People from All Around Come to Jesus - Mark 3:8

Mark wrote how Jesus, “the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea”, and in chapter three and verse eight of his book, Mark shares how people from all around came to see Jesus where we read:

And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.

The verse reads, “And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, ...” Mark began with the words, “and from Jerusalem” or “people followed Jesus from Jerusalem which means set you double peace”, “and from Idumaea” which means “and people from Idumaea which was the name of a region between southern Palestine and the Arabian Petraea inhabited by Edom or Esau and his posterity”, “and from beyond Jordan” which means “and people from the other side of the one river of Palestine which has its course of little more than 200 miles (300 km), from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea”; “and they about Tyre” which means “and the people who were surrounding Tyre which was a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean, very ancient, large, splendid, flourishing in commerce, and powerful by land and sea and means a rock” “and Sidon” or “and people from an ancient and wealthy city of Phoenicia, on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, less than 20 miles (30 km) north of Tyre which means hunting”. Mark shared how people came from all around to see and hear Jesus.

The verse goes on to say, “a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.” Mark continued with the words, “and a great multitude” which means “a massive and large group of people”, “when they had heard” or “at the time and moment the people surrounding Jesus were given the capacity to hear and understand” “what great things he did” which means “what mighty, awesome and extraordinary things Jesus performed and produced”, “came unto him” or “approached and came near to Jesus”. Mark shared how massive amounts of people had “heard” of what Jesus did, and they desired to see Him for themselves.

When we consider Mark's words in this verse, we see how the fame of Jesus was spreading all throughout the “Galilean” area. People from “Jerusalem, Idumaea, beyond Jordan and from Tyre and Sidon” desired to see Jesus. When a person studies the life of Jesus and comes to know who He is, they should be attracted to Him. He is the Christ and Messiah sent from God, and those who are wise shall not only discover what they have heard about Jesus, but also receive Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Mark shares how Jesus, “spake to his disciples that a small ship should wait on him”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".