Mark 2:1–12
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Contrary to the positive connotations we get around someone who "draws a crowd," in Mark's gospel the crowd is largely viewed in a negative light. Here the crowd obstructs access to Jesus. Jesus is said to be preaching to them but nothing is said of their response to him or his message. Even after he heals the paralytic the crowd is only amazed, but stops short of professing faith in him. Previously the crowd kept him from entering towns and villages. In Mark 4 we see Jesus telling his disciples that he intentionally speaks to the crowd in parables so that they will not understand the message, but he gives the meaning of the parables to his disciples. In fact, nowhere in Mark's gospel does it say that the crowd responds to Jesus with repentance and faith.
In Luke 14 Jesus has a large crowd following him and he pauses to tell them, "any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." Similarly, in John 6 Jesus scares away a large crowd by claiming to be the bread of life. Jesus isn't really interested in amassing a large following at this time. He's more interested in calling his disciples to a total devotion to himself and God's kingdom.
All of these encounters lead the reader to conclude that it isn't enough to simply follow Jesus as a part of the crowd. We must go further than that. Do we, like the paralytic and his friends, have the kind of faith that seeks to get to Jesus no matter what? Or are we content to simply be a part of the crowd?