A New Devotion - Candidate Jesus

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Mark 3:7-12

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, "You are the Son of God!" But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

Candidate Jesus

According to the verses we just read, at this point in his ministry, it sure looks like Jesus’s poll numbers were on the rise. In other words, if Jesus was running for office, I’d expect him to win. I mean, he’s attracting huge numbers, crowds so large that he had to go off shore to avoid the crush. And the reason they kept coming, man, he was healing all kinds of folks. But what may have been most dramatic, whenever he encountered demon-possessed people, they fell down before him right there in front of God and everybody and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” Talk about an endorsement. Say no more; he’s got my vote.

And yet, when things looked to be on the upswing, Jesus did something remarkable for anyone running for office. He ordered the demons who were telling people exactly who he was to shut up. In other words, he commanded them not to reveal to the electorate the most important reason for offering him their support.

And I think the reason is clear; Jesus wasn’t a candidate running for office. Rather, as the Son of God, he was here to do something far more important than to become popular. He came to save humanity, to cleanse our past and to offer us genuine hope as we look toward the future. That’s what the Son of God came to do, something that preceded another announcement and I’m talking about the one made by the centurion at the foot of the cross. You see, without seeing the suffering, we can’t appreciate who the Son of God is. And I’ll tell you, that may be something we need to remember as we bear his witness right now.