Mark 1: 29-39
When Jesus Comes, Good Things Happen
Last week we saw Jesus go to the synagogue and preach and heal with Divine authority. He cleansed a man of unclean spirits and astonished those who witnessed and heard. His fame spread abroad throughout all the region around Galilee. Now we see what happened after they left the synagogue.
Now I am going to take some liberty here in supposing what they did as they left the synagogue. I imagine it is not so different than what we do here, after service, we gather downstairs for our fellowship time, meeting and greeting one another, and partake of refreshments prior to our SS classes. So perhaps, they were standing outside the synagogue talking and sharing things about what just happened. Then Simon probably said, why don’t we all go to my house for something to eat, because it was tradition that the main Sabbath meal was served immediately following worship at the synagogue. Now once they arrive, Simon finds out his mother-in-law is with fever, and he simply tells Jesus about her being ill. Notice he does not ask Jesus to cure her, he just states she is ill. Then we see that Jesus came to her and took her by the hand, and lifted her up, and immediately her fever left her and she ministered to them.
There are some interesting points we need to understand in these verses, first, all Simon did was tell Jesus his wife’s mother was ill, he did not ask for him to cure her. Why do you suppose he did not say , Jesus please cure her. I believe the reason is because Simon had faith enough in that Jesus would see her affliction and cure her. You see, wherever Christ comes, he comes to do good in all ways. Jesus cures so that people may minister to him and to those who are for his sake. And this is exactly what we see here. She immediately went about serving and ministering to the needs of Jesus and all that were in the home. When Jesus comes, He comes to impart goodness in the lives of people. To those whom He comes, and they understand, lives are transformed, cured of many ailments and demons , physical and spiritual. To those who do not understand, their afflictions continue and they miss the Savior’s gracious presence.
What a day Jesus, the folks in the synagogue, Simon, Andrew, James and John, have already had, and now add to that, curing the mother-in-law, dinner and conversation. Full day in anyone’s life. So now the sun has set and evening was upon them, the Sabbath was over. Now I imagine that many folks struggled with the thought of bringing folks who needed healing to Jesus before the Sabbath was over, once they heard of the cleansing of the unclean spirit earlier in the day. But it seems they did wait, and as soon as the sun went down, we see they brought to Him all that were diseased and possessed with devils. In fact it says that all the city was gathered at the door. One thing Jesus did was to prove it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath days, because He cleansed the man in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Jesus makes it very clear, all are welcomed at any time for His authority regardless of the time or place. He is available to every one, every day, He is there 24/7. As we see, people were brought with many diseases, illnesses, demons, not just one type of affliction, or hurt, bur many. He was surrounded that day by many in the synagogue and they were amazed, and now after sunset he is swamped by people at a private home, and we can see that wherever Jesus is, so too, are His servants, and His patients.. The same miracle He did in the synagogue He did in the house of Simon. The authority of the Divine in Jesus cures and heals all wounds and is a comfort to them that hurt. Imagine if you will the scene at Simon’s home, people every where, healing all types of infirmities and casting out demons. Our scripture this morning tells us that the demons were not even able to speak this time because they knew him. The demons knew it was hopeless for them to even speak, they knew their fate.
Now we know that sometime during the night the constant stream of people being cured was finally over, and all in Simon’s house retired for the night. We know this because we read that “in the morning rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place and there prayed.” Jesus needed to be alone, alone with the Father in time of prayer. Amazing to me, though as God he was prayed to, as a man he prayed. This has to be an example to us, Jesus retired to private devotion, to be in secret prayer. This is something we all must do, take time to meet God in private, in prayer, to speak to Him and to listen to Him. Do we find ourselves so busy that we don’t have time for God? Look at what Jesus was doing, talk about busy! All that he did, he was glorifying God and doing all these good things in public, yet he found the time and needed to be alone with God. Are our lives so busy that we can’t find time to spend in private with God? I think not! Take time to be with God. I offer to you, folks who are the busiest are the ones that need to take time to be alone with God. Jesus needed to recharge, to be filled anew and people need to do the same. How often do we see Jesus going to be alone, to be in prayer, to commune with the Father?
He is setting for us an example, I believe that if each person in this world would start their day with God we would not be in the shape we are in today.
Another point to note, this was the morning after the Sabbath and Jesus retires in private. How often do we retire in private to be with God on Monday mornings? I am going to go out on a limb here. I truly believe the majority of this country that attend services do not on the very next day retire in private and commune with God. The thought of God and serving Him will not even as much cross their minds until the next visit to church. Then they will once again get that warm, fussy feel good about me feeling and then the very next day, they retreat back to the dog eat dog world and the pattern is repeated over and over again. What these folks need to do is to take with them and preserve the good impressions of worship and go to the throne of grace everyday. We must not wait until next week to worship, praise, and be with God. Let us take a lesson from our Savior this morning, rise up early as Jesus did, rise up and make the choice to spend time with God to start your day. It can be as little as 5 minutes, not much, but it’s a beginning isn’t it? You know, the earlier in the day, the fresher our spirit and that is when we should set aside time for devotions. Jesus did just that, He was tired from all the activity and demands on Him on the Sabbath , he arose early before day and was in private prayer. But not for long.
We see that the disciples also arose and followed Him. And when they had found Him they said to Him, “ all men seek for thee.” Jesus answers “ let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for therefore came I forth.” We see that He preached in their synagogues throughout Galilee and cast out devils. Let’s look at these verses, they are filled with great points to note. We know that Jesus had time alone, enough time to pray as our scripture states, and indeed He wanted to be alone but He did not mind the interruption. He probably knew how excited and proud the disciples were of the events yesterday. Can’t you just see Simon, John, James, Andrew, Philip, and Nathaniel, which by the way are the disciples probably with Him, filled with pride that their Master was so popular and they can’t wait to do it all over again. “All men seek for thee”, they declare. I don’t know about you but if someone came up to me and said, Pastor Tom all men seek you, being human as I am, I would probably feel pretty special about myself, yes you may call it vanity. Let’s be real, we all want to feel important and needed don’t we? The difference in us and Jesus, He is never in any danger of distraction and vain glory.
They are saying, Come on Jesus let’s go back to town and do this thing all over again, but Jesus says no way, let’s move on to another town and then another because that is why I came. Jesus saw no good to return to the same town again, probably because the multitude there wanted to make Him king. Instead He wanted to spread the authority of His preaching and healing to more and more people. Jesus wanted to show the type of Messiah He was to be, not an earthly king but sent to tell of the kingdom of God.
In closing, what can we take from this passage? Wherever Christ comes He comes to do good, He cures that we may minister to Him and to those that are for His sake, wherever He is there also are His servants and His patients, His word is the salve for every sore, we need to take time to be alone with the Father, we must go the throne of grace every day, we must be aware of our own vanity, and He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, our Savior. When Jesus comes, good things happen. Amen
