December 5, 2010 – Mark 6:30 - 6:56

I imagine there was a time when it was hard for people to envision this idea of crowds swarming around someone.  The idea that masses of people would just hover and slowly move with or follow one person.  But we live in a world where people will break down blockades to get close to a celebrity.  They swarm and swoon around the elite of Hollywood or amass around the President.  Picture the flurry of people that surrounded the Beetles when they went around or what you see on shows like TMX when celebrities come out of a restaurant and are hounded from door to car door.  Picture Jesus wading through these crowds and them following Him into deserted areas, passing rumors about where He was heading and meeting Him there.  We are not talking about cities with millions of people, but small villages.  To get a number of 5,000 men, not including women and children, people must have traveled a long distance. 

It is somewhat refreshing, if you ever get the chance to witness it, to see the swarms of people that eagerly wait to see the Pope.  Knowing that it is not some celebrity that is on their third wife and has a cocaine habit, but the Descendant of St. Peter and Leader of the Church that is getting people so excited that they will wait in line 2 hours in the cold rain and then run a ¼ mile as fast as they can to get an aisle seat so that they have a chance to maybe be touched by the Pope.  (Knowledge from personal experience.)  That we could shift the energy most people spent on finding out about their favorite celebrities to learning about Christ and what He taught.  Christ looks at those crowds still today with pity.  They are still sheep without a shepherd.