People Flocked to Unpopulated Places: Mark 1:45
“45) But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.” Mark 1:45
Some decry the former leper for spreading the news about his healing. I surmise many stories were beginning to circulate about both the teachings and miraculous deeds of Jesus. The story of the leper merely added fuel to the fire.
The result was that people began seeking Jesus. He stayed out in unpopulated area’s and crowds were flocking to Him. This momentum set up the feeding of both the five thousand and the four thousand. As they started flocking to Jesus, attention started shifting away from the synagogues and the temple in Jerusalem.
Let’s be honest, people are searching and seeking for answers. The religion of Judaism had become legalistic and filled with religious rituals, but it left people empty and hopeless. Going through the motions of religion doesn’t mean people are finding God or that their inner void is being filled.
The same phenomenon is happening today. People started leaving traditional churches in groves several decades ago. Many flocked to evangelical churches and the charismatic movement. Initially, they offered a bit more personal appeal toward God, but they are increasingly coming up short as well. Many times these churches are being embroiled in inner conflict and scandals and the obvious lack of solutions.
Marriages are falling apart, families are being torn apart, society is falling apart around them and their answer is to point people to secular doctors, psychologists and government entitlement programs. The western church is quickly becoming the new institutional Judaism that was self absorbed but mostly irrelevant in the days of Jesus.
Here is a news flash, every major religion around the world is experiencing the same phenomenon. People are walking away. They are giving lip service to the established religion because of social pressure, but they are abandoning the core system and becoming increasingly more secular and hedonistic.
So why were the crowds flocking to Jesus? He was different! He had authority and power over demons, diseases, misery and death. His message was pointing people to a personal faith walk with God that was healing them, setting them free from sinful bondage and transforming their lives. Jesus was the real deal.
He was not merely comforting people in their misery as they walked toward the grave, He was filling them with forgiveness and life and raising them from the dead. He was setting people free from their grave cloth.
They early church displayed this same organic authority, power and faith. The same gospel, authority, power and signs and wonders continued through the book of Acts and the New Testament. It was persecuted but not extinguished.
You can rationalize and make excuses, but modern society is saying that western Christianity as a whole is empty, dysfunctional and powerless. We have lost something. Our focus has shifted. We are leaving people helpless, hopeless, empty and disillusioned.
The explanation is not that God has changed. I hear that so often. The false notion that “God doesn’t do miracles today” has become the motto of the western church. In place of a dynamic view of God, the western church has become humanistic and naturalistic. We have assimilated the secular philosophy of our age into our churches. I am primarily referring to the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.
But that is not the experience of the body of Christ around the work. God is pouring out His Spirit in extraordinary ways in many countries. Book of Acts kind of stories are ordinary in many countries. They are moving in the power of God. They are shaking off the influence and control of the dead western church.
Let me say it this way; “45) But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.” (Mark 1:45) An explosion of Spirit filled Christianity is rapidly spreading around the world.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
“45) But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.” Mark 1:45
Some decry the former leper for spreading the news about his healing. I surmise many stories were beginning to circulate about both the teachings and miraculous deeds of Jesus. The story of the leper merely added fuel to the fire.
The result was that people began seeking Jesus. He stayed out in unpopulated area’s and crowds were flocking to Him. This momentum set up the feeding of both the five thousand and the four thousand. As they started flocking to Jesus, attention started shifting away from the synagogues and the temple in Jerusalem.
Let’s be honest, people are searching and seeking for answers. The religion of Judaism had become legalistic and filled with religious rituals, but it left people empty and hopeless. Going through the motions of religion doesn’t mean people are finding God or that their inner void is being filled.
The same phenomenon is happening today. People started leaving traditional churches in groves several decades ago. Many flocked to evangelical churches and the charismatic movement. Initially, they offered a bit more personal appeal toward God, but they are increasingly coming up short as well. Many times these churches are being embroiled in inner conflict and scandals and the obvious lack of solutions.
Marriages are falling apart, families are being torn apart, society is falling apart around them and their answer is to point people to secular doctors, psychologists and government entitlement programs. The western church is quickly becoming the new institutional Judaism that was self absorbed but mostly irrelevant in the days of Jesus.
Here is a news flash, every major religion around the world is experiencing the same phenomenon. People are walking away. They are giving lip service to the established religion because of social pressure, but they are abandoning the core system and becoming increasingly more secular and hedonistic.
So why were the crowds flocking to Jesus? He was different! He had authority and power over demons, diseases, misery and death. His message was pointing people to a personal faith walk with God that was healing them, setting them free from sinful bondage and transforming their lives. Jesus was the real deal.
He was not merely comforting people in their misery as they walked toward the grave, He was filling them with forgiveness and life and raising them from the dead. He was setting people free from their grave cloth.
They early church displayed this same organic authority, power and faith. The same gospel, authority, power and signs and wonders continued through the book of Acts and the New Testament. It was persecuted but not extinguished.
You can rationalize and make excuses, but modern society is saying that western Christianity as a whole is empty, dysfunctional and powerless. We have lost something. Our focus has shifted. We are leaving people helpless, hopeless, empty and disillusioned.
The explanation is not that God has changed. I hear that so often. The false notion that “God doesn’t do miracles today” has become the motto of the western church. In place of a dynamic view of God, the western church has become humanistic and naturalistic. We have assimilated the secular philosophy of our age into our churches. I am primarily referring to the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.
But that is not the experience of the body of Christ around the work. God is pouring out His Spirit in extraordinary ways in many countries. Book of Acts kind of stories are ordinary in many countries. They are moving in the power of God. They are shaking off the influence and control of the dead western church.
Let me say it this way; “45) But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.” (Mark 1:45) An explosion of Spirit filled Christianity is rapidly spreading around the world.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
