Why Jesus Christ Was Sent Series

Introduction

When people brought various kinds of sick people to Jesus at sunset on the Sabbath, Jesus laid his hands on each one and healed them all (v. 40). Perhaps Jesus' healing ministry ended late at night. Jesus must have exhausted a lot of his energy healing the sick. This is because power goes out from Jesus every time he heals the sick (Mark 5:30, Luke 8:46). And he must have been very tired because he had to carry the diseases of various kinds of sick people (Matthew 8:17). Because although Jesus is God, he has a body. So he had to walk from Jerusalem to Galilee, and when he was tired, he had to sit by a well to rest.

Jesus must have slept at Simon’s house that night.

I. Jesus opens the day with prayer (v. 42a)

At the day break Jesus left the house and went to a solitary place (v. 42a). Mark records the same thing, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35). Jesus began his day with prayer before dawn, before the sun even rose. The Lord's first schedule of the day was prayer. Jesus did not think that he could be spiritually refreshed through physical rest. Rather, Jesus received spiritual recharge by quietly meeting God the Father through prayer.

Because Jesus came in the form of a perfect man, he must have been physically and mentally tired at times. Whenever that happened, Jesus always went to God the Father and prayed. If we read the Gospel, we can see many scenes of Jesus praying continuously. Jesus prayed while being baptized. Even before he called the twelve disciples, Jesus first prayed. Even before Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he first prayed. Jesus also prayed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus prayed even before raising Lazarus. The day before Jesus carried his cross, he also prayed in Mark's upper room, and he continued to pray when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane. And Jesus prayed on the cross as well.

Why did Jesus always pray like this? Jesus is in very nature of God. Nevertheless, he made himself nothing and came to earth taking the very nature of a servant. Jesus came to this world as a sinless person, but his body has limitations. To overcome the limitations of the flesh and do work, he must be supplied with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8 that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them. Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit by always praying as he said. Jesus drove out unclean spirits by the power of his Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28), and was able to bear the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). And Jesus was able to be resurrected through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:14).

It’s not just Jesus. In the Bible, many people prayed early in the morning. Psalm 57:7~8 says, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast … I will awaken the dawn.” Psalm 119:147 says, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.” Psalm 88:13 says, “But I cried to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.” Psalm 90:14 continues, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” In Nehemiah 8:3, priest Ezra preached the law to the people from daybreak. Everyone, when did the walls of Jericho collapse? In Joshua chapter 6, they marched around the city at dawn, and on the seventh day, when they marched around the city seven times at daybreak and sounded the trumpet blast and shouted, the wall collapsed. The woman who witnessed the Lord's resurrection also woke up early in the morning and went to the tomb where the Lord was.

The quality of your and my day is determined by who we meet first when we start the day. Do you meet the Lord in the first hour of the day? Do you start your day by meeting and worshiping God? At that very moment, the Lord received new power from God. And he understood God's will. New wisdom comes from above. Please start your day early in the morning by meditating on the word of the Lord and praying. And just as Jesus always prayed to God the Father and did his work according to God's will with the power of the Holy Spirit, we too always pray to God, meditate on the word of the Lord, and walk with the Holy Spirit, so that each day is a blessed day and follows the Lord's will. It will be a day when the power of the Lord is revealed, influencing the people around you and changing the world.