GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 2:2
Essence of Ministry
Nearly every news program this weekend carried stories about Taylor Swift’s concluding concert at the BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 7. She sang to a sold-out crowd of 60,000. There were stories of people lamenting that they were not able to get tickets. The crowd serenaded the star by singing “Happy Birthday” to her ahead of her 35th birthday.
Though not a crowd as large as the Vancouver assembly, St. Mark said, “And many gathered so that there was no longer room, not even at the door, and he was speaking to them the word.” (2:2) If this was Simon’s house (Mark 1:29), there would likely not have been any sort of entryway or courtyard, so the “at the door” would have been in the street in front of the house. It would have been customary for the door to be opened in the morning so that anyone who wished might enter or exit. It was likely the street in front of the house that filled with a crowd, who heard that Jesus was present. The crowd apparently blocked the street and the area in front of the house so that there was no room to get to the door, and “he was speaking to them the word”
While the crowd may have gathered because of stories about the healing ministry, Jesus built his ministry on teaching the word—still the essence of Christian ministry today.
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