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.
