God's word to the gospel of Mark. Gospel of Mark chapter three, we'll be reading and studying verses seven through 12. Mark chapter three, verses seven through 12. Here is the word of God. Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea, and Jerusalem and Idumaea, 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." Let's pray. Lord, we have our crucified, risen and reigning Christ so clearly before us in this text. So Lord, as we sung, your word is living light. And so Lord, please open our darkened eyes, make us simple ones wise, Free us, Lord, from bondage to sin and Satan. Lord, we want to see Christ, to hear Christ. And so, Lord, by the power of Your Spirit, help us now. Amen. Please be seated. Well, this passage marks a turning point in Jesus' ministry and in Mark's gospel. What we have is a change between Christ's, sometimes called the earlier part of his ministry and the later parts of his ministry. And what characterizes the first part of his ministry is primarily signs and wonders, healing, calling of the disciples. And not that there wasn't preaching, but that is not the emphasis. So the emphasis was on establishing the identity and the validity of Jesus Christ as the true and better prophet. And so, the marks, the signs and wonders, were to establish that very thing. So then, we have a hinge at the end of our passage today. So this, our passage marks the very end of this early phase of his ministry. And then the hinge is the appointing of the disciples as such. So they've been called, but he will officially appoint them, call them to that office, this New Testament, very special office. And then, of course, the later part of Jesus' public ministry will be characterized primarily by his teaching and preaching. It's not that the signs and the wonders go completely away, but there is a diminishing of these things, and the emphasis is more on, again, the content of his teaching and preaching. So this helps us to set our passage in the broader strokes of the gospel of Mark. And so in our passage, we have the crowd in view, and also perhaps a subset of the crowd, but people with unclean spirits. And so we want to examine these two phenomena. The crowd, first thing to note is that twice the crowd is described as being a great crowd. This is not just a good turnout, but this is perhaps thousands and thousands and thousands of people who have come to listen, but maybe much more than to listen, they've probably come to see, to behold these signs and wonders that made Jesus so known during this time period of his ministry. So the crowd is large. I think it'd be fair to say it was a pretty massive crowd, especially for a time and a place such as the first century, where mass media and notification of events is, it's just simply not a thing. The only means of communication they really have, realistically, is word of mouth. And so it's by word of mouth only that we have great crowds coming to see Jesus. The next thing to note is the crowd's origin. The people that made up this crowd came from all over. What's described is both Galilee and Judea. And just maybe a little bit of history and geography, Galilee, very north of the promised land, and Judah, or Judea, were actually separated by Samaria in the middle. And so this is a way of basically saying all of all of Israel from the very north to the very south. So despite the massive cultural linguistic, there's actually a bit of a rivalry. If you were from Galilee and you found yourself all the way down in Judea, people would be able to tell this person is not from around here. I guess it would be kind of like a Texan going up to New York City. They're pretty obvious. Or for that matter, somebody from the Bronx in the middle of Tennessee. So we have the crowd made up of people from fairly diverse geography. They're distinct in some cultural elements, accent if nothing else. And then Jerusalem in this place called Edumea, which is really just a Greek form of Edom. This was a land to the south of Judah, and this was actually a land conquered in the Maccabean era by the Jews. They had it more or less assimilated. But here we have this land from which Jesus is growing this crowd, is starting to get bigger. From beyond the Jordan, talking about to the east, outside of the Promised Land altogether people are coming from this region and then Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon quite a bit north up on the the Mediterranean coast of course but these cities were known very I guess It was not controversial where the people of these cities stood. They were pagans, plain and simple. There was nothing remotely Jewish about these people. And yet, people are flocking what would take weeks of travel by foot to get to where Jesus was. So the crowd is a great crowd. There are people being drawn from all over just about as fast as word traveled, people came. And then I think it's very important to notice the crowd's motivation. See, it was based again on entirely eyewitness testimony. that people left behind their jobs, they left behind any number of callings, any number of commitments, simply word of mouth. They wanted to see the signs and wonders. They wanted to experience the awe for themselves and for many among this crowd to personally benefit. Benefit from the healings that Jesus was performing. And so what we see is a crowd that is coming in large measure desiring the benefits of Christ with little regard for Jesus himself. And it's this crowd who's pressing in upon him that Jesus withdraws, staying perhaps just barely out of their advance in this passage, one step in front of the great and growing crowd. And then almost parenthetically, Mark mentions these unclean spirits. Of course, a metonymy, a figure of speech. He's not talking about the unclean spirit itself, but the people in whom that unclean spirit is residing. So these people with unclean spirits, and these people are, automatically, as if it's a reflex. Whenever, wherever they see Jesus, they recognize Jesus, they proclaim it on their lips that Jesus is the Son of God. And so this profession or confession is, again, at the end of Mark, who thus far has labored to show just this very thing. And so finally and fully, we have this confession on the lips of even demons, essentially. These people possessed by unclean spirits. Mark seems to be observing, again, a rule. The idea is whenever the circumstances were met, namely that this person saw Jesus, it was automatic, this confession that Jesus was the Son of God. They do two things. They fall down before Him, and then they cry out with this profession. But it's important for us to note that recognition alone is not worship, that those two things are actually distinct. We know this too, that the people with unclean spirits must obey, even if they really don't want to. And we see this not only in our passage, but earlier, if you turn back to chapter one, Mark 1.27, When Jesus is healing this man, casting out an unclean spirit, Mark writes that the people are noticing that Jesus commands even the unclean spirits and that they obey him, that they are subject to him. Now, The question is to whether these unclean spirits, whether their reaction is truly automatic or perhaps in a kind of obedience, or rather perhaps, is this a plan? Is this something that's just part of the demons trying to sabotage or do harm to Jesus' ministry. I tend to think that it's actually the latter. Not that Jesus couldn't compel that, but if these people with unclean spirits had wanted to, they could have perhaps just as easily avoided him. And yet they're coming in people voluntarily and blurt this out in Jesus' presence. Of course, it wouldn't have quite the same effect if they were, you know, distant. But Jesus, of course, commands them to, he rebukes them and commands them to cease. He shuts them up. And that's where we see, at least it's implied here in Mark, that their obedience is compelled, at least at that point. So this brings us then to our doctrine. And the first thing we need to notice from the passage is that man's natural state is is exemplified in the crowd in that what man wants in his natural state is all of the benefits of Christ without actually getting Christ himself. And we know this by looking at the crowd's behavior. Now, on the one hand, who can blame them? These people, many of whom are afflicted in some way, they're almost out of their mind in how aggressively they're pursuing Jesus. But the problem is that they show little regard for Jesus himself. To the point, Mark records, and this is Jesus' own estimation, to the point of crushing him. You see, for the crowd, Jesus is simply a means to something, some greater end. And so I would just ask, pushing toward Jesus, right, to the point of crushing him, is the fruit of what? Is this what love of neighbor looks like? Did those pressing in toward Jesus have care, concern, and compassion? Not only for Jesus, but all the other people who really wanted the same thing. For the others in their company who were also suffering. And even for those who came not to be healed, did they come for Jesus himself? I would just ask, what do you suppose would happen if these people, many traveling great distances, arrived and then were disappointed, I guess I'm begging the question, with no signs or wonders whatsoever, having heard of all these spectacular things, they travel just to see nothing. Perhaps just to, what, hear a man teach or preach, but not to heal? Well, the rest of Mark's gospel will really answer our question because as Jesus continues to teach and preach, what happens to his number? Is they dwindle all the way to the point where he will be alone on Calvary's hill. You see, the crowd who gathered, again, was gathering for an experience, to see a spectacle. I mean, this is, again, this is man in his natural state. Men love going to NFL football games, love to go to Taylor Swift concerts. It's natural for men to come and see some kind of a spectacle. But merely confessing Christ as those afflicted with unclean spirits, the demons, is no place to be. And that's our second doctrine. that mere confession, mere taking His name upon our lips, mere identifying ourselves as Christians is not in and of itself a good place to be. Now it may be, but it's not in and of itself sufficient to merely recognize something that's true. So it's not just boys and girls, it's It's adults too. It's not enough to simply memorize our catechism. Would you know that the demons probably knew more about Jesus than we'll ever know? They knew all the catechism questions better than you or better than me. They knew that. And yet, this was, This was a terrible place to be, to simply recognize Jesus, but to not worship Him. So I think Christ rebukes these unclean spirits. It is puzzling. why they would make a true claim or confession, but Jesus would rebuke them. But for two reasons, they threatened his public ministry. You see, Jesus wanted to attract attention on his own terms and not at the hands of these unclean spirits. And frankly, he didn't need any help getting into trouble. Jesus, with his own words, was quite unpopular with the authorities of his day. And of course, the timing at this point is not right. Jesus still has so much ministry ahead of him, so much teaching and preaching ahead of him. Just imagine if it was at this point that Jesus went to the cross, there would be so much of Jesus' teaching ministry that we simply wouldn't have. So the time simply was not right. Jesus is not interested in demons being the one to announce his identity. You see, Jesus' own works, his own ministry and his own teaching validate his ministry and bear out his identity. He needs no help from these unclean spirits. So let's apply this. Well, first, We know that the world says that you don't need Jesus. They may say, oh, you know, God, we need a God who gives us rain and all these other things, but what's this bit about sin and atoning for sin? Like, I don't really need that. They just want, They just want His benefits without Him. Or some may even say, I'll take His atonement. I'll take His forgiveness of sins. But I'm not going to take His call upon my life. I'm going to do what I want to do. And that's what the world, of course, says is, you do you. Don't worry about what Jesus says about who you are and why you exist. And the fact that you were made for Him. can be redeemed, that you are for Him, that you can glorify Him, enjoy Him, and in Him are you satisfied. See, the world chases after signs and wonders and experiences. The Pharisees were such a lot. Jesus had been performing miracles for quite some time, and it was Pharisees who came to him with a demand to see yet another sign, but Jesus condemned them as wicked and adulterous. So the world says, we don't really need Jesus. Brothers, sisters, friends, we need Jesus and not simply His benefits. Now, I should hasten to add that it's not wrong to enjoy and to be grateful for and to even seek out His benefits. If anything, our desires is actually far too weak But where we go wrong, where we risk going wrong is separating Him from His benefits. So as we seek His benefits, seeking Christ should be our passion, that we seek Him first and then His benefits come. And again, we should be oh so grateful for His benefits. But what happens when we don't experience His benefits? When times get tough, when by the permission of God, Satan and the demons are able to harass us. You see, if we're after only His benefits, then when times get tough, What's there to seek after and to cherish when all those things are stripped away? You see, we must learn to be satisfied by Him. And so when we go through those trials and tribulations, we have more than what we need. We have the very thing for which He made us. So when times get tough, do we abandon him or do we cling to him? Now, none of us seek perfectly after Christ. There is a sense in which every one of us is the crowd. But I ask, have you found Christ as your treasure? Or are you simply pursuing his benefits? We also are cautioned here as we look at what the demons do, simply taking Christ's name upon our lips, claiming to be Christians while acting as demons. And this, of course, was the leaven of the Pharisees, being hypocrites. You see, the time when we see this most is not when we're, it's not so much when we're around our friends, we're sitting in church, right? This is the most, those moments where we're away from people or it's who we are when nobody's looking. what does your thought life look like? Does your thought life look more like that of a demon than somebody who loves Christ? If this is you, if your thought life is, is not honoring to God. If you're dishonest, see, it's easy to be honest when all eyes are on you, right? But when nobody's looking, who are you? And do you then just turn around and put Christ's name on your lips? But brothers and sisters, the solution to professing Christ with our lips, yet acting like demons, The solution is Christ. You see, the solution is not to try harder. The solution is not to reform yourself, but it's actually to take your demonic thoughts, your demonic words, the demonic works of your hands, and to bring them before Christ. To bring them to Him, confessing your sins. and begging Him to grant you repentance. And then the best part is trusting Him for full forgiveness of sins. So let us not act as the Pharisees do, but to be honest about who we really are, and to go to our Savior, that He would cleanse us, make us new, to change us, The last application is for us to see that Christ is able to make a selfish crowd interested only in his benefits and turn them into those who relish him. Now, of course, we don't see this here in our passage, but this is exactly what Jesus does. That there are people in this crowd who no doubt are there on the day of Pentecost. or perhaps a further missionary journey of Paul came through their town and they were converted. And so the selfish crowd can turn into a crowd that does worship, that's not looking only for what's in it for me, but seeing the overwhelming, all satisfying glory of a risen Savior. And Christ is totally and completely sovereign over the unclean spirits. And so brothers and sisters know that we cannot be touched. Not a hair on our head can be touched unless God wills it. If a demon is allowed to touch us, that that only happens by God and he will ensure that that is never to our undoing as Christians. Job was afflicted sorely. God will allow evil, God will allow demons to afflict us. but we have promises from God that all of these things are only and ever for our good. And so his sovereignty, total, complete sovereignty over even the demons is one of our great and many comforts. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you are sovereign over the wind and the waves. over the length of our days, over every single breath that we take. Lord, you are sovereign over those who we meet. You are sovereign over, over even the demons themselves. And we thank you for this. Lord, you are sovereign over men, Lord, we thank you that you are able to take those out of the crowd, making them sanctified, set apart, a holy nation unto you, that you have won them. With your blood is the Lamb, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Lord, thank you for your ministry here on earth. Thank you for leaving it to us through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Lord, thank you for helping us to see your glory.