Away From The Crowd

Let’s return to the Scripture text. And when He had entered a house, away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. Mark 7: 17

Here are Jesus and His disciples, who have come away from a crowd. Neither the magnitude of the crowd, nor the composition of the crowd have been stated. You’ll agree that when we hear of crowds following Jesus, we are given descriptive words such as, a large crowd, a huge crowd, or even, we read of many people following Him. Although this specific text does not describe the size of the crowd, we know it is a very big crowd from what is stated previously. Mark 7: 14 says this. When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, Hear Me, everyone and understand. 

Regardless of the size and status of the crowd, the text offers us noteworthy information about Jesus’ attitude, actions, attention and affection, in this setting, so that as disciples following Him, we will respond in like manner. 

We know that there is a huge crowd for Jesus called the multitude to Himself. We know that the word, multitude, means a large number of people. Additionally, the word multitude, also refers to the mass of ordinary people without power or influence. In this text, I believe that Jesus has before Him the masses, people whom He has been teaching. However, because of where Jesus is, His present location, many of the learned sects of religious people would have been hearing Him also. In spite of this place and time of great opportunity for planting Gospel seeds, what is Jesus’ attitude here that should be our attitude also? Jesus has shown us that as His followers, we must also have the attitude which allows us to come to the crowd and the attitude to come away from the crowd. We may not understand all the intricacies and wisdom of such an attitude, but our business is to follow our Master. Just as the disciples simply followed Jesus, their Lord and Master, as He called the  multitude to Him, taught them and then came away from the crowd, so too must we. Please listen to this again. In following Jesus, as He walks towards a chosen house, it meant that the disciples also had to come away from the crowd, to go and be with Jesus.

We are disciples of Jesus, and as His students, His apprentices, we must do and follow where He leads and how He leads. This must be our attitude at all times. The attitude of obedience must be perfectly engrained and established in us as servants. In this time of commemorating and celebrating with Jesus what He did for us so long ago, His walk to the Cross, in this Lenten Season, we are called to leave the crowd, to come away from the crowd to be with Him. May the attitude of obedience, be sealed and seen in us, as we leave the crowd to go with Jesus.

Making this Lenten walk with Jesus, we must have His attitude, for we know that whatever His attitude, it is the exact attitude of His Heavenly Father. Jesus had made it open, public knowledge, in several different ways that He had come to do the Will of His heavenly Father and not His own flesh will.

In this Lenten walk with Jesus, we must imitate His attitude. How else will God the Father be pleased with us, and grant us this privileged fellowship with His Son?