The Shepherd

[cmc]

Key Passage: Mark 3:7-12
Topic: Jesus
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea 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. (Mark 3:7-8, ESV)

It's not uncommon in the Bible to see Jesus surrounded by crowds of people. In fact, this passage tells us that people were traveling several days just to see Jesus and His miracles. These weren't just teenagers on a road trip; these were people who were often sick or disabled in some way.

How would that scene have looked? The Bible makes it sound almost chaotic. Jesus standing on the beach being so crowded by the sick people that He has the disciples pull up a boat. It must have been an odd mix of sounds: the cries of the sick for healing, the shouts of joy of the healed, the shrieks of the demons and the rebukes of Jesus. And with such a throng of people, the smell can't have been too pleasant either.

It's natural to wonder how Jesus put up with all of that. The Book of Matthew tells us, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36, ESV).

Jesus stayed because He wanted to help them, and He knew He could. And the thing that brought people to Jesus is that He actually cared about them. Jesus has never turned anyone away who has come to Him for help.



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