And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.
This verse opens a new section of Mark's Gospel — one of the four accounts of Jesus' life in the Bible — and marks a significant geographical shift. Jesus is moving from the region of Galilee in the north toward Judea and across the Jordan River, putting him on a path that leads directly toward Jerusalem and, ultimately, his arrest and crucifixion. Even as the tension surrounding him intensifies, crowds keep finding him wherever he goes. The phrase "as was his custom" reveals something important about Jesus: teaching was not a program he ran on good days or when circumstances cooperated. It was simply what he did — the automatic expression of who he was.
Lord, make my ordinary days look more like yours — not in grand gestures, but in small, consistent customs. Give me the instinct to stop, to engage, to be present for people even when I am in transit and distracted. Form in me the kind of habits that reflect who I actually want to become. Amen.
"As was his custom." Four words that carry more weight than they appear to. Jesus was walking toward Jerusalem knowing what waited for him there — betrayal, a trial, and a cross — and when crowds appeared along the way, he taught them. Not because the calendar said so. Not because he had bandwidth to spare. Because it was simply what he did. There is something both humbling and quietly confronting about that phrase. It describes a person whose deepest values and daily habits had fused into something seamless. Who he was showed up automatically, even in transit, even under enormous pressure. What are the customs that actually define your ordinary days? Not your intentions or your best weeks — your default patterns. The things you do without consciously deciding, the instincts that surface when your plans get interrupted and someone needs something from you. When people catch you in transit — the friend who calls at a terrible time, the colleague who appears with a problem when you are already stretched thin — what do they find? Your automatic responses are quietly forming the person you are becoming, one ordinary Tuesday at a time.
What does the phrase "as was his custom" suggest about the relationship between a person's character and their daily habits — can you genuinely have one without the other?
What are two or three automatic habits — things you do without consciously deciding — that currently shape how you treat the people around you?
Is it possible to do genuinely good things while remaining emotionally absent or distracted from the people in front of you? What does real presence actually cost?
Think of a time someone showed up for you even when it was clearly inconvenient for them — how did that affect you, and how might your own availability or unavailability be affecting others right now?
What is one small, consistent practice you could build this month that would make you more present and responsive to people — especially on the days when you would rather keep moving?
And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
Mark 6:34
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Matthew 4:23
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
Matthew 19:12
And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;
Matthew 19:1
Getting up, He left there (Capernaum) and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; and crowds gathered around Him again and accompanied Him, and as was His custom, He once more began to teach them.
AMP
And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
ESV
Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more [began] to teach them.
NASB
Divorce Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
NIV
Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.
NKJV
Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again crowds gathered around him, and as usual he was teaching them.
NLT
From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them.
MSG