Peter and his family were eager to tell Jesus that Peter's mother-in-law was sick (1:30). They told him right away! At sundown, when sabbath was over, people weren't willing to wait until Sunday to bring the sick to Jesus. Once the sun went down and the ban on work was over Mark tells us that many people brought the sick and demon-possessed to Jesus. They brought them right away! I pray that we would be just as eager to bring the broken, the hurting, and the hopeless to Jesus that they might be restored. We need to pray for a sense of urgency to bring people to Jesus, and pray to have the awareness when opportunities for healing and restoration present themselves.
In verse 35 we again find Jesus seeking wilderness in order to meet with His Father after a long evening of healing the night before. We must seek wilderness also, in order to refresh, recuperate, and be in God's presence undisturbed. Your isolated place may be the back yard, the bathroom - mine is often in my car! Wherever it is, we need to seek that deserted place where we may commune with God.
Jesus cleansing of the leper (vs. 40) is such a moving and profound story for us. According to the good Dr. Luke, this man was in an advance stage of leprosy (Luke 5:12) which means loss of digits, limbs, and even facial features. Fortunately, he had heard of the healer from Nazareth and sought Jesus out with the courage to come before a holy man. Lepers were social outcasts, unable even to go to market or synagogue. We discussed translational differences when Jesus is "moved with compassion" that is also translated "anger" in some translations. My best guess is that while Jesus was moved with compassion, he may have also been moved with anger at societies' treatment of this man, perhaps even at his disciples (who are not here mentioned) unwillingness to approach the leper. Jesus not only heals the man, but restores him to community (vs. 44). We all have leper's spots as a result of sin - gangrenous abscesses in our souls and conscience that disfigure the image of Christ in us. We must turn to Jesus for forgiveness and healing. Rather than judging people, let us be determined to be healers, bringing the sick to Jesus that they may be restored. I pray that CONNECT will be a place for sinners to receive forgiveness, love, and acceptance. As we teach people to love and obey Jesus, and they submit to the process of healing, they will be restored and become sources of healing for others as well: making disciples that love Jesus and serve the world in love.
Great post.
ReplyDeleteI picked up on one more thing in the last verse of this chapter, and the story of the Leper. Jesus gave him a command to not talk about it, but go to the priest to be examined. The man, in his zeal and happiness, perhaps, went and told everyone.
The sad result is easy to miss. His turning of Jesus into a celebrity forced him out of the city, and indeed many cities. He had to stay in desert places and people had to go to him. The former Leper, trying to do good, but in his way and not God's, separated many people from the chance to have an encounter with the Annointed One.
May we never do what we judge the Lord needs us to do for him while we neglect what he has already commanded us to do.