Mark 3:7-12, A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. [Jesus drew people from all over Israel who traveled great distances to see and hear him. He was not a minor figure but a major personality of his day.] When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. [Jesus’ healing and teaching ministry was drawing the crowds to him from all over Israel and its environs. He need a boat to quickly get away from the crowds Why do you think Jesus chose fishermen as his initial disciples? He chose them because they had boats and knew how to use them!] 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. [Jesus consistently refused demonic testimony. Instead, he wanted people, through the eyes of faith, to see his works and listen to his words, in order to believe he indeed was the Son of God. Jesus has now pulled away from the religious leaders of the “church” of Israel and is getting ready to create his own church, substituting the Twelve Tribes with his Twelve Apostles.]