Day 15: What does it take to recognize Jesus? (Mark 3:7-12)
Today’s Passage: Mark 3:7-12
You would think seeing someone or something that is right in front of you would be easy. Most times it is.
But not always.
Ever find yourself shocked to realize you have been in the presence of someone (or something) for a long time, only to suddenly realize who (or what) they really are?
I was at a conference a while back and struck up a conversation with a person I had just met. We each had on name badges with our first names. We had a great conversation about one of the topics being discussed and I finally asked what he did for work. He told me the name of the company he co-founded. I tried not to look embarrassed. The company is huge. I think I was the only guy in the room who had no clue who he was.
Sometimes asking the right questions is what results in revealing a person’s identity. Other times it is because we simply need help.
Consider the scene. Throngs of people are coming to Jesus. Note that they are coming from all over. The distance from just one of the places named, Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee, is over 100 miles! That is just one of the locations the masses of people are coming from. They are coming from the North, South, and West.
Often in Mark’s account we read of Jesus teaching and healing. In this section we read of those who had diseases. They are coming for healing. No doubt He will teach them, but it appears as if this episode is about people who desperately need saving.
Call it human nature, but when people are trundling along in life, without too many issues, it is easy to not think much about Jesus. Sure, he seems like a nice guy. Maybe they have even heard about Him, but it seems like they don’t need Him. On top of that, when they meet folks who are His followers, well sometimes we just seem different.
Our attitude is different when we are desperate. When we are desperate, we do all sorts of things to get help, like travel hundreds of miles.
When we are desperate is when we cry out. The question is do we cry out to Jesus?
The other statement that catches my eye is, “And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.””
In Mark’s Gospel, it is the demoniacs and the desperate that recognize Jesus.
Notice it is not the intellectuals. The most educated of Jesus’ day were the religious. The ones who study all the texts.
I know people who intellectually understand the argument for Christianity. They even agree that as a philosophy and theology, it is logically consistent. They just don’t recognize Jesus the way His followers recognize Him.
What does it take to recognize Jesus? It would seem you either have to dwell in the spiritual realm (such as a demoniac), or desperately believe you need Him for your life.