Tag Archives: crowd

Done And Dusted!

Bible Study, , ,

DONE AND DUSTED!

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, He rebuked the impure spirit. ‘You deaf and mute spirit,’ He said, ‘I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.’ (Mark 9: 25-29). 

Where did this happen? Possibly in Capernaum, Jesus’ hometown. Perhaps Jesus had left the other disciples there while He took Peter, James and John on an excursion to the mountain where He was transfigured. Wherever it happened, there was a large crowd of people, always ready for a sensation.

Jesus refused to make this boy and his troubled father another cause for entertainment. This child must have been well-known in the town. No sooner did the father seek out the disciples for help in the absence of Jesus, than the crowd began to gather, looking for an opportunity to watch another miracle if they could. When Jesus arrived on the scene, they were delighted. Now they were about to see something spectacular because this boy had a demon big time.

So vicious was this evil spirit that it threw the boy around like a rag doll. Imagine the father’s distress when he watched his son being tormented over and over again, and he was powerless to help him. When he heard that the healer’s disciples were in the vicinity, he lost no time in getting his son to where they were. He figured that, if they were disciples of this rabbi, they must surely be able to do what He did. Imagine his disappointment when they were as powerless to deal with spirit as he was.

When Jesus and His three “specials” arrived back in town, He took action quickly. People were flocking from all over to watch the spectacle and He was not about to provide them with something to talk about for weeks to come. With the voice of authority He commanded the demon to leave and never to return. Imagine the cheek of this tormenting spirit! It didn’t go quietly! It made sure that everyone there knew that it belonged to the dominion of darkness. If it refused to heed the command of the disciples of Jesus, it was forced to obey the Son of God, but not without resistance.

Screaming, shrieking and flinging the boy about like a dog with a rat, it finally left. The boy was so exhausted by its terrible strength that he lay pale and limp on the ground. The people said he was dead. Perhaps he was dead. Perhaps the demon had had the last laugh after all. But Jesus was there. He would complete what He started. Nothing but perfect healing was His goal. He took the lad by the hand, lifted him to his feet and returned him to his father alive, sane, whole and well.

As feeble as the father’s faith was, it was enough to achieve what he craved He wanted his son back, a normal, healthy boy who would grow up by his side like the other members of his family.

The disciples were puzzled. Still smarting from Jesus’ rebuke, they questioned Him afterwards, when the excitement had died down and the crowd had dispersed. “Why couldn’t we do that?’” they wanted to know. After all, hadn’t Jesus given them authority to cast out demons? Hadn’t they done just that on other occasions? Why were they so powerless with this one? What did Jesus mean by His reply, “This kind can only come out by prayer?” What kind?

This was not a tame spirit. Its response, even to Jesus, indicated that it was a particularly defiant and stubborn spirit, resisting authority and acting with vicious intent. It was a killer spirit, doing all in its power to destroy the boy. It certainly resisted the disciples and even Jesus, giving way reluctantly and with a last attempt to do as much damage as it could.

What did Jesus mean by prayer? Did the disciples immediately connect what He said to what they knew of Him – many hours spent in prayer, during the night, in the early morning, out in the hills, in solitude away from the crowds? Prayer – Jesus’ connection to the Father, strengthening the bond, seeking the Father’s will, learning to be a son through submission and obedience to the Father? Is this what they lacked – the authority that comes from personal and intimate interaction with the Father, the authority that flows from humility and submission?

They still had a lot to learn on this journey to becoming true followers of Jesus, and so do we.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

Love In Action

Bible Study, , ,

LOVE IN ACTION

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.’ His disciples answered, ‘But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?’ (Mark 8: 1-4).

Why did Mark include this story in his gospel record? It certainly gives us an insight into the heart of Jesus. Some other popular rabbi might have dismissed the crowd with not a thought for their physical well-being. Not Jesus! He cared as much for their bodies as for their souls. He was not holding a preaching and healing campaign out in the hills to gain more renown for Himself; He was there to minister to people, and that included the whole person.

He was first and foremost their rabbi. He wanted them to understand their role as His followers. If they were to be true disciples, they were to be like Him in every way, including His compassion for people as real people, with physical as well as spiritual needs. He could not send people away to walk long distances without sustenance. Since they had come after Him, it was His responsibility to see that they arrived home safely.

 ‘How many loaves do you have,’ Jesus asked. ‘Seven,’ they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When He had taken the loaves and given thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; He gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketsful of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand were present. After He sent them away, He got into a boat with His disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. (Mark 8: 5-10).

This is a puzzling event. Was Mark simply retelling the story of the feeding of the five thousand with a few changes in the details? If it was a different situation, why were the disciples so forgetful that they were stuck with the same problem they faced on the previous occasion without even one of them remembering Jesus’ solution? Why did they not simply say to Jesus, ‘You fed them last time; do it again’?

This incident not only gives us an insight into the depth of Jesus’ love for people but also the extent of the disciples’ unbelief. How true was Jesus’ understanding of the way people responded to His word. At this point, the disciples were like the hard ground of the footpath in the parable of the sower and the seed. For them to have forgotten the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five barley loaves no bigger than a hamburger bun and two fish the size of a sardine, was indeed surprising.

How did Jesus feel about them? He must have been quite disheartened by their response. Obviously He still had a long way to go with them before they would be ready to pick up where He left off. To these men He would have to entrust the mission for which He had come to give His life. It was crucial that they not only understand His teaching, but that they also relate to the Father as He did with perfect confidence in Him and obedience to His word.

We know this is not just a repeat record of the previous incident because Jesus referred to both events in conversation with His disciples on another occasion. Although Mark was the only one who recorded both miracles, he had a purpose for doing so. This story highlights Jesus’ relationship with His disciples and gives us an insight into the depth and intensity of His training for their mission in the future. Early in His ministry, when Jesus first called His disciples, Mark recorded that His modus operandi was twofold – that they might be with Him and that He might sent them out to preach.

As apostles and representatives of Jesus, they would encounter many different situations for which they would have no answer unless they were equipped with the kind of faith in the Father that Jesus had. It was His role to show them how to act and how to trust on their journey of faith with God. Jesus did not do magic. He did not turn stones into bread. He used the little He had and multiplied it into much so that there was much left over.

This is a lesson for us as well. He has called us to give what little we have and we shall receive back what we gave away and much more. God’s principle is always the same – the measure we use will be measured to us again.

 Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

Muzzled!

Christian Life, , , ,

MUZZLED!

Because of the crowd He told His disciples to have a small boat ready for Him, to keep the people from crowding Him. For He had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch Him. Whenever the impure spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But He gave them strict orders not to tell others about Him. (Mark 3:9-12).

Don’t you love Mark’s matter-of-fact way of telling the story? No frills; no fancy language; no flowery descriptions; just plain facts as it happened!

Jesus’ popularity had reached an all-time high. People flooded into the neighbourhood from far and wide. Mark says nothing about the practical implications of an influx of people into a small town. Where did they stay? Where did they get food? What about crowd control? His focus was on Jesus. He was the centre of the attention. How would He handle this hero-worshipping mob, all clamouring for a piece of the pie?

Their focus was on what He could do for them at that moment. Many were diseased; deformed, disabled, helplessly caught in the trap of infirmities for which there was no solution. They had to bear as best they could the terrible consequences of living in a fallen world. There was no skilled surgeon to fix what was broken or to treat what had gone wrong, no highly trained nurse who knew just what to do with a patient with a high fever, or a headache, no drugs to destroy the unseen organisms that silently invaded vulnerable bodies and wreaked havoc on the inside.

Jesus was the man of the moment. The only problem was that He stayed only for a little while and then went elsewhere. It was not easy to follow Him with sick and cripples people in tow. They had to grab the opportunity while they could before He was gone.

But He did not come on a healing campaign, urgent and necessary as that was. His purpose was to restore God’s image in the minds of His people. For too long they had been ruled by unscrupulous leaders who projected an image of a God who was not anything like His Father. He had to let them know that the God who had called Abraham into fellowship with Himself and, through him, built a nation which was to be His “bride”, living in such close union with Himself that they would resemble Him and reflect Him to a world that did not know Him.

They had long since lost the plot. The god they now tried hard to serve was harsh and demanding, laying heavy burdens of rules and rigmarole on them that they could not carry. Jesus had an urgent task – to undo the damage that ignorance had done and to re-introduce them to the real God whom they had lost in the blur of religious performance.

There was one group in the crowd who knew who He was. The people may have seen Him only as a magical healer who had popped up from nowhere, but who could do what no one else had ever done – fix their problems and release them from suffering. This group was unseen, an unlikely witness to His true identity. Who were they? Not some religious mystics who spent hours in the presence of God and had spiritual insights denied the common people. Of all things, they were beings from the enemy camp. Demons! Spirit beings who hate Him and who worked for the devil.

How did they know who Jesus was when God’s people had no clue? They could not but be familiar with who He was since they had been at war with Him from the beginning. As much as they hated to admit it, He not the devil, was master over them and, though they did not serve Him, they were under His authority and would one day pay for their rebellion. Now, much to their chagrin, He had turned up in their domain, the earth, to challenge their mastery over humans and to evict them from their malicious control over individuals who had inadvertently given in to their evil influence.

Jesus refused to tolerate their testimony. They were not bearing witness to His saving grace. Their words were almost a taunt – like the words of the devil in the wilderness. “If you are the Son of God, prove it.” People would have to come to their own conclusions and to faith in Him, not based on words from the mouths of the demon-possessed but from those who had become convinced that He was, indeed, the Son of God through His words and actions.

There was only one treatment for them – “Shut up and get out!” They were there under false pretences and with a word from Him whether they liked it or not, they had to obey As much as His message of the kingdom was great news, even greater was the demonstration of His authority. If they only realised it, He really was God since His most powerful enemy, the devil and his minions had to give way to Him.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

God’s Picnic

Bible Study, , , ,

GOD’S PICNIC

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with His disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.”  John 6:1-6 (NIV).

John’s Gospel is a masterfully written piece of literature. He skilfully wove his theme, Jesus is the Son of God, into his story, using carefully chosen miracles as evidence that Jesus was who He said He was, and the discourses He had with His opponents that ensued from His miracles to enlarge on and explain His claims.

On this occasion, Jesus and His disciples had crossed the lake to take time out from their busy lives, according to the other gospels. Jesus wanted to be alone with them to get some rest, but when the crowd arrived, instead of being annoyed with them, He graciously received them and spend days teaching them because He recognized their need, much to the annoyance of His disciples.

John did not comment on the extended time of teaching He had with them; only that they needed food and Jesus was as much aware of their physical need for bread as He was for their spiritual nourishment because they were like shepherd less sheep. He was quick to grasp hold of an opportunity to put His disciples to the test and to teach them to look beyond the natural to the supernatural where the Father was waiting for them to tap into His resources to meet needs.

Philip’s response to Jesus’ question, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ reveals his un-readiness to see what Jesus saw — an opportunity to put God’s glory on display by partnering with Him to meet their needs.

“Philip answered Him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!'” John 6:7 (NIV). Philip’s response would have been perfectly natural for a man who not walked with Jesus long enough to know that He always viewed crises as opportunities. He was caught off guard and responded from his awareness of the facts.

A vast crowd of people needed a large amount of money to feed them and (unspoken) a very large stock of bread which was unavailable in a remote place like this. Philip’s response when he looked at the circumstances was, in a nutshell, ‘Impossible!’ This is a normal, natural human response when we, too, are faced with impossibilities. We look at the situation, shrivel up and throw up our hands in despair. ‘Impossible!’ says unbelief, and we weep with frustration.

Andrew chipped in and offered a tentative solution which sounded equally pathetic when he verbalized it. “Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?'” John 6:8, 9 (NIV). The emphasis on “small” was Andrew’s attempt at making Jesus aware that He was setting them an impossible task. There was food available (if the boy was willing to part with it), but it was ludicrous to think they could feed the crowd with it!

That was enough for Jesus to interrupt their pathetic inadequacy with His plan which had been in place all the time. It was obvious to Him that they had not yet caught on to His modus operandi. When one view’s things from God’s perspective, it becomes easy and when one uses every situation to put God’s glory on display, God will do His part.

When one reads John’s gospel, it becomes clear that Jesus was never at a loss when faced with a crisis. He was in partnership with the Father and used people’s needs to reveal the compassionate heart of the Father.

What a difference it would make if we saw our situations like that!

God’s Banquet

Bible Study, , ,

GOD’S BANQUET

“The apostles returned and reported on what they had done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida. But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, He healed.” Luke 9:10-11 (The Message).

Now this was a cause for irritation, if ever there was one! Jesus must have been eager to hear from His disciples how their first preaching tour had gone and they, no doubt, were just as eager to tell Him. At the first opportunity He spirited them away, perhaps even under cover of darkness, to a remote place where they could be together without the ever-present clamouring crowd.

But what happened? Someone noticed and split. They had hardly settled down for a chat when the people began to arrive. The disciples must have groaned when they saw them coming. Not again! If ever there was an opportunity for Jesus to show His true colours, this was it. But what did He do? He welcomed them, taught them and healed their sick. His nature shone through, the ever-loving, compassionate Jesus!

 

“As the day declined, the Twelve said, ‘Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the farms or villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.’

“‘You feed them,’ Jesus said. They said, ‘We wouldn’t scrape up more than five loaves of bread and a couple of fish — unless, of course, you want us to go to town ourselves and buy food for everybody.’ (There were more than five thousand in the crowd.) Luke 9: 12-13 (The Message).

Did the disciples really care whether the people were hungry or not? Did they really think that more than five thousand people would find accommodation and food in the area? Wasn’t it just a ploy to get rid of them so that they could be alone with Jesus again? Their attitude was heartless and faithless.

Jesus’ response was to challenge the disciples to take responsibility for the people in their need. Most of them had probably left home in too much of a hurry to make provision for the day. This was a golden opportunity for the disciples to learn to partner with God to meet the needs of other people. It was a lesson they were going to have to learn if they were to be followers and imitators of Jesus.

“But He went ahead and directed His disciples, ‘Sit them down in groups of about fifty.’ They did what He said, and soon had everyone seated.”

“He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted His face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up.'” Luke 9:14-17 (The Message).

Seeing that His disciples had not yet caught on to God’s way of bringing heaven to earth, Jesus went ahead and put His own plan into action. First, He needed some order in the crowd. He instructed the disciples to gather them into small groups to ensure that everyone had a share in the banquet.

Then He used the available resources, five loaves and two fish, to feed the people instead of doing what the devil had tempted Him to do in the wilderness, perform magic by turning stones into bread. God is not a magician although we sometimes pray as though we think He is.

Why did Jesus insist on feeding the people? To have sent them away hungry would have been a message to them that God was not interested in their physical need and that they would have to go elsewhere for help.

We must never forget that He is our Father and loves to take responsibility for us, His children. Don’t turn away from Him; turn to Him!