Thursday 19 January 2012

Agnosticism / Atheism: What's Hot Now: Jesus Draws Crowds

Agnosticism / Atheism: What's Hot Now
These articles that had the largest increase in popularity over the last week // via fulltextrssfeed.com
Jesus Draws Crowds
Jan 19th 2012, 11:08

7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, 8 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. 9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. 11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

Jesus and the Crowds

Jesus moves on to the sea of Galilee where people from all over come to hear him speak and/or be healed (that isn’t explained). So many show up that Jesus needs a ship waiting for a quick getaway, just in case the crowd overwhelms them. References to the growing crowds that seek out Jesus are designed to point to both his great power in deed (healing) as well as his power in word (as a charismatic speaker).

Idumaea was the Greek name for Edom and indicated a region in Judea. Herod the Great was himself from Idumaea. Tyre was located far to the north and was one of the most important cities in Phoenicia. Today it is located off of the coast of Lebanon, connected to the mainland by a siege ramp built by Alexnder the Great. Sidon was another important city in ancient Phoenicia and is located north of Tyre.

Why would so many travel such great distances to see him, and from Gentile regions? News couldn’t travel fast at this time. Someone might hear about Jesus’ actions in a town weeks if not months after the events. How could they go all that way and be sure where to find him? It’s not as if people had enough disposable income to leave their homes and jobs for days and weeks just on the off chance they might discover a healer in a particular location.

The most likely people to make such a journey are the truly desperate â€" in other words, those who are so afflicted by physical, mental, or emotional ailments that they are at the end of their ropes. For them, failure isn’t any worse than what they have now, so it’s worth the risk to make the trip. This suggests that if there were indeed great crowds there, they were more likely around for healing than for preaching.

Jesus the Healer

Healing is what Jesus does â€" this passage doesn’t mention him preaching, just his “great deeds” and how unclean spirits continue to flee before his power. As before, Jesus tells them not to reveal his true identity. Here, however, there is an important shift. Earlier, the spirit exorcised addressed Jesus as “Holy One of God,” a title which might apply to any number of people (although Jesus still instructed the spirit to keep quiet).

This time, the spirit addresses Jesus specifically as “the Son of God.” This is the earliest reference to the divinity of Jesus, if we read “Son of God” as something that only applies to a divine person (arguably in the Jewish and Christian traditions, all humans are “children of God,” so this reading is not required). Whatever the case, Jesus himself does not use the phrase here, but the text suggests that he accepts its accuracy.

How does Mark know all of this, anyway? If Jesus is speaking aloud, then everyone is hearing him say “Don’t let anyone know who I really am,” but wouldn’t that defeat the purpose? On the other hand, if Jesus is communicating by some other means, then Mark shouldn’t be aware of it.

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