THE COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE
7 Jesus left with his disciples and went to the lake. A large crowd followed him because they had heard what he was doing. They were from Galilee, 8 Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the area surrounding Tyre and Sidon. 9 Jesus told his disciples to get a small boat ready for him so the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 He had healed so many people that everyone who was sick pushed forward so that they could touch him. 11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down at his feet and shouted, “You are God’s Son!” 12 But he strictly ordered them not to reveal who he was.
MY SPIN
Jesus left the synagogue with his followers and headed down to the lake.
By this time Jesus had acquired quite a reputation and he attracted a huge crowd that followed him around. These people weren't just local Galileans. They came from all over the place -- Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, the eastern region just beyond the Jordan river, as well as greater Tyre and Sidon.
The crowd was so big, and pressing in so tightly, that Jesus had the disciples ready an escape boat in case the people became too much to handle. And it was a volatile situation. He had healed so many people that other sick people were highly motivated to get in and touch him. So they were pushing their way to front of the crowd.
And then there were the evil spirits. Whenever they saw Jesus, they fell down in front of him and started shouting, "You're God's Son!" But he commanded them to keep quiet or else... He didn't want them further riling up the crowd with that kind of information. (That's the very kind of thing a demon would do -- take something that is true and broadcast it in such a way that a crowd would jump out of control trying to take advantage of what they had learned.)
