I don't draw crowds. I've been writing this blog for nearly 3 years now and I'm not even sure there's anyone who reads it. I play in a punk band and at our last gig we had about 20 people come see us (thanks guys)! I do assemblies at a local school and have a captive audience of hundreds but that's because the teachers make them! Mark 3:7-12
Jesus drew crowds. He stood out and it wasn't because of hype or advertising and there wasn't any teachers around to make people listen either. It was because he was doing genuinely amazing things and everyone wanted to make sure they didn't miss it.
Jesus was healing the sick. And not like the shady, hyped up tricks you see healers doing on Youtube but genuine healings that no-one could explain other than it was the power of God.
The demons that Jesus cast out of people knew the truth too as Jesus commanded them and they had to obey his authority over them. The Bible teaches that the devil is absolutely real and so are his demons and they want nothing more than to keep people from living life with God. There are many accounts of demons influencing people's lives today (hear episode 5 of The Peggcast) but Jesus has power over them no problem. And if Christians have Jesus living in them by the Holy Spirit (which the Bible says they do) then it shouldn't be a problem for them to get rid of demons either.
The other thing I find interesting is that even though Jesus has massive crowds of people coming out to see him and touch him and be healed, he still wants to keep his true identity quiet. He commands the demons not to let on that he's the Son of God. It's clearly not time for that yet. The main thing at this point seems to be the people and Jesus wants to meet and heal as many as he can before doing anything else. This part of the plan is just as important as the next because Jesus cares about people's physical needs and as well as their spiritual needs and besides, when the time comes for him to start teaching, the people will listen because they know his words have the authority of God behind them.
Some possible questions to reflect on...
- How much does Jesus draw crowds today?
- How is Jesus drawing me closer to him?
- How am I drawing others to Jesus?
