Faith Synchronizes Belief and Actions (Mark 2:1-12)

Faith means that you are sure about what you hope for and confident about what you don’t see. If you are sure and confident about something it effects your actions. Habakkuk 3:19 says, "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights.” Why is a deer so sure-footed and able to climb steadily toward mountain peaks? It is because deer have an amazing ability of ensuring that its back feet will alight on the exact spot where its front feet were positioned. This is how I see faith. It starts as a gift from God. Then what you believe is like the front feet of a deer. Acting on what you believe is like the hind feet of a deer. It takes all of this to reach the heights God calls us to.

In Mark 2 we find Jesus speaking a message in His home in Capernaum. I’m sure since Jesus was the one preaching this message it was important! However, as it often happens in Mark, there is no record of what was said. Remember, Mark’s source for his gospel is Peter. Jesus’ home was probably Peter’s house, and it’s here in Mark that you get the strong expression of the damage done to the roof. The message of this story is understood by actions rather than by words.

Just use your imagination. The room is packed. There are so many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway. The important people like the scribes, however, had found a seat inside. It must have been a solemn assembly as they sat there listening to the Son of God, when suddenly dirt started to fall on everyone’s head!

Four men had found a way to climb the roof while keeping their paralyzed friend from falling off the stretcher they were carrying him on. Next, with a boldness produced by the belief that it was the only way they could get their friend to the one who could heal him, they began to remove the roof. Not just a small hole in the roof, but a hole big enough to let the a man down through it. What havoc their faith must have caused to those on whom the dirt fell!

Jesus saw their faith. How can you see someone’s faith? You can see someone’s faith when you look at their actions. Just like hind feet of a deer are synchronized with its front feet, so too is a man’s faith synchronized with his actions.

Why Was Jesus Angry? (Mark 1:42-45)

Then He sternly warned him and sent him away at once, telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere.
Mark 1:42-45

Mark shows us the emotions of Jesus. In this story of the man with leprosy, we are told that Jesus was moved with compassion and that He reached out and took hold of him in response to the man’s begging, “If you are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus was willing and the man was cleansed from his leprosy. But Jesus' compassionate response was followed by another emotional response. The next emotion shown at first glance is in opposition to the compassionate picture of Jesus reaching out to touch the untouchable.

When Jesus sternly warned the man that he was to say nothing to anyone, the Greek word for “sternly warn” carries with it the idea of being moved with anger. In fact, when I looked up the usage of the word in the Strong’s Concordance, I found: I snort (with the notion of coercion springing out of displeasure, anger, indignation, antagonism), express indignant displeasure with someone; I charge sternly. I looked it up in Helps Word-Studies and found: properly, snort like an angry horse; (literally) “snort (roar) with rage” which expresses strong indignation, i.e., deep feeling that is moved to sternly admonish. So the same depth of emotion expressed in compassion that caused Jesus to be willing to heal was now being expressed in a warning to say nothing to anyone.

In contrast to Jesus reaching out to touch this man who was full of leprosy, we now have Jesus sending him away. Again I went to the Strong’s Concordance to understand the word used. It was a powerful Greek word meaning: I throw (cast, put) out; I banish. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon said that this word included the notion of more or less violence.

However, the man was more in awe of being healed than he was in the one who healed him. He ignored Jesus’ warning and instead of saying nothing to anyone he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news. There is no mention of him showing himself to the priest or offering what Moses prescribed for his cleansing. He ignored Jesus’ stern admonition. Had he obeyed he would have been a witness to the priests and would have carried out the mission given him. Instead his disobedience hampered Jesus. Now instead of the leper it was Jesus who walked in lonely deserted places.

Why did Jesus come? When Jesus began His ministry He began preaching the good news of God by saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” In the synagogue He spoke with authority. He showed His authority over demons and over illness, and even leprosy. People flocked to Him, mobbed Him. Why? They wanted release from demonic oppression, they wanted relief from their sickness, they wanted relief from the curse. They saw His deeds but they didn’t recognize Him. Do you think that if the man cured from his leprosy had realized that the one who had compassion on him and had touched him was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords he would have disobeyed Him? I think if he had understood how near the kingdom of God was to him that he would have repented, believed the good news and gone and shown himself to the priest. Jesus came to do more than heal our bodies, He came to proclaim the kingdom of God!

Power and Compassion (Mark 1:40-42)

In the distance he could hear the children’s laughter and for a brief moment he paused and remembered his own childhood. He remembered the comfort of his mother's gentle touch and the love he had felt when she looked at him. He remembered too the laughter that he had shared in the company of his friends. But his time of reminiscing was interrupted when someone came too close, and he had to quickly cover his mouth and shout, “Unclean!” Then he saw the look of horror on their faces as  they ran away crying, “It’s a leper!” “It’s a leper,” he thought. "They can’t even see me as a man." As he continued walking he wondered if Jesus would be able to see him as a man and if He would be willing to heal him.

Ever since the priest had declared him unclean he had been going away from people. He had become isolated as the disease slowly took over his identity. A coldness had settled deep inside of him when he lost the ability to feel. However, hope had been awakened in him when he heard about the miracles of Jesus. For the first time since he’d been declared a leper he was going towards another human being and not away. He believed that Jesus had the power to heal him, he just didn’t know if He’d be willing. As soon as he found Him he knelt in front Him and began begging Him, “If you’re willing, You can heal me and make me clean.”

Jesus was moved with compassion, and then He stretched out his hand and took hold of the leper. Then Jesus spoke the words the leper longed to hear, “I am willing, be clean!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared and he was healed. He was healed. He was clean.

When I think about how Jesus was moved with compassion for this man I think about how Jesus, although He was God, was willing to humble Himself and come to us. When Jesus reached out and touched the man with leprosy, I am reminded of what Isaiah said about the Messiah. “He had no form or splendor that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like one people turned away from; and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

For all who have lost their identity and their ability to feel, to all who have become isolated by their sins, Jesus issues an invitation to come. And we can come to Him because He came to us. We can know what it is to be clean because He carried our pain and took the punishment for our peace.
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Divine Perspective (Mark 1:32-34)

When it was evening, after the sun had set, they came. They came bringing to Jesus their sickness, sorrow and pain. Those who were tortured by demons came seeking release. He healed their sicknesses and drove out many demons. The demons knew who He was, but Jesus would not permit them to speak. Then Jesus, wearied from a day filled with ministry, slept.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place” (Mark 1:35). When He arose, the light was shrouded by darkness. With the dark shadows all around Him, He went out and made His way to a solitary place where He would be free from distractions, and there He prayed.

What does it look like when the Son of God prays? The Greek word used in Mark speaks of an exchange. This is a prayer of worship filled with the truth that light will conquer darkness. The darkness of night, filled with suffering and the grief of those who are tormented, will not last forever, but will be followed by the rising of the sun and the coming of a new day.

Jesus’ time of solitude came to an end when Simon and his companions found Him. They came with the message that everyone was looking for Him. The sun had now risen; a new day had dawned. Jesus went on to the neighboring villages with the message that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent, and believe in the good news.” And Jesus went into all of Galilee, preaching the good news and driving out demons.

I awakened before the dawn, my heart heavy with concerns for those I love, and aware of the battle that wages between good and evil. It is here in this place of solitude that I close my eyes in prayer and open my eyes of faith. Here I see clearly how God richly grants His presence and provision when I seek Him. I watch as the light grows stronger and am reassured once more: Though I am limited and often feel crushed by the sorrow, I see that the God to whom I pray is limitless. As I seek Him in prayer He imparts a divine persuasion to me and I rejoice in the kingdom of God.

When He Left the Synagogue (Mark 1:29-34)

Jesus had begun preaching the good news of God, that the time was fulfilled, and that the kingdom of God had come near. I close my eyes, and through the words written in Mark, I travel back in time to see what Jesus’ ministry looked like. How did the Son of God begin His ministry? Where and how was the message to repent and believe in the good news proclaimed?

It seems appropriate that Jesus would start on the Sabbath in the synagogue. The people there didn’t know who He was, but what they did know was that He spoke with authority. The demons knew where that authority came from. They recognized the Holy One of God. However, Jesus silenced them and released the man in whom they had taken up residence from their control. Even in the synagogue Jesus came with more than words. He came with the power to set the demon-possessed man free.

Jesus’ ministry was so much more than simply preaching on the Sabbath. As soon as He left the synagogue He went to Simon and Andrew’s house. It was not the house of nobility, it was the house where two fishermen lived with their family, including Simon’s mother-in-law who was lying in bed with a fever. Jesus went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. Woven into this story is a woman whose husband is gone and who is now sick and living on the mercy of her son-in-law. Jesus’ compassion and kindness did more than restore this woman’s health, He restored her dignity.

How did people respond? When evening came, after the sun had set and their travel was no longer restricted by sabbath law, they flocked to Jesus. All those who were sick and those bound by demons came to Him seeking for relief and release. In fact, the whole town assembled at the door. The kingdom of God had come near. The king, though cloaked in human flesh, had come with authority and the power to set men free. He came with the message to, “Repent and believe in the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

Recently I was with a friend, and during the course of our conversation she asked me a question that I’ve been thinking about ever since. She told me how she appreciated the sermons she heard on Sunday. She acknowledged that the church was trying to reach out to its members. But it was what she said next that really convicted me, she asked what we were doing for the hurting people outside the church. “How are we reaching out to the sick and hurting people in our community?” My mind went back to what Jesus did as soon as He left the synagogue. My response is that I need to repent and show that I believe the good news by following Jesus’ example.

He Spoke with Authority! (Mark 1:21-28)

In the synagogue in Capernaum the people would come out of duty and listened with dull minds and glazed eyes as the scribes would drone on and on about the endless laws and traditions that had been written to fence the word of God. The fence they had built to keep anyone from getting close to breaking God’s word had become so complicated and verbose that they had long since stopped talking about God’s word itself and had simply begun to discuss each other’s interpretation of their own words. The fence now, instead of keeping people from breaking God’s word, simply kept everyone away from the word itself.

“He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach” (Mark 1:21). The very Word of God Who had taken on human flesh now spoke. Their dull minds were awakened; their glazed eyes came into focus. When He spoke, the darkness of their minds was illuminated. They felt as if the very breath of life was in His words. Now that they were fully awake they were struck with panic and amazement! They asked one another, “Who is this? Where did he get this authority?” 

However, there was someone in their midst who knew where His authority came from. Suddenly, there was a scream of recognition! “What do You have to do with us, Jesus-Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24)! The Holy One of God had authority not only to speak the truth of God but to silence the unclean spirit. 

“Be quiet, and come out of him” (Mark 1:25)! Jesus used the same words and authority to muzzle the unclean spirit that He would later use in silencing the wind and the waves that threaten the lives of His disciples in the storm on the Sea of Galilee. In both stories the people were left wondering who this was who had the authority to calm the storms that raged both in nature and in the hearts of men. With one last blast of fury the unclean spirit convulsed the man. But he had to leave, because the Holy  One of God had spoken.

Have you ever dozed in church? Have you ever sat with glazed eyes as if you were listening but hearing nothing, simply being in church because, after all, isn’t that what Christians do? But I want to ask you something. If that is what people who follow God do, why was the man with the unclean spirit there? In Revelation Jesus again speaks to the church, and again He finds those with evil spirits present. Jesus also calls His church to wake up! If we will listen to the Word of God and surrender to His authority, we will become fully alive.

”You Follow Me!”( Mark 1:16-20)

Peter remembers. He was a fisherman with no higher goal than to provide for the needs of his family by doing what he knew to do, fish. But the memory now of Jesus passing alongside the Sea of Galilee is so vivid that he pauses and sees again the scene as if it is happening in the present. Mark is listening, waiting, wanting to capture in writing the words and emotions of Peter as he recounts the the three and a half years that he spent with Jesus. In the book of Mark we see the story of Jesus through Peter’s eyes.

“‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:17,18). Immediately the choice was made, and the course of Peter’s life changed. Jesus had come with the message that the time was fulfilled, and the kingdom of God was at hand. Then Jesus took note of a lowly fisherman and invited him to have a place in the kingdom. Jesus issued this invitation not to the proud and haughty religious rulers but to a fisherman on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Peter remembers with awe how he himself was there when Jesus received honor and glory from God the father. Peter is silent for moment, and in his memory he hears again the voice of the “Majestic Glory: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him” (2 Peter 1:17)! With a voice husky with emotion Peter shares this memory with Mark and marvels again, as he has marveled so many times before, that Jesus the Son of God exalted a humble fisherman by the invitation to follow him.

Peter shares how for three and a half years he followed Jesus. He told Mark how he had walked away from his nets and his fishing with the bold assurance that the kingdom would come and that Jesus himself was the Messiah. But something happened that he hadn’t expected. Jesus was arrested and taken to the high priest. Still, Peter had followed Him there. With an aching heart Peter told Mark how, while Jesus was being mocked and spit at, Peter warmed himself by a charcoal fire. He was confronted again by the  feelings of confusion he had had about what happened. This was not what he had expected when he began to follow Jesus. Nothing was happening the way he had envisioned it, and Peter humbly shared with Mark how in his confusion and fear he had denied Jesus three times.

In the book of John it is recorded how after Jesus’ death and resurrection Jesus met Peter again on the shore when Peter been fishing. This time the invitation to follow Jesus didn’t include being a fisher of men but instead a command to feed and tend Jesus’ sheep. Jesus told Peter to follow Him after He told Peter by what kind of death he would glorify God. Peter didn’t immediately respond this time as he had to the first invitation to follow Jesus. This time he looked around at John and asked, “What about him?” Jesus responded by saying to Peter that what He planned for John was not Peter’s affair. And then Jesus said again, “You follow me” (John 21:21)! And Peter followed.

Come Just As You Are

I was irritable and angry! I was so frustrated that I wanted to scream! I rushed about the house preparing to go where I didn’t want to go in order to do something that I didn’t want to do! I didn’t want to feel the way I was feeling, so in this state of full blown irritability I began to pray.

I went to God in prayer just as I was, miserable and in need. “Father! I need help! I don’t want to feel this way! I want to obey You!” I thought about how Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father, in heaven, may your name be kept holy” (Matthew 6:9). I translated how Jesus taught us to pray by saying, “Father, I believe that You love and care for me and that Your ways are higher than my ways. I don’t want to dishonor Your name, but I am miserable and I need help!”

Jesus said to pray, “Your kingdom come.” I prayed, “I know that You are the king. I want You to rule and reign in my life, my heart and my mind. Please help me to get my emotions under control.” Jesus said, “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” I prayed, “Father, I know that to murmur and to complain is the same as to be in rebellion against what You have ordained for my life. Right now I’m full of rebellion! I don’t know how to stop. I don’t like what You’ve planned for my life today. If I needed physical surgery on my heart, I know that I would be incapable of performing open heart surgery on myself. I also know that I am equally incapable of removing my stony rebellious heart. Please! Help me!”

Jesus said to ask for daily bread. Where can I go when I am being tormented by my inability to be who I want to be? What can I do when I don’t have the resources to accomplish what is required of me? How do I find the strength to wrestle with my own rebellious heart that doesn’t want to be told what to do? It’s a daily struggle. Daily I am invited to participate in holy communion through prayer.

I continued to walk in obedience and prayed that God would change my heart. And then it happened! I was having a conversation with my granddaughter Lena. I told her that Mary probably wasn’t much older than she is now when Gabriel announced that she was to be a mother. Lena was shocked. Then I said, “Just think about how Mary responded. 'I am the Lord’s servant, let His will be done in my life.'” The words left my mouth and entered my heart. I was set free! The misery of rebellion was replaced by the joy of true obedience. The transformation took place through prayer.