Grace to you from God our Father and our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for this meditation is written in the 1st
Chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark; Verses 29 - 39
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.
Today’s Gospel picks up in the middle of what has
already been a long day for Jesus. The
verses leading up to today’s Gospel tell us that Jesus went to the synagogue on
the Sabbath. He began teaching on the
reading of the day when a demon possessed man interrupted Him. Jesus then drove the demon from the man with
the authority of His word.
Now, as was the custom of that time and place, one of
the members invited the teacher to a meal in his home. That is how Jesus came to be in the home of
Simon. This is the same Simon whom Jesus
had already called to be a disciple.
Later on, Jesus would give Simon the nickname of Peter.
When they arrived in the home, they expressed their
sadness that one member of the household was not able to meet with them. They quickly informed Jesus that Simon’s
mother-in-law was bedridden with a fever and could not be with them.
Jesus went to the woman and took her by the hand and
the fever left. She stood up and began
serving the meal. Jesus’ healing was
immediate and complete. The woman didn’t
even need a period of recuperation after she recovered from the fever. She was healthy enough to serve the meal.
Capernaum is not that big of a town and the word got
out. Jesus had driven a demon out of a
man in the synagogue and then gone to Simon’s house and healed his
mother-in-law. News like that travels
fast. As soon as the sun went down and
the Sabbath was over, the area around Simon’s house filled up with people who
wanted healing. Mark describes it this
way: the whole city was gathered together
at the door.
Jesus provided relief for those who came. He healed
many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. Given that the healing did not start until
sundown, it is reasonable to assume that the ministry to these people lasted
late into the night. The next day
promised to be even busier with healing and teaching.
That expectation was not fulfilled, as written in our
Gospel text, when the next day came, they could not find Jesus. Jesus was gone. As Mark tells us “Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed
and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed”. Instead of making Himself available to all
the people who needed Him, Jesus was off having quiet time in prayer.
Whenever a Gospel account tells us that Jesus went off
and prayed by Himself like this, it is an indicator that we should perhaps
reread the passage and consider the circumstances. You see, the Gospel accounts often tell us
that Jesus went off to pray like this when He was under severe temptation. Perhaps the best example of this is the
Garden of Gethsemane where the Gospel writers recorded the actual words of
Jesus’ prayer … [Mark 14:36]
“Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet
not what I will, but what you will.”
This was a time of temptation to abandon His mission by avoiding the
cross. He could have walked away from it
all … the beatings … the shame … the crucifixion … the death.
Another example of this is after the Feeding of the
Five Thousand. [Mark 6:46]
After he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. He prayed because the five thousand wanted to
make Him king so that He could feed them free food every day. He could have been their king … been popular
… had a lot of followers … and so forth.
The temptation in today’s Gospel was for Jesus to
continue His healing ministry in Capernaum indefinitely. There were great crowds flocking to Him. He was popular. He had the power to recreate a small version
of the Garden of Eden right there in Capernaum.
Simon would have been happy to convert his home into a medical clinic
and Jesus could have lived out a long and happy life healing people in
Capernaum … maybe get married … settle down … start a family. There didn’t have to be any torture or
crucifixion. Jesus could have set up
shop as the popular healing rabbi of Capernaum.
But that is not what He came into this world to
do. He did not leave His throne above
and take up human flesh in order to be popular, or famous, or wealthy, or
powerful or anything like that. Instead, He came to overcome sin, death, and
the power of the devil. He came to open
heaven’s gates to us. He came to do his
Father’s will and bring eternal life to all people.
So Jesus went to the empty places … away from the
people. That is where He confronted His
most severe temptations … away from the crowds, but not alone … for He prayed
to God the Father in heaven.
Jesus never gave in to temptation. He remained faithful to His mission. He remained [Philippians 2:8] obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross. He carried the entire
burden of the world’s sin to a hill just outside Jerusalem. There He allowed a crucifixion squad to nail
Him to a cross. There He hung with all
our sin, our burdens, our hurts bearing down on Him. It is a place of punishment. It is our punishment that He endures. It is a place of agony and suffering. It is a place of death. It is a place where even God the Father in
heaven abandons Him to the evils of hell.
Because Jesus never gave in to temptation, He could cry out in triumph
just before He died and say, “It is finished!”
Yet this was not the end for our faithful
saviour. The grave could not hold Him,
for out of a desolate tomb, a grave, a place of death, Jesus rose from the
dead. Not even death could hold
Him. He had defeated Satan and death on
the cross. Now He lives eternally
celebrating the successful completion of His mission.
When Jesus went missing, Simon got together a search
party and looked for Jesus. Simon and those who were with him searched
for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” They wanted Jesus to come back and continue
healing people.
Jesus had other ideas.
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.” When the time was right, Jesus would go to
Jerusalem in order to give Himself up as a sacrifice on the cross. Until that time, the main purpose of His
ministry was preaching. The healing and
other miracles were a sign of His authority, but they were not the main
mission. The healing and other miracles
were there to serve the main mission of preaching.
You see, as marvellous as it was that Jesus went about
healing people, it is His preaching that delivers the Kingdom of God to
them. Jesus could go about giving away
free food, healing the sick, and even raising the dead. None of this would bring the Kingdom of God
to one soul. Instead the Holy Spirit has
promised to work through the Word of God … through preaching. It is as the Holy Spirit said through the
Apostle Paul: [Romans 10:17]
Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Today’s reading from the Gospel ends with these words:
Jesus went throughout all Galilee,
preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. With His preaching He was bringing
forgiveness, life, and salvation to those places.
Now, almost two thousand years after the events in
today’s Gospel, Jesus still gives Forgiveness, life, and salvation through
preaching. Even though Jesus has long
ago ascended into heaven, His preaching continues. Before He ascended into heaven He appeared
before His disciples [Luke 24:46–47]
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the
third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and
forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning
from Jerusalem.”
Our Lord Jesus continues to bless us with good health
just as He did in Capernaum. Only now He
gives us medical facilities to alleviate our pain and suffering. He even gives us wealth and luxury that even
kings could not imagine in ancient days.
Jesus is our shield and protection as we live day-by-day. He has answered our prayers, and it is
fitting and right to daily thank Him for these blessings.
But what a sad thing it would be if we stopped
there. We have two thousand years of
Church history and teachings to help us see what Jesus came to do. We have the Bible to read and study as over
and over again it points us to the cross and Jesus’ resurrection. We have Bible classes to teach us why Jesus
gave his life for us. We have the Holy
Sacraments to take us into the very presence of Jesus. And Jesus calls to us Matt
11:28 ‘Come to me … and I will give
you rest’ ; He loving implores us, as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane,
to put our human will aside and allow God’s will to work in our lives. Our worship services lead us to repent of our
sins and confess our faith in Him.
Jesus still gives the forgiveness that leads to
eternal life. He has opened heaven’s
gates. We already have eternal life even
if we only see it dimly. We have this
all because Jesus did not give in to temptation, but remained faithful to His
mission … His mission to the cross to take away all our sins. Amen.
The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is
beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen
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