F O O T H O L D
READING
10 THE MANY AND THE FEW
PRAY Fill my mind with your
wisdom today, Lord God. (Psalm 51:6).
READ Mark 3:119.
THINK What do these events
teach us about Jesus and about people
in general? What was it that
made the crowds so keen to follow
him?
FOCUS THE MANY (712). After
the incident in the synagogue (meeting
house) (16), Jesus withdrew
to the lakeside. Imagine the scene
as crowds of people from far
and near (8) pushed forward to see
him. What did Jesus do to
avoid being crushed (9)? The key words
are 'was doing' (8),
'healed' (10), 'fall down' (11). So what
was attracting the crowds
was mostly the miracles and wonders that
Jesus performed, rather than
the truths which he was teaching.
Not surprising. But probably
their interest did not go beyond the
sensational happenings.
THE FEW (1319). The scene
changes to the quiet of the hillside.
Visualise the small group of
twelve men, individually invited by
the Lord (13,14). Today,
millions of people know their names; but
at that time they were
unknown, except to Jesus. Yet this handful
was Christ's answer to the
needs of the vast crowds. And a very
mixed bunch they were ranging from rough fishermen like Peter to
Matthew, the worldlywise
tax collector. And they also included a
potential traitor!
The people whom Jesus calls
to serve him today are still just as
varied in their
personalities, their experiences and their
backgrounds. And his way of
preparing us is still the same.
First we must spend time
with Jesus (14). It is from him that we
get our comfort and our
encouragement, our orders and the strength
to carry them out.
PRAY Help me, Lord, to spend
time learning from you so that I may be
able to serve you better.
