Pointing the Praise to God
There is no hiding for Jesus. His popularity has grown to an epic degree. Today’s reading may be short, but it helped me understand the reason behind something Jesus said often in his early ministry. Just a chapter earlier, we read of Jesus brought the daughter of a ruler back to life. In Mark 5:43, we read, “And he strictly charged them that no one should know this…” This was not the only time Jesus told people whom he had healed to not tell anyone what he had done. In Matthew 9:30 we read of Jesus healing two blind men. Again, we read, “And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, ‘See that no one knows it.’” Verses like these always confused me. Perhaps they confuse you as well. It wasn’t until I took the time to really ponder today’s reading, that I understood what was happening.
When we put today’s reading with yesterday’s reading, it becomes very clear that Jesus’ popularity actually hindered his teaching. Though he made time to pour himself out for each person who came to him, there was only so much of him to go around. There were only so many hours in a day. I find it hard to comprehend exactly what the crowd who followed and ran ahead of Jesus looked like. I live in a town with less people than Jesus fed miraculously with two fish and five loaves of bread. Literally, thousands of people pushed themselves around him at all times. I think I always basically understood that Jesus would ask people not to tell people he had healed them so that the crowds would not swell to such large numbers. Still, I simply cannot fathom keeping my healing a secret, but I don’t think that was what Jesus was asking of them. I think (and this is just my brain working) that Jesus was getting out of the way of God receiving His praise.
The last verse of today’s reading says, “And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well. Jesus has the power to heal, but he also has the power to save our soul. Which is more important, our physical and temporary residence or our eternal one? Once people heard of Jesus’ ability to heal and feed their bodies, many came to only receive what they could for their temporary deliverance. Jesus came for their souls. I don’t believe Jesus told people to keep his miracles quiet because he didn’t want people to know that God can take the infirmity from our bodies. I believe he loves to hear people praise his Father. However, the mass of people who refused his message but wanted his blessings quite possibly could have kept some who needed/wanted to hear his message from coming close.
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