Mark 1:29-39 ESV
29 And immediately he left
the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon's
mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And
he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left
her, and she began to serve them.
32 That evening at sundown
they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And
the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And
he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.
And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
35 And rising very early in
the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate
place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and
those who were with him searched for him, 37 and
they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And
he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that
I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he
went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out
demons.
Go Out to Play
In this passage of Scripture, Jesus sets an example for you
and for me. As Jesus goes out from worship, he enters the world with truth and
healing. As you and I go out from our Sunday worship, may we not leave the
Truth behind in the sanctuary. Rather… Take the Truth of the Gospel to live it
out in action, giving it to those God gives to you and me all week long.
In our worship, in our hearing of the Word spoken, in our
taking in of Jesus in the body and blood, the bread and the wine, the gift of forgiveness
and the baptism; we are sent. We have heard, seen, touched and received Jesus.
We can’t just leave all of that behind in the church building. No! We are
gifted with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to take the “touch” of Jesus healing hand,
out into the world in which God sends us.
Right from the start of this passage, Jesus leaves the
synagogue and goes into the world with his healing touch and his healing power.
Jesus goes out with his Light of compassion, for the suffering, and His Light shines
brightly. When Jesus cures, he lifts us up and takes us by the hand. What love!
Mark 1:40-42 ESV
40 And a leper came to him, imploring him,
and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he
stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy
left him, and he was made clean.
And again, when the leader of the synagogue,
Jairus, daughter was sick and died, Jesus went to his house…
Mark 5:38-42 ESV
38 They came to the house of the ruler of the
synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he
said to them, “Why are
you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him.
But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and
those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to
her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl
got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were
immediately overcome with amazement.
Upon Jesus leaving worship, not only the sick flock to his
side, but also the demon filled, in this world, flow to Jesus. Jesus comes into
our world casting out evil, and healing, and freely giving salvation. Jesus’
healing is unlimited!
What a loving touch! What compassion! What an example of living
for God!
Yes, even the mother of Peter’s wife, who is ill, feels the
touch and healing of Jesus. And in Peter’s mother-in-law, we have another
example to follow and emulate. Immediately upon her healing, she gets up to
serve.
When we are healed and forgiven, and fed at Sunday worship;
may we go out into the world with the Truth of the Gospel within us to proclaim
what God has done for all, and serve those that God gives to us in compassion,
understanding and love. May we daily turn from our selfish sinful needs towards
the love of God, to serve all those God gives to us each day with healing, love,
and compassion.
God, through Jesus, CAN heal and save. Tell of this message
as we go out into the world from Sunday worship.
Yes, we turn daily from the demons of sin, death and the
temptations of the devil to God.
When the demons were cast out, Jesus silenced them! This is
sometimes referred to as the “Messianic Secret.” Jesus would not permit the
demons to speak and tell the world, that He is the Messiah, that Jesus is God
sent to us. Jesus does not accept the testimony of being the Messiah from unholy
demons.
No! This is not the
time. Nor, should this message come from demons. Jesus will, and should always,
be recognized as the Messiah, the Savior, our God, on the cross as he saves all
of us from demons, sin, death and the evil of the devil. This is where we see
Jesus as God of All.
And yet, we, as well as Jesus, need to retreat. We need to
keep in touch with God. We need to pray. We, as well as Jesus, need to commune
with the Father. We return to God in prayer every day. We come to God for
renewal daily. We return to God to listen for God’s will in our life. We open
ourself to God as a flower opens to receive the sun, to receive God’s way for
us, each and every day. For as Jesus turned to the Father for his mission in
this world, we too depend on God for all we do. You see, this life we live is
for God, not for our own selfish needs and desires.
Then, once again, we return to the world that God places us
in, we return to the people God gives to us each day to teach, to love, to
proclaim the Gospel of God’s saving grace through Jesus, upon that cross, as he
took our sin upon himself to put it all to death, to forgive us and to freely
give us new and everlasting life with God, today… tomorrow… and forever! ---
Amen
I leave you with an appropriate song by Chris Rice … “Come
to Jesus” --- Enjoy
As we live our life with God, each day, may we, come to
Jesus and turn to God.
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