#8 A Day In The Life Series

A Day in the Life

Series: Gospel of Mark

Chuck Sligh

February 9, 2020

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.

TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 1:29.

INTRODUCTION

Illus. – During their drug-fueled psychedelic phase, the Beatles recorded an album entitled “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in 1967. One of the songs was entitled “A Day in the Life.” John Lennon wrote the first and last verses. Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics for the bridge as he recalled his teenage years. He wrote: “Woke up, fell out of bed, Dragged a comb across my head. / Found my way downstairs and drank a cup, And looking up I noticed I was late. / Found my coat and grabbed my hat; Made the bus in seconds flat. / Found my way upstairs and had a smoke, And somebody spoke and I went into a dream.” Sounds like a pretty boring, unfulfilling and empty life to me.

If you or I wrote about a twenty-four-hour period of our own lives, some of those elements would be there, no doubt. I mean, a certain percentage of life is mundane and consists of maintenance (falling out of bed, combing your hair, etc.) Yet I would hope that along with the maintenance of life, there would also be some things that flow from godly intentionality and that involve serving others, and doing positive things in your life that give meaning and purpose.

You do see that in a day in the life of Jesus. As I pointed out last week, Mark 1:21-39 records a day in the life of Jesus, which demonstrated that He was the Son of God by the authority He exercised. Last week, in verses 21-28, we saw how Jesus taught with authority and how He exercised authority over demons. Today, in verses 29-39, we’ll see how Jesus exercised authority over physical illness, and at the end, we’ll see where the source of that power came from.

I. NOTE FIRST, IN VERSES 29-31, A MIDDAY PRIVATE HEALING. – Verses 29-31 – “And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.”

Based on this verse, and others, it appears that the home of Simon (later renamed “Peter” by our Lord) became the home base for Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum. [See Mark 2:1; 3:20; 9:33; 10:10.] After a powerful synagogue service, they head over to Peter’s home for dinner.

Immediately upon arrival they told Jesus what He already knew—that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Even today, a fever indicates something more serious than the many minor ailments we can have, and may indicate something much more serious. In those days, before modern medicine and the wonders of antibiotics, a fever was something much more ominous, even potentially deadly.

Notice that already the disciples are realizing that the answer to the pressing needs of their lives was Jesus. They had heard astounding, authoritative teachings from the lips of Jesus, and witnessed his instantaneous, complete and absolute authority over demons. Could He use his authority to heal as well?

Mark, always brief and curt, simply says they told Jesus about the fever. But Luke, a medical doctor and a scholar of the first order, was always more attentive to details and he uses a word that means that they “appealed to him,” or “beseeched him,” indicating more than a casual statement about her condition. Already, their faith in Messiah is expanding. They’re seeing what a truly wonderful person He was. So, they asked Him earnestly in faith to heal her.

Mark tells us that Jesus took her by the hand, lifted her up, and the fever left her. Instantly, she rises up from her bed of sickness to full health before Peter and his wide-eyed friends and family members.

But of course, she did! The fact that disease vanished at His touch is no more incredible than that demons fled at His word! What would have been incredible is if these things had NOT happened! He was the Creator of the universe, in control of time, space and matter, possessing omniscient knowledge and omnipotent power—and now He was here on earth as God manifest in the flesh. What else WOULD you expect? And in healing Peter’s mother-in-law, Jesus added another proof that He was indeed the Son of God, the main thrust of Mark’s Gospel.