Send in the Crowds

Have you ever been part of a big crowd?

To your right, you greet local people who traveled across town. To your left, you meet people who traveled across country. Radio, tv, billboards, Web sites, and word-of-mouth are ways the crowd heard about the event.

Big crowds don’t just happen. They are part of a larger social context and communication network.

In Jesus’ story, we read about three big crowds. On one occasion over 5,000 joined Jesus (Mk 6:44). Later 4,000 gathered to hear him teach (Mk 8:9). A third account mentions a crowd of many thousands around Jesus (Lk 12:1).

Drawing a crowd of thousands today requires a lot of time and effort including marketing plans, venue negotiations, sound system setup, security, etc.

Minus the technology, similar crowd-factors would apply in Jesus’ day such as…

• Since crowds take time to gather, Jesus must have stayed put for a time rather than always being on the move.
• Some marketing-like communication must have let people know where Jesus was.
• A location with great acoustics and low background noise was critical since there was no amplified sound.
• Regional population density and seasonal work demands impacted who could gather and when.

It’s fun to think about the energy of a big crowd around Jesus. It’s important to realize that for that crowd to gather to Jesus, like a crowd gathering today, the factors had to be just right.