{"id":408,"date":"2018-05-08T10:45:14","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T15:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/?p=408"},"modified":"2018-05-08T10:45:14","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T15:45:14","slug":"mark-study-16-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/?p=408","title":{"rendered":"Mark Study – 16-45"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesus Calls His First Disciples<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark 1:16-20<\/em><\/p>\n

First to be called were Simon, who had been recently renamed as Peter and his brother Andrew. Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptizer and had chosen to follow Jesus when John pointed him out. Read John 1:35-42<\/em> to see this earlier meeting between Jesus and Andrew and Simon \u2013 renamed Peter after this exchange. Many believe the second disciple mentioned in John\u2019s account to have been John himself, though he is not named. When Jesus called to Peter and Andrew to follow him, Mark says they \u201cAt once\u201d left their nets to do so.<\/p>\n

Next called were James and John. They, too, \u201cimmediately\u201d left their source of income behind and followed Jesus.<\/p>\n

Jesus Drives out an Impure Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark says that \u201cthey\u201d went to Capernaum. It is likely that \u201cthey\u201d included Simon Peter, Andrew his brother, John and his brother James, along with Phillip and Nathaniel. There may have been more of them, but these are the ones mentioned in Mark and John. Most likely, these were all called while Jesus was in Bethsaida where Phillip, Simon and Andrew were from. It was a very short walk from there to Capernaum.<\/p>\n

Jesus entered the local synagogue on the Sabbath and began teaching. We will see several occasions where Mark will record that the people were amazed at the teaching of Jesus. Here, Mark indicated the reason why they were amazed. It was because He spoke with an authority that was vastly different from the \u201cteachers of the law\u201d (the religious leadership in the synagogue). Jesus authority came directly from God and it was very clear to those listening that this was the case. His authority was not \u201cman made\u201d, as the religious leaders\u2019 authority was.<\/p>\n

While he was there, a man posessed by a demon was in the synagogue and the demon inside him spoke out. It is important to note that this demon recognized Jesus for who he was and he recognized the power that Jesus carried. With a word, Jesus could lay waste to the entirety of Satan\u2019s kingdom.<\/p>\n

With the above being true, why do you suppose God permits the evil that exists (clearly so) to continue? This is a question that I hear often and it is one that I would like to discuss. Why do you suppose Jesus did not want the demon announcing who he was (verses 24 and 25 \u2013 Also verse 34)?<\/p>\n

As we read on, we see that Jesus authority over the demons drew even further amazement from the people and word of mouth went before him into all of Galilee.<\/p>\n

Jesus Heals Many Others<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the synagogue, Jesus and others, including James and John, walked to the home of Simon and Andrew, where Simon\u2019s mother-in-law was ill. After he healed her, she took care of feeding them. Later that night, many more were brought in for healing.<\/p>\n

Since so many were brought to Jesus for healing that evening, it is clear that word spread quickly through town. Capernaum was a town of about 1500 during this period, so Mark\u2019s statement that \u201cthe whole town gathered at the door..\u201d seems pretty likely.<\/p>\n

Jesus Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark says \u201cVery early in the morning, but before daybreak, Jesus awoke and went to pray. When Peter and companions (probably the other 4) found him, he told them they were leaving to preach in the other villages.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to me to note that Jesus prayer time was followed by the action of going out. Jesus had a unique relationship with the Father, as he was divine, too, but he was also human and I believe his humanity craved for the presence of God in the same way we do. Can you recall a time in your life where the presence of God was so real that you find yourself trying to \u201cget back\u201d to that place? Jesus, as a former resident in Heaven, had, for an eternity past, been physically in the presence of the Father. Maybe this is part of his very often seeking to be alone with God.<\/p>\n

Jesus Heals the Leper<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark 1:40-45<\/em><\/p>\n

This exchange between Jesus and the leper is one of the most interesting conversations I have read. The man came and \u201cbegged him on his knees\u201d\u2026 There are several things \u201cwrong\u201d with this picture:<\/p>\n

1. Since this man was a leper, he should not be within 6 feet of any other human.<\/p>\n

2. If the wind was blowing, he cannot come within 150 feet of other people<\/p>\n

3. He must be wearing torn clothes, his hair loose, upper lip covered and be crying out \u201cUnclean, Unclean\u201d<\/p>\n

This man was actually speaking to Jesus instead of shouting to him and all others around that he was Unclean. The leper said to Jesus, \u201cif you are willing, you can make me clean.\u201d There are some things that are noteworthy in this statement:<\/p>\n

1. It is NOT a question \u2013 It is clear that this leper believed that Jesus possessed the power to make him clean. He had no doubts about this capability.<\/p>\n

2. What he DID doubt was Jesus willingness<\/strong><\/em> to heal him.<\/p>\n

Leprosy was a disease that had no human cure. It was a picture of the nature of sin in our lives, and the Jews viewed it that way…and not JUST figuratively so. They believed that a person with leprosy as sick due to some sin in their lives. It was from this perspective that this man came to Jesus: \u201cIf you are willing, you can make me clean.\u201d It is doubtful that the man believed Jesus to be God, however, he likely had heard enough about him to know that he came FROM God (remember how fast Jesus \u201cfame\u201d spread throughout the region).<\/p>\n

The next verse contains Jesus response. Some manuscripts read \u201cJesus was indignant\u201d, but many read \u201cJesus was moved with compassion\u201d (Greek: \u201csplanchnistheis\u201d really means \u201cMoved to the innermost parts\u201d). Most translators use the latter set of manuscripts, however, the NIV is translated as \u201cindignant\u201d. Jesus indignation is important here, too.<\/p>\n

1. God hates sin and this disease is a clear picture of the way sin ravages our body and mind.<\/p>\n

2. Jesus likely hated to see the way this man had been treated and the (perhaps false) assumptions on the part of his family and friends concerning the sin in his life.<\/p>\n

3. It is possible that Jesus felt indignant toward the religious leadership that enforced the social stigma upon this man.<\/p>\n

No matter if you interpret his response as \u201cindignant\u201d or \u201ccompassionate\u201d, Jesus said to the man, \u201cI am willing…Be clean!\u201d This is a beautiful picture of how God responds to us as well:<\/p>\n

Even though we are slowly decaying physically, spiritually and emotionally as a result of the sin in our lives, it is exactly THAT sin that Christ came to pay for. His is both willing and able to heal us 100% and wants nothing less that 100% restoration of our relationship with him made possible by HIS sacrifice and HIS forgiveness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus Calls His First Disciples Mark 1:16-20 First to be called were Simon, who had been recently renamed as Peter and his brother Andrew. Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptizer and had chosen to follow Jesus when John pointed him out. Read John 1:35-42 to see this earlier meeting between Jesus and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,33,37],"tags":[36,31,14,34,20],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christian-living","category-mark-bible-study","tag-bible","tag-christian-living","tag-god","tag-hope","tag-jesus"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Mji6-6A","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}