Jesus had the dilemma of being very Popular

Luke 6:17-19

I’ve never had the dilemma of being popular, the problem of not being able to go to a movie, the grocery store, or even having lunch without people coming up to you wanting to shake your hand or speak to you.  My pastor, Ray Still has that blessing in the New Braunfels area, and I’m sure it can be taxing at times, but the few times I’ve been with him he has always extended grace to all who seek his time.

Now Ray, to my knowledge, has not spent the night on a mountain with his disciples, but this is Dr. Luke’s report and it may surprise you, beginning in verse 17, “And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.”  (Luke 6:17-18 ESV) 

Jesus has spent the night seeking who the twelve disciples would be, and the twelve He referred to as apostles.  So what is the difference, or how does a disciple differ from an apostle?  “The Greek word for disciple literally means student while the Greek word for apostle means a messenger or sent one. If you study bible, you would come to know that disciples were followers or students of Christ. Out of his scores of followers, Jesus chose twelve to travel and learn from him. Of course these 12 were also originally Disciples of Christ. These were the men who were later sent to far off lands to act as messengers, and these 12 men became first apostles.” (Liberty University on-line)

So we had the disciples, the students and all of the twelve fall into this group, but that group was very large, then we have the called out ones, the ones picked by our Lord, the twelve were to be the messengers, the ones sent out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, the apostles.  But there is always another group, they are not students, nor would they refer to themselves as disciples or even followers of Christ, Luke describes them as a great multitude of people, from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.

The great multitude of people, from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon came with an agenda, they all needed fixing.  When that group comes to your church, and they do most Sundays, do you offer a fix, or do you give them some social-babble that may be a bandage but it is not a cure.  Jesus cured them, and this is Dr. Luke’s report found in verse 19, “And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.”

I do not believe we have any real understanding of Jesus’ encounter with the many disciples and the crowds, but I bet it was hard to sit down for coffee without someone saying may I have a minute of your time, or just touch you.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice