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Mark 1:1-34 revealed Jesus knew the time was right for Him to fulfill God’s plan. The time of His ministry had come. The first six Bible studies explain this. Each encounter Jesus had with people showed His authority and power. Mark’s gospel is a catalogue of Jesus’ ministry. As a reminder of what Mark wrote in the first thirty-four verses of chapter one, below is a summary.

After John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, Jesus traversed to the wilderness for forty days, endured Satan’s temptations without sinning, then returned to inhabited Israel. On Jesus’ return, He called four fishermen to follow Him. These fishermen immediately left their boats and nets. Jesus then walked into the Capernaum synagogue where He taught Scripture with power and authority. While in the synagogue, a man possessed by many demons confronted Jesus. Jesus cast the demons out after commanding them not to say who He is. After revealing His power and authority at the synagogue, Simon and Andrew invited Jesus to their home. When they arrived, Simon showed his care for his mother-in-law by telling Jesus she was sick in bed with a fever. Jesus had compassion for the woman, walked to her bed, touched her hand, and helped her arise. He willed for her to be well, and it happened. She served the people in the house. After the Sabbath ended, the entire city of Capernaum showed up at the door. These people wanted Jesus to heal and cast out demons. Some just wanted to see Jesus do miracles. They heard about Him and wanted to see him.

In the above occurrences, Jesus showed He has power and authority over sickness and the spiritual world. He taught Scriptures and called disciples with power and authority. In Mark 1:35-39, Jesus prepared to show His power and authority again. He modeled for the disciples what is most important.

Commune

³⁵And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and prayed there for a time. ³⁶Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him; ³⁷and they found Him and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” (Mark 1:35-37 [NASB])

Mark wrote of Jesus’ ministry as one encounter quickly followed by another. “In the early morning” meant the morning after the Sabbath. The Sabbath included the hours from 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday. This means Jesus awoke before dawn on Sunday. He arose from his bed and left Simon’s house. He left to be with his Father privately. Jesus wanted privacy to commune with His Father in prayer before the day got busy. His relationship with the Father was more important to Him than anything else. From reading the New Testament, a person can discern Jesus considered prayer to be important. Sometimes, His disciples joined Him and saw its importance. As their teacher, they noted Jesus secreting away to quiet places to pray. Jesus was holy, yet prayer was important to Him. How much more important should it be to us unholy people?

Mark recorded Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Jesus. They hunted him down in a good sense. Simon begins to show the character that Bible readers and scholars recognize about Him. He is a leader. Simon is also impulsive. He had to hunt for Jesus because He did not tell Simon He aimed to go to a quiet place. Simon felt they must see more people so Jesus could heal them.

Simon’s sense of urgency, Mark relays in verse thirty-seven. When Simon found Jesus, he said to Him, “Everyone is looking for you.” Imagine how Simon felt and how he might have expressed his finding of Jesus. Perhaps, he huffed and put his hands on his hips when he spoke to Jesus. If it was us, would we have huffed and said, “Where were you and why did you leave us?” Consider Simon’s words; he said, “Everyone.” Did all 1000+ people of Capernaum think Jesus lost and so searched for him?

From reading about Simon Peter later in the Bible, we recognize he was impulsive and spoke in exaggeration. When Simon told Jesus he would never deny Him, he was very adamant he would not leave Jesus. Just as adamantly, he denied Jesus to three people, the girl and two men, before the rooster crowed twice. Is it possible in this verse, Simon was excited that his teacher had become popular so quickly? Did he want to show himself to be a disciple of this authoritative and powerful teacher? We do not know Simon’s motivation for his exaggeration and his hurry.

We recognize, after the fact, Jesus came to earth to help all people, and He came in obedience to the Godhead. Jesus, as part of the Godhead, wanted to continue to commune with the other two-Father and Holy Spirit. Jesus modeled ministry for the disciples. It includes time for ministry and time with God. With this thought, Jesus responded to Simon’s urgency.

Herald

³⁸He said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may also preach there, for this is why I came.” ³⁹And He went into their synagogues preaching throughout Galilee and casting out the demons. (Mark 1:38-39 [NASB])

Jesus did not sit back and reflect on the number of people He healed from sickness and demon possession. He did not regale people with how He cast out the legion of demons. Jesus understood why He came to earth. He understood He had not finished His mission. Jesus came to earth at the right time. His ministry was at the right time. People searched for a savior, though the one they thought they needed was not the one Jesus came to be. Jesus explained to Simon and the others who searched with him for what He came to do. He said he came to preach.

Did Jesus come just to preach to the residents of Capernaum? He said they must go somewhere else to the towns nearby. Jesus realized there were always people somewhere else that needed to learn about Him and the salvation He gives. Why? Because He came by the power of God to preach the gospel. “Preach” comes from the Greek word kerusso and means to proclaim the gospel. It means to be a herald of the Good News. Jesus came to save everyone. To do that, each person must hear the gospel. It's not just for a few places. Jesus modeled ministry that reached outward from home to connect with each person in the world. Staying in the comfort of one’s home does not lead to that occurring. Ministry requires going and proclaiming. When did you last herald the good news?

In verse thirty-nine, Jesus continued modeling as He ministered how to go and proclaim. Jesus showed Himself to the Jews first. He met them where they congregated, the synagogues. Jesus showed He was more than a teacher like the scribes who taught in the synagogues. He was a rabbi, a priest in the truest sense. Jesus continued teaching and preaching with power and authority throughout Galilee, the northern-most province of Israel. He continued casting out evil spirits, showing He has power and authority over the spirit world. He did these things because He loves everyone. Jesus did these things because He came to each to set free each captive person. He did these things because He is almighty and omniscient.

Jesus’ life was the example the disciples would recall. As they obeyed the Great Commission of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20, they would remember Jesus praying and proclaiming. Jesus said in His commissioning of all disciples,

Jesus came up and spoke to them (His disciples), saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. God, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [NASB]

Application and Conclusion

Jesus kept busy proclaiming the fulfillment of God’s time had come. The Messiah was with them in person. With the fulfillment of time, the Romans would crucify Jesus as the Jews requested. This would open the veil between God and humanity so people could know God personally. They would understand God is not just a lawgiver and judge who speaks through the priest. People could experience the removal of the weight of their sins. They would realize the salvation Jesus gives as freedom. Do you take Jesus’ example of being a herald personally? Do you share about the salvation He gives so each person can know Him as their Savior? As a disciple of Jesus, He commissions each person who believes in Him to proclaim the gospel.

Jesus added visual examples of His power. He amazingly healed the sick and cast out demons. Jesus also, in this passage, taught the disciples about the necessity of prayer. Prayer is about having a relationship with God. It quickly should go beyond obedience to an act of love, of wanting to be with the One you love most. Life gets busy; we let it. We let “life” get in the way of relationships, even our relationship with God. Jesus showed we should get away from life to be with God. Why? Because He is our source of life and salvation. God continues each day to give us life. If for no other reason to pray, we should thank God each day for awaking on earth.

Jesus modeled that prayer was more than saying, “Thank you.” Prayer is personal. It should come from our desire to be with God. Prayer is when our heart and spirit call out to His heart for connection with Him. God, through the Son, gives each person the possibility of quenching daily our heart and spirit’s desire. We can commune with God in a soul-satisfying way and never be parched again.

Jesus is more than a model for people. He is the Christ, the Messiah. Prophets foretold He would bear the sins of all people, so those who believe in Him will receive salvation from their sins. These believers will have an eternal relationship with God. God’s heart calls to ours. Our heart yearns for His. We each choose either to turn to God and have our greatest desire filled, or turn away from God and never be fully satisfied. Jesus gives us the freedom to choose a soul-quenching relationship with God.

Do you let life get in the way of a relationship with God?

Jesus shows how to get away from life and have a relationship with Him.