“And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.”
Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him — the practical detail of the boat kept ready for Jesus communicates the press of the crowd — large enough that Jesus needs a rescue route from the surge. The detail is also characteristic Markan specificity: not a teaching about crowd management but an actual arrangement made in a particular situation. The boat will reappear throughout Mark as Jesus' transportation across the lake and occasional floating pulpit (as in the parables discourse of chapter 4). The boat ready is the disciples' first practical service — before they understand the mission, they manage the logistics.
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