If you would take your Bibles with me and open the book of Mark, if you would like to follow along. We are in Mark chapter 3. We'll be looking at verses 7 through 12 this morning. I want to begin reading in verse 6, one verse previous, to help set the context for this section. Mark chapter 3, beginning in verse 6. The Pharisees went out and immediately held council with the Herodians against him, against Christ, of how to destroy him. Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Edomia and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him, because of the crowd, lest they crush him. For he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, You are the Son of God. And he strictly ordered them not to make him known." This section of Scripture opens up with the words, Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. And in order for us to understand the reason for this retreat, it's not the kind of retreat that we take on a weekend, but in order to understand the reason for this withdrawal, we need to recall what had just previously happened. The Pharisees had a number of confrontations with Jesus over a number of different concerns that they had about his teaching. And after the last confrontation, there was a change within the Pharisees about the way in which they were dealing with him. Up until now or up until that point, the Pharisees had been paying very close attention to everything that Jesus was doing and teaching and even what his disciples were doing. Even scrutinizing him because they were not sure what to make of him. He was this new upstart teacher who has never been trained in any pharisaical school or by anyone that they know. And it made them nervous. And so they were paying close attention to him to investigate him to find out what to make of him. But from this point on. They are decidedly opposed to him. They had done their investigation and they had made a decision. That he is to be opposed and they were actively seeking a way to destroy him. That's the significance of the change which occurred within the Pharisees in the section that we looked at last Sunday morning. But they went away from that confrontation. And they went out immediately and held a council with the Herodians of how to destroy him. Sinclair Ferguson points out the extreme irony of what it is that the Pharisees were doing here in getting together with the Herodians, men with whom they did not have any dealings because they disagreed with on virtually everything, in order to seek a way to destroy Jesus. He writes this, he says, Here were men, the Pharisees, who were outwardly devoted in every respect to honoring and keeping the law of Moses. Everything they did and everything they taught was to honor and keep the Law of Moses. And here they were deliberately planning to commit murder. And the reason why they needed to get together with the Herodians and to plot with them about how to destroy Jesus was in order to commit murder legally. which just reveals exactly who they are, pharisaical men. We have that word because of them. They are figuring out a way to commit murder in a way that doesn't break the law of God, which says, Thou shalt not murder, according to their own rabbinical additions to God's law. The Herodians were influential men of standing in that society who loyally supported Herod Antipas. They were also men who were loyal to the Roman control of Palestine upon which the Herodian dynasty depended. And they likely lent their support to the Pharisees here because they saw Jesus as a threat to the peace and stability of the territory. The history of Herodian Galilee is marked by popular uprisings under the leadership of quasi self-proclaimed messianic figures and they may have envisioned that Jesus posed this kind of peril to the land. This wasn't unheard of. People would come along and have a following and start an uprising and Rome would come in and squelch it and then make things more difficult on Israel. And that seemed to happen over and over again over the last 400 years in Israel. So likely the Herodians saw Jesus as just another young upstart who's going to get people all riled up and excited. And Rome's going to have to come back in and squelch this and make things more difficult for Israel. So that's likely the reason why they joined together with the Pharisees to plot Jesus' murder. The sad irony of what the Pharisees did here by getting together with these men, though because of what we know of who they were, continues. The irony of Pharisaical living is thick because they had strongly criticized Jesus earlier for associating with Levi and all of his tax collector friends and the sinners of Capernaum. They criticized him for associating with all of the rank-and-file sinners of the town Yet here they were associating with the upper class white collar sinners in order to plot together against Christ to commit murder. It's just a different type of sinner. It's a sin. The Herodians were sinners whom the Pharisees often and loudly called sinners and decried. Yet here they were getting together and doing the exact same thing they had just condemned Christ for doing two sections ago in God's word. Pharisees had been investigating and examining Jesus, but now they had shifted to opposing him, seeking his downfall. This section, or this decision by the Pharisees, is the climax of the section of Mark presenting the conflicts that Jesus encountered during his earthly ministry in the northern region of Galilee, bringing us to a new section of the gospel, which begins with our passage this morning. An easy way to think of that is to think of Chapter 3 verse 7 should really be chapter 3 verse 1. This is really where the new section begins right here. And we need to understand that this is the backdrop for Jesus was drawing to the sea. Jesus knew the intention of the Pharisees. He understood the shift that has gone in their thinking and in their strategy to oppose him. And he knew also that he had come to earth to do his father's will. and to do His Father's will according to His Father's timetable, and not according to the timetable of the Pharisees. Rather than continue to engage the Pharisees in conflict after conflict at this particular time in the synagogues, Jesus withdrew from where He knew they were, and He went out to the sea. It shows a lot of wisdom here, because there is a time to stand up for the truth and to defend it. And there is also a time to withdraw in order to allow God the Father's plan to be carried out. We can't force the Father's hand to accomplish what we desire. Christ knew the Father's timetable and the Pharisees didn't. So Jesus withdrew from visiting towns and synagogues in order to teach and preach and heal people But he certainly did not withdraw away from ministry. And he continued to teach and preach and heal people out by the sea. And it says, for a great crowd followed him. And a great crowd followed him from Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem, and Edomia, and from beyond the Jordan, and from all around Tyre and Sidon. When you read a list like this of all these different places, can readily bring into your mind where they are on a map and start highlighting this section, this section, this section, this section, you don't really understand the full significance of what Mark is saying here. These regions listed here represent the whole of the nation of Israel and a little bit more. Galilee is in the northern region of Israel, up by the Sea of Galilee. Judea is in the middle of Israel. And Jerusalem is located within Judea, and is likely listed here to indicate that those from the heart of Israel were also coming to Jesus. Edomia is the region which is south of Judah, down by the Dead Sea, and below the Dead Sea even, marking the end of Israel's territory to the south. And from beyond the Jordan indicates the western extremities of the nation, and slightly beyond. Tyre and Sidon, which are located basically where Beirut is today, Lebanon, they were just south of where Beirut is, right on the Mediterranean Sea, north of modern-day Israel. But they represented the northwestern ends of Israel and slightly beyond. Basically, people were coming now to see Jesus from all over Israel, the entire area, and even a little bit further. He's withdrawing but more and more people are coming to him. As he continues in his ministry, also, he will later visit all of these locations, with the exception of Edomia to the far south. At least, all of them are listed in this Gospel later on. Jesus withdrew from going to where the people were to minister, but his popularity at the same time was dramatically increasing among the people, and his ministry to the people of Israel was expanding. So what we see happening here is that the theologically minded religious people were rejecting Jesus. And the common folk were accepting him and they were flocking to him. Yet we need to be very careful about what conclusions we ought to draw from this. There are many today who would look at a passage like this in order to justify their rejection of the teaching of the church altogether. favoring instead their own private interpretation of scripture. This passage and other passages like it are places where people go to defend that idea. For example, how many times have you ever heard someone say, when the subject of religion or where you go to church or are you a Christian comes up, well I am a spiritual person, I'm just opposed to any form of organized religion. I think Worshipping God and believing in Christ and everything is great, but organized religion, the whole idea of a church, that's bad. That's what they're saying. How many times have you heard people say that? I'm spiritual. I love the Lord. I worship Him in my own way. But I'm opposed to organized religion. I hear that a lot. That is not the idea that Mark is supporting here in this passage. While it's true that the Pharisees had at this point rejected Jesus, and the crowds mostly made up of common people were flocking to him here at this point, most of these people, these common people that were flocking to him, were not coming to Jesus out of faith or out of a desire to learn from him, but because they desired to either receive or see him perform miracles and much more. They were coming for sensationalistic reasons. These large crowds too, we must remember, when we think of the whole story of the Gospel in our mind, just like the Pharisees, would in the end eventually turn away from Jesus and reject him, and even clamor and chant for him to be crucified. The truth is that neither of these two groups was coming to Jesus for the right reasons, though there were indeed a select few from within the crowds, as well as from within the Pharisees, we must remember, who did come to faith in Christ Jesus, and he came to Christ for the right reason. There was a remnant in this crowd who became true followers, and there was also a remnant within the Pharisees who became true followers as well. Mark is not saying Religious organization and religious theologically trained people are bad and common people are good when it comes to following Christ. His miracles and powerful preaching was attracting large crowds, which it does, or at least claims that you can do miracles and powerful preaching today. They would attract large crowds as well. That's why Benny himself tickets and makes lots of money because he proclaims to do these things. But here the crowds were so large, and in verse 9 we read that Jesus instructed his disciples to have a small boat ready for him by the sea in case the crowds became too aggressive in their desire to come near and to touch Jesus. This is one of those passages that shouldn't simply be passed by, as it so often is either. On the contrary, this is an extremely practical verse. to consider. It shows that even Jesus, being fully divine but also fully human, was showing practical wisdom here by making use of precautionary measures against possible danger. Think about that. He's saying, just in case, we should have this ready so that I can make use of it if I need to. He's God. Why does He have to have a safety net? He's the Messiah. Isn't his father going to look out for him? Won't the angels prevent him from tripping on a stone? The lesson that's being taught here is not always taken to heart by Christians. For an extreme example of how Christians sometimes today do this, they don't pay attention to this passage or other passages like it. There are Christians out there who refuse to go see a doctor at all because They put their whole trust in God's sovereign hand of providence. And God can heal my son or daughter even though he has cancer so I don't need to take him to the hospital. Not realizing that God in his sovereignty has given us doctors and modern medicine. And boats to escape from large crowds at times too. There are students in seminary who desire to preach the gospel who neglect studying the scriptures in the original languages. Or there are people who desire to become preachers without getting any formal education whatsoever. As though the Holy Spirit will just miraculously let them know if there is more to learn about a particular passage than can be understood in the English translations alone. Or the man who refuses to put money aside into a savings account for a rainy day because he trusts in the Lord to always provide for him. Sometimes people do things like this because they have a false understanding of God. In this passage, we see that even Jesus took precautionary steps to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. And as far as we can tell, he never made use of this small boat at this particular time. There were other times when he made use of it, but not here. He instructed his disciples to have this safety net there to make it ready just in case. Our God is sovereign indeed, but God has sovereignly given us wisdom and has given us expectations to make use of that wisdom in our own lives. That's the practical lesson that we can draw from that particular verse. Again, we see the crowds pressing in to get close to Jesus, but notice here in verse 8 the reason why. The reason why the crowds are coming. When the great crowd heard all that He was doing, they came to Him. Mark tells us the reason why they came. They weren't coming to him for his teaching. They weren't coming to him to worship him or to profess faith in him. But because of the signs and the wonders which he performed, they saw what he was doing. They heard what he was doing and they wanted to see him for themselves. And in verse 11 we see that there were many people with unclean spirits who were in the crowd as well. And whenever they saw Jesus, they fell down before him and they cried out, You are the son of God. And Jesus ordered them not to make him known. And the word that's used here for Jesus ordering them is a word that means that Jesus rebuked them with a command that they should not make him known. But the question is, why? Why did Jesus command them to not reveal his identity, his true identity, because he certainly is the Son of God. Shouldn't Jesus welcome this true confession of who he really is? Wouldn't Jesus and his disciples then be able to say, look, even the demons recognize and profess that he is divine? Why then did he silence them? Well, there are numerous answers given to this question by commentators. It's a difficult question to answer because scripture in no way directly answers it. Some of these answers include, first, that the person and work of the Saviour are so holy and so exalted that it would simply not be fitting to allow a corrupt and filthy demon to proclaim these things. It wasn't something that demons ought to be saying. It would profane God's glory if the demons were shouting out even the truth about who God is. Secondly, another idea that's given by some, this title that we see here, the Son of God, implied at least that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. However, most people at that time, in Jesus' day, and at this point in his ministry still, they conceived of the Messiah that was to come in nationalistic terms, as one who would come and deliver them from the yoke of Roman oppression, much like Moses had been sent to deliver their forefathers from Egyptian oppression. They thought the Messiah would be another Moses and free them from Rome instead of Egypt. And because of this wrong expectation, but certainly we can understand why they had that expectation, because of this wrong expectation, before allowing himself to be revealed as the Messiah, Jesus had to first teach about and make clear the nature of his messianic office to the people, and to teach that he had come not to destroy the Romans, but to submit himself to the will of his Father, and to suffer and die so that he might destroy sin and death instead, rather than destroying a political empire. They didn't have a right understanding of what the kingdom was. So he didn't want to reveal himself as the king until they knew what he was actually claiming so that they wouldn't misunderstand him. So Jesus was still here in the process of teaching about what the kingdom of God is. Before proclaiming himself as the son of God in order to prevent people from being confused. And the third option as to why Jesus would not allow himself to be revealed at this point was that the scribes and the Pharisees at this point, or shortly after this point, we're going to get there next week or the week after, the Pharisees were telling people that Jesus and the demons were allies. They were working together. They accused him of healing people by the power of Beelzebub, if you recall. They were saying Jesus performs miracles because Satan was giving him this power. And if Jesus were to allow himself and his true identity to be advertised to God's people and to be declared by demon-possessed people, it would give an appearance of confirming these false accusations against him, that he is in cahoots with the demons. Look, the demons are the ones that are saying that he is the son of God. They're the ones that are, of course, what the Pharisees are saying, starting to make sense. Maybe it's true. So he wasn't allowing the demons to proclaim this truth, to prohibit himself from being falsely associated with them. It's a third option. And there's four or five others that I'm not going to go into. People have all kinds of different ideas as to why Jesus didn't do it. We cannot be entirely sure if these reasons, or possibly others as well, are why Jesus refused to allow the demons to speak the truth about himself. at this point in his ministry, especially. But we certainly know that when these unclean spirits were screaming out that Jesus was the Son of God, that they were not doing it out of faith and trust in Him. They didn't have pure motives in what they were doing. I think we need to understand that that's the case. Their goal was not to support his ministry and to give Him honor and glory by proclaiming, He is the Son of God. They were crying out in despair, not in faith. What they were doing, they were doing out of antagonism and hatred for Him, not loyalty or love. They wanted to see Jesus destroyed, not strengthened. had so far failed to be able to accomplish through encouraging and manipulating the Pharisees into opposing Jesus, he was now hoping to accomplish through demons publicly recognizing him. Jesus had faced persecution from the Pharisees in one particular way, and he withdrew from that conflict, and now he is facing persecution from a different source in a different way. He withdrew from one attack against him, returning to the wilderness, so to speak, and ran into another form of attack, with Satan tempting him to proclaim his true identity in a way that the Father had not instructed him to do. If you go back and look at the temptations of Christ in the wilderness by Satan, some of the temptations, when you stop and think about it, are like, Throw yourself off the temple, the angels will cast you, everyone's going to see it, and they're going to say, that's the Messiah. That's the Promised One of God. You're going to be glorified, Jesus. Okay. That's not 100% a bad thing, right? Doesn't God want everyone to know who the Messiah is? Doesn't Jesus want people to recognize Him? Here we see demons coming and proclaiming Him as the Son of God. Well, that sounds like a good thing. It's demons that are doing it. The motives aren't right. And Jesus' response to them was to rebuke them, and He ordered them to be silent. Jesus came to do the will of His Father and no one else. Not the Pharisees, not the demons who were trying to proclaim Him as the Son of God before. God had... His Father had instructed Him to do that. He came to do the will of His Father and no one else, not even His own, as we see Him praying in the garden on that last night, but thine. He came not to be glorified in the eyes of men, but to give glory to his father and to be obedient to him, to be a suffering servant, to be obedient even to the point of suffering and death on a cross. And through that cross and the tomb, which could not hold him, he did receive glory. And that's the glory that his father had in store for him, not the glory of his name being proclaimed by unclean spirits. Not the glory of being praised by the Pharisees for falling in the line where they tell him he needs to, but the glory of an empty tomb. The Father's plan to glorify the Son was far greater than could be conceived of by man, or that Christ could himself be tempted to pursue by Satan. He came and He glorified the Father and He humbled Himself and the Father in turn glorified the Son and has exalted Him on high. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we do come before You this morning and we see, we know indeed that Your Son is the Son of God and is who He is. We know indeed that proclaiming that is a good thing and a true thing. Yet we also know, Father, that Your plan for how your kingdom was established and how your kingdom progresses is a plan that must be accomplished according to your own will and purpose. Father, we pray that you would work in our hearts and minds and give us wisdom and give us faith. Give us an understanding to know when we are obeying you or when we are falling in line with the desires of the world. Father, give us that wisdom that your son demonstrated. Speak to us through your spirit. Help us to always obey you and not the desires of man. not the desires of demons, and not even our own desire, Father, but may your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. We ask you to help us in these things. In Jesus' name, amen.