Throng

Mk. 3:9 KJV “And He spoke to His disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude lest they should throng Him.” The Amplified defines throng as press hard upon Him and crush Him. Throng is not a word we use today. We’d say don’t crowd me or stop pushing me. It’s used in the King James in two instances. First here in Mark when the people heard and saw what He did, they wanted to get near Him. It’s also used in the story of the woman with the issue of blood and Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5. The Amplified says the people kept following Him and press Him from all sides so as almost to suffocate Him.

Can you visualize this? Jesus was doing things no one else had done. He was loving people and healing them and teaching them about God’s ways. As a result, people wanted to be right next to Him. Now whether that was so they could be the first to be healed or so they could hear Him more clearly I don’t know and won’t judge them on it.

So my question is, if Jesus was in my area, would I be thronging Him to get so close to Him that I could hear Him clearly or to get my needs met or just to love on Him closely? There are a lot of people around Christianity but how many are actually touching/thronging Jesus? Touching Jesus with our love and faith. Getting Jesus’ attention because of our faith and belief in Him and His love. Pressing in to Him closely and following Him so close that you’ll almost suffocate Him. Now that’s thronging!