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.
It’s interesting that Jesus had no formulaic way of healing people. The ways he healed was as varied as the people who came to Him for healing. Unlike modern faith healers, there was no screening process; not once in all the gospels does He practice the common tactic of modern faith healers of “slaying in the Spirit”; nor did Jesus raise money for his “healing ministry.” In fact, though healing had an important role in authenticating His divine authority and was a natural response of His compassion, we will see later that really, healing was incidental to His goals and purposes.
II. NOTE SECOND, IN VERSES 32-34, WE SEE JESUS ENGAGED IN EVENING PUBLIC MINISTRY. – “And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. 33 And all the city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.”
Many people had witnessed for themselves Jesus’ authority in teaching and over demons, but soon word that Jesus could also heal must have spread through town. As evening approached; an unmistakable air of anticipation settled over Capernaum. Jesus had a pleasant meal with the disciples and perhaps a short time of rest. He was going to need it because evening was fast approaching, and Jesus knew what was about to occur.
Mark says it was not until the evening, when the sun had set, that people brought the sick and demon-possessed to Peter’s home for Jesus to heal and deliver. They had to wait until sunset because the Law of Moses forbade work of any kind on the Sabbath and in Jeremiah 17:21-22, the bearing of any kind of burden was prohibited on the Sabbath, and in the mind of strict Jews, that would include even carrying of a loved one to be healed.
So as soon as the sun set, suddenly Peter’s house was besieged! Mark says “the whole city was gathered at the door” in verse 33. They stood as a massive group at Peter’s house waiting for miraculous healings! Verse 34 tells us that they came with all manner of diseases and some people were also demon-possessed. One after the other, they came to Jesus for healing and wholeness.
They all had one thing in common: they knew their need. No one had to convince them of that; and realizing one’s need is half the battle. They still did not fully comprehend who Jesus was, but they had heard what He could do, and nothing could hold back the flood of needy people.
A whole city of diseased and ill people in pre-modern days must have included a long list of illnesses that would fill a medical book today. But the Great Physician had come, and He never charged a fee!
His healings and deliverances from demons had a two-fold purpose:
First, as we have seen, to widen the compass of His power and authority. – With each new miracle, Jesus was establishing the fact in new, more remarkable ways that He was indeed the Son of God. Before long he will perform even more novel and powerful miracles to demonstrate His power—feeding thousands by multiplying just a few loaves and fishes, calming storms, even raising the dead! This will all culminate at the end of Mark with the Roman soldier confessing beneath the cross of Jesus, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Second, Jesus healed and delivered because He had compassion and mercy on those damaged by the results of sin on this earth. – In the Gospels, there is not a single instance of someone who sought healing or deliverance that Jesus did not lovingly and willingly grant it. Wherever there was someone in need, Jesus met that need.
And yet, wonderful as all this was, don’t misunderstand what was going on here. Most of these people came to Jesus because they wanted something from Jesus. I’m not saying that’s in and of itself wrong. I mean Jesus was only beginning to reveal Himself. If you were crippled or blind or had leprosy or were demon-possessed, and you heard that this miracle worker could heal you, you wouldn’t care for the details about who he was or by what power He performed miracles; you would get your family members to truck you over there as quickly as possible.
But here’s the thing: Though some of these people came for non-spiritual reasons, ultimately many came to understand, love and worship Jesus for who He was. In my experience as a pastor, most people come to Jesus first out of a self-serving motive; out of what they think they can get from Him. People come to God because they have marital problems, or because they’re unhappy, or because of a terrible trial in their lives or they find out they’re sick or any number of other non-spiritual reasons. Sometimes all they want is a magical Jesus, and when he doesn’t perform for them, they turn away again. But many come and hear the Gospel and their hearts are stirred and they come to genuine faith in Jesus and are born into His family.
Kent Hughes, in his commentary on this passage in Mark says, “How nice it would be to have a Jesus to heal us when we have a fever, to make us wealthy, and to give us prestige. Unfortunately, for every prayer that goes up in prosperity, 10,000 go up in adversity. It is natural to want a magic Jesus. But we must always remember that God is not someone to be used. He is to be loved, worshiped, and served regardless of what comes in this world.”
Now notice that, like in the exorcism earlier in the chapter, verse 34 says that when Jesus cast out demons, “…he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” Why did Jesus not allow demons to speak or reveal Jesus’ true identity. I was able to discover three possible reasons, or maybe all three were true:
First, Jesus silenced them to emphasize His divine authority, a theme we have driven home several times already.
Second, by identifying Jesus before the right time, it could cause premature action by His enemies. – Everything about Jesus life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension is stated in several scriptures to have been pre-ordained by God. At this stage in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was SHOWING His divine power, but He was not yet openly CLAIMING to be divine. That time would come, but Satan’s forces would seek to thwart God’s timing to change God’s plans, so Jesus commanded them not to speak.
Finally, Jesus did not need the testimony of demons. – I wouldn’t either. Would you? Later, Jesus would have enough problems with the Pharisees accusing of Him of being in league with Satan. Demonic testimony would only give add fuel to the Pharisees fire.
III. THE LAST THING WE SEE IN THIS TEXT IS INTIMATE MORNING PRAYER IN VERSES 35-39 – “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. 37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. 38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. 39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.”
You can imagine how tired Jesus must have been after a whole evening of healing and deliverance of people from demons. Mark does not tell us how late Jesus ministered, but eventually, all needs were met and because he had a human body, He needed rest just as we do. We don’t know how long He slept, but verse 35 tells us He arose a long time before daylight and went out to a secluded place to pray.
Why? Because just like us, He needed to be alone with His heavenly Father! Just as His “outer man” (His body) had been renewed by a few hours of sleep, His “inner man” (His soul) need renewal. To get that, he needed seclusion and silence. Think about it: Soon, Peter’s mother-in-law would be puttering about, lighting a fire and preparing breakfast. Peter would be calling everyone to come to the beach to see the night’s catch. Any little ones in the house would start stirring and whining for breakfast.
Jesus needed to get away from all that and get alone with God to pray. As God, Jesus did not “need” alone time with the Father; but having been in eternal communion with the Father, He longed for those sweet times with Him. And so He often left the hustle and bustle of life to be recharged by prayer.
Eventually, Jesus’ solitude with the Father was interrupted by His disciples. After the remarkable events of the day before, they were ready for more! “Everyone is looking for you” they said. The disciples had grandiose visions that their movement would catch fire, spreading throughout all of Galilee and eventually to Jerusalem until a vast army was assembled and they could take back their land from Rome and Jesus would set up His Messianic kingdom.
They just didn’t grasp what Jesus was really all about, so, sadly, He bursts their bubble. He says, “Nope. I’ve got another plan. We’re going to the nearby towns so I can preach there also, because that is why I came.”
Jesus knew the people would be clamoring for more miracles and healings. But those were periphery activities to Him. They were instrumental in establishing that He was the Son of God. But preaching was more important because it was through preaching that people would be called to eternal decision and discipleship. It was a spiritual Kingdom Jesus came to build in His First Coming—a Kingdom to be built on preaching the Good News.
So, verse 39 tells us that He preached all throughout Galilee, and wherever He preached, He was opposed by the dark forces of Satan, so He cast out demons.
CONCLUSION
Now as I look at this passage, several personal applications jump out to me.
First, there’s a key insight about Peter’s mother-in-law’s healing that I skipped over in order to save it for last: That’s the truth that as soon as she was healed, she set about to serve.
To serve is the natural response of a heart that has experienced the transforming touch of Christ. Serving God is as natural for the believer as night follows day. When Paul surrendered to God on the road to Damascus, the first words out of his mouth were, “Lord, what would you have me to do?”
If you have not found a way of serving God and others, you’ve missed the essence of what it is to follow Jesus. Jesus said in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” If Jesus came to serve and not be served, how can we claim to be followers of Christ if we do not follow Him in serving God and others?
When you trusted in Christ, you received a spiritual gift. But you are not to use that gift for your own benefit or for yourself.
Peter says in 1 Peter 4:10, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Be a good steward of God’s manifold grace by using your gift to SERVE.
There are plenty of ways to serve God and one another at Grace Baptist, from volunteering once-a-month in one of our two nurseries, to teaching a kid’s class once-a-month, to cleaning the church upstairs once-a-month, to using your musical abilities on the worship team, to helping out in the sound room, to hosting a homegroup, to teaching a homegroup, and many other opportunities. Don’t be a sponge just soaking up the Word of God; squeeze that sponge by serving!
The second application I want to share with you is the challenge to follow Jesus example in finding solitude and silence sometime every day to pray.
In 2012 there was an article in the New York Times (my least favorite newspaper) that offered an analysis of what might be called “the busy trap.” Listen to this excerpt: “If you live in America in the 21st century, you've probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It's become the default response when you ask anyone how they're doing: ‘Busy!’ ‘So busy.’ ‘Crazy busy.’…”
The article goes on to say, “Busyness serves as a kind of…hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day…[We're] busy because of [our] own ambition or drive or anxiety, because [we're] addicted to busyness and dread what [we] might have to face in its absence.”
This sense that our life is empty if it is not busy is a real phenomenon, though in fact, the opposite is true. The deepest fulfillment and purpose in life is found in solitude with just you and God in prayer and in His Word. If we’re especially tired or exhausted perhaps we have not been seeking solitude with God…getting away from the constant clamor for our attention and being still to pray and replenish our souls.
At the beginning of my sermon I pointed out that a life of fulfillment and purpose are related, in part, to “intentionality.” That means making concrete decisions to intentionally do things God calls us to do and what is best for our souls. You see, Jesus didn’t “just happen” to find Himself alone with time to pray and you probably won’t either. You must intentionally MAKE time to be alone with God for prayer and meditation and daily time in the Word to hear His voice and get direction.
And you need to do it when you can get away from the hustle and bustle of life so that that voice comes through loud and clear. Follow Jesus’ example by finding time with God.
Last, I want to talk to you who are not saved about your intentions of learning about Christ.
It is more than likely that the reason you came to church or came back to church is out of some perceived need in your life or some crisis you are going through. God does not diminish our needs, and in fact, uses them to help us see the insufficiency of ourselves and our need for God in our lives.
But if all you want is that, you’re using God for your own benefit. God isn’t your personal genie to grant you all your wishes and desires.
What God wants you to do is to see your sinfulness before Him, your insufficiency to please Him through your good works, the fact that He has provided a way to save you from sin and judgment through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and that if you will turn from your sin, yourself and your own works to gain God’s acceptance and place your faith solely in Jesus Christ, you will be saved.
And to be saved is what your REAL need is. To be forgiven of sin before a righteous God is the REAL crisis in your life.
You can have everything turn out right and be delivered from all your problems and your marriage be repaired and your kids turn out well, and get money in the bank and all those things, but if you don’t have Jesus, you will be lost for eternity.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
My heart’s desire and prayer for you today is for you to turn to Jesus and be saved. I’ll be glad to talk with you about that right after church this morning. Just pull me aside and say, “I’d like to talk about how I can be saved this morning.” Or fill out one of the “Next Step” cards on the back counter there and leave me a way to reach you to arrange a time for us to sit down and talk.
