Mark 1:40-2:12.  Mark sure gets right down to business.  This section begins with another miracle.  A leper is healed “immediately” of his illness.  We talked about how that word has the idea of Jesus’ actions being appropriate but it can also mean “right now” and that is obviously what it means in this verse, but still it was the right thing to do, too.  We know it happened right away because the man knew it, the people he told knew it, and Jesus wanted the man to show the priests so they would know it too.   The offering that he was to give is described in Leviticus 14:1-20.  In Mark 1:41 we see that Jesus had “compassion” for the man.  The word translated “compassion” in the Greek refers to a persons “guts”.  They were considered the part of the body where our strongest emotions come from, sometimes we say something is “gut wrenching” or that we have a “pit in our stomach”, those are similar ideas.  So Jesus had very strong feelings about this mans problem.  When we read a rule like the one in Leviticus we want to be careful to understand that  God does not hate sick people, the rule was there to point our God’s purity.  That is a very important thing to understand when we are thinking about our disobedience and rebellion (sin).  God is pure and we are not and that was the lesson to be learned from the law about leprosy.  And here we see that God does care about illness.  In Revelation 21:2-4 we see a picture of eternity with God and in those verses we see that sadness, pain, and death will be no more.  So God does care and Jesus was willing to help this guy.

You might think it is kind of odd that Jesus told him not to tell anyone.  Actually he told him not to tell anyone but the priests.  You need to understand that most of the Jewish people of Jesus day though that the way to be right with God was by obeying the Old Testament rules, the Law of Moses.  Also they were looking forward to a day when they would have their kingdom, the Kingdom of David, back forever.  The Messiah, or Christ, or promised one, was supposed to be the king of that kingdom.  So many of them started to think maybe Jesus was the guy, and he was, but they missed the point of verses like Isaiah 53:6 which help us understand that the Messiah was not only going to be a  king but also a sacrifice for our sins.  The Law of Moses was only to show us we fail and that we need something else to make us right with God (Romans 3:19-29).  Jesus actions at that time were about helping people see him as their personal savior and that upset the priests who thought that “their” sacrifices were the thing that would save the sin problem.  So Jesus told this man who was healed to go and show the priests, Jesus wanted the priests to believe in him too.

The man didn’t do what Jesus told him to and instead told everyone, or at least it seemed like it.  Jesus was overwhelmed with people wanting to be healed.  Interestingly when he went home and all these people showed up Jesus didn’t start healing again but he started to teach them.  Remember from yesterday’s reading that that is what he was supposed to do.  Theses people had seen a great miracle in the healing of the man with leprosy and now Jesus was using that as proof that they should listen to him.  That didn’t stop people from wanting to be healed though, and one guy had his friends rip the roof off the house so they could lower him into it near Jesus.  Jesus was so impressed with their faith that he told the man that his “sins were forgiven”.  What!  That’s not supposed to be what happened, he was supposed to heal this paralyzed guy.  And, boy were the religious leaders who were there watching and listening upset, “NO one can forgive sins but God.”  Jesus knew what they were thinking so he challenged them, ‘Is it easier to say ‘your sins are forgiven’ or “get up and walk?’”  Both things are equally easy to say and equally hard to follow through on.  Only god can do either one.  So to prove that he had authority to forgive sin Jesus healed the man.  Jesus proved that he was God at that point.

WE need to be careful not to let our ideas about God get in the way of seeing who Jesus is and what he can do for us.  We also need to be careful not to let the things we want become more important than getting right with God.  We may want to be cured of some disease or have some other part of our life become easier but God is focusing on eternity.  10,000 year from now my sore knee wont really matter anymore (probably 50 years from now actually).  God cares about our pain but he doesn’t want it to continue into eternity, but that is what will happen if we do not give our lives to Jesus now while we are alive.  Trust Jesus now with your life, you will certainly still have troubles, God may fix some of them, but in eternity there will only be peace and happiness.

God thank you for caring about us today.  Thank you for doing the things that are best for us for eternity.  Help me trust you each day.  Thank you for saving me and providing a path (Jesus) top an eternity with you.

Mark 1:21-39.  Yesterday we saw that Mark’s history of Jesus really moves.  Mark’s gospel was written originally for the believers living in the capital city of Rome.  The early church suffered at the hands of both the Jewish people and the local authorities, both of whom saw them as a threat to the way life had been.  And it wouldn’t be too long in the future that Nero would be king of the empire and he would persecute the believers in Rome severely.  Mark repeatedly uses the word “immediately” in his “good news” story.  The word not only means quickly but carries the idea of directness.  Jesus’ actions were the best way to get God’s plan done.  We also saw that Jesus was concerned with telling the people what was going on.

In today’s reading in verses 21-22 we see Jesus entering the synagogue (sort of a Jewish church) to teach the people.  The people were amazed at his teaching, His teaching seemed to have a sort of power and authority that they did not get from their regular teachers.  Then an amazing thing happened a demon-possessed man was in the synagogue and the demon caused him to act up.  Jesus immediately caused the demon to come out of the man and the people were further amazed.

Verse 25 is interesting because when Jesus is talking to the demon he tells the demon to be quiet.  The demon was telling people who Jesus is, confirming that he is the messiah or Christ or chosen one.  You might wonder why Jesus told the demon to be quiet.  Several times in the Mark’s gospel Jesus does things like this.  Bible scholars call this idea in Mark the “divine secret”.  It is clear from the Mark’s gospel and from the others that Jesus wasn’t keeping who he was a secret.  Remember that Mark starts out by reminding his readers that John was the predicted herald of the messiah.  We also saw that John was telling people that the Messaih was coming and eventually identified Jesus as that chosen one.  So there is really no secret here.  What we do have is Jesus following the best “straightest” path so that the most people would eventually know who he is (God in human form) and what he was here for (to eventually die in our place, take our punishment for our sins).

By forcing the demon to leave the man in the synagogue (interesting that we would find a demon possessed guy in church) Jesus was proving that he was more that just a good talker, he had real power, and the people recognized it (verses 27-28).  After leaving the synagogue we see Jesus in the home of the mother of two of his followers.  And again we see him doing a miracle.  In verses32-35 we see that word was getting out and many people were coming to the house looking for healing, which Jesus did.  But in the morning Jeus got up early and went out to a quiet place to talk to God the Father (see “Three or One?”).  His followers went to find him and kind of scolded him, telling him that a lot of people were looking for him.  You can just guess what the people wanted out of him, more miracles.  Remember that the miracles were causing the people to really believe in his power and authority, but that is all they seemed interested in.  Remember at his baptism that Jesus was identifying with people’s need to have their relationship with God fixed, they needed to repent (turn back to God) and be empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus response to his followers shows us just this, instead of going back to the house he tells them he wants to go somewhere else and tell the good news to others, he tells them that that is what he really there for.  The last verse is today’s reading is cool though, Jesus does go all over the place preaching (proclaiming, telling) but he keeps on healing.

Several things about this part seem cool to me.  First, Jesus was all about telling people the good news, he was serious about people getting right with God.  Second he was not afraid to use his power to back up his words.  Third he was concerned with the needs people had.  Fourth he was careful to do things in the best way possible.  That meant the way that would eventually help the most people turn to him.  Jesus is powerful, he had authority, and he was willing to use it.  All of these things should have encouraged the troubled believers in Rome and it should encourage us too.  God wants the best for us and that starts with us recognizing our sins and giving them to Jesus to deal with.  Jesus said that he is “The way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to God except through him” (John 14:6).  If you haven’t trusted Jesus with your sins give them to him today, all you have to do is believe in who he is and that he is the only way and he will do the rest.  If you do put you faith in him, register and then let me know through this blog.

God help many people hear what Jesus has to say to them.  Let many people put their faith in him as the only way.  God thank you for being involved in my life.  Thank you that you always do things in the best way, the way that will help the most people find you and eternity in heaven.  Thank you for my place there.  Help me be a voice for you in my world.  Give me the poser to please you each day.