Mark 3:7-12 Crowds Follow Jesus

Crowds Follow Jesus

Well good morning or should I say afternoon

So I heard we had some technically difficulties last week

I know for whatever reason my computer works great with the system in here

But for some reason CH Sowders does not!

Either way I am glad we got everything to work out good today

So I just got back from leave

And so my wife and I along with our daughter

Spent about a week in New Orleans

Now as a testimony on how smart I am

I don’t think we thought going to New Orleans in the middle of July all the way through

And to top it all off

My wife is the friendliest of people when she is hot

And so although it was a good vacation

It wasn’t the most Ideal vacation if that makes sense

However, God is always in control right!

Well because of the heat we ended up going into the WWII museum

Anyone ever gone in there?

If you have not

I highly recommend going

Believe it or not this place was so big

They recommend that you reserve at least 2 days in order to see everything

But if I am being honest, we spent 2.5 days and still didn’t see everything

I mean this place was just incredible

And uniquely fits right into the sermon that we are going to go over today

But how many in here are WWII buffs?

I know before I visited this museum you know I had an idea

Maybe a somewhat type of understanding

But you know I just never connected all the dots

And you know when you finally realize

and embrace the size of this operation

I mean its just incredible

Just to give you an idea of the size that we are talking about

So if we took D-Day as a primary example and the battle that ensued

Just so far as soldiers landing on the beach

we had 150,000 soldiers from three different countries

We had 6,000 ships

11,000 aircraft

The beach prior to the landing was shelled by over 5,000 rounds of artillery

10,000 tons of bombs from our 11,000 planes

You had 6 divisions landing on the beach with 2 additional division

82nd and 101st, jumping in behind enemy lines in France

I mean the size of this operation was unthinkable!

I mean the more I think about it,

How much food, ammunition, weapons, oil, gas, bullets, uniforms, toothbrushes, socks

You name it, how much of all that stuff did we need just to carry out an operation like this

Then you think that back home the entire united states had turned into one giant war factory

To where we were producing one B-27 every hour of the day

And one fighter air craft every three hours

10,000,000 men would be drafted from 1941 -1945

and by time the war was over,

we topped out at 11,608,000 soldier, saliors, or marines serving our nations

But here is the devastating part

From 1 Sept 1939 until the day the Japanese surrendered

on average, 27,000 people died every day

What was truly heart breaking was seeing what the Japanese did to

The Chinese

I had never known that the Japanese killed nearly 20,000,000 people in China at this time

And the Japanese were known for some of the worst crimes of the war

But for some reason we only focus on the Nazi’s

But the Japanese would enter into a town and

Kill every man, woman, and child.

They would kill the elderly

They would systematically rape women throughout their conquest

And what I found to be the most hard to stomach

Was the biological tests they would perform on POW’s

and the civilians they would capture

One source stated that they killed and experimented on over 20,000 people

in Manchuria or northern China

All for the soul purpose of research and to advance their purpose in war fare.

It’s just incredible to think of what mankind is capable of

And yet at the same time,

If we understand history

And if we understand the reason why we need Jesus

It truly helps us understand the context and point of the passage of study today

And so if you would please open your bibles

To Mark 3 and we will be hitting up verse 7 - 12 today

Mark 3:7–12 (NLT)

7Jesus went out to the lake with his disciples, and a large crowd followed him. They came from all over Galilee, Judea, 

8Jerusalem, Idumea, from east of the Jordan River, and even from as far north as Tyre and Sidon. The news about his miracles had spread far and wide, and vast numbers of people came to see him. 

9Jesus instructed his disciples to have a boat ready so the crowd would not crush him. 

10He had healed many people that day, so all the sick people eagerly pushed forward to touch him. 

11And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of him shrieking, “You are the Son of God!” 

12But Jesus sternly commanded the spirits not to reveal who he was.

Prayer.

Now whats unique about this passage here is that if you look at verses 7-8

What you are seeing is hope

You are seeing hope in action

And I want you to sort of put yourself in the shoes of an average person in those days

Your people have been conquered by rome

Your health care often consisted of some medicine man

You may or may not be living under an oppressive governor in the region you lived

If you didn’t pay your taxes on time and in full

You and your entire family would be punished in any number of ways

I mean it is seen all though out the Gospels where we see people

Calling Jesus the son of David

Asking if he is the one to come

Asking and hoping that he is the one that is going to usher in the Kingdom of God

And bring an end to their suffering

And so what you are seeing in this passage is a desperate hope being put into action

To where you have people from all over the region

Coming to see if the rumors are true

Is this one man the answer to all of my problems

Is this one man who is supposedly performing miracles and healing the sick

Going to help my son or daughter or my spouse who is suffering from a life threating illness

Is this one man going to usher in what the Jewish people had hoped for

and been promised for nearly 2,000 years!

How many of you all realized this is an eschatological passage?

Or a passage that really focuses on the end times?

Think on this,

What is it that they are looking forward to?

Because you see there is something different about Jesus

And its obvious by the crowds that we see here

History shows us that there are dozens of men that claimed to be the Messiah

There are numerous men that claim to be able to heal you

That claim to be able to tell your fortune

But this one is DIFFERENT and the people know it.

And so from all over the ancient world people are flocking to him in droves

To the point that he is attracting thousands upon thousands of people

And arguably becoming a literal threat to the Roman Empires stability in the region.

And so when you put yourself in the shoes of an average person in those days

And then you fast forward to modern times

You just get the idea that nothing has changed

We are still suffering in mass numbers

We are still hoping for His return

And we are still waiting for the sign that says,

The time for suffering is over

And so when you see a passage that says

Thousand upon thousands are coming to him

People are being healed

Miracles are occurring

and even the demons know and understand what it all means

As a believer, that is a student of the Word of God

There ought to be a well of hope and joy that springs up

And looks forward to that day promised in Scripture

And before I close us out today,

I want to read to you what would have been the hope of the Jewish people

I want you to be able to go back in time

And see why they were flocking to him

Why their hope was actionable

Isaiah 65 starting at verse 17

New Living Translation Chapter 65

17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,

and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.

18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!

And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.

Her people will be a source of joy.

19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem

and delight in my people.

And the sound of weeping and crying

will be heard in it no more.

20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old.

No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.

No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!

Only the cursed will die that young!

21 In those days people will live in the houses they build

and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.

22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses

and confiscate their vineyards.

For my people will live as long as trees,

and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.

23 They will not work in vain,

and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.

For they are people blessed by the LORD,

and their children, too, will be blessed.

24 I will answer them before they even call to me.

While they are still talking about their needs,

I will go ahead and answer their prayers!

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together.

The lion will eat hay like a cow.

But the snakes will eat dust.

In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.

I, the LORD, have spoken!”

There will come a day,

When war will be a thing of the past

When death and disease will become an impossibility

Its a day when Jesus is King

And its a day when Jesus sets things back the way they’re supposed to be

Let’s close in prayer