Mark 3:10

For he had healed many,.... Of various diseases, and the fame of this brought more still to him: insomuch that they pressed upon him; or pushed upon him, with great eagerness and violence. The Arabic version renders it, "they rushed upon him, so that they fell": they pushed on, and pressed so hard to get to him, that they fell upon one another, and on him: the Persic version renders it, "they cast themselves on him, for the sake of touching him"; which must be very troublesome indeed.

They pressed upon him - Rushed upon him, επιπιπτειν - through eagerness to have their spiritual and bodily maladies immediately removed. Plagues - Rather disorders, μαϚιγας; properly such disorders as were inflicted by the Lord. The word plague also tends to mislead.

These verses show us our Lord again working a miracle. He heals a man in the synagogue, "who had a withered hand." Always about His Father's business — always doing good — doing it in the sight of enemies as well as of friends — such was the daily tenor of our Lord's earthly ministry. And He "left us an example that we should follow His steps." (1 Peter 2:21.) Blessed indeed are those Christians who strive, however feebly, to imitate their Master! Let us observe in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ was watched by His enemies .

These verses show us our Lord again working a miracle. He heals a man in the synagogue, "who had a withered hand." Always about His Father's business — always doing good — doing it in the sight of enemies as well as of friends — such was the daily tenor of our Lord's earthly ministry. And He "left us an example that we should follow His steps." (1 Peter 2:21.) Blessed indeed are those Christians who strive, however feebly, to imitate their Master! Let us observe in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ was watched by His enemies . We read that "they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse Him." What a melancholy proof we have here of the wickedness of human nature! It was the Sabbath day, when these things happened. It was in the synagogue, where men were assembled to hear the word and worship God. Yet even on the day of God, and at the time of worshiping God, these wretched formalists were plotting mischief against our Lord. The very men who pretended to such strictness and, sanctity in little things, were full of malicious and angry thoughts in the midst of the congregation. (Prov. 5:14.) Christ's people must not expect to fare better than their Master. They are always watched by an ill-natured and spiteful world. Their conduct is scanned with a keen and jealous eye. Their ways are noted and diligently observed. They are marked men. They can do nothing without the world's noticing it. Their dress, their expenditure, their employment of time, their conduct in all the relations of life, are all rigidly and closely marked. Their adversaries wait for their halting, and if at any time they fall into an error, the ungodly rejoice. It is good for all Christians to keep this before their minds. Wherever we go, and whatever we do, let us remember that, like our Master, we are "watched."

OUR Lord had been persecuted and therefore He put forth many proofs of His power. When opposition attends the Gospel it will be the more triumphant. The warnings of the devil predict the success of the Word of God. When our Lord Jesus had done much, He was under a sacred necessity to do more—for everyone who was healed busied himself in spreading abroad the fame of the Beloved Physician—and others laboring under similar infirmities hastened at once to receive the like cure.

OUR Lord had been persecuted and therefore He put forth many proofs of His power. When opposition attends the Gospel it will be the more triumphant. The warnings of the devil predict the success of the Word of God. When our Lord Jesus had done much, He was under a sacred necessity to do more—for everyone who was healed busied himself in spreading abroad the fame of the Beloved Physician—and others laboring under similar infirmities hastened at once to receive the like cure. The more we do for Christ the more we may do, and I think usually the more we must do. If we hold back from Christian labor we may think that little is required of us, but as soon as we once enter, heart and soul, into the Master's service, we shall feel as if we needed a thousand hands and a hundred lives to overtake the growing demands upon us. I gather from the case before us in the text, that as it was with the Master so will it always be with the servants. Their pace of usefulness will increase in geometrical proportion, like that of a falling stone. Healed multitudes will act as willing decoys to attract multitudes of their unhealed friends. If there are any here who have received the Grace of God, it will be natural for them to induce others to listen to the Word of Life so they, also, may find salvation in our exalted Savior. Thus it is that the kingdom grows more and more, until the strongholds of sin are overthrown and the gates of Hell are shaken. The little cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, increases till it darkens all the skies and at last deluges the earth with blessings. Let us take care that we prove not an exception to this blessed rule! Never let us, by unholy silence, rob our Master of one of His best weapons, and the Church of her greatest joy. You who are healed should publish abroad in every place the fame of the Friend of Sinners! It is your privilege and your duty.

As many as had plagues - As many as had diseases or maladies of body or mind. The word plague, now confined to the pestilence, does not express the meaning of the original, and tends to mislead.