Hungry for God: No Sideshow, Just the Savior

“And He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him”—Mark 1:34.

Jesus is not about a sideshow. Instead of continually growing His popularity, He was more about transforming people. Whenever people started to flock to Him, He would break away from the crowds for a time of prayer, teaching His disciples, and refreshment. He cared not for the praise of men “for He Himself knew what was in man”—John 2:25.

We care about crowds; Jesus didn’t. We are more like the disciples, who argued among themselves who was the greatest, than like the Savior (cf. Mark 9:34). We are so unlike Jesus. We want to be exalted, but Jesus humbled Himself (cf. Philippians 2:8). We want to be served, but Jesus said we must become servants of all (cf. Mark 9:35). We try and make ourselves gods, but Jesus was the God who became man (cf. Philippians 2:8).

Jesus didn’t seek to draw greater crowds by the miraculous; rather, He came to preach the good news so that others may believe. Consider His interaction with Simon the day after he had healed many people:

“And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him,and they found Him and said to Him, ‘Everyone is looking for you.’ And He said to them, ‘Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.’”—Mark 1:37-38.

Jesus came to preach and spread the good news, and if that was good enough for Him, then it should be good enough for us. Let it be a lesson for all of us to consider the content of our Gospel more than the crowds that come. May we be more inclined to preach the Savior, rather than attract a sideshow. And may God receive glory through our humbled obedience, as His name is proclaimed and many are transformed by His sacrificial, life-giving death. Amen.