In contrast to the ominous hostility of the Pharisees to Jesus, which Mark's readers knew would result in his death, Mark presents a vivid picture of the tremendous desire of the ordinary people to come "to Jesus. They came looking for him from every part of the country, hopefully bringing sick relatives and friends so that Jesus might heal them; the last sentence of 3:8 explains what attracted them. Never before had anyone appeared among them who had the power to exorcize and heal in the way that Jesus was doing. In our times every new discovery of a powerful new medicine arouses great hope amongst millions of people in the modern world. Smallpox, which used to kill thousands of people, has been wiped out in the modern world; the use of vaccines against polio, measles and other diseases which can kill or maim children, now protects millions of the younger generation. If a new cure were announced for cancers or heart diseases which kill so many older people, there would be a desperate rush to obtain it. It does not need much imagination on the part of the reader of Mark's gospel to picture what began to happen when the news spread around that there was a prophet in Galilee who actually healed people, merely by speaking to them, and the cures were total and permanent. What mother would not carry her sick child many kilo metres to such a healer? What poor family with the problem of an insane, blind or crippled relative would not struggle over the hills and valleys of Galilee, carrying the one who was a helpless burden to them, hoping desperately for a cure?

Did most of the crowds who came to Jesus think of him as more than a new prophet and a healer? Probably not, but there was indication in the repeated commands of Jesus that his powers should not be publicized (3:12) that some were wondering if he was the expected Messiah. For those who could understand what was taking place, there were signs of the arrival of the Messianic age in the intense excitement of the crowds who pursued Jesus so hard that they literally pushed him out into the waters of the lake (3 :9).