Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to havea boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.
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The mention of these areas shows the reach of the Gospel, either by Jesus’ own mouth, or through stories about Jesus shared by people. Or Mark may write of his own time, when through the ministry of the apostles and other preachers of the Word, the Gospel has began to spread out of Palestine. Peter’s sermon at Pentecost would recall how Jesus would be known during his public ministry: “Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst” (Acts 2:22). Today’s Gospel gives a summary of Jesus’ mighty deeds: crowds press on Jesus, he cures many, and unclean spirits are driven of the possessed at his command.
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SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
