The Crowd

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE CROWD

Matt 13:1-9

13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear." 

NIV

We have heard this parable in sermons on several occasions and Jesus will explain it himself to his disciples, as we will see soon. So it seems a little out of place to go through this parable when Jesus will do it for us. However, what is interesting is that Jesus was always being followed by large crowds, at least that is the way it seems. Of course, he was divine and had authority over disease, infirmities, and even death. No one like him had ever been seen before and as we know, no one like him will ever be seen on earth again, except when he comes to reign and rule as a conquering King. However, again, the interest is the crowd. Today, almost anything draws great crowds except Jesus. Once, when Billy Graham was in his prime, fairly large crowds gathered to hear him speak. There are some preachers today who have garnered large congregations, but if we investigate the theology of these individuals, we might discover why so many come to hear their silver tongues. But for the most part, the largest crowds are to be seen at sporting events, and these crowds become excited, yelling and screaming for their favorite team. Then we have those famous rock stars, who again have crowds standing and screaming, lifting their arms celebrating the sound, at least that is what it appears to be. We could most likely go on with other venues where excited crowds might gather, then we come to church. Somehow, it seems excitement is out of place, maybe even irreverent. It also seems there are so many churches that have anything but a crowd, in fact, some may have but a handful of souls that appear on Sunday morning. For the most part, believers are seen to be ultra-conservative in their lives, which includes their manner of worship. Where is the excitement about Jesus? Where are the crowds who follow him, willing to stand just to get a glimpse of Him, or hear his teaching? We wonder, if people staring getting healed, miraculously, then maybe some people might get excited, and maybe some might hear about it and show up to see what is going on. We just wonder why the crowd is so few and why this little band of believers that do show up are so stuffy and unemotional when it comes to worship. We have to believe the crowds that followed Jesus were filled with awe, and there was a level of enthusiasm and hope in seeing and hearing Jesus. Maybe, just maybe we might be able to regain that enthusiasm, that excitement about Jesus, for He is coming back for us, to take us to a place He has prepared for us. Maybe we could even shout for joy, lifting our hands before Jesus, even dancing around, or at least in the Spirit. But then maybe we will just be a crowd of one.