Mark 3:7-12 Sermon Notes
RETREAT AND REGROUP
Mark 3:7-12
(February 13, 2005, Sermon Notes)
Mark 3:7-12 is a major turning-point in Jesus’ ministry. He has been displaying His authority as the king. People are following Him in spite of the controversy. But now, after the confrontation with the Pharisees in the synagogue in Capernaum (3:1-6), Jesus withdraws.
THE EXODUS FROM CAPERNAUM’S SYNAGOGUE (3:7)
Jesus healed paralyzed legs and a withered hand. Later, He will heal ears, mouths, and eyes. Israel is conformed to the image of man-made idols (Ps. 115), but Jesus restores people to the image of God again.
But in their Pharaoh-like hardheartedness (3:5), the Pharisees plot to kill Jesus (3:6). Like Moses leading Israel to the Red Sea, Jesus flees to the sea. The synagogue at Capernaum has become an Egypt and it will be judged as Egypt was — and so will every church that rejects Jesus and will not follow Him. But those who do follow Jesus experience the new Exodus that He brings about and they inherit the kingdom of God.
Jesus is a new Moses here. He is also a new David. Saul turned against David because he was jealous of him. He thought Israel was going to make David king. But when he tried to kill David, David escaped (1 Sam. 21). Jesus is the new David, but the Pharisees are the new Sauls. Like Saul, they will lose the kingdom. But like David, Jesus humbles Himself, withdraws, and waits for God to exalt Him as king.
THE EXPANSION OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM (3:7-12)
But He doesn’t withdraw alone. His disciples come with Him, and so does a great crowd. Just as everyone who was miserable came to David when he fled (1 Sam. 22:2), so too a vast multitude comes to Jesus.
Some are from Galilee where Jesus has been working. Others have heard about Jesus, and that report draws them to Him. They come from Judah and Jerusalem, where Jesus is heading, but also from the Gentile lands around Israel, including Idumea (Edom), where Herod is from. The Herodians are attacking Jesus, but God draws other Idumeans to Him. Eventually, Jesus and His gospel will go to all these regions.
But now Jesus prepares to withdraw from the crowd (v. 9). The very people who are coming to Him might end up endangering Him — and that is what happens later on. They are coming to Him, not because they recognize Him as king but because He is healing their afflictions (literally “stripes”: see Isa. 53:5) and cleansing them by casting out unclean spirits.
The demons, unlike Israel, do recognize Jesus. They bow to Him and acknowledge Him as “the Son of God.” But Jesus shuts them up. He doesn’t want them to stir up trouble. Nor does He want Israel hearing from them who He is. His people will have to follow Him and figure it out. But the demon’s message is a comfort: Out of all this conflict, God will exalt Him as His Son, the king who shatters His enemies and rules the world (Ps. 2).