Standing Room Only

Standing Room Only

When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.

Matthew 9:36

On a cool fall day, Mark Twain—the famous American humorist and popular speaker—arrived in a small town in mid-America where he was scheduled to lecture that evening. Since he had several hours before his speech, he decided to have his mustache trimmed and get a shave and a haircut at the local barbershop.

Dropping into the shop rather unassumingly, he sat down in one of the available chairs and patiently waited his turn.

The barber, who was a bit preoccupied with his work and other clients, did not recognize his customer as the famous Mark Twain. So, as he began to trim Twain’s hair, he said to him, “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Twain responded. “Guess I am.”

“Well, you’ve come to visit our city at a good time,” said the barber.

“Oh, how’s that?” asked Twain.

“Mark Twain is speaking here tonight.”

The humorist responded, “That’s what I hear.”

The barber asked, “Have you bought your ticket yet?”

And Twain said, “Well, nope. Not yet.”

The barber then said, “Well, that’s too bad, because it’s all sold out. So you’ll have to stand to hear him speak.”

“Just my luck,” said Twain. “I always have to stand when that fella lectures!”

In a similar way, huge crowds of people followed Jesus because they wanted to hear him speak. Even when he was weary from his long days and stressful ministry, he had great compassion on the people who traipsed around after him like hapless sheep who needed the Shepherd. And he fed them with gentle words of love and hope.

One time the crowds were so large that Jesus had to climb into a boat and push off from the shore to speak to them. Like Mark Twain, when Jesus spoke, it was standing room only.

O Lord, we stand in awe of your majesty and glory. We are your sheep. We know your sweet voice, and we will follow you wherever you lead. Amen.