT MULTITUDE from Galilee followed him...”
This GREAT MULTITUDE came from everywhere.
Look at verse 8, we read, “And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a GREAT MULTITUDE, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.”
The Lord Jesus already had done some very amazing things, and everyone was spreading the Word of His greatness.
The crowds were enormous (remember the feeding of five thousand men, not counting the women and children). Everyone wanted to see this great MIRACLE WORKER!
People always get excited about seeing something they never have seen before.
Illus: Andy wanted a job as a signalman on the railroad. He is told to meet the inspector at the signal box. The inspector puts this question to him: "What would you do if you realized that two trains were heading for each other on the same track?"
• Andy says, "I would switch the tracks for one of the trains."
• "What if the lever broke?" asked the inspector.
• "Then I'd dash down out of the signal box," said Andy, "and I'd use the manual lever over there."
• "What if that had been struck by lightning?"
• "Then," Andy continues, "I'd run back into the signal box and phone the next signal box."
• "What if the phone line was busy?"
• "Well, in that case," persevered Andy, "I'd rush down out of the box and use the public emergency phone at the level crossing up there."
• "What if that was vandalized?"
• "Oh well then I'd run into the village and get my uncle Silas."
• This puzzles the inspector, so he asks, "Why would you do that?"
• Andy answered, "Because he's never seen a train crash."
People will always come out to see something they have never seen before. And the Lord had done some things no one had ever seen done before.
There are THREE things we need to consider in this passage of scripture, such as:
I. THE SAFETY OF THE SEA
Look at verse 7, we read, “But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea.”
His fame was beginning to be a problem. That is, there were numerous people pushing and shoving so they could get close to Him. THIS CAUSED A MAJOR PROBLEM!
It was a problem in two ways:
(1) Look at verse 9, we read, “And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.”
(2) Look at verse 10, we read, “For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.”
The Lord Jesus had become so famous that it no longer was safe for Him to minister among them.
We have looked at THE SAFETY OF THE SEA, but also let’s look at-
II. THE SHIP OF THE SEA
Look again at verse 9, we read, “And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.”
He literally had to WITHDRAW from the large multitude and get on a small ship so that the crowd would not crush Him.
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT? Look at the last part of verse 9, we read he commanded his disciples to get small ship nearby, “…lest they should throng him.” He had to withdraw himself from them before they literally crushed him.
The Bible tells us of a number of times when the Lord Jesus had to withdraw himself for certain reasons, such as:
• Mark 6:31, we read, “And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”
• Mark 6:46, we read, “And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.”
• Mark 7:24, we read, “And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.”
• Mark 14:34, we read, “And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.”
The Lord Jesus WITHDREW many times for many different reasons. But the reason He is withdrawing Himself here is because the large crowd of people was literally crushing Him.
The impact of Jesus upon the crowds was phenomenal. This fact is often overlooked or minimized. But notice, the scripture reveals to us:
(1) They came from all over the nation, and some even came from foreign nations.
(2) Crowds came from all over Galilee. Imagine a district so heavily populated that it embraced over two hundred cities with populations of fifteen thousand or more.
(3) Crowds came from Judea and Jerusalem. This was a hundred mile journey.
(4) Crowds came from Idumaea (Pronounced as “Id-du-mea”) which lay in the deep south, bordering Palestine and Arabia. Idumaea was the Greek and Roman name for Edom or the land of Esau (Gen.25:30; 36:1, 8).
(5) Crowds came from beyond Jordan, which refers to the populations who lived on the east side of the Jordan River.
(6) Crowds came from the north, from the foreign land of Phoenicia and from the nation's two major cities, Tyre and Sidon.
The significant point is that these people traveled a great distance to reach Jesus.
WHY WAS HE SO FAMOUS AND LOVED?
We see the answer to that in verse 8. We read that this great multitude came to Him, “…When they had heard what great things he did, ….”
Notice, it does not say He CLAIMED He healed many like some of these television preachers.
Look at verse 10, we read, “For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.”
The testimony that the Messiah had come - the prophet who could meet the needs of mankind - spread like wildfire. And when the people heard, many arose, packed their bags, and "came unto Him".
WHAT CAN WE AS A CHURCH LEARN FROM THIS? We learn that if we will talk of the good things God is doing, others will come out to hear.
DID YOU KNOW:
• We have Christian parents who never talk to their children about this wonderful Savior.
• We have Christian students who will go to school with their classmates and never talk to them of the greatness of God.
• We have Christian employees who will work beside a lost person six days a week and never mention the greatness of God.
HOW WILL THE LOST WORLD KNOW OF THE GREATNESS OF GOD IF WE DO NOT TELL THEM?
• Look at 1 John 1:3, we read, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."
• Look at Mark 5: 18-19, we read, "And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee"
• Look at Matthew 28:19-20 we read, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world"
How many times must the Lord Jesus say it before some Christians realize that God wants us to be a WITNESS to a lost world?
These people heard about the Lord and so many came out to hear him that he had to remove Himself from among them and get into a small ship to avoid being crushed by the GREAT MULTITUDE!
How many more would be flocking to Jesus and following Jesus if we were more faithful in sharing and talking about the glorious salvation available in Him?
We have looked at THE SAFETY OF THE SEA and THE SHIP OF THE SEA. Also, we need to consider-
III. THE SPIRITS BY THE SEA
Look at verses 11-12, we read, “And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.”
The Lord not only made an impact on SOCIETY, but also on the SPIRITS by the sea. When these unclean spirits saw Him, the Bible says, they "fell down before Him."
WHY DID THEY FALL DOWN BEFORE HIM? Because they knew He was who He claimed to be, and these evil spirits acknowledged Jesus to be the Son of God.
Look back at Mark 1:23-24, we read, “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.”
But notice, they fell down, not out of devotion, and not because they were seeking Him, but they fell down because they acknowledged Him to be who He claimed to be.
They feared Him, lest He cast them out and send them to their eternal damnation. Notice, in Mark 1:24, we read, “…Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.”
The devil does not want PEOPLE to believe in God, but HE BELIEVES IN HELL AND HE BELIEVES IN GOD!
Conclusion:
We have looked at:
I. THE SAFETY OF THE SEA
II. THE SHIP OF THE SEA
III. THE SPIRITS BY THE SEA
