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Sermons

April 22/23, 2017

Why Jesus Came Out

Jason Meyer | Mark 1:29-39

And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 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.

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. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 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.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.—Mark 1:29–39

Introduction

Some people hear Christians talk about a personal relationship or walk with Jesus and they simply don’t know what to make of that. How do you have a relationship with someone you can’t see? Is this like an imaginary friend? Is this a psychological trick or a coping mechanism?

If you have those questions, then you have come to the right place. One of the best things about the Gospels is that we get to see what God is like when real life people come to him. It can be hard to visualize “coming to God.” If I do, how will he respond? In the Gospels, we get to see why people come to Jesus and how he responds.

So let’s start. Our text today has two units of thought: The first section deals with healing (vv. 29–34) and the second addresses preaching (vv. 35–39). That is the outline of the message.

1. Healing (vv. 29–34)

2. Preaching (vv. 35–39)

We will get to the main point inductively as we work through the text, so stay alert so you can see it together. Let’s look at the first point.

1. Healing (vv. 29–34)

And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.—Mark 1:29–31

We hear about a fever and we are not that impressed because we have medicine to control a fever and keep it from becoming deadly. They didn’t. Fever would kill more people in that day than we even anticipate. We forget how many lives the production of aspirin has spared. Having a fever was seen as a serious thing among the Jews. In Leviticus 26:16 and Deuteronomy 28:22 it is mentioned as a punishment sent by God upon covenant breakers. In fact, the rabbis regarded fever as a heavenly fire that only God could put out. In fact, they regarded fever as both demonic and divine punishment.

Greater is the miracle wrought for the sick than for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. [For] that of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah [concerned] a fire kindled by man, which all can extinguish; whilst that of a sick person is [in connection with] a heavenly fire, and who can extinguish that? (b. Ned. 41a).

The point seems to be another evidence of Mark 1:1—Jesus is the Son of God. He has a divine touch that can extinguish what no mere human touch could ever put out.

It also says that as a result of the healing “she began to serve them” (v. 31). Some people would see this as a backward social comment on a woman’s proper place. They say, “See you can’t trust the Bible. It is only makes disparaging judgments on the inferiority of women and the menial roles they play—how they only belong in the home doing domestic duties like attending to the needs of men.”

This is a serious misreading of this text. That disparaging comment misses the point of the story. Word choice really matters here. Do you look down upon this word: She began to serve them? It is the same word used for what the angels did when they “attended” or served Jesus in this wilderness (1:13). And the whole point of this story can be seen in its sequence. Jesus served her first by healing her. He was waiting on her long before she attended to him. Serving is what Jesus came to do (Mark 10:45). After being healed, she served like Jesus. She is a Christlike disciple. The way that Jesus serves creates servants who serve like Jesus (Christlikeness).

But the order matters. We don’t serve Jesus in order to get something from him. “Look at how well I am serving you—will you receive me now?” He serves us and that creates a servant-shaped heart in us. We don’t serve in order for him to serve us; we serve because he first served us.

Transition: The first story was a mere trickle of need (fever) and now the needs becomes a tidal wave. The Sabbath restrictions end at sundown. It is now a new day and the needs come rushing in.

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 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.— Mark 1:32–34

The picture here is stunning. One can see both the power and compassion of Christ. The tidal wave of need comes crashing down and Jesus comes out to meet it, but is not crushed by it. He is more than enough. He has the compassion to come out to the people and the power to meet all the needs. Look at the wake left behind Jesus. Humanity’s need meets the compassion and power of Christ, and healing and peace are left behind in the wake of his grace.

The application should be obvious. What do you bring to Jesus? You don’t bring your religious performance and devotion. You don’t need to bring something that will impress him. All you need is your need. A right understanding of ourselves (needy people) and a right understanding of Christ (compassion and power) should result in him getting the glory for meeting the need and us getting the mercy and help in our time of need. The deity of Jesus shines once again. He is the picture of Psalm 50:15 …

Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

So bring your need to him. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God by casting all of your cares upon him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). How do you humble yourself? Cast your cares instead of trying to carry them in your own strength. How do you know he will carry them? Because he cares for you! How do you know God cares for you? Look at the compassion of Christ in this story. This is what happens when people bring their need to him.

One more question on this section—everyone asks this: Why did he not permit the demons to speak? Jesus commands the demons to be silent because his kingdom is set up in opposition to them. You don’t want to give any impression that they are Jesus’ public relations team. They are on the other side. He has come to destroy and plunder their kingdom. He does not want the enemy proclaiming his identity; he will proclaim it himself. That takes us to the second point: Jesus’ preaching.

2. Preaching (vv. 35–39)

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.—Mark 1:35

It is tempting for many people to look at these two stories and reduce Jesus’ ministry to healing and preaching. But we dare not skip too lightly and quickly over verse 35. Jesus is fully God and fully man. How does Jesus recharge? Physically he needs sleep. Spiritually, he needs prayer—communion with the Father.

Jesus was up late meeting the massive needs of the city. Now he rises early before the chaos of the day begins again. Jesus would rise before dawn and go pray. Imagine what Jesus’ prayers must have been like.

Have you ever witnessed two people in love? Don’t think of sappy, puppy-dog love. I am talking about the deepest and longest-lasting love imaginable. Imagine a relationship of eternal, perfect, flawless, not-ever-missing-a-beat kind of love. The Father and the Son have had that from all eternity. The deity of Jesus can be seen in his unique power and compassion in healing, but also in his unique intimacy with the Father in prayer. In other words, he prays like the Son of God. Prayer was not a discipline for Jesus to master. It was not a daily “to do” that he got good at checking off his list every day. Prayer was an expression of an intimate relationship with his Father.

Prayer punctuates the life of Jesus. Mark includes three references to Jesus praying. They are pivotal moments (1:35; 6:46; 14:32–39). The Gospel of Luke has 12 references to Jesus praying—far more than any other gospel (Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28–36; 10:21–22; 11:1–4; 22:17–19; 22:32; 22:41; 22:44; 23:46). He is praying as the heavens open at his baptism (3:21). He prayed all night before choosing the twelve disciples (6:12). He is praying while he is transfigured before Peter, James, and John (9:28–36). Jesus prays in thanksgiving at the Last Supper (22:17–19). Jesus prays in Gethsemane before the crucifixion (22:41). Jesus prays with his dying breath, saying, “Into your hands, I commit my spirit” (23:46).

Jesus’ prayer life had both quantity and quality. That was the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees could log some impressive prayer time in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality, their prayers were worthless hypocrisy. Jesus went to a desolate place, while the Pharisees went to the marketplace. They wanted everyone to see them praying. Jesus was different. He would often withdraw to desolate places to pray. The place wasn’t the attraction and the people watching were not the attraction—the Person was. Have you ever wanted to spend time with someone and didn’t want anything to get in the way? Jesus wanted to get alone with His Father. He slipped away to pray because he prized his time with his Father.

This is a challenge to us, dear friends. Jesus would slip away to pray because he loved the Father more than anything in the world. You don’t suddenly slip away to do something you don’t enjoy. You don’t slip away to take out the trash or to do your taxes. You slip away from the hustle and bustle and pressure to do something you love, something that restores and strengthens, something you look forward to. Is that you? Is prayer a chore that bores you? I am not asking you whether you think it is hard work or not. It most certainly is hard. I am asking a delight question. Is prayer something that feels like a chore, or is it something you cherish? A chore is not something you want more and more. Do you prize prayer the way Jesus does?

What do you think he was praying about? That is an important question and I think it serves as the bridge to the next verse.

And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 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.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.—Mark 1:36–39

Simon and the others are on a manhunt for him (literally the word is they are hunting him down strongly with urgency and haste). They are on a mission to find him. They found him and Peter seems to send him a mild rebuke: “everyone is looking for you.” The urgency of the search surely carries over into the urgency of the question. “What are you doing out here? You are needed back there. We have been looking everywhere for you.”

The word “looking for” often has a negative connotation in Mark’s Gospel. The first two occurrences are intrusions that would obstruct his mission (1:32; Jesus’ mother and brothers searching for him; 3:32); the next two testify to unbelief (the Pharisees seeking a sign to test him; 8:11, 12); five occurrences are all references to people seeking to kill Jesus (11:18; 12:12; 14:1; 14:11; 14:55), the last occurrence is a reference to women looking for his dead body in the tomb (16:6). The “seekers” always get Jesus wrong in the Gospel of Mark!

Peter is specifically called out here as the one who asked the question. This looks like a later rebuke when Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that he was going to die (Mark 8:32–33). On both occasions, listening to Peter’s perspective would have prevented Jesus from fulfilling his mission. Peter unknowingly was on a mission to thwart Jesus’ mission.

Their perspective on the mission of Messiah seems to be skewed at this point. His healing ministry seems to bring unprecedented results. The whole city is here. Can you just hear the possible undertones of this conversation? Can you relate to Peter’s perspective at this point? “I mean you did a great job teaching in the synagogue and now here you are praying (and don’t get me wrong, that is important, we need to ask you about how to do it at some point), but not now—there is pressing business to attend to—the whole city is here again. This healing stuff is working. Did you see the size of the crowds?!

Jesus is one day into his mission and his closest followers are already unknowingly trying to take him off course. This is like a second temptation in the wilderness. This time it is not Satan, but Simon Peter. Jesus’ response totally changes the direction the disciples want him to go. They think that the need of the hour is for you to come back with us to the crowds. Jesus says that the need of the hour is to go elsewhere and preach. That is why he “came out.” He is not talking about leaving the house—he is talking about why he left heaven. In other words, the disciples, like the people, don’t understand their main need. It is not healing. It is not exorcism. These things are secondary. Their main need is salvation. That is why Jesus came to preach the good news of salvation. People don’t know their real need. The disciples don’t see the real need either, so they don’t understand his mission.

But he has been praying. He and the Father are always on the same page. The Son is carrying out the plan of the Father. The Son does what he sees the Father doing. Did the Son of God come into the world to heal or to preach? Here is the main point:

Jesus left heaven in order to preach the good news (and purchase the good news). That is the climax of these two stories: Jesus was preaching and casting out demons/healing, but the two are not equal in importance.

How do the two relate? Healing and preaching are not competing activities, but complementary as long as they are kept in their proper place. Healing is a supplement, not a replacement for preaching. Healing and casting out demons are signs of the kingdom confirming the message of the kingdom. Don’t forget Mark 1:14–15 …

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The point of application ought to be crystal clear again at this point. Jesus cares about all suffering, but especially eternal suffering. Our priorities must align with his. The main need that we bring to Jesus and that Jesus came to meet is our need for salvation. Mercy ministry separated from gospel ministry is not mercy.

There is a famous quote often attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the gospel every day and if necessary use words.” That is clever, but very misleading and potentially disastrous. Eric Geiger said it well in his response: “‘Preach the gospel every day and if necessary use words’ is like saying ‘Feed the poor every day and if necessary use food.’” The gospel is nothing without words. The merciful actions of gospel ministry confirm the message of gospel ministry or it is not gospel ministry but mere humanitarian aid.

Think about the greatness of salvation in three areas: (1) it is our greatest need, (2) it is the greatest miracle, and (3) it should be our greatest joy.

First, the main need that Jesus came to meet is our need for eternal life. We care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering. That is why he came. His first coming is mainly aimed to address our eternal need (not physical need), the Second Coming will address every need such that we will have no more needs to bring—like sickness, demon oppression, or unbelief.

Second, repentance and faith are greater miracles than healings and exorcisms. What happens in the soul and forever is greater than what happens in the flesh for a time. Martin Luther noted that Jesus marveled at the centurion’s faith. Luther says that even though two miracles happened (healing of the centurion’s servant and the faith of the centurion), Jesus marveled only at the miracle of faith (Martin Luther, Day by Day We Magnify Thee, p. 68). Luther says …

People deem it a great miracle that [Christ] made the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lepers clean. And certainly, they are great miracles. But Christ thinks much higher of that which comes to pass within the soul than of that which happens to the body. Therefore, by so much as the soul is more precious than the body, so great and so much greater is the miracle to be regarded which he praises here, than other miracles that happen to the body. … It is a miracle, a great miracle, that a man should have such fine strong faith; therefore Christ exalts this centurion’s faith as if it were a miracle above all miracles. 

Are you bringing to Jesus your eternal need for eternal life? Do you see that he came to seek and save the lost? Will you confess your need and receive his all-sufficient, all-surpassing grace?

Let me speak very personally for a moment. So many believers come to me,and they feel like an absolute mess. They struggle to believe that God can actually love them because of all the ways that they fail. They struggle with assurance because they don’t know if they have prayed enough, or are devoted enough, or love God enough. I tell them, “Ok, enough.” I say, “Then why don’t you just leave Jesus?” They respond with shock at the very thought. “I could never do that. He means everything to me.” I then ask them where that response came from. God did that. God has worked a miracle in their hearts. He is holding on to them. Yes, we stumble in many ways. Yes, it is true that we are a mess. But our fundamental identity is that we are a miracle of grace.

But third, we are also supposed to rejoice in salvation as our greatest joy. Jesus said in Luke 10 that the disciples were not to rejoice that the demons are subject to them, but that their names are written in heaven. Christians are not waiting for something to get excited about. There is no greater gift than salvation. We could not receive a greater gift than we have received. We should rejoice like those who see it and believe it.

Conclusion

How was this salvation accomplished? Jesus did not merely come to preach the Good News, but also to purchase it. I mentioned earlier that Jesus explicitly prays three times in Mark’s Gospel: here, in the feeding of the 5,000, and at the end in Gethsemane. There, when he prayed again to the Father, we see the most epic struggle in prayer that has ever taken place:

And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”—Mark 14:35–36

He obeyed even to the point of death—even death on a cross. He drank the dark cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs, down to the last drop. God so loved the world that He gave his only Son. And God so loved the world that he was silent when the Son prayed for another way. There is no other way to be saved.

Look to the cross. Watch as the wave of infinite wrath that should come crashing down on us washes over him. In my place, condemned he stood so we can stand forgiven. He received the wrath so I receive the pardon. The proper response is worship and adoration. He came into the world and said to his Father, “Here I am to do your will.”

We don’t come into this world and say, “I will do your will and earn your favor and love.” The beloved Son—already loved, already perfect in righteousness and holiness, stepped down to this earth. But he kept descending all the way to being forsaken, stepped into wrath and darkness because that is where we were—he came all the way to us—not part of the way. He rescued us and carried us all the way out.

And he has gone back to prepare a place for us. The circle will be completed—he will take us to be with him so that where he is there we will also be.

So we see him come and we don’t say, “I will meet you part way—50/50.” We say, “So here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you’re my God. Your altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me. I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.”

He suffered the full infinite wrath of God in our place so that we will never know how much it cost—we will never have to learn that truth and experience that agonizing event that words could never describe.

Sermon Discussion Questions

Outline

  1. Healing (vv. 29–34)
  2. Preaching (vv. 35–39) 

Discussion Questions

  1. What would you say to someone who interprets in a disparaging way the record that Peter’s mother-in-law began “serving” Jesus? In any way does Mark portray serving in a negative light?
  2. Describe what happened when the tidal wave of need came crashing into the compassion and power of Jesus. What can we learn from that dynamic today?
  3. Why does Mark tell us about Jesus praying? What did the disciples fail to understand about the Father’s plan and Jesus’ mission and the people’s need?

Application Questions

  1. Take a few moments to evaluate the main needs that you need to bring to Jesus. What are they? How can you bring them to Jesus? Bring them to Jesus in prayer!  
  2. Do you have a Christlike passion for serving others? When do you find yourself falling into a self-centered, selfish desire to be served by others? How can you move forward in being a Christlike disciple in this area? Name a couple of practical ways you can serve those around you. Devote it to prayer!
  3. In this message, what truths landed on you that you need to share with others in your life? How can you share these truths? Devote it to prayer!

Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to see that all you need to bring to Jesus is your need. Bring all of your needs to him. Humble yourself under his mighty hand by casting all of your cares upon him, because you know he cares for you.