Heroics

Not long ago there was a great disaster at sea. A tourist boat, loaded with cars and holidaymakers, had failed to shut its doors properly; the water began to pour in; the boat began to sink, and panic set in. People were screaming as the happy, relaxed atmosphere of the ship turned in minutes into something worse than a horror movie.
All at once one man- not a member of the crew- took charge. In a clear voice he gave orders, telling people what to do. Relief mixed with the panic as people realized someone at least was in charge, and many managed to reach lifeboats they would otherwise have missed in the dark and the rush. The man himself made his way down to the people trapped in the hold. There he formed a human bridge: holding on with one hand to a ladder and with the other to part of the ship that was nearly submerged, he enabled still more to cross to safety. When the nightmare was over, the man himself was found to have drowned. He had literally given his life in using the authority he had assumed- the authority by which many had been saved.

....(by telling stories of Jesus' healings of folk) Mark begins to tell us both about how Jesus became so popular so quickly and of how the course of His public career pointed inexorably to its dramatic conclusion. There is no doubt that Jesus quickly attracted huge crowds, and that His authoritative healings were the main reason. That in itself would have been threatening to the authorities; but, as we shall discover soon, there was more. Jesus had joined in a struggle against the forces of evil and destruction, forces that, like the dark, cruel sea pouring in on top of frightened and helpless travelers, seemed sometimes to be carrying all before them. Jesus came to be the human bridge across which people could climb to safety. And if, in the process, He Himself paid with His own life the price of this saving authority, a human bridge with outstretched arms carrying people from death to life, that was simply part of the integrity of His action. The demons had their final shriek at Him as He hung on the cross, challenging and mocking for the last time the validity of His authority. On the cross He completed the healing work He began that day in the synagogue.
--Tom Wright on Mark 1 in his little book, Mark for Everyone