This pericope introduces Jesus' continuing ministry in Galilee following the religious leaders' decision to kill Him (cf. 1:14-15; 2:13). It provides much more detail than the parallel account in Matthew.
3:7-8 The sea to which Jesus withdrew was the Sea of Galilee. He went there rather than to the areas farther south were it would have been easier for His enemies to harass Him. Jesus withdrew because of the religious leaders' plot to kill Him (Matt. 12:15).
Mark put the disciples in the emphatic first position in the Greek text. They shared Jesus' breach with the religious leaders. They would be the objects of His preparation for future ministry because of Jesus' coming death.
Mark described many people coming to Jesus from all over Jewish Palestine. Jerusalem was in Judea to the south. Idumea, named only here in the New Testament, was the old Edomite territory south of Judea. People also came from the east side of the Jordan River (Perea and the Decapolis) and from the Mediterranean coast to the northwest. It is interesting that these locations form something of an outline of this Gospel. Jesus first ministered in Galilee (chs. 1-6), then in Tyre, Sidon, and the Decapolis (ch. 7), and finally in Jerusalem (chs. 10-16).91Notably absent were people from Samaria, the land of Jewish iconoclasts who separated from the other Jews.
3:9-10 Jesus addressed the crowds from a little boat (Gr. ploiarion, not a fishing boat) on the lake when the crowds pressed too heavily upon Him. Apparently the disciples kept this little boat handy whenever Jesus spoke to the crowds from the shore. If He needed to step back from them, He would have a place of retreat. Mark probably mentioned this detail to stress the large numbers of people who followed Jesus. It also shows Jesus' willingness to adapt His presentation to the needs of His audience. Perhaps "the big fisherman,"Peter, was responsible for this notation.
The multitudes seemed to have little interest in worshipping Jesus as God, but they were eager to received the physical benefits of His ministry. These benefits Jesus graciously bestowed on them.
3:11-12 As before, Jesus continued to exorcize demons. He also continued to forbid them to reveal His identity. This would have encouraged the people to associate the title "Son of God"with the physical aspects of Jesus' ministry almost exclusively (cf. 1:34). Moreover Jesus thereby retained more control over His self-revelation and the progress of His mission. Perhaps He also did not want the people to associate Him with these demons.
The idea that Jesus silenced the demons because they sought to control Him by using His name and thereby gaining power over Him seems improbable to me.92While conflict with demonic forces is definitely a theme in Mark's Gospel, the demons had no real power over Jesus simply because they knew His name. This was a pagan superstition.
"The earliest confession of the Sonship seems to have come from evil spirits, who knew Jesus better than he was known by His own disciples."93
