mark 9:14-15 :: Jesus heals a boy possessed by an evil spirit (pt 1)

how many people is “all the people” i wonder? what size crowd is there waiting for Jesus as He comes down the hillside today? and how many were there to question and ensnare, and how many were just waiting to see Jesus and hear Him speak again? whatever the ratio here, Jesus and the inner trio walk down to find a scene in progress.

i don’t want to read ahead, but just look at what is in these two verses today. this makes me think of moses coming down the mountainside after conversing with God and receiving the Law, only to find the people in an uproar, and a debauch-o-fest going on…but this, fortunately, doesn’t draw a complete parallel. the only real similarity is coming down a hillside after a conversation with God (“This is my Son…”) and finding something disturbing happening.

these jackals, the teachers of the law, saw that the lion was away and so they moved in on His cubs. smaller claws to deal with, and no central leader to rally behind. peter, who probably would have spoken up first, was out with Jesus, and as far as we know, no one else had that commanding personality quite yet. so no one was there to lead the rebuttal against them.

so they brought their crowd, ad they were asking questions, and have backed them up against the hill trying to catch them in their words with cleverly woven arguments and subtle questioning. no doubt the disciples were anxious for Jesus and the others to get back and help lead the offensive. no one likes being trapped, or being pressed hard for answers when you know you don’t have them all. it makes for hot tempers and quick lips. and that is probably just what these ‘teachers’ wanted. a slip of the tongue and an accidental phrasing is all they needed to begin their discrediting of Jesus in the eyes of the people.

but no one today would walk into a college class on entry level biology in the first week and question the students on the cellular mechanics of silicon based life found around ocean floor steam vents. it’s a terrible place and time for such questions. you know you won’t get the answers you need, and that you will just fluster and frustrate the students in your malicious haranguing.

so when in the midst of this cruel questioning and pressing for answers, Jesus shows back up, the people are glad to see the reprieve in motion. i’m guessing this wasn’t a pretty scene, and the people were glad for a break, and to see Jesus put an end to it all…

so overwhelmed with wonder, just at the sight of Him, they bolt and run to greet Him…

the mere sight of Jesus was enough to bring everything to a screeching halt, and save the disciples from the hard hearted “teachers of the law.”

there were other more pressing issues to attend to anyway.