SPEAKER_00 0:36

My name's my My name's Charlotte Thomas and I'm in sixth grade at Benicia Middle School. I will be reading Mark chapter three verses seven through twenty one. Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea and the great crowd followed him from Galilee to Judea and Jucerum Jusalem Jerusalem and Idomia and from beyond the Jordan and around to the Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all he was doing, they came to him and he told his disciples to have a gro a boat ready for him because of the crowd lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so all that who had diseases pressed around to touch him, and whenever the unclean spirits saw him they fall they fell down before him and cried out, You are the Son of God and he strictly ordered them not to make him known. And he went up on the mountain and called to him who those who he desired and they came to him, and he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, and that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach, and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve Simon, who he gave the name Peter, James, son of Zebedee, and John, brother of James, who had been given the name Bonergis, that is son of thunder. Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas, and James and the son of James, the son of Alf Alpheus, and Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home and the crowd gathered again, so they could not couldn't could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him for the saying, for they were saying, He is out of his mind. This is the word of the Lord.

Easter Week Announcements

From Busy To Burned Out

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Thanks to God. Thanks, Charlotte. Got a bunch. Okay, real quick, before we get into today's uh scripture, just a couple of announcements. I just want you to know about this because it's calendar stuff. Uh, in a couple weeks, we're into Easter, um, Easter week. Um, specifically April 1st, uh, we're gonna start a 48 hours of prayer. It's gonna start in the evening. And so we're gonna have a room that's dedicated on campus if you want to participate, or your small groups, or your family, or whoever. We're gonna have signups for that. So you can sign up in what hour you want to be in the prayer room. That's gonna lead up to April 3rd. On April 3rd, we're gonna do a Good Friday service slash experience. Um, so there's gonna be a time frame in which you can kind of come and go through some kind of stations to the cross. And this is contemplative and experiential on your own. It's very reflective. It's a highlight for a lot of people uh during um Easter week. So that'll be on Friday. Then on Sunday, April 5th, is Easter Sunday, and we're gonna do three services. So we're gonna do one at seven o'clock in the morning, uh, nine o'clock, and eleven o'clock. And I'm just gonna ask if some of you would think about coming to the seven o'clock. You came an hour earlier today, technically. I'm just asking for a few more hours. Uh, and that's really just to make space. This is Easter's like a big family reunion and it's also a good invite opportunity, especially because on Easter uh we're doing baptisms, and so we're gonna get to celebrate that um, where we're literally we get to watch uh the Easter story take place through baptisms in water. And so uh additionally, if that's something that you're interested in being baptized on Easter Sunday, or you want some more information about that, uh, you can sign up through the little tap thing, or you can go out into the lobby and there's somewhere for you to uh go ahead and ask questions and sign up for baptisms on Easter Sunday. So that's kind of what's coming up in the next couple weeks. It's a lot, but I wanted to at least get that information in front of you so you can see where you want to participate. So, given that and all of the calendar stuff I just went over, have you ever noticed how quickly life goes from like manageable to overcrowded?

unknown 4:54

Oh, yeah.

Why Jesus Withdrew

A Border-Breaking Crowd

The Boat And Healthy Boundaries

Demons Name Him, Jesus Says No

Desire Before Worthiness

With Him Before Sent By Him

Flawed Apostles, Real Formation

Home Pressure And Misunderstanding

Anchored Identity Over Approval

Closing And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Like your calendar was fine until it wasn't, or like your phone was helpful until it became a hostage situation, or your friend group was actually fun until everyone needed something from you at the exact same time. And what happens is at some point you realize I don't need another notification. I just need some space. And some of you guys actually have two of those things, phones in your hand, right? But here's the twist we don't usually fall apart when things are bad. We fall apart when things are busy, loud, and demanding. There's a specific kind of pressure that doesn't feel dangerous at first, but over time, that pressure begins to do something subtle and destructive. It starts to redefine what matters, to decide our pace or shape our identity. And if you're not careful, it can quickly replace obedience with exhaustion or calling with obligation. That is the moment we're stepping into today. So by now in the story, Jesus is no longer operating in the margins. He's not just curiosity whispered about in the synagogues. He's not just this traveling teacher with an interesting interpretation of the Torah, this uh Old Testament, these five first books. He's a force. He's attracting attention at a scale that is becoming physically, emotionally, and spiritually overwhelming. The kingdom of God is no longer theoretical now, it is pressing into real life's, real bodies, real systems, and the pressure is literally building. And Mark begins this section with a sentence that really seems simple, but is theologically loaded. Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. This word withdrew actually matters. See, Jesus isn't uh retreating in fear, he's not avoiding responsibility, he's not uh disengaging from the mission. Withdrew in scripture is not abandonment. This is an opportunity for discernment. See, again and again in the biblical story, the movement backwards actually creates space for faithful forward movement. Moses withdraws before confrontation, Elijah withdraws before recommissioning, and Jesus withdraws because he understands that something uh we often don't do and resist is that unfiltered access eventually distorts both the giver and the receiver. So instead, he steps away with his disciples, not to escape people, but to preserve mission. But as we were gonna see, the crowd doesn't respect the withdrawal. Mark tells us that a great crowd followed him, and he does something then intentional. He lists regions. Says Jesus in verse 7 through 8 withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea, Jerusalem and Idomea, and from beyond the Jordan, and from the Tyrene and Sedan. So at first glance, this feels like unnecessary detail, but Mark never wastes words. Geography in the Gospel of Mark is like theology in motion. See, Galilee represents this rural Jewish life, working class, overlooked, distant from religious elite place. Judea and Jerusalem represents literally the center of religious power and institutional authority and temple-based spirituality. Idumea represents a region historically hostile to Israel, a place associated with political tension and ethnic division. And then you have beyond the Jordan, these are points to people living on the edges of covenant identity. Tyreene and Sedan are Gentile, pagan, culturally unclean cities, places faithful Jews were taught to keep distant from. This is um like uh uh a port city, even like uh old school Benisha. Mark is telling us something crucial: that the crowd around Jesus is not unified, it's not volatile, it is diverse in ways that make religious leaders uncomfortable because it includes people who should not be together, listening to the same teacher, standing in the same space, and reaching toward the same hope. This is not a controlled environment, not a curated gathering. This is the kingdom-breaking borders before anyone has time to explain it. And the crowd itself is literally a theological statement that when the kingdom of God moves, it does not ask permission from human systems. Mark then tells us why the crowd comes. In verse 8, he says, When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. Notice what they heard, not what he taught, not who he claimed to be, but what he was doing: healing, deliverance, authority, power. This is important because crowds are often drawn to outcomes before they understand identity. People come for relief before they are ready for formation. They want the benefit of the kingdom without the cost of discipleship. And this tension is actually baked into the story. It's not accidental. Mark actually wants us to feel it. The crowd isn't evil, they're not wrong, but they are not yet disciples. They want proximity to Jesus without surrender to Jesus, and that tension will shape everything that follows. And as the crowd presses in, Mark gives us one of the most human and revealing details of the entire gospel. And he, Jesus, told his disciples to have the boat ready for him because of the crowd. Least they crush him. Just sit with that image for a moment. Like, you know what this looks like. The people who want healing the most almost kill the healer. Not because they're violent, but because their desperation does not know when to stop. This is one of the clearest moments in scripture where we see that the need alone is not the reliable guide. Need is real, desperation is real, pain is real. But when need becomes the loudest voice in the room, it begins to dictate movement in unhealthy ways. Jesus doesn't rebuke the crowd for wanting help, but he does not surrender his humanity to their urgency. He creates space. The boat isn't this lack of compassion, it's wisdom. It's Jesus acknowledging that the kingdom is not advanced by burning out the king. That love doesn't require self-destruction. Accessibility is not the same thing as faithfulness, that there's actually a difference between sacrificial love and unmanaged depletion. And Jesus is teaching us, and he knows the difference. And this is where many people, especially young people, get spiritually confused. Because we live in a culture that glorifies being needed. You know, being busy feels important. Being exhausted feels meaningful. And being overwhelmed feels like proof that your life actually matters. And then we baptize that mentality spiritually. We assume that if we're tired, we must be doing something right. And Jesus quietly dismantles that. And then Mark adds this other layer. He tells us that Jesus, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. Now, this language here is intense, pressed, like crowding. Think physical force. There's no personal space, no margin, no breathing room. This isn't like a calm prayer line where everyone's queuing up. This is chaos fueled by hope. And then almost abruptly, Mark shifts from physical pressure to spiritual reaction. In verse 11, he says, and whenever unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, You are the son of God. Now, we've already seen this exact kind of line and cadence in the past, and we're going to continue to see it. In fact, when we get into chapter five, you're going to see exactly the same thing. This is one of those verses, though, that we can't read too quickly and miss how strange this actually is. Why? Because demons, they're not arguing with Jesus. They don't test him, they're not provoking him. They fall down, they submit, and then they confess his identity out loud. In other words, they do what many humans in the Gospel of Mark struggle to do until much later. See, evil recognizes authority immediately. And that should unsettle us a little. Because it tells us that recognizing truth is not the same thing as surrendering to it. Which means knowledge alone is never the goal of faith. Alignment is. But what really matters here is actually Jesus' response. Mark tells us that he strictly ordered them not to make him known. Why? And right off the bat, I mean, this line feels counterintuitive. Like, why silence a correct confession? Like, why shut down like accurate Christology? Like, wouldn't this help the mission? Wouldn't this speed things up? Well, not according to Jesus. Because identity matters not just in what is said, but by who's allowed to say it. Jesus refuses to let unclean spirits narrate his story, even if they say the right words. He will not let opposition frame revelation. He won't let darkness define light. He will not let fear, manipulation, or coercion become the megaphone for truth. And this is a crucial moment in Mark's gospel. Scholars actually call this pattern the messianic secret. It's why we call it the secret gospel. Jesus repeatedly resists premature or distorted announcements of who he is. And for us, it's supposed to get you frustrated a little bit. Like, why? Why can't we say this? And it's not because he's hiding, but because identity revealed without context can become dangerous. Jesus, if he's announced as the Son of God without the cross, people will expect power without suffering. If he's proclaimed without the path of humility, people will demand triumph without transformation. And if identity becomes formation, the mission will be hijacked. And Jesus knows this, so he silences the demons. And there's something I think deeply personal for us here as well. Some of the loudest voices in your life may be telling you truth about you, but from the wrong posture. Shame often speaks truth without grace. Fear speaks truth without hope. Control speaks truth without love. And Jesus does not allow those voices to define you, even when they're technically accurate. Who names you matters. And Jesus will not allow your identity to be narrated by what opposes you. He insists that your identity flows from relationship, not reaction. And then Mark shifts the scene dramatically. In verse 13, it says, And he went up on the mountain and called to him those he desired, and they came to him. This is one of the most important transitions in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus moves away from the crowd, away from the noise, from the pressure, up to a mountain. And in scripture, mountains aren't just scenic backdrops, they're covenant spaces, places where God initiates, not humans, places where calling is clarified. You see this in the Old Testament Moses encountered God on a mountain. Elijah heard God on a mountain. The law was given on a mountain. And Mark is telling us this moment is deliberate, sacred, and foundational. And then comes the phrase that quietly dismantles performance-based spirituality. He called to him those whom he desired. Not those who applied, not those who proved themselves, not those with an impressive resume, those he desired. This is not Jesus, this is not Jesus recognizing potential. I think this is actually him creating it. Notice kind of the progression here. Desire precedes worthiness. Calling precedes competence. Grace precedes growth. And that sentence alone is enough to undo a lifetime of spiritual striving. Because most of us were trained explicitly or implicitly to believe that God calls the qualified. Something in his call carries weight, authority, like this invitation. And then Mark reveals why Jesus called them. So he could appoint the 12, whom he also named apostles. Now, it's important to note that that number is not accidental. There's 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles. Jesus is reconstituting the people of God around himself. He's not reforming Judaism from the inside, he's fulfilling it. The kingdom is not an add-on, it's a re-centering. And Mark tells us the purpose of their calling, it's this in verse 14, so that they might be with him. So just stop there. I mean, understand this. This is before preaching, before miracles, before authority, it's just presence with him. This is where so much of modern faith quietly derails because we want purpose before proximity. We want influence before intimacy. We want to do things for Jesus without learning first how to be with Jesus. But discipleship begins with a shared life. Jesus doesn't say so they might, you know, learn information. He doesn't say so they might like manage systems, he doesn't say so they might lead organizations in the future. He says so they might be with him. See, this is relational before it's functional. Formation before the mission or identity before any activity. And only after presence does Mark say, and he might send them out. I love that. He might send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. That authority flows from proximity, where we get to remember that power is not self generated, it's derivative. And the disciples don't carry authority because they were impressive, they carry authority because they're connected, and this matters deeply for a generation that feels constant pressure to perform and to produce and to prove. You are not formed by how much you do for God. You are formed by how deeply you stay with Him. And then Mark lists the 12. And I'm going to tell you right now, it is anything but flattering. Like you'd read this and be like, ah, this isn't really helping your case right now. Why did you, why did you do this? He appointed the 12, Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter. Then you have James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, to whom they gave the name Bo Nurgis, that is the sons of thunder. Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. So let's go through the list real quick. Let's start first with Simon, who Jesus then renames him Peter, which is the rock, right? Which is both poetic and ironic because Peter is anything but stable at this point. He is impulsive, he's reactive, he speaks before thinking, he overpromises, he underdelivers anybody relating with Peter. And yet, Jesus names him not for who he is, but who he will become. This is how Jesus works. He names forward, he calls into being what does not yet exist. And when Jesus renames you, he's not ignoring reality, he's declaring destiny. Then you have James and John. Jesus gives them this nickname, the Sons of Thunder. And that's not a compliment, it's a diagnosis. These are intense men, hot-tempered, they're ambitious. Um, later in the gospel, they'll ask Jesus if they can sit at the right and left in glory. These men are men who want power without understanding the cost, and yet Jesus still calls them. We actually see a scene where they get frustrated at a community. He's like, rain down fire on them. And Jesus is like, What is wrong with you, right? Andrew is next. He's faithful, quiet, often overshadowed by his brother Peter. Andrew rarely speaks in the gospel, but he is constantly bringing people to Jesus. In fact, he brought his brother Peter first. Reminds us not everybody's loud, not everybody's visible, but faithfulness still matters. Then you have Philip. He's practical, analytical. He's the one who always wants to like run the numbers. Like, how much is it going to cost to feed everybody right now? You can't just do that. He wants clarity before commitment. Yet Jesus still calls him. Bartholomew, almost nothing is known about him, and that's actually important. Why? Because obscurity isn't disqualification. God's work is not limited to memorable personalities. Then you have Matthew. This one should just stop us in our tracks. Matthew is the tax collector, also known as Levi, a collaborator with Rome, a man who made his living exploiting his own people under imperial authority. To the religious community, Matthew is a traitor, socially unclean, spiritually compromised. And then Jesus puts him on the inside. Jesus does not build his kingdom by avoiding messy pasts. Then you have Thomas, skeptical, honest about his doubts, refuses to pretend certainty. He doesn't actually feel. Jesus doesn't exclude him for asking questions. He includes him, informs him. Then you have James, the son of Alpheus, sometimes called James the Lesser. That's not a fun nickname. You're James the Less, right? Even the name sounds diminished, forgotten, like just overlooked, but yet chosen. And then Thaddeus, barely mentioned anywhere else, unknown in history in many ways, and yet written into eternity. And then this one, Simon the Zealot. This matters politically. Zealots were revolutionaries, nationalists, people willing to use violence to overthrow Rome. And Jesus places Simon the Zealot next to Matthew the tax collector, two men who should hate each other. The kingdom does not form around shared opinions, it forms around shared allegiance to Jesus. Welcome to Northgate. And then Mark includes Judas Iscariot. This is, I think it's so great. Mark refuses to soften this. Judas isn't just a tragic footnote. He's a chosen disciple who becomes a betrayer. And Jesus knows it. And it's not an accident. This is not Jesus making a mistake. This is Jesus demonstrating that the mission of God is not threatened by human failure, even devastating failure. And that should make us tremble. And it should make us so, so hopeful. Jesus builds his church with people who are unfinished, unstable, unpredictable. And guess what? The church survives. And then Mark shifts the scene again. And he went home. Jesus leaves the mountain of calling and enters the space of ordinary life. Home, like it, which represents familiarity and routine, the place where people know you best. And what happens? It says when he went home, the crowd gathered again, so they could not even eat. So what happens here? The pressure returns immediately, like no break, there's no rest, there's no pause. Momentum is relentless. Demand does not wait for formation to finish. Again, there's nothing new under the sun. The kingdom is advancing, but Jesus is now in a season where even basic human needs are crowded out. And this is where many leaders quietly collapse. When calling becomes consumption, and when success erodes sustainability, or when spiritual fruit replaces human rhythm. And then something deeply painful happens. When his family heard it, they went out to seize him. For they were saying he is out of his mind. This is his family, right? Which at the same time, you're like, well, they're the only one who has permission to say that. Right? Like, let that sit. Jesus' own family thinks that he has lost perspective. They're not accusing him of sinning right here. They're not calling him evil. They call him unstable. They think he's taken things too far, that his devotion has crossed into irresponsibility. And this is one of the hardest truths of discipleship. Sometimes obedience looks reckless to people who don't understand the calling. Mary and Jesus' brothers are not villains here. They love him. They're concerned. They see all the crowds. They see the pressure. They see the lack of rest. And they draw a conclusion that makes sense to them that this is not sustainable. And they're right if Jesus' identity is rooted in human limitation, but it's not. Jesus doesn't stop. He doesn't explain himself. He doesn't submit his calling to family approval. And he doesn't allow familiarity to redefine faithfulness. This moment actually reveals something crucial that following God will sometimes cost you being understood by people closest to you. Not always, but sometimes. There will be moments when obedience makes you look extreme. I know this. I have some people in my family that's like called things, and you're like, you're gonna do what? You're gonna go where? You're gonna live there. When faithfulness makes you look irresponsible, when clarity it makes you look stubborn, and it's in those moments that you and I must decide what voice defines you. Because the crowd wants access, the demons want control, the family wants safety, and Jesus listens only to the Father. So Mark brings this tension to a peak. The disciples are chosen, the pressure is unrelenting, the family misunderstands, and Jesus stays steady because his identity was settled before the crowd ever even showed up. And this is where the entire passage lands for us. Some of you are not lost, you are misunderstood. Some of you are not failing. You are being formed, you are becoming, and some of you are not disobedient. You're in the tension between calling and familiarity. And Jesus does not promise that following him will make life easier to explain. He promises that it will make it truer. And the kingdom advances not through people who always understand, but through people who are deeply anchored. And that is what Jesus is forming here. Not fans, not crowds, not hype. Disciples. So welcome to the family. And he does something crazy next week. He's going to then talk about the unforgivable sin. So buckle up. See you next week. But as a response today, Ashri's gonna walk us through what's next.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

The invitation at the end of his message. Yeah, that was so good.