The Popularity of Jesus

INTRODUCTION

We have the privilege of looking again at Mark’s gospel

So please take God’s Word and turn to chapter three

In our last time together, we saw Jesus heal on the Sabbath

And now were seeing Mark’s summary of “The Popularity of Jesus”

Mark 3:7–12 NASB95

7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. 9 And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; 10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!” 12 And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.

In our text today we hear of Jesus healing “afflictions” and commanding the unclean spirits “not to tell who He was”

This sparked curiosity and drew a crowd

The crowds were “amazed at His teaching” (1:22) and that the “unclean spirits”…obey[ed] Him” (1:27)

Though they obeyed His command to come out of people, Jesus would not permit “the demons to speak, because they knew who He was” (1:34)

We said last time that this was the last of the 5 conflicts with the religious leaders and now we hear Mark’s summary of Jesus’ ministry

It begins with the end of the previous story

Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath with a withered hand and the Pharisees conspired with the Herodians on how they might destroy Jesus

So…

I. Jesus Withdrew to the Sea with His Disciples (vv.7-8)

His retreat was not out of fear

Remember He is the “Lord”

As the Lord He is fully away of the behavior of the Pharisees and Herodians

He left because it wasn’t His time to be given over to the religious leaders to be crucified

He said that on a few occasions

Some times the phrase had reference to revealing who He was like in John 2:4 at the wedding in Cana

Other times He said it in reference to His death like in John 7:30, “So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”

The same is true here

So Jesus departed and went “to the sea” (v.7)

This was the sea of Galilee (v.7)

This was the place where He conducted much of His ministry with His home base in Capernaum

D. Edmond Hiebert said Jesus’ departure to the sea “was an act of prudence. On the open beach, surrounded by crowds of followers, Jesus would be safer from treachery than in the narrow streets of Capernaum. But it was primarily prompted by His desire to avoid a head-on collision with the Jewish leaders and to make Himself freely accessible to the masses.”

Mark adds that He “withdrew with His disciples” (v.7)

That phrase is placed emphatically or at the beginning of the verse for emphasis

It suggests that they intimately shared His alienation from the Jewish leaders

Remember Jesus told them in John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

Now they were experiencing it

I don’t know if you realize this but Jesus had more than 12 disciples

In fact He had “an unknown number of followers”

The Bible uses the word “disciple” for all believers

Luke said in Acts 11:26 “…and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

Since that is the case, to talk about one is to talk about the other

Christians are disciples and disciples are Christians

Acts 14:21 is even more specific when it says, “After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch”

Notice the connection?

They “preached the gospel…and…made many disciples”

That means they were preaching the gospel and God was saving souls as a result of it

The Greek word used for “disciple” is mathētēs and it means “learner” or “student”

It refers to those who had moved beyond an initial interest in Jesus and desired to follow Him as their teacher

These were those who as Jesus said in Luke 9:23 were coming “after [Him], [denying] himself, and tak[ing] up his cross daily and follow[ing] Me.”

During His earthly ministry, Jesus had numerous disciples, many of whom were superficial and would not remain with Him (cf. John 2:23–25; 6:66)

Yet, scattered among this crowd were those men who later became the twelve apostles

Jesus had already called Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathaniel, and Matthew to be His disciples (1:16–20; 2:13–14; John 1:35–51)

Soon, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot would be added to that list (3:18–19)

Mark says…

After Jesus “withdrew to the sea”, “great multitudes followed Him”

The word “Great” is also emphatic and draws attention to the exceptional size of the multitude that flocked to Jesus

This was not the first time that large crowds followed Jesus

Matthew 4:25, “Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.”

Matthew 14:13–14, “13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.”

St. John Chrysostom (349-407 AD) said...

"But this I am sure of, that our Jesus nor any other have ever been so much talked of among all men as He; for not only in the cities, but also in the country parts is He known, and by all things is He glorified." (Homilies on Matthew, Homily 36)

St. Athanasius (296-373 AD) adds…

“And being a very present friend to all, through the body which He uniteth with Himself, He has gone forth as man to the human race, to bring back His popularity to His own Father." (On the Incarnation, Chapter 3)

Mark says they were coming to Jesus “after they heard what He was doing” (vv.7-8)

What did they hear?

Verse 10 says they heard that “He healed many”

Verse 11 also says He commanded the unclean spirits

This drew large crowds of people

Some believe this may have been the largest crowd He had yet seen

Mark tells us it included Galileans

There were some from Judea, Jerusalem, and Idumea well to the south, and from the region beyond the Jordan to the east

Plus, there were people from the largely Gentile region around Tyre and Sidon to the northwest

It is unclear who were part of this group

It was Jews, Gentiles, or both coming from all directions

Because the crowds were so large…

II. Jesus Instructs His Disciples Regarding the Crowd (v.9)

He told them to have a boat ready

The crowds were starting to press “around Him in order to touch Him” (v.10)

It’s clear that people are drawn to Jesus for various reasons

Some came for His teaching

Others came for a healing

Some came out of being curious

John makes note of this in John chapter two

He said in John 2:23, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.”

In other words they were there purely for the physical signs they were seeing Him do

There is a danger in this

Because those are not the right reasons to come to Jesus for salvation

People do that today

They come because they want a better life

And they look at Jesus as the one who can give it to them

And it is true but that shouldn’t be your sole reason for coming

You should come because you are convicted over your sin and you see Jesus as the only way to be forgiven and granted eternal life

The signs that He was doing only had one purpose…to reveal who He was

But if you come just for the signs like they did, John says in John 2:24, “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men”

There was no one better with the heart of man than Jesus

When you see your sin as God presents it in Scripture, then you see that the reason to come is to flee the wrath for your sin by coming to Jesus who took it on Himself for you

John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadduccees in Matthew 3:7–8, “7…You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance”

John the Baptist says here “flee the wrath to come” and “bear fruit in keeping with repentance”

There’s your reason for coming to Jesus

When Jesus began His ministry in Mark 1:14–15, Mark says “14…after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””

Paul said the same thing in Acts 17:30–31, “30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.””

Mark tells us in verse 10 that…

III. Jesus Healed the People Who Came to Him (v.10)

Verse 10 says…

“He healed many”

This is why the crowd was so large

They wanted “to touch Him”

This verse in the original is very vivid

It says, “For He had healed many, ‘so that as a result they are falling upon Him in order to touch Him, as many as were having scourges” (Hiebert)

They thought If only they could touch Him they would be healed

During Jesus’ ministry He healed many “afflictions”

He healed…

Blindness: Mark 10:46-52 - Jesus healed Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, restoring his sight

Deafness: Mark 7:31-37 - Jesus healed a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking

Leprosy: Matthew 8:1-4 - Jesus healed a leper, cleansing him from his disease

Paralysis: Mark 2:1-12 - Jesus healed a paralyzed man, allowing him to walk again

Demon possession: Mark 1:21-28 - Jesus cast out an unclean spirit from a man in a synagogue

Fever: Matthew 8:14-15 - Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law who was suffering from a fever

Hemorrhaging: Matthew 9:20-22 - Jesus healed a woman who had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years

Epilepsy/seizures: Matthew 17:14-21 - Jesus healed a boy possessed by a demon causing seizures

Paralysis caused by a spirit: Luke 13:10-17 - Jesus healed a woman who had been bent over and unable to straighten up for eighteen years

Physical deformities: Luke 14:1-6 - Jesus healed a man with dropsy, an abnormal swelling of the body

Deafness and speech impediment: Mark 7:31-37 - Jesus healed a man who was both deaf and had difficulty speaking

Withered hand: Matthew 12:9-14 - Jesus healed a man with a withered hand, restoring it to full functionality

Mental illness: Mark 5:1-20 - Jesus healed a man possessed by multiple demons who lived among the tombs and acted in a self-destructive manner

Incurable illnesses: Matthew 4:23-24 - Jesus healed various diseases and illnesses among the people, including those without a specific name mentioned

Skin diseases: Luke 17:11-19 - Jesus healed ten lepers, cleansing them from their skin disease

Crippled legs: Luke 13:11-13 - Jesus healed a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years

Dropsy (swelling): Luke 14:1-6 - Jesus healed a man suffering from abnormal swelling

Deformed or crooked bones: Luke 13:10-17 - Jesus healed a woman who had a spirit that caused her to be bent over for eighteen years

Death: John 11:1-44 - Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead

He also healed diseases not mentioned by name other than Scripture referring to them as “every sickness and disease among the people” (Mat.9:35)

Mark also mentions in verses 11-12…

IV. Jesus’ Command to the Unclean Spirits (vv.11-12)

John Philips said…

Exploring the Gospel of Mark: An Expository Commentary 1. The Servant and the Cheering Multitudes (3:7–12)

These evil beings did not try to touch Him. For them, His touch would have been like the tormenting touch of fire. They had no difficulty recognizing Him, and down on their faces they went before Him, proclaiming His deity. Moreover, as always, the Lord silenced them. He wanted and needed no testimony from the likes of them.

Notice also…

The unclean spirits could not deny Him like people did then and still do today

Mark says, “Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!” (v.11)

This is why James says the “demons believe and shudder” (2:19)

They know who He is

And they know their time is numbered

Just like we hear them say in Mark 1:24, “saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!””

But each time they tried to tell everyone who He was, He would silence them

Mark 1:25 says “Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!””

This is the same response we have here in chapter three, verse 12:

Mark says, “He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was” (v.12)

R.C. Sproul said…

Mark Healing and Silencing Demons

the demons hoped that naming Jesus and revealing His identity would somehow give them power over Him. The concept of naming is very significant in the Bible. One of the first tasks that God gave to Adam in the garden was to name the animals, for naming them manifested the dominion of the human over the beast. Of course, in God’s economy, no fallen spirit could possibly have power over the second person of the Trinity, so the demons’ shouting of Jesus’ identity was pointless.

John MacArthur adds…

The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 3

Jesus always rebuked demons for their testimonies about Him. He wanted His teaching and actions, not the impure words of demons, to proclaim who He was

All of this goes back to Marks original declaration in Mark 1:1 where he said Jesus “is the Son of God”

No one can deny it, especially the demons

Even His enemies eventually admitted it after He died on the cross

Matthew 27:54, “Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!””

CONCLUSION

What about you?

Do you see Him as “the Son of God”?

If not, what you deny the very demons from hell proclaim

So don’t let a demon out proclaim you

See Him for who He is…the Son of God

Mark continues to prove His case

He did it with the preaching of John the Baptist

He did it at Jesus’ baptism, at His temptation, at His preaching, at His calling of His disciples, at His teaching, at His healings and before the crowds

And He does that with you today

See Him for who He is and turn to Him in repentance and faith

The Bible teaches that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords

And He commands every person everywhere to repent and come to Him

This is the only way to flee His coming wrath

Be saved today!

Let’s pray