A Day in the Life of Jesus (Part 3 of 3)

Alistair Begg: Well, we said this morning that what we have here is Mark's version of 24 hours. He gives to us a day in the life of Jesus. And we have sought to gather the instruction that is here from verse 21 to verse 39, under around is probably better, around three words. The first word, which we dealt with, was the word confrontation. And that confrontation that is described for us between verse 21 and verse 28, taking place in the synagogue in Capernaum. Our second word is the word demonstration. And the reason that we have this word is because in these little scenes that are provided for us by Mark, we meet something of the demonstrative power and compassion and purpose of Jesus. And it is that that we want to consider now. You will notice that what Mark has done is he's given us two specific examples of the ministry of Jesus. I think we have to be honest enough to recognize that in the Gospel records, since the writers are putting together a compendium of good news, they clearly do not include everything as it unfolds. And Mark here has chosen to give us two special examples of the way in which Jesus was ministering. The first of which we already considered that is taking place in a scene that is public. It has dealt with demon possession, and it is in terms of the passage before us, full of dramatic activity. He then goes on to give us a second scene. This one is not public, but it is private. It does not have to do with demonic activity, but with physical illness. And it is not so much marked by dramatic activity as it is marked by domestic simplicity. And it takes place here as Mark tells us in the home of Simon and Andrew. And it is Simon's mother-in-law who is the focus of this incident. Now, what what Mark is doing is he's giving to us, highlighting for us examples of what was happening and giving to us the indication of how Jesus responds to them. And the gathering at sunset, which he goes on to give to us in verse 32 and following, represents on a far wider basis the longing for healing and for freedom on the part of the crowd. And you see how there are lovely people everywhere and these lovely people are almost missed by us if we don't pay particular attention to the fact that the people who were sick and demon possessed were not bringing themselves. We're told that people were bringing them. Notice what it says, "That evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus the sick and the demon possessed." Notice again the distinction between physical illness and demon possession. Mark does not conflate the two. He does not suggest that sickness is related to demonic activity, nor that demonic activity is a sickness. No, there were physical diseases that Christ healed, and there was demonic activity that Christ rebuked and censured. Now, when we use the word demonstration, I want you to think first of all that in this what we have is a demonstration of Christ's power. It's small wonder that verse 28 tells us that the news about Jesus was spreading very quickly throughout the whole region of Galilee. No surprise at all, because as we saw in verse 27, the people were saying to one another, "We can't believe the authority of this individual and he even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." They've never seen anything like this before. They were aware of evil activity, they were aware of demonic activity, but there was no one who had this kind of power to rebuke and to censure and to silence in the way in which Jesus had done on this occasion. It is also quite dramatic, although in a different way, when in verse 31 Mark tells us that having discovered that Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, he went to her, he took her hand, he helped her up, the fever left her and she began to wait on them. It's a wonderful progression in that, isn't there? The masterful simplicity of language, and in it all we see a demonstration of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know some of the ladies think that this is a is a fascinating sentence, "The fever left her and she began to wait on them." Shame on you for thinking that there's a self-serving dimension to the initiative of Simon or to the response of Jesus. No, it is an indication surely of the immediacy of the impact of the power of Jesus in this lady's body. In other words, she's restored to do that, which she was happy to do and which she customarily did. And there is, I suggest, in that little scene, a cameo of what Christ's kingly rule meant and means. Because what has taken place in her life is a restoration, right? She was restored. Her sickness had set her aside. Her sickness had meant that she was no able to no longer able to do what she loved to do. Jesus then comes and in a demonstration of his power, he makes the lady whole and he makes the lady healthy. And I think that Mark wants us to see, those of us who have eyes to see, that in this little cameo, there is a sort of microcosmic indication of what is ultimately going to happen in the kingship of Christ. He takes all that is disfigured, all that is debilitating, all that hinders and hampers, and he transforms it and he restores those whom he redeems to wholeness and to health. He will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will be a time when there is no more death. It's virtually impossible to imagine, isn't it? And no more mourning, and no more crying, and no more pain. Someone says, "Well, wait a minute, there's a lot of crying, there's a lot of mourning, there's a lot of pain. Where are we in the scheme of things?" Well, hold on. Be patient. Even if we suffered for our entire lives, it would be a moment in comparison to eternity. And what we have to say is that somehow in the mystery of God's providence, he has chosen this pathway for us. In order that in the midst of these trials, we may learn something of him and something of ourselves that we cannot and could not learn in any other way. I think the reaction of the woman here of selfless service in some senses hallows the routine duties of domestic life. It says that he raised her up and she waited on them. Something as insignificant as that? Something as trivial as that? Pardon? When could that ever have been insignificant? When could two well-prepared boiled eggs and a wonderful slice of toast ever be insignificant? And I suggest to you that there was a reason why Billy Graham's late wife had over her kitchen sink the sign, "Divine service performed here daily." And to all the domestic moms, realize this, that when in the balance of things, in the record of heaven, God reckons out what he dispenses, don't ever think for a moment that somehow or another, it is essential for you to get out of there to get over there so that you might be involved in significant service. "They went into the house and the mother-in-law was sick with a fever in bed. He went to her, he touched her, he raised her up and she waited upon them." That was the service of Romans 12:1 and 2, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service of spiritual worship." "What should I do, Lord Jesus, now that you have raised me up? Why don't I do this for you? Why don't I make you a wonderful salad?" Divine service. Secondly, as a demonstration not only of his power, but it is a demonstration of his compassion. Of his compassion. Was there ever a shepherd like this? Was there ever such a tender shepherd? The prophecy of Isaiah anticipating the coming of Jesus says that he gently leads those who are young, who have young. He gathers the lambs close to his heart. He is constantly on the lookout, constantly watching. Surely, it would have been possible for Jesus, after all of the dramatic encounter in the synagogue and the necessity of involvement in the healing process of Simon's mother-in-law, when they finally all got together around the table and said, "You know, let's not only close the door, let's close the blinds. Let us be done with this. This, let's call it a night. It's been a great day so far, but let's just let's just forget it." And as they were going to rearrange the the circumstances, somebody said, "I have a I have a funny feeling there's a there's a crowd of people out in the out in the courtyard." And as they listened, they could hear the buzz and somebody went out and said, "Oh, Jesus, we've got we've got the entire town out here." And that evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed. It's hyperbole, isn't it? He didn't bring all the sick. The whole town gathered at the door. In other words, he was the talk of the town and he was the focus of the town. There was no there was nobody who didn't know what was going on and everybody who knew wanted to be a part of it, wanted to have a piece of the action. And so, they all gathered at the door. And Jesus healed many who had various diseases and he drove out many demons, but he wouldn't let the demons speak. Why would he let the demons speak? They they knew what what they knew, but they had no interest in saying, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God," as Peter would one day say. Theirs was a grudging awareness of who God was. There was an there was an unwillingness in their declaration and they would frankly just make a mess of things. And so he wouldn't let them speak. When the time came for the revelation of his personhood to be there in all of his fullness, that would be fine, but for now that wasn't going to be happen. And you'll notice that Jesus isn't out looking for patients. You'll notice too that he isn't a specialist. And they brought people to him and he healed various diseases. Drove out many demons. And I think what Mark wants us to see here once again is something that we can take out into the community with us, and that is that Jesus in his compassion rescues people from the destructive forces that were debilitating them. That's what he's doing. Jesus is reaching into the circumstances of these people's lives and he is rescuing them because that's what he does. That's what Jesus does. And that's what those who love Jesus do. They have a ministry of restoration. They have a ministry of reaching out to those who are debilitated and who are trapped and who are held and so on. It's a demonstration of his power, it's a demonstration of his compassion, and if you allow your mind to go on to the next morning in verse 35, you will see that his prayer in the solitary place is a demonstration of his dependence upon his Father. "Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed." One of the commentators refers to this as the preacher's Monday morning. They said, "What what would he do on the Monday morning?" Well, of course, this would be this would be on a on a Sunday morning because the Sabbath was Saturday in those days. Then what does Jesus do? Well, he gets up very early in the morning and he talks with his Father. It's quite remarkable, isn't it? I think many of us have a picture of Jesus that this is just sort of play acting, you know, he does this because he wants he wants other people to pray, therefore, you know, he he goes and does a little praying so that other people will pray, but it's not really anything of significance at all. Well, surely it is. There's only three occasions when Jesus is mentioned praying in Mark's Gospel. One of them is here, the other one you'll find in in chapter 6, and the other one you'll find in chapter 14. What did he pray? We don't know. But I would imagine that he got alone and he said, "Father, I I wanted to talk with you about what happened yesterday. I wanted to ask you to bless what I did yesterday. I planted and I tried to water. I told people about repentance and about the Kingdom of God. I declared your power in transforming people's lives, but Father, I I I want you to make it all grow now. And Father, while I have you, I want to ask you about where I'm going next because my inclination is not to stay here. I think many of these people have already got the wrong end of the stick and I think I'm going to pull out of here and I just I wanted to talk to you about that. I wanted to know your mind on that." And when Simon and the others, verse 36, began their day and realized that Jesus was gone, they went looking for him. And when they found him, I think there is in the phrase, "Everyone is looking for you," both a clear expectation and also a veiled condemnation. Depends how you say it, doesn't it? You say it with a rising inflection, a lowering inflection. You say it anyway you choose, but I think it's kind of, "Jesus, everyone is looking for you! Everyone's looking for you!" In other words, what are you doing here? This is not the place to be out here in a solitary place. We got the whole thing started. Everybody, it's just like last night. The day's off to a flying start. They're all looking for you. What are you doing here? Everyone's looking for you. Well, what was this information that he needed? That brings us to our third and final word, and that's the word explanation. Explanation. Because both the crowd and and his cronies needed an explanation concerning the ministry and purpose of Jesus. And that reminder is a reminder that is important to us at every point along the way. Because if you think about it from the disciples' perspective, the mission of Jesus was off apparently to a terrific start. Numbers were strong, interest was high, news was spreading. So it would seem that there was every indication that this was the place to put the tent. This is the place to camp for a while. It's all going so wonderfully well. And the inference would appear to be that all you need to do now, Jesus, is build on this success and cash in on this popularity. And if that any of that is even close to the truth, then the reply of Jesus in verse 38 must surely have set them back on their heels. "Everyone is looking for you." Jesus replied, "Let's go somewhere else." "No, Jesus, we said everyone is looking for you, but-" "Yeah, I know you did, and I said let's go somewhere else." "Let's go somewhere else to the nearby villages so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come." Now the commentators say, "Is he referencing the fact that that is why he has come out of Capernaum? That is why he has come out into the solitary place, or is he actually saying, "Let's go to the other villages that I may preach the Gospel there. That is why I have come. That that is why I have come from the Father." Well, it's probably both if if truth be told. It's not really something you have to get a PhD for, but the fact is that he says, "We're not going to stay here, we're going to move on." You see, people, Jesus knew that the hearts of people, didn't he? It doesn't tell us that in this passage, but it tells us it elsewhere. Jesus knew how easy it was for crowds of people to view him as a means simply of relief from pain and affliction. And he knew that it would be possible for them, because of his compassion towards them, to be relieved of that which caused them pain, and to be set free from that which afflicted them, without them ever actually understanding his purpose in coming. Right? Because in the nature of his compassion, he was happy to do what he did. He was demonstrating his triumph as a king. It was a demonstration of power and of compassion, in dependence upon his Father. And yet, even in the exercise of that healing ministry, that in itself stopped short of the purpose of Christ's coming. He did not come as a miracle worker. He did not come to heal as many people as he possibly can. He came proclaiming, "The time has come," verse 15, "The kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news." As Calvin says, "Miracles were appendages to the word and that relationship was not to be reversed." So what Jesus is doing is he's interrupting his miraculous activity to go elsewhere so that he can proclaim the Gospel of God. "I've come to do this," he says, "I've come to make this news as widely known as I possibly can." His primary mission is not as a miracle worker, but it is as a preacher. Is there a lesson for us here? I think there definitely is. The task is never finished if you've simply drawn a crowd. Drawing a crowd is relatively easy. There are all kinds of ways that that may happen, good, bad and indifferent. Jesus looks out on this and he says, "I know that you think that this is just absolutely the bee's knees, but I have to tell you that this is not why I came here. I didn't come here to do this. I came to tell people that they need to turn from their sins and they need to turn to me and they need to believe in me and they need to trust me. So I think we should get out of here and let's go to some of the other villages so that we can tell them that too." So, a reminder in our day, at this point in the 21st century, that heaven is committed to the Scriptures. And that the task and privilege that is entrusted to the preacher is the task ultimately and finally of proclaiming that good news. So that no matter what else may happen, and no matter who else may come along the way, it is by that standard that our task and our calling is to be judged. I think it means that we need to pray very much for the preaching of the Gospel in our day. The fact that people are attracted by all kinds of things, the fact that large crowds gather in America to hear different people, to observe different events, ought not to be confused, ought not to be confused necessarily with the ongoing work of the Gospel. So, perhaps it will be helpful for us tonight to retain from this day in the life of Jesus a picture of him which will be a pattern for us. And this is the picture that I wrote down in my notes and I give to you. A picture of Jesus in the early morning in communion with his Father. A picture of Jesus as the evening sun fades in compassion towards the people. And a picture of Jesus, no matter what time of day or of night, as a communicator of this glorious good news that salvation is found in him alone.
Bob Lapeen: You're listening to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg. In today's message, we saw how essential prayer was to Jesus. He regularly went to a solitary place to pray, and if it was important to him, it should be important to us. But it's not always easy to know how to pray or what to say. So to help you, today you can download a free audiobook by Alistair, titled Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle, which also comes with a study guide. Often we pray for God's help in hard situations we're facing. But what if God wants to do more than just solve our problem today? As you listen to the audiobook, you'll learn from the Apostle Paul's prayers for the Ephesians to pray for more than your personal needs or your physical needs. You'll learn how to pray in alignment with God's will and power, asking him to move in ways far bigger than satisfying daily requests. Download your free audiobook and study guide today at TruthForLife.org/PrayBig. I'm Bob Lapeen. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow, we'll learn about the healing of a leper and a paralytic man. While these afflictions are certainly devastating, there is a condition that supersedes all other conditions, and that's the topic of tomorrow's study. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth For Life, where the learning is for living.