Leaving The Crowd

Jesus has come away from the crowd and so must we, for we are following Him. It is easy for us to see the physical leaving. Here’s an example of what we mean by seeing this coming away in the physical. You have been to a party with your friend who is driving. When the friend is ready, whether you are ready to leave or not, whether you have just met new friends or not, and whether or not you just got a burger done for you, you have to leave. You have to turn your backs on all that good, great fellowship, because you are pledged and committed to that friend with whom you came. We are pledged and committed to Jesus first, not ourselves and our individual pleasures.

During this Lenten walk with Jesus, we see how He comes away from the crowd physically, but mentally also. His mind was on the multitude, the masses, when He called them to Him, but now His mind must be on something else, as He comes away, as He feeds them, and leaves. Look at a mother who feeds her baby, ensures that the child is full, clean and dry and leaves the child to go and do her other work. She has not just left the child physically, but if she does not take and keep her mind on her new task at hand, she stands a very great chance of perhaps catastrophic harm and disaster. When the mind is wandering and drifting and is one place while the body is in another, then that is a sure, tried and proven recipe, for unnecessary disaster and destruction.

The attitude of coming away from the crowd, is simply fake and false, if the actions to accompany the attitude are not forthcoming. One may, for example speak in the right mind and manner of the obedient, but there is no follow up. So we tell Jesus that we will follow Him because we want to be His true disciples. However, when we see His actions regarding certain things, we begin to hesitate, procrastinate and stall in our following. We have our own strong opinions, ideas, feelings and convictions about things and we find it most difficult to change, even when it comes to Jesus.

Take a look again at what is happening.  Jesus was responding to the religious hierarchy of that day, who were accusing Him as teaching and leading His disciples down a wrong religious path. It is a very volatile atmosphere.  It is in this setting that Jesus calls the multitude to Him, and in one sweeping statement He teaches them truth which will keep them grounded in the Father. He never explained a thing to them of what He had just said. He simply spoke to those hungry ears, and then pronounced these prophetically pointing words. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear! Mark 7: 16. With those words, like a huge cloud hovering over every single hearing ear, Jesus leaves the crowd of people.

When we think of it with our carnal sympathy, love, care and deep concern, we simply can’t understand how Jesus could and would walk away at such a crucial time. Many of us would want to stay and ensure lots of things. Nevertheless, when we follow Jesus, our actions must reflect Him and His actions, not ours. Indeed, we would want Jesus to spend a bit more time explaining what He meant, to those poor people. We would see them as being left in the dark and suchlike. Yet, we must denounce our ways of acting and responding and look to Jesus. We either trust His actions at all times or at no time. Never allow the deceiver the privilege of cornering you into any position that usurps the authority and wisdom of Jesus, God Incarnate.

In this Lenten walk with Jesus, to speak about the perfect attitude without corresponding actions of uncompromising obedience, is to be a total fake. How then can we expect God the Father to be pleased with us, and grant us this privileged fellowship with His Son?