Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Mark 1:35-39


35 Early the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus woke and left the house. He went to a lonely place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!” 38 Jesus answered, “We should go to other towns around here so I can preach there too. That is the reason I came.” 39 So he went everywhere in Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and forcing out demons. ~ Mark 1:35-39

The four gospels provide four different portraits of the Lord Jesus Christ, each a little bit different than the others. When Christ came, there were four major divisions in the human family. These divisions were not strictly racial or national, although they basically followed that pattern. Rather, they were cultural thought patterns. In this gospel, Mark provides a picture of the Jesus Christ as the ultimate servant who is yet the eternal Master of all. 

We are informed in Luke 12:35–37, at the end of time, when the the Lord Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation, for those who believe, He will return as the master servant. In fact, we are told that in eternity the Lord Jesus will serve us. This will be so due to the fact that the very heart of His glory is the fullness of His grace that overflows in kindness to needy and willing people. 

In Ephesians 2:6-7 we read, "6 And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus 7 so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus."

In the Bible there are 265 different names for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is so due to the fact that no single name can capture His total identity. So, He is the God-man, not just a good man, the God-man. And here, He is, the One who is a servant who actively looks for ways to minister to His people in need.

T
hree times in the gospel of Mark, the Lord Jesus is described to be praying. Each time Mark describes Him praying, it is at night, it is in a solitary place, and it's somehow related to some form of opposition. All three of those things we find every time Mark describes the Lord Jesus praying. 

In v.35 of today's passage we read, "Early the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus woke and left the house. He went to a lonely place, where he prayed."

It was somewhere between 3:00 am and 6:00 am. The Lord Jesus separated Himself to a lonely place in order to pray. Loneliness is not a word that we embrace. It was in the lonely places where the Lord Jesus sought intimacy with His Father instead of the empathy of others. And, it is in our lonely places, God invites us to do the same. We may want someone to step into our struggles and feel our pain, but God invites us to step into His presence and experience His peace. We may look for comfort from the friends around us, but God offers consolation through His Spirit within us. We may long for someone to listen and understand, but God invites us to be heard and known.

It’s not easy to trust God in our disappointments or sit with Him in our struggles. But as I follow my Savior’s example, I’m learning that what looks like a lonely place in our eyes is often just a sacred space in disguise. And when we seek Him in those places where no one else can go, we find Him waiting with the wisdom and the hope that no one else can offer.

It is most instructive to know that Mark delivered his gospel in a hurry. Indeed his favorite expression is "immediately" which is used 39 times in this account. Mark was so excited to tell us about the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, he did not include the story of the Lord Jesus’ birth. Mark wrote his account much faster than the others.

The Lord Jesus prayed because fellowship with His Father was His priority. Prayer is a must for humility. The power of His actions was the product of His prayer life. And, due to the fact the Lord Jesus was subject to the will of the Father and the power of the Spirit, He constantly went before the Father to seek His will and to invite the power of the Spirit of God to bring glory to the Father through His yielded life. Critical to His ministry was His dependence upon His Father. And, loneliness served His prayer life well.

In v.36-37 we read, "36 Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!"

As a result, Simon Peter and some others went to look for the Lord Jesus to inform Him that folks back in town were asking for Him. Unlike most, the Lord Jesus didn’t need popularity to uphold His identity. His identity didn’t depend on public approval. His definition came from the Father. And, this is why He is the servant. He is whole, and His completeness enables Him to not be defined by the lesser. 

According to Luke's account of this, "They tried to keep Jesus from leaving Capernaum." God establishes his rest in the hearts of the willing. This rest is a common subject throughout scripture. Notice that the Lord Jesus is not drawn into a lesser mission that emphasizes healing and exorcisms. Like the Lord Jesus, our goal must not be a ministry of popularity, our goal is to follow Him. As we follow Him, He leads us to be holy, complete, lacking nothing. It is out of this posture that we experience real freedom. Real freedom is when we are no longer found in bondage to anything in this fallen world. To be defined by such renders insecurity and immaturity, not the wholeness He died to give us. 

Like the Lord Jesus, people have expectations of us. Therefore, we need to get away to some place in our lives where we can listen to the Him. Some people, like Simon Peter, may be disappointed if we disengage. If, however, we are going to say “no” to popular opinion and “yes” to the Lord Jesus, we must invest in our relationship with Him.

In v.38-39 we read, "38 Jesus answered, 'We should go to other towns around here so I can preach there too. That is the reason I came.' 39 So he went everywhere in Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and forcing out demons.'"

The Lord Jesus did not go back to Capernaum, He went everywhere in Galilee. And, for months, He went from village to village, preaching and proving the truthfulness of His message by miracles He performed. He not only verified His identity, He proclaimed salvation through faith alone in His name.