THE FAMOUS ONE

This was the 2nd message from the book of Mark, a part of our SHOW ME THE WAY message series. It is my desire, throughout this series, to keep the emphasis not on the scholastic journey, but on the process of application and life transformation. This book should have a great effect on or pursuit of becoming more fully devoted followers of Christ.

THE FAMOUS ONE
Mark 1:21-45

Please turn in your Bible to Mark 1. In the Bible in front of you, it is on page 865 or 882.

Last week, we learned that John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, had been raised up to prepare the way for the Messiah, for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus called his first disciples, four fisherman, and they were the first to experience the kind of ministry that Jesus would have over the next 3 years. They entered Capernaum, which was on the North Eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the home base for those disciples. It would also be the center of Jesus’ ministry in the region of Galilee.

My plan, as we work through Mark, is to take this journey with the disciples, as they experienced who Jesus Christ really was, and what He was here on Earth to accomplish. We want to learn about Christ and His disciples; but let me challenge you to make this very personal. Put yourself in the sandals of one of these first disciples, and consider what response to Jesus Christ God is asking you to make in your life today. The theme of our message series in Mark is: Show Me The Way. We are looking at the gospel of Jesus Christ, in order to become more fully devoted followers of His.

You may have heard of American idol, the show that caused other shows to be created, such as America’s Got Talent. I want to introduce you to a young man, on Britain’s version of this variety show, who doesn’t look or sound very impressive at first glance; but then amazes everyone listening to him:

Britain’s Got Talent Video – 2:49

When the audience looked at this guy and heard he was going to sing opera, they were not quite sure what they were going to hear; especially since people know that many who sing on shows like this are absolutely terrible. But, then, he began to sing and the audience couldn’t believe it. Even if they were not opera fans, they were amazed at the incredible voice from this mobile phone salesman. It is not what they expected. When I saw this for the first time, I was expecting maybe a high, squeaky voice that the judges would make fun of; and then I heard this strong voice that everyone cheered.

This morning, we are going to see that the people who first encountered Jesus in His public ministry were completely amazed at what they heard from Him. This is not what they expected. He didn’t look like anything special; and they certainly were not ready for the claims he was about to make; and the incredible authority by which he made those claims.

Mark 1:21,22 – “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes.”

As I mentioned last week, Mark will use the term “immediately” quite often in this book, and we are reminded that this is a book of action. Jesus and His disciples went into the synagogue – the place of Jewish worship, to attend the normal Sabbath gathering. And probably by invitation, Jesus began to teach. They were used to different religious leaders, travelling rabbis, different scribes speaking the Word of God. But, this was different. Who was this guy? He didn’t look like anything special. But when he spoke – it was clear – He was unique.

Becoming famous:
Jesus had authority in His teaching
v.22 – “they were astonished at his teaching” why? “he taught as one who had authority, not as the scribes.”

They had heard the religious scribes read Scripture. They had heard the religious scribes teach. They were put to sleep by many of them. They were just doing their duty, reading and teaching. But, this guy Jesus – there was something different about His teaching. This was coming from deep within His soul. And when He taught, you just knew – this is meaningful. I need to pay attention. This man has authority from God!

It is interesting that although Mark’s gospel mentions Jesus teaching often, he does not tell much about the specifics of Jesus’ teaching. You read more about that in the other gospels. But, our focus is on this gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded by Mark. Without knowing the details of the content, we are supposed to know that Jesus’ teaching had authority – more so than any of the others who had taught in that place of worship.

This was just the beginning of Jesus’ problems with the religious establishment and its leaders. Because Jesus was so different, people were going to listen to Him. And His message was going to have a completely different focus than that of the religious leaders. And they were not going to appreciate that - at all!

The scribes would read the Scriptures and quote the readings from those who had come before, stating tradition after tradition. Perhaps you have seen or heard teaching like that: just readings from the past – no personal interaction, no life, no transformational truth. But, Jesus was definitely different. He would not be quoting some other scribe. He would be reading the Old Testament and demonstrating how those prophecies were now being fulfilled. This was new. This was strange.

Becoming famous:
Jesus had authority over demons

Mark 1:23-26 – “And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him! And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

Jesus’ authoritative teaching brought out strong responses in those who were listening; and one of those who responded strongly had an unclean or evil spirit or demon in him. He knew, unlike many of the other listeners, who Jesus was. He knew Jesus had the power to destroy demons and he stated that concern, along with the declaration: “I know who you are – the Holy One of God.”

The demons knew the truth but obviously did not accept it. So, Jesus said: “Be silent”. This is not the librarian instructing “shhhh…please be quiet” but the forceful admonition: “shut up – come out of him!” And with terrible convulsions and loud cries, the demon came out.

I am sure that one of the questions that comes to our minds with stories such as these have to do with demon possession today. I don’t have all the answers. We know in that day demons possessed people, caused great destruction, and even spoke out loud. Jesus specifically addressed demons and cast them out. There is no doubt that demons still do this today, even if we do not recognize it as a society or come upon it clearly ourselves.

What is important to focus on here is that Jesus Christ, this person who has come on the scene claiming something absolutely incredible is now going to do some things to demonstrate that He is exactly who He said He was. And one of those things was the ability to have authority over the demonic world. Even though the demon spoke truth about who He was, they had no authority to speak such things, while doing their destruction in people’s lives. Here is the key question: How did the people of that day respond to this?

Mark 1:27 – “And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

Here is something new. They were amazed, astonished, surprised. Not only was His teaching completely different than the present religious leaders; but that teaching came with authority over demons, which they had never seen before. The scribes certainly didn’t have that. The Pharisees didn’t have it. Only this new teacher: Jesus Christ, from Nazareth.

SO WHAT?
Believing and speaking the gospel must include the truth about Christ

I think this is an important application because it was then, and is today, the point of contention. The Jewish people were fine with the scribes teaching tradition and even talking about a coming Messiah. But Jesus was teaching that He was the promised Messiah and the only way to God. Today, that is still the issue. People do not believe that is only through Jesus Christ that they get to the Father. But, it is the true message each of us must believe and speak to others. It is actually a very unique message in our day of pluralism and tolerance.

And, just in case, using the word famous bothers you, when referring to Jesus, look at the fact of:

Mark 1:28 – “And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.”

As you can imagine, it didn’t take long for people to spread the news: There is this carpenter’s son from Nazareth, of all places, who claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God. His teaching is like nothing we have ever heard, and He alone has the authority to cast out evil spirits. It is unbelievable!

I have heard people, who feel they have been healed of something, tell me and everyone else who will listen about the person or product that they now fully believe in. Word spreads fast when someone truly believes their life has been changed.

Now, one of the important things we are going to learn on this journey with Jesus, is that He doesn’t necessarily do the things that we would expect. He doesn’t remain there in the synagogue, waiting for large crowds to come gather. Instead, as Mark reports, there are other places to go and more action to come:

Becoming famous:
Jesus had authority over disease

Mark 1:29-31 – “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.”

From the synagogue, it is time to eat lunch and they go to Peter’s house. When they arrive, they find Peter’s mother-in-law, who was going to do the cooking, sick with a high fever. Jesus simply touched her and the fever was gone. And her first response to her healing was to serve Jesus and her guests. This demonstrates that just by Jesus’ touch, she was completely healed, needed no recovery period, and was ready to immediately serve. But the authority over disease went much further than a high fever.

Mark 1:32-34 – “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.”

Word got out – There is a guy here who can heal people. Now, we know there are people today who claim they can heal; but I don’t think anyone believes that a human has the authority to heal like Jesus did. God obviously still heals today; but not like He did with Jesus. There is a very pertinent reason, I believe, why Jesus was doing this back then. It was not to eradicate disease. That was not his purpose. It was not to become famous. He wasn’t about that. We will come back to this in a moment.

The people of the town waited until sundown to bring the sick to Jesus; probably because they wanted to obey the Sabbath laws and religious regulations. But, because Jesus was able to heal any disease at any moment, it is no surprise that people, who had sicknesses of all kinds or were struggling with demonic oppression, came to him.

In fact, it was one of the tasks of the early followers of Christ – to bring people to Jesus who were in need. Again, John Mark uses hyperbole (exaggeration for effect): “the whole city was gathered…” because it certainly seemed like everybody had come to Peter’s house to see the healings or be healed. When people today are struggling with some type of disease and they hear a story that someone has been healed, they are probably going to follow up on that news, even travelling or going to great expense; just with the possibility of being healed.

Did the last phrase of verse 34 catch your attention: “…and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” If they were speaking truth, why wouldn’t Jesus allow them to speak? Keep in mind, that one of the things Jesus was trying to accomplish was not finding demons who would speak truth, but to demonstrate his complete authority over demons, which showed that he was who he said he was. They knew who Jesus was, they knew the battle they were engaged in; and they wanted the authority. Jesus would not allow it.

SO WHAT?
Take people to Jesus for physical and spiritual healing

Still today, Jesus is the name that can defeat the Devil and His demons. Still today, God heals, and in the name of Jesus, may choose to do so. Still today, it is only through Jesus Christ that someone can be spiritually healed and on their way to Heaven. Don’t forget that is what Jesus has called us to do, in terms of fishing for men; but it is still the unique work of God in someone’s heart.

You have probably heard the stories of people who have become famous, only to then lose everything that was once important to them. Many times, those who “make it big” end up struggling with the fame that it brings: relationships fall apart, people take advantage of them, they try to cope through drugs and alcohol, or they quickly lose their riches through bad decisions or wasteful living. Many people who have won the lottery or become famous for other reasons, will eventually say that the fame ruined them. Once they had priorities of life in line, strong relationships, and a purpose. Now, they have realized that money and fame do not satisfy; in fact, not handling it well can lead to living life without real purpose, except to remain rich and famous, or just to survive.

But, Jesus Christ, although becoming famous, proves that he knew exactly what he was here to do; and he also knew how temporal fame was, and how quickly people can turn on you. So, he did what was needed to stay in charge of the purpose for which he came.

Becoming famous:
Jesus had authority in purpose

Mark 1:35-37 – “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.”

Jesus had a very busy day of ministry. He was healing people well into the night. It was likely that the next day would hold the same; but probably all day long. Jesus needed a lot of rest and be ready for all the people that would be looking for him. But, instead, what does Jesus do first thing in the morning? He gets up before anyone else, goes to where no people are, and spends time in prayer. I mean, this is God in the flesh, and He took time out of his busy schedule, to be with God the Father.

This was hard for Peter to understand. Things are going well. All kinds of people are coming “out of the woodwork” to be healed by Jesus and find out who he was. So, when Peter finally gets out of bed, he sees all of the people waiting to be healed and see Jesus; and Jesus is nowhere to be found. How frustrating. Doesn’t Jesus know this is chance to be well known, since no one can do what he could do. Despite the demands of others on his time, Jesus took the time, even early in the morning, to spend time with the Father.

This pretty much takes away any of our excuses doesn’t it? We should take a moment here to consider this, because the Bible tells us we are to be like Jesus, and follow His example. Here is one key area that is a constant challenge for us. Are you or I more busy than Christ? We are busy, even in doing good things for Him; but certainly not more involved in ministry than Christ – especially since none of us have thousands of people knocking on our door wishing to be healed.

Jesus was without sin, but still needed to spend time before His full day of challenges and temptations. If anyone didn’t need time with God, you would think it would be God in the flesh, himself, Jesus! But, Jesus took the time, even in the midst of being the most sought after person ever, to prepare his heart for the day.

My excuses are gone: ministry, family, I’m tired, I have too much to do. Really? I was just sharing this past week, with a prayer partner of mine, that I have been struggling with this lately. For some reason, I have been sleeping more than I am used to; and that tempts me not to spend the time I need with my Father. I have got to prepare my heart each day, even in the midst of ministry. If Jesus needed to, than so do I; no matter how close I already feel to Him.
If you need help knowing what to do or read in your time with God, let me encourage you to begin simply. Take a few more minutes than you normally do, and pray about everything that is on your mind and heart. And, since God speaks to us through His Word, take some time to read the Bible. If you need suggestions, you can go to our website, listed in your bulletin, click on my blog and see a simple reading schedule for each day. Maybe just do part of it. But, whatever you do, be like Jesus in this way: take time in the business of life, and:

SO WHAT? In order to stay within God’s purpose:
Spend time each day with God.

I know that is simplistic and you have heard it a million times. But, I also know it is still a challenge for most of us to make it a top priority.
Back to our text. So, Peter finds Jesus and says: “Everyone has been looking for you.” Peter was probably thinking: Come on Jesus, we are on a roll here. People want to be healed, they want to hear what you have to say. You are famous now – isn’t this what you wanted? But Peter, and most of the people who lived in Jesus’ day, didn’t understand. Spending time with the Father was more important to Jesus than being available to people for their own purposes. And then, we are reminded of what Jesus’ purpose really was for all of these healings, in his response to Peter:

Mark 1:38,39 – “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.”

There is a connection here, to Jesus’ purpose, which he proclaims, and the time of prayer he just had. Three times in Mark, we will read that Jesus went to a desolate place, the kind of place where he was first tempted by Satan, in order to pray. And in each of these cases, he is faced with the temptation to accomplish great things outside of the Father’s plan. Here, he could have set up his tent, performed all his miracles and drew the largest crowds ever. But, the healings and miracles were for a much greater purpose than notoriety.

And Jesus states it here: “Let’s go to the other villages. I need to preach there as well. This is why I am here.” In other words, Jesus was not going to just do what the people wanted; which in this case, was stay right there and keep healing people. He would heal, but for a much greater purpose than to get people physically well. In fact, he makes it clear, here, that he didn’t just go around healing people; but continued to preach. And you may ask, what was he preaching? We know his main message, from the context:

Mark 1:15 – “…The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus was going public and healing and casting out demons, in order to get His message out: “The time has come: I, the Son of the God, the promised Messiah, am here, to show you how to get to the Father, how to get to be a part of the Kingdom of God. And in order to get to God, you must repent (change your mind and turn from what you have been believing) and believe the good news: that I have come to save you from your sins.”

That is why Jesus was performing miraculous healings – to authenticate his message – this new message that the Messiah had come in the form of a Jewish carpenter’s son, from Nazareth. And so that is what he did – he went all throughout the region of Galilee, probably for several weeks, healing, casting out demons and preaching this truth.

You see: Jesus was not going to be derailed from what he was here to do. Satan could not derail him in the temptation described in verses 12,13; and Peter, along with all those who wanted his attention could not derail him from spending time with God and proclaiming the gospel he came to deliver. Most famous people get derailed from what God sent them to do; but not Christ.

Becoming famous:
Jesus had authority over the process

In the midst of more healing, we are going to see, for the first time, Jesus’ understanding, not only of the purpose for why he was here, but the timing of this plan. And this is one of the reasons why, out of all the healings going on, the focus is on the healing of a leper:

Mark 1:40-42 – “And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, If you will, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will; be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”

We still have Jesus demonstrating authority over sickness, in this case, a leper. Are you familiar with what this man was going through? According to commentator Jerry Vines: “…it would start with his beginning to feel a little tired. For no reason he would have a feeling of fatigue. Then his joints would begin to get sore. One day he would notice little white spots all over his skin. Later those white spots would begin to harden into nodules. They would turn from white to pink to brown, and then become scaly. Soon nodules would spread all over his body.

The appearance of his face would change until he began to resemble a lion. The nodules would ulcerate all over his body, producing a foul odor. They would cover his vocal chords so that when he breathed there would be a wheezing sound. When he talked, his voice would be raspy. His eyebrows would fall out. His hair would turn white. Inch by inch this man’s body would begin to rot. As he walked he would leave putrid spots where the pus oozed out of his feet. His fingers and toes would begin to fall off.” This is not pleasant to think about, is it? But, it may have been this man’s reality.

“Leprosy attacks the nervous system in such a way that a person loses all sensation of pain. A man in the grips of leprosy might accidently put his hand in the fire and feel no pain. He would burn himself severely. He would step on a thorn in the path and feel nothing as the thorn ran through his foot. A leper was a walking death that lasted an average of nine years until its victim finally collapsed in a pile of corruption.

Not only would a person suffer unbelievable horror physically, but there was also social rejection. When it was determined that a man had leprosy, he would be banished from the village. He was no longer allowed to have communion with other people. He had to leave family, friends, and tear his garments so people would recognize he was a leper. Over his upper lip he had to wear a cloth so he wouldn’t spread contamination. Every time he saw people coming, the leper was required to cry, unclean. It would warn them that a leper was nearby. They would sometimes pick up stones to throw at him.”

This man was desperate, falling on his knees, and demonstrating faith: “I know you can heal me of this terrible disease, if you choose to”. “Please heal me”, is what he was saying. And Jesus did something against the religious law in that day. He touched the leper in order to heal him. That is not always how Jesus healed people. But, he was in control of this process; and I believe he was showing his kind of compassion as he touched this man no one would consider even being near.
And , Mark writes: “immediately, the leprosy left him, and he was clean.” Wow!
Once again, Jesus had this authority. It was Jesus’ choice, and he chose to heal him. The question has arisen: When Jesus healed someone, does that mean that they were automatically saved, and now going to Heaven; or was it just a physical healing? We don’t know for sure. But, there are a couple things we do know.

When Jesus was healing, he was also preaching the truth about repenting and believing the gospel (vs. 14,15,39). Also, we know how people are saved in any generation, whether it was before Christ came or after: we are saved by grace through faith. In this case, the man demonstrated faith in Jesus, in what He could do, which was connected to who he was. We are not told in most instances whether or not a healed person was also saved; but we know that physical healing is not what Jesus was there for – it was to bring salvation. Physical healing alone, just like baptism, would not have saved them. But, if they had faith, even if it was not demonstrated in a sinner’s prayer, then they could have been saved right then.

And then we have another very strange comment that was hard for them to understand, and we’re not sure we understand it still today. This is what Jesus said to the man after he healed him of leprosy:

Mark 1:43,44 – “And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

Don’t tell anyone, Jesus said. Instead, go do what you know is your duty. Show yourself to the priest, so he can see you are healed, and then declare you ceremonially clean. Some believe Jesus just didn’t want him saying anything until he went to the priest and then he could talk about it. But, it seems more likely, based on what we will read in the next verses, that Jesus knew what would happen if he did go tell everyone; just as already had been happening as people found out about the healings.

Jesus was becoming famous, but he, following the plan of His Father, had authority over the timing of his popularity. Here is what happened, after the man had been healed of leprosy:

Mark 1:45 – “But he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.”
The healed leper couldn’t help it and I guess I can understand. He began telling everyone what happened to him, and that news spread so far and wide, that Jesus was not able to just go into a town and preach because it would be overcrowded. So, he has to go out to the desolate places, probably like where John the Baptist used to do ministry, and handled the numbers of people coming to him.

You see: our perspective is not the same as God’s. Jesus commanded the man not to speak and he shouldn’t have. Just having crowds, healing every person there is to heal, was not Jesus’ purpose. But, we don’t have to worry. God’s purpose was not thwarted because this man didn’t obey. Jesus had authority over the plan, even when the humans involved “blew it”. That can be an encouraging reminder for us today, as well.
Last week, we pointed out that Jesus has called each of us to follow him and to learn to bring others to him. We blow it all the time; and yet somehow, God still saves every person that is going to be saved – amazing! Jesus as God and Jesus as fully man are balanced in these stories.

SO WHAT?
Trust in God’s plan and process

Like the first disciples, we do not always understand what God is doing or why he is doing it. We kind of know God’s overall plan, but there are many things we do not understand. Let us learn from Jesus and those first disciples: All we are responsible for is to trust Him and to obey what He asks of us. And when we fail, as we do each day, we can still trust that God will accomplish what He is going to do; and no one, not even us, can derail Him from it. Thank God for that!

Yes, Jesus was becoming famous, in terms of how the humans of that day were responding. It is not what they expected; but it did not take long to find that most of them did not fully appreciate what Jesus had to say. But, one thing was for sure: Jesus was here to give the truth that would save, and nothing would stop Him.