TEXT: Mark 3:7-12
READING: Luke 7:1-17
SUBJ: Our Lord as the attraction that draws those in great need and the desperate manner in which they come.
AIM: That we might be moved at our salvation that we would spread the word of Christ and His power to heal both the body and the soul.
INTR: Our hearts should be thrilled at the stories we read of the works of Christ our Lord and our souls should be stirred to press upon Him as the crowds did then. From a simple report we learn a lot.
1. The rejection of those who hated Christ, and the Gospel, served to validate the genuineness of His claim as it was stated in prophecy and witnessed in His works.
2. While we dare not go beyond what the scripture reveals, scripture often serves to illustrate and enable drawing parallels to our present situation in the world.
3. It is in the manner of approach with which the multitudes came to Christ that we learn much of necessity and desperation on the part of all comers to Christ.
THESIS: Both our motives and those of others are revealed in the reaction to hearing the Gospel. Many have come out of curiosity but those coming out of necessity and urgency are never turned away.
I. Those who followed (vv.7-8)
1. At knowing that they were now plotting to kill Him Jesus withdrew Himself – no confrontation needed since those who needed Him would come.
1) Those seeking to kill Him would be frustrated in their efforts until His time.
2) Neither would they be able to hinder those coming to Him.
2. We consider how quickly the good news spread and from how far they came:
1) Those of Galilee and the regions nearby.
2) But also, from the south as far as Idumaea and from the West as far as Tyre and Sidon and from the east beyond Jordan (We take note of the effort required to get to Jesus).
3) From Jerusalem – the center of orthodoxy and Jewish history.
3. Who they were – a great multitude
1) The curious – mere curiosity would not be enough.
2) The religious – perhaps feeling a need to challenge Him and His teaching.
3) The desperate (any of the above may join this third group at seeing their need).
4. Why they came – “they had heard what great things He did…”
1) They despaired of all other help
2) They believed He could do the impossible.
3) And they came to Him!!
5. Our responsibility: Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. Psalms 66:16
II. Those who pressed upon Him (vv. 9-10)
1. We note that the recorded healings our Lord performed were debilitating and incurable for the most part.
1) This is not unlike the situation in which we were found when we came to Him
2) Sin, pride, self-will, self-righteousness, and so on parallel the manner of affliction in those who found hope in Him alone.
2. Our Lord prepared in such a manner that none should be turned away – note the function of the small boat that would be waiting either to stand in or to move along the sure so that all would be attended.
3. His record – He had healed many. (So great a cloud of witnesses).
4. It is still to be believed that He was still preaching, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:15)
5. The need they felt:
1) To run to Him (Many had come very far)
2) To touch Him (not just to observe at a distance) – The woman with the issue of blood.
3) To be touched by Him (full submission and recognition that mercy is with Him) – The Leper whom Jesus touched.
4) What do we need and
5) What do we have to tell?
6. They were healed!
III. A reminder of what is unacceptable and what is necessary (vv. 11-12)
1. He would not be revealed by the testimony of devils:
1) They knew Him while the world does not
2) But the context of that manner of revelation would be hideous.
2. Rather it will be by the witness of miracles in the lives of His people
1) The report on the Cross and our substitute.
2) The resurrection and the life of which we are partakers.
3) The miracle of healing that delivered us from sin and death brought about by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
