October 2, 2013
Mark 1: 16-39
Jesus…..
- Called His First Disciples-------1: 16-20
- Taught With Absolute Authority-------1: 21-28
- Healed With Absolute Power------1: 29-34
- Was About His Father’s Business-------1: 35-39
We’ve all been to gas stations, that have a sign posted in a window, or by the gas pumps, that says, “Service is our business!” The sign implies, that whatever our needs might be concerning the care of our cars, we are not to worry or even lift a finger ourselves, because the service station will take care of it all.
Mark is essentially saying the same thing about Jesus in chapter 1. Service is Jesus’s business. Whether it was confronting demons, high fevers or great crowds of people, Jesus displayed the power and love of God, for lost and hurting people. He was willing to do whatever it took, so that He could provide to us what we need. He came, so that He could meet our physical needs, but much, much more than that, He came, so that He could meet us, at the point, where He could lead us back to God the Father.
In 1921, Edward, the Prince of Wales, who later abdicated the throne of Great Brittan, to marry Wallis Simpson, went on a visit to India. A formidable barrier had been set up to keep back the masses of people, who wanted to catch a glimpse of royalty. When the prince arrived, he shook hands with some of the dignitaries who were presented to him. Then, looking over their heads to the crowds beyond, he said, “take down those barriers.” They were quickly removed, and all of the people, regardless of their socioeconomic status, had free access to the heir to the British throne, Later on, the prince revisited that district again, (I think it was Calcutta), he was amazed to find 10,000 people waiting to honor him, standing under a banner that said, “The Prince of Outcasts.”
What the Prince of Wales, had done in that instant, was exactly what Jesus came to do and did----he took all the barriers down------He ripped them away on so many levels------He was a King, to be sure----but He was a King who demonstrated His power, through service to His people.
Jesus…..
I.) Called His First Disciples…. 1:16-20
One afternoon, Christian author and speaker,Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, “I had already observed something about this young man, when I was being seated. He had called me ”ma’am.“ At the time I thought, “Either he thinks I’m ancient or he’s from the south where they still teach boys manners, or he’s in the service.”
“I decided that it must have been the latter that was the most likely, so I asked, “you in the service?”
“Yes ma’am, I am.” “What branch?” “Marines.” “Hey Marine, where are you coming from?” “Operation Desert Storm, Ma’am.”
“No kidding, Desert Storm? How long were you there?” I asked. “A year and a half, now, I’m on my way home, my family will be at the airport.”
Then, I commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East.
“Oh no ma’am,” he replied, “we were taught never to think about what might not happen, we were taught to be fully available right where we were.”
The Lord calls people who are already busy----who are already working----who are already responsible in their occupations of life. People chosen by God for a special mission are never just sitting around, day dreaming, waiting, doing nothing-----then suddenly, the call is given----No, instead when Jesus selected his disciples, and how He still selects them,------to train to be missionaries, and evangelists, and teachers or just to a momentary task----He looks to hard workers-----people who get up early, people who see a task to completion, people who can work as a team and people who know what it is to sacrifice their desires and wants, and do whatever it takes. He will choose people who are fully available, right where they are.
While we are working, whether it’s in a public forum, at home or as a volunteer we should be grateful for the intelligence, and energy, and skill ,to be able to achieve results. Those gifts are God-given. But we also have to have one ear and one eye open, always looking and listening, in prayer and study, for the call from the Lord which will be the beginning of something new----- a task, suited to our gifts and talents, that will benefit others, by bringing them closer to the kingdom of God.
Andrew and Peter and James and John were all fishermen. They had been disciples of John the Baptist-----which would lead you to believe that they had all encountered Jesus before-----in fact in in John 1:35-42, he tells us that Andrew and an unnamed disciple, which was probably John, because that’s how he often referred to himself in his gospel, had become spiritual followers of the teacher, Jesus-------and Andrew was so excited about it, that he had brought his brother Simon Peter to meet him too…Nobody really knows when James, John’s brother first met Jesus, (but many scholars interpret John 19:25, when the women are standing around the foot of the cross and Jesus tells John to take care of Mary, like a son, which was a customary thing, for the nearest relative to assume responsibility for a widow or a mother or a sister when a person died,) to mean, that the mother of James and John was Salome (or Mary), who was Mary, the mother of Jesus, sister-----which would have made John and James, Jesus’ first cousins----so they would certainly have known each other well, if that’s the truth.
A leader has to have people who will follow him-----and he has to surround himself with people who are on the same page, who have the same desire and the same hope, for whatever the task might be-----they need to be able to write their message on their followers hearts, by sharing what is on their own heart. In this passage Jesus was literally, laying the foundation walls, for The Kingdom, by calling these first, four men.
There were many fisherman in Galilee----Josephus, the great 1st century Jewish historian, who had been the governor of Galilee, at one point in time, tells us that in his day, there were 330 fishing boat sailing that 8 mile wide and 13 mile long little lake…there were so many, because ordinary people,e didn’t eat much meat-----fish was a staple in their diet-----just like it still is today, in that part of the world…and a common thing for a fisherman to be doing, in the daytime was casting and mending their nets-----competition was too fierce so a good fisherman would never be found just sitting idlely by.
And Jesus, had clearly come to find those four, and they each one, clearly recognized that He was calling them to discipleship. And they immediately left what they were doing and went with Him-(don’t think that their response was a repudiation of their families and homes----in fact, it clearly wasn’t, because we see them, interacting with their families again and again----but what was happening, was that they were giving their full allegiance to Jesus and His mission.
Simon Peter and Andrew, left their boat------and James and John, left their father and their servants-----(the fact that they had servants, means that they must have been men of some means, and scholars have projected that they may have been some of the people who were able to help provide money for Jesus’ ministry)----
I know that Jesus spoke with authority, and I know He was dynamic and compelling and I know that His presence was so real that it demanded obedience----but I also like to think, like William Barclay says, that they were amazed by the magnetism of His eyes and the charisma of His personality and the truth of His words----that Jesus didn’t say to them, ”I have a theological system that I want you to investigate; I have certain theories that I would like you to think over; I have an ethical system that I’d like to discuss with you”------He just said, “follow me…” Dr. Barclay says, “that for each one, it began with a personal reaction to Jesus----a recognition of a heart which could love another heart, and the gentle tug toward Him, that grew into an unshakeable loyalty, in the end. He says that following the Lord, is like falling in love----it happens just because we are; and just because they are------those men followed Jesus, not because of what He said or did, but because of everything that He was.”
Jesus needed to equip them for the task He was going to leave them with-----to be “fishers of men”, a miracle that He would complete in them----Jesus called them to fish for souls with the same energy that they had previously fished for food. They were to use the gospel like a net, pulling people into its grasp, so that it could transform their lives. (That phrase, “fishers of men” was one ,the men would have known and understood----it was used both in the Old and New Testaments-----in the Old Testament, God was the fisher of men, harvesting them for judgment-----and there was an urgency implied with it, that He had to hurry because the judgment was coming-----in the New Testament, it was a description of prophets and rabbis and other philosophers and teachers, who captured men’s minds, through, preaching, teaching and persuasion-----they would bait the hook with their teachings, and then reel in their “catch “, which was their disciples.)
This is one of the most famous acts of obedience in history. Jesus came with a radical message----not just to fix the Jewish way of doing things, but to fulfill them, in the right way----then He made a radical call, and these 4 men responded with radical obedience. And it changed their lives and the lives of everybody they came in contact with! It was remarkable! Those provincial Galilean fishermen became thinkers, preachers, theologians, sociologists, psychologists and strategists-----all because of the gospel----
Jesus called them to service----He called them into a place where they could invest their lives; a place where they would have to spend themselves, burn themselves up, and in the end, die for His sake and the sake of others; a place where the end result would be worth far more than anything they could imagine on this earth----And they said yes! Yes, Yes---a thousand times yes!!!!!
I wonder how we would have responded; how we did respond; how we do respond; how we will respond…
Jesus…
II.) Taught With Absolute Authority… 1:21-28
Following the Civil War, a dejected Confederate soldier was sitting outside the grounds of the White House. A young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad. The soldier related how he had repeatedly tried to see President Lincoln to tell him how he had been unjustly deprived of certain lands in the South, following the war. Each time he had tried to gain entrance into the White House, for an audience with the president, the guards had crossed their bayonetted guns in front of the door to turn him away. The boy motioned for the old soldier to follow him. When they approached the entrance, the guards came to attention, stepped back and opened the door for the boy. He proceeded to the library where the president was resting. And he introduced the soldier to his father. The boy was Tad Lincoln. The soldier had gained an entrance to the President, through the President’s son.
Josh McDowell has been reaching out to the spiritually skeptical for almost 50 years, especially to teenagers….in his book, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, he explains how he came to know that the Authority of Jesus is absolute------
“If when Jesus made his claims, He knew He was not God, then He was lying. But if He was a liar, then He was also a hypocrite, because He told others to be honest, whatever the cost, while He, at the same time, He was teaching and living a colossal lie.
More than that, He was a demon, because He deliberately told others to trust Him for their eternal destiny. If He could not back up His claims and knew they were false, then He was unspeakably evil.
Last, He would also be a fool, because it was His claims to deity that led to His crucifixion.”
In John 8:24 Jesus said, and I’m paraphrasing---- …”unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”
Jesus was who He said He was and He had the authority from God to say the words that He said, and to usher anyone who would, into God’s presence.
He was the most truly passionate man who has ever lived---because He knew that His message was true!!!!! He knew what was in the heart of man and He knew the eternal issues that were at stake, in making moral and immoral decisions.
So, when He went into the synagogue to preach that day in Capernaum, His ministry began to intensify. The people were amazed at His teaching, because He spoke as if the words were coming from Him, not from the writings or the interpretations of the scribes and the Pharisees. They were the teachers of the Law and they were in bondage to quotation marks-----they loved to quote the authorities----Rabbi Hillel says this and Rabbi Gamaliel says that---------it was a secondhand theology----and there was no room for discussion, spontaneity, discovery or joy----
But when Jesus spoke it was just the opposite-----He used very few quotation marks----His style was to say, “You have heard that it was said…but I tell you…” Jesus preached God’s word, not about God’s word. He was intimate with God’s word because He was intimate with God, His father He preached what He knew to be true. He explained the Law and the Prophets, and He was clear and simple, as all great preachers and teachers of the word are. Jesus was painfully direct in His application of the word and the people felt the sting------The people sitting there that day, were thunderstruck!
The new disciples learned from watching Jesus, how they were supposed to handle God’s word----clearly, genuinely, passionately and with great care for the word and for the people hearing it. When they did that, they found out that the Holy Spirit just filled them up with His presence, and with a miraculous power, that could accomplish anything. And He does the same thing for us.
(Dr. Donald Barnhouse told about riding in a car with a friend when the subject of music game up….
“What’s your favorite symphony?” the friend asked. “Brahm’s First” was Dr. Barnhouse’s reply. “How does it go?”
Dr. Barnhouse began to whistle the main theme of the symphony.
“Then suddenly,” he recalled, “I was overcome with how ridiculous it was that I was trying to communicate that great musical composition with my weak whistle-----but by the wonder of the human brain, my weak whistle was changed in my friend’s mind into the strings and percussion and brass, of the full symphony orchestra.”
Then he applied the experience to his preaching---“Every time I stand up to teach the Bible , I’m overcome with how ridiculous it is that I should be trying to communicate God’s word to the class.
It would be hopeless, except for one thing; the Holy Spirit is in me, teaching through me; and He is also in the men and women in my class who listen. So, He turns my weak little whistle, into the full symphony of God’s revelation, in their minds and lives,”
If we want to communicate the truth of the gospel in our walk and talk, God’s authority has to be a part of our lives------and it isn’t so much that we possess the message, it’s more important that the message possesses us. If we want to people to see that the gospel is real, we need to be passionate about it and speak the word clearly and simply. Then the Holy Spirit will give power and authority and life to the words we speak.
The Jewish synagogues were developed, during the nations exile, when the people were in Babylon, after the Temple was destroyed. Wherever there were 10 Jewish men, above the age of 12, a synagogue could be organized. The synagogue was not a place for sacrifice----that was done at the temple----it was a place of reading scriptures, praying, gathering for discussion and for worshiping God. The services were led by laymen, and the ministry was supervised by a board of elders that was presided over by a ruler. It was customary to ask visiting rabbis to read the scriptures and to teach their interpretation-----which explains why Jesus had such freedom to speak in the synagogues.
You can’t help but wonder how many synagogue services that possessed man had attended, before revealing that he was demonized. It took the presence of the Son of God, to expose the demon, and Jesus didn’t just expose him, but He also commanded him to keep quiet about Jesus’ identity and to depart from the man.
Jesus didn’t need, nor want, the assistance of satan and his minions to tell people who He was. Satan and his fallen angels can show up anywhere, any time-----and since he’s the great pretender, he tries to mimic God-----we posses the Holy Spirit----we invite Him to come into our hearts-----He’s a gentleman----He doesn’t come unless we invite Him----satan, on the other hand, takes what he wants----he invades and possesses and destroys---and controls his demons, to do his bidding.
But satan and the demons know who Jesus is, and they know, that there time to reign on the earth is limited-----they believe in His divinity and it makes them shudder with fear, but they are evil, and so, they have to do as much damage, and wreak as much havoc as they can, while the Lord tarries, to give all who will call Him Lord, the time to do it.
It would be naïve for us, to think that we can be sheltered from evil, in the church and among our Christian friends and Christian schools------satan is just waiting to invade our presence, wherever and whenever he can.
But thank God, Jesus’ authority, is much greater than satan’s----and where Jesus is present, demons cannot stay for long. The submission that they showed here, and in subsequent encounters, would have registered with the Roman readers that Mark was writing to------because they knew about and feared the gods of the underworld.
We can’t end this part of the lesson without comparing the view of the demon’s encounter with the Lord Jesus to the false views presented in the fictional media today. Movies and TV shows, show demons enlarging in power when confronted by the power of Christ and true faith. But, in reality, demons diminish when they are confronted and have to obey the Lord’s authority----they have no choice.
The people in the synagogue, that day in Capernaum, were amazed and afraid, by Jesus’ words and His works-----and they couldn’t help but talk about both---- and Jesus’ fame began to spread----not just in days or weeks, but in a matter of hours!
The Lord didn’t encourage that kind of public excitement-----He didn’t want it to create problems for his followers by encouraging the Romans to think that He was a Jewish insurrectionist, who was trying to overthrow the government. Nor did He want to allow Himself to be pushed any faster toward the cross, than God intended-----and He didn’t want people to follow Him out of fear or for what He could do for them or for the entertainment He could provide. That’s the reason why, Jesus so often told people to keep quiet.-----but they didn’t------they came and they came and they came….
There is one thing I want us to see, that often gets lost in the confrontation with the demon----the hopeless man who had been controlled by the demon and had been rolled around in the dust, with no chance of helping himself----was freed from the evil possession, and when he stood up, he stood to a new life----a life of wholeness, and joy and peace. Jesus had saved his life….
Jesus…
III.) Healed With Absolute Power… 1:29-34
Tony Campolo, author, pastor and speaker, tells about the time that he was asked to speak at a Pentecostal college. Before the service, eight men gathered around and had him kneel in the middle of them so that they could place their hands on his head and pray for him. Tony was glad to have the prayer, but each of then prayed and prayed ----and the more they prayed the more they mashed on Tony’s head. And they even seemed to wander in their prayers. One man didn’t even pray for Tony, he just prayed for some guy that he was concerned about. He began to pray and he said, “Dear Lord, you know about Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in the silver trailer down the road a mile. You know the trailer, Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side.
Tony wanted to interrupt and tell him that God already knew where the man lived, and didn’t need directions, but he didn’t, he just knelt there and tried to keep his head upright.
The prayer went on: “Lord, Charlie told me this morning that he was going to leave his wife and 3 kids. Step in and do something God, please bring that family back together.
With that, the prayer time ended and Tony went on to preach at the college chapel service. Things went well and he got into his car to drive home. As he drove out onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, he saw a hitchhiker and felt compelled to pick him up.
Campolo said, “We drove a few minutes and I said: ‘Hi, my name is Tony Campolo, What’s yours? He said, my name is Charlie Stoltzfus.’ I couldn’t believe it! I got off the Turnpike at the next exit and headed back the way we’d come. He got a bit uneasy with that and after a few minutes he said, “Hey mister, where are you taking me?” I said, ‘ I’m taking you home.’ He narrowed his eyes and asked ‘why?’ I said, ‘because you just left your wife and 3 kids, right?’ That blew him away. ‘yeah, yeah, that’s right.’ With shock written all over his face, he plastered himself against the car door and didn’t take his eyes off of me. Then I really did him in, as I drove right to his silver trailer. When I pulled up, his eyes seemed to bulge as he asked, ‘how did you know that I lived here? ’I said, ‘God told me.’ “I( believe God did tell me.’)
When he opened the trailer door, his wife exclaimed, ’you’re back! You’re back!’ He whispered in her ear and the more he talked, the bigger her eyes got. I said with real authority, ‘the two of you sit down, I’m going to talk and you two are going to listen.’ And man did they listen----and that afternoon, I led those two young people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
When Jesus heals a person, physically or spiritually, there is absolutely no doubt that He is the one who healed, even if He uses us, to be His vessel of communication.
That’s the way it was that Sabbath Day in Capernaum-----would you not have loved to have been there among the thunderstruck congregation that day? And then, wouldn’t you have loved to go home with Him, to Peter’s house and to be able to experience, first hand, what it was like to be in Jesus’ physical presence, as He displayed the power of God with just a word and a touch? How amazing that would have been!
It was customary in a Jewish household , in Jesus’ day, to eat the main Sabbath meal immediately after synagogue, at the 6th hour past sunup, which was 12 noon. So, Peter asked everybody to come back to his house for the meal.
Peter, Andrew, James and John, the 4 new fishers of men, must have been beside themselves with excitement, over what they had seen and heard, as they walked with the Lord, from the synagogue to Peter’s house. I imagine they were anticipating continuing to marvel over the events they had just witnessed over a delicious lengthy meal. (My family loves to do that----we just had a wedding on August 3rd---- my daughter Lizzie got married-----and as fun as all the wedding festivities were, I honestly believe, that the Sunday brunch, the morning, after was the best
part of all, cause we all got to relive everything, together----even the bride and groom were there.)
But when they got to Peter’s house-----instead of a delicious hot Sabbath feast, they found a sick cook----one who was burning up with fever----the fever could have been the indication of numerous illnesses, but in that ancient world, they believed that the fever, itself, was the illness. Whatever it was, Peter’s mother-in-law was incapacitated----but no one tried to hide it or explain it away-----and they must have been somewhat concerned, because they didn’t hesitate to make Jesus aware of her illness. ( It is so sweet to me, in light of all the proverbial mother-in-law jokes, that Peter was concerned for his, and didn’t hesitate to take his concerns about her to Jesus,)
Jesus didn’t hesitate, He went to her, took her hand and healed her-----and then raised her up in front of her family, any servants they might have had, and the 4 friends-----what an impact it must have had on them all----Jesus could have healed her any way that He pleased----The Gospels, all have accounts of Jesus, not just healing but performing miracles, of many kinds, with just a simple word or with the complicated instructions of mixing spittle with dirt and the washing it away in a pool of water-----He had the authority to heal any way that He wanted to----The reasons for the different ways depended on the mental and moral condition of the people themselves, and what He wanted to communicate to them, and to the people who were watching. It is so sweet that Jesus healed her in such an intimate setting so ,that He could show them how much he cares personally, about who and what, we care about.
Reaching down and taking Peter’s mother-in-law by the hand, shows us a clear picture of the sweetness of Jesus’ nature-----it was a natural, instinctive thing for Him to do. It was a reflection of His basic personality-----which is love. He genuinely, graciously, wanted to meet the woman’s need------and He wanted her to know how much He truly cared about her. Jesus’ touch tells us volumes about what He’s like and how much He loves us, ----we all need a touch of His grace. His touch can heal us and calm us and give us peace, in a way that nothing else can… -----whether we know Him or we don’t, whether we’re trusting Him or we aren’t----Jesus can touch us in a way that is a balm to our souls and our bodies and our minds----and He longs to do that for each one of us.
We see the heart and character of Peter’ mother-in-law, in her response, too-----in that, she immediately got up and began to wait on them… This is the telltale sign of everyone who has truly received the healing touch of the Lord Jesus----you can’t help but feel such thankfulness, that you want to tell everybody that you come in contact with… and you want to obey whatever the Lord asks, out of a sense of gratitude, for His provision, and His goodness.
What a happy meal that must have been---the excitement and the gladness and the sheer joy which must have spilled over into laughter, I’m sure,----which was probably heard all afternoon, by their whole street.
As evening approached, there must have been a blanket of anticipation in the air-----the whole town and countryside must have been waiting for the sun to go down on the Sabbath, because only then could they be out and about, and able to carry their burdens to lay them at Jesus’ feet. The law stated that the Sabbath was officially over when there were 3 stars in the sky----well as soon as those stars appeared they people began to arrive at Peter’s door-----the sick, the crippled, the blind, the lame, the demon possessed---------the whole town came----the verb tense used in the Greek, indicates that they just kept coming, till there was a surging mass of crippled and diseased people crowded there, with their family and friends----the press of people and the smell of illness must have been overwhelming----but Jesus didn’t flinch----He stood there and healed them everyone----He healed many diseases, and He drove out demons, who fled from His presence. The bed-ridden were tossing their mattresses and crutches in the air, and running down the streets. The blind could see, the comatose were lucid and talking and the onlookers were in a frenzy of joy. I can only imagine what it must have been like.
As marvelous as it was though, we can’t be naïve about what was going on----most of the people who came just wanted something from Jesus. In one sense, we can’t blame them….if you’ve been sick with a chronic illness, an ongoing disability or you love someone who has, you can’t help but want a better life for yourself or them.
But at the same time, the people in Capernaum that night, tragically foreshadowed millions of people across the centuries, who have only wanted the Lord because of what the hoped to get from Him. (Jesus pointed this out to the people, with that motive, after He fed the 5000, when He said in John 6:26, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me , not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” They cared very little for the spiritual implications of Jesus’ miracles and teachings, and cared a lot about the material and temporal things that He could provide.)
It was that same way in Capernaum, that night. It would be nice if Jesus would heal us instantly when we get a fever or the flu or cancer or long-term conditions like diabetes, Lupus, Parkinson’s Disease and MS. It would be great if we could all be wealthy and popular, able to travel the world at a moments’ notice. But the Lord doesn’t work that way----His ways are not our ways. He doesn’t want us so comfortable in this world that we aren’t ready to go to the one that He’s preparing for us. “He doesn’t want us to be so earthly minded that we are no heavenly good.” He wants us to be about our Father’s business on this earth and appreciate the time we’re here, but He doesn’t want us to lose sight of the fact that our purpose for being here, is to fit us for heaven, through our acts of service, in His name.
It’s natural for us to desire a magic Jesus who can supply all our wants and needs ----but it isn’t a pleasing thing to God---- did you know that scholars say, that for every 1 prayer that goes up in prosperity, 10,000 go up in adversity. We have to remember that God is not someone to be used, He is to be loved, and worshiped and served, regardless of what situations come our way, in this world.
Jesus knew the people were using Him that night----but that’s what makes the beauty of His heart ,so visible---He knew and He did it anyway----He genuinely cared about the physical issues of the people who came to Him. Regardless of their motivation-----and He hoped that through the physical healing they would be led to spiritual healing…So, He healed everyone who came that night.
Jesus…
- Was About His Father’s Business… 1:35-39
That wonderful evening was followed by an equally wonderful Sunday morning. Jesus got up very early, sometime between 3 and 6 o clock a.m. and went up to the hillside to find a place to be alone and talk to God the Father.
Isaiah 50:4-5 gives us a clear picture about the relationship that Jesus had with His Heavenly Father, “The sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The sovereign Lord has opened my ears and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.”
What did Jesus pray for, when He was talking to God? I’m pretty sure that He didn’t pray quite like we do-----for at least 25 or 30 years it has been a common practice among evangelical believers to structure our prayer time with the acrostic ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.) But Jesus didn’t have to do that, because He never had to confess anything, He never did anything wrong. But we can rest assured, that there was plenty of praise and adoration, thanksgiving, and supplication and petition.
I don’t doubt that Jesus prayed for Himself, because what loomed in front of Him, was the greatest challenge that has ever been faced.
He also prayed for his disciples, one by one. Remember what He said in Luke 22:31, to Peter “Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you.” Before satan had even attempted to make a move toward Peter, the Lord had already prayed for Him. And this gives us the confidence to know, that before satan makes a move toward us, the Lord, who is sitting at the right hand of the Father, has already prayed for us.
And the scripture tells us that Jesus prayed for the sinners around Him. He saw what was in Capernaum, He knew that a lot of the people he had healed ,and had taught ,and spoken to, were only following Him because of what He could give them, not out of love for Him. Plus He knew that the cross was ahead of Him, and He knew what he was going to encounter over the next 3 years…So, He would have prayed with that in mind. But above all, He would have prayed just for the shear joy of spending time with His Father, soul to soul.
E. Stanley Jones once described prayer as a “time exposure to God.” He used the analogy of his life being like a photographic plate which, when exposed to God, progressively bore the image of God, in keeping with the length of exposure. This reminds me of those old polaroid pictures, which revealed the image of the person gradually, the longer it was exposed to light.
Jesus must have been wonderfully refreshed as He immersed Himself in the fullness of God----His light to the Father’s light; His purity to the Father’s purity; His holiness to the Father’s holiness and His life to the Father’s life.
Another reason why Jesus prayed, was so that He could expose His humanity to the Father. We have to remember that Jesus was God, but He was a man too and He was fully dependent on God for all that He was and all that He had. John 5:19 says. That “the son can do nothing by Himself.” And John 14:10 says, “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work” Jesus depended on the Father for His power.
One of the reasons that Jesus prayed, and drew attention to it---- was because He wants us to live our lives on the same basis. If Jesus had to pray, in order to live a godly life, full of power, then we certainly need to pray! Jesus is the eternal God, Incarnate, the Creator of all Things, who holds everything together and sustains it by His power, and He still lived by, and in, prayer! I have heard people say that they live every moment in an attitude of p,rayer-----well that may be true-----but so did Jesus, and He still needed to steal away and spend time with the Father, so until we exceed the oneness with God, that Jesus had, then we still need to find time to spend with just Him, regularly, in prayer.
Prayer is the great necessity of our spiritual lives. -----few of us are called to spend hours on end, in daily prayer, but we are all called to spend some time-----(I am such an early riser and so were my children, that in order to have time to pray I asked the Lord, about 10 years ago to wake me up at 4:30 every morning-----and He has, faithfully….now I do set the alarm, just in case, but I don’t think there has been a single morning that I haven’t woken up just before the alarm.)
In a letter to his friends, hymn writer Wendell P. Loveless related this story: One evening a speaker who was visiting the United States wanted to make a telephone call. He entered a phone booth, but found it to be different than those in his own country. It was beginning to get dark, so he had difficulty finding the number in the directory. He noticed that there was a light in the ceiling, but he didn’t know how to
turn it on. As he tried again to find the number in the fading twilight, a passerby noticed his plight and said, “Sir, if you want to turn the light on, you have to shut the door.” To the visitor’s amazement and satisfaction, when he closed the door, the booth was filled with light. He was able to find the number with ease and make his call.
In a similar way, when we draw aside in a quiet place to pray, we have to block out our busy world and open our hearts up to the Father, That’s what Jesus taught us to do. Whether we are struggling because of disappointments and trials and worries; or we are rejoicing because of blessings, peace and satisfaction,----when we enter into communion, with God the Father, we will feel His presence and will be assured of His provision for us. When we spend time with Him, He will comfort, strengthen and encourage us and give us the resolve to face the day with confidence, authority and power.
Jesus wants us to understand that we have to operate on the same basis that He did. Whatever we face in life, has to be faced in total reliance on God. Power is given to those who follow Him and those who obey Him. The Father is at work in Jesus, and Jesus is at work in us. As we learn this and come to believe it and draw on it, then, God’s power is able to flow through us to meet the demands of our lives and the needs of the people around us,
Jesus was alone in his deserted place for a time, and then, the world
intruded , like it always does----Peter and the others, came looking for Him----they wanted Him to know that the crowds were gathering again, with the sick, the demon-possessed, the curiosity seekers, and with the people, who were earnestly seeking the Messiah. Peter and the others didn’t understand the magnitude of the mission, that Jesus had been sent to do----they wanted Him to come back to town and capitalize on His popularity, and do good things in the process.
But Jesus carefully explained that they needed to keep moving, preaching and teaching the gospel in all the towns in Galilee, because that’s why He had come-----
Jesus was happy to heal the physically-sick, but He was more interested in healing the spiritually-sick. Jesus refused to let the people claim Him as their healer, and He refused to let the demons proclaim His deity.
In His time, the Father was going to make sure that everyone knew the identity of Jesus. But until that time came, Jesus was determined to be about His Father’s business. He wanted people to know that healing of the spirit was a far more precious thing than a healing of the body-----a healing of the spirit first through salvation, and then a healing from bitterness, hatred, lust, anger, gossip,
spite, hateful and snarky attitudes, jealousy, worry, depression, fear, etc. etc.
That memorable Sabbath Day and Sunday revealed wonderful things about the heart of Jesus----it revealed a heart of unparalleled love and compassion, as He reached His hand out and touched Peter’s mother-in-law and as He healed everyone that was brought to Him that night, and as He stole away to find time to talk to the Father. It also revealed the true nature of His servant’s heart, and the true nature of the people He came to save, and it gave us our first brief glimpse, of the reason why the cross, was a necessary part, of the gospel story.
Go Out and Serve!
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