His Friends

["Click here for Mark's account"]

In the preceding verses, Mark refers briefly to the choosing of the 12 Disciples, then says, He went home, undoubtedly to Capernaum as we learned from Matthew and Luke. Noticeably left out in the Gospel of Mark is any account of the Sermon on the Mount. He does tell us, however, that large crowds were beginning to follow Jesus. He continued to welcome them because of His love for them even to the point that He weakened Himself physically. We read many times of His desire to teach at the expense of food and rest. Here it says that the crowd had pressed Him beyond His physical endurance.

Notice His friends, upon seeing this, seized Him and took Him home. This can be read two ways:

1. His friends were over zealous for His welfare and went out and bodily took Him back home without really understanding the necessity of His continued mission. Some even suggest that it was more out of reproach than out of concern that they did this.
2. Some interpret their actions as being genuine concern for His well being, even reading into the Greek, an inference of fainting or weakness due to lack of food and sleep.

Matthew Henry puts it this way, "They that go on with zeal and vigor in their work must expect to meet with hindrances both from groundless dissatisfaction of their enemies and mistaken affections of their friends."

Obviously, His friends did not completely understand His mission nor the urgency of it and I would like to believe that, in their opinion, they believed that He had over extended Himself, and out of love, responded as they did.

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