Mark 1:9–41
After an idea by Gary Johnson
In one English translation of the Bible, called The Message, the place in the Word where it says that the Word dwelt among us (John 1:14) is rendered with the words “he moved into the neighborhood.” That is the truth of the incarnation — Jesus became a man and lived among us. The Lord did all of this not only to redeem us, but also to show us how to live, so that our lives might be full and might glorify God. Having lived a full life here on earth, He knows what we go through day after day in our everyday lives. If anyone can truly understand us, it is Jesus. He has every right to say to us: “I know how you feel; I have been where you are. The road you are walking, I have already walked.”
The latest fashion in television programming is the so-called “reality show.” When these appeared a few years ago, people were intrigued by them, and that interest has not faded. What made them popular was that real people took part in them, people placed in real situations from real life. This helps us understand why Jesus was popular among people and continues to be popular across the centuries — because He is a real person who lived in our world and experienced the situations we ourselves face. Even unbelieving historians agree that at the very center of human history stands “that poor preacher from Nazareth,” as they call Him. Without doubt, Jesus Christ is the most dominant figure in all of history.
SEEK OUT PEOPLE!
The life Jesus lived “in the neighborhood” — dwelling among people — could be described as ordinary and unpretentious. And yet the influence He had was nothing less than stellar. There is no other person who has received more worship than He. No one else has influenced the nations of the world the way our heavenly King, the Lord Jesus, has.
But there is something more. Jesus not only became popular among people; He also became a cause of confusion in their minds. This is why we will do well to look into the Gospels and see what Jesus actually did. We want to look and learn from Him, from His human side, so that we can be like Him. And so, in an attempt to answer the question “What did Jesus do?” let us look at Mark 1:21, 29, 38.
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. (Mark 1:21)
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. (Mark 1:29)
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (Mark 1:38)
What was Jesus doing? He was going about, going out and seeking people. When He came to Capernaum, Jesus went into the synagogue. Why? Because that is where the people were on the Sabbath. After that He went into a house. What did He find there? People! Then He decided to go to the surrounding towns. What was there? People! We could call Him a person oriented toward people. He found people and made contact with them.
TALK WITH PEOPLE!
But things did not stop there. Let us see what Jesus did besides going about among people and connecting with them (Mark 1:14–15, 16–20, 40–41).
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14–15)
In this moment, Jesus was speaking to the crowds.
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:16–20)
Here Jesus was speaking with one particular group of people.
40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” (Mark 1:40–41)
Here Jesus was speaking with just one single person.
Clearly, Jesus not only went about with the aim of meeting people; He also talked with them. If we try to answer the question “What did Jesus do?” we would say it is quite obvious that once He met people, Jesus began a conversation with them. Without doubt He was a person oriented toward people — a person who sought people out and a person who talked with them.
REACH OUT A HELPING HAND TO PEOPLE!
But there was still more. The Lord not only sought people out and not only talked with them — He also helped them (Mark 1:40–41, 30–31).
40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” (Mark 1:40–41)
According to the customs of that time, and according to the Law as well, lepers were to be avoided at all costs. The rabbis taught the people God’s Law, and the Law required a person to avoid, to shun, the lepers. Touching a leper was expressly forbidden by the Law. The lepers themselves had to keep away from the healthy, and if anyone tried to draw near to them, they were to cry out, “Unclean, unclean!”
45 “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ (Leviticus 13:45)
And yet Jesus — the rabbi — not only struck up a conversation with the leper, but touched him and healed him. Jesus had compassion on him and showed him mercy.
30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. (Mark 1:30–31)
We see that Jesus did not hesitate at all. Women were little more than property in the days of Christ. They were regarded as inferior to men. Men could divorce their wives, but women had no right to divorce their husbands. Only men studied and were educated; women did the housework at home. This inferior status also applied to children. Nearly half of the children over eight years of age were either sold into slavery or doomed to prostitution. But Jesus was open to children — He played with them, prayed for them, blessed them, healed them, and even raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead! In the same way He valued women too, giving them the honor and respect they were due. According to many researchers, one of the reasons for the rapid growth of Christianity is the emphasis Jesus placed on lifting up and valuing those whom society had cast out.
What did Jesus do? Jesus not only spoke with the leper; He reached out His hand and touched him. He not only visited Simon’s mother-in-law; He extended to her a compassionate hand and healed her. In both cases Jesus went beyond the boundaries of the understanding and customs of His day.
Let us recall what we have established so far. What was Jesus doing? He was meeting with people. He was talking with people. He was reaching out His hand to people. Jesus was building relationships. Jesus loved people. They were important to Him. If He were alive today, Jesus would surely have a profile on Facebook!
IT IS NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE
Let us pause for a moment and think about how what we have learned so far applies to us today. And we will do this by asking ourselves three important questions:
- Do we — you and I — meet with people? Do we love them, or do we try to avoid them?
- Do we — you and I — talk with people? Do we strike up conversations with them, or do we keep silent and avoid conversations?
- Do we — you and I — reach out a helping hand to people? Do we have compassion on them, or do we prefer to keep everything we have for ourselves?
The answers to these three questions would reveal whether we consider people important to us. Are we building relationships and connecting with others — as Jesus did?
People today love to go “out for coffee” — why? Because sitting down over coffee, they can relax and talk quietly with one another. The coffee sellers know this, and so they create the best possible conditions in their establishments — nice tables, nice chairs, umbrellas, pleasant music. Why all of this? Just for a cup of coffee? No. Because they are selling something more than coffee — they are selling a place for fellowship. That is exactly why people are willing, instead of buying coffee and drinking it alone at home, even though that would be far cheaper, to go out for coffee — where the coffee may be more expensive, but the atmosphere is more pleasant and more conducive to conversation. Coffee — when it is sold together with fellowship — sells well.
All of this takes us back to the earliest days of creation. In Genesis 1 God created one after another the various elements of our natural world, and always after a particular act of creation He evaluated what He had made as “good.” Again and again in the first chapter of Genesis the same refrain is repeated: “and God saw that it was good,” and finally, after He had created everything, God pronounced it “very good.” But in the second chapter of Genesis we read that there was a certain moment in creation when God considered that something was not “good.” When was that? At the moment after Adam was created and before Eve was created. After He had made Adam, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” In the broadest terms, through this statement God is telling us that people need other people. It is true that it is not only the man who needs his wife and the woman her husband. People need other people.
There is a deep need in our lives that cannot be filled with money or with the other material riches that money can buy. We need fellowship. Fellowship fills a deep place in our lives that cannot be filled by our work, by the pursuit of our interests, by sport, by art, by the media, or by anything else. Nothing can fill this emptiness except other people. Why? Because God made us this way.
Today we live in cities or in town-like villages where thousands of people live. And yet could we say that the place where we live is a place of “crowded loneliness”? If you ask people, most of them would tell you that they feel lonely. We come home from work and shut ourselves up in our houses, avoiding any and all contact with people. We do not even eat together anymore. Each person opens his own refrigerator and eats alone. We do not visit one another. Everyone has closed in on himself. We think and live in isolation. People on the street and even in the gym have plugged their ears with headphones, seeking and placing themselves in isolation and seclusion. They are not interested in others. If people go on living this way, will it affect them? Oh yes! It will cost them dearly, because God said, from the earliest days of human existence, that for man — for the male, and this is certainly true for the woman as well — it is not good to be alone.
And so, as followers of Christ, we must live in a spirit opposite to the universal tendencies of detachment and avoidance of others. We must deliberately seek people out, talk with them, and reach out to them a helping hand.
OUR MISSION — THE CONTINUATION OF CHRIST’S MISSION
But let us return to Mark, chapter one, and consider two more interesting moments.
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9–11)
We could say that these verses tell how Jesus began His work. He left His hometown of Nazareth, where He grew up, and began His ministry. At this point Jesus changed His profession. What had He been up to this moment? He was a carpenter. He was a laborer. His hands were rough and calloused. Why? Because He was a man. But at this moment Jesus went from carpenter to preacher. He entered public life with His baptism, at which He was publicly proclaimed to be not just anything, but the Son of God. And now His work — His ministry — would be work with people. He invited a group of men who became His followers and whom He began to train. His disciples were trained by the method of “on-the-job training” — they learned the whole time they were with Him and helped Him in His ministry.
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:16–20)
The training of the disciples was a training that went on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The period of training lasted more than three years, and it was all bound up with community, with relationships, and with how to live and work together with others. The goal of this training was not for them to accumulate some body of knowledge, but for them to become like Jesus, to be His followers. For example, when Jesus walked on the water, Peter also tried to walk on the water. Why? Because he was a follower of Jesus.
Jesus knew that He would be with them only a few years, and that after that they would be sent out to extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ. After His cross and resurrection, in John 20:21 He says to them:
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
God the Father sent Jesus with the mission to seek and to save the lost.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
God sent Jesus to destroy the devil’s work.
8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8)
Now we are to do the same things that Jesus did when He was on earth. To seek the lost and to save them through the gospel; not to wait for others to serve us, but to serve them; not to allow ourselves to be defeated, but to destroy the works of the devil.
And so, when Jesus sent out His people, He knew they would encounter the same spiritual conflict. They were expected to fight with the Enemy. It is interesting that already in the first chapter of Mark we see that the on-the-job training of the disciples included a demonic confrontation (Mark 1:23–27).
23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” 25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” (Mark 1:23–27)
It is remarkable that every one of the New Testament books mentions the demonic realm. Demons are real, and so is their influence. And so, Jesus trained and sent out His followers. Notice what is said in Matthew 10:16.
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)
Jesus sent His disciples out like sheep among wolves. Just imagine! A wolf, or a pack of wolves — that is a rather threatening enemy. The wolf seeks to kill and to devour its prey. This means that you will be a target. It means that you will be under threat. It means that you will be exposed to danger. So we had better be watchful and alert.
Recently I read something very interesting about the harness dogs that are used to pull sleds in Alaska. In order to protect them from fighting and injuring one another, their owners would separate them, tying them at a safe distance from one another — each beside its own doghouse. This, however, created another danger. Recently a wolf got in among them and killed several dogs, because, separated as they were, they could not defend one another. Isolated, they were no match for their adversary.
In the same way, we too cannot resist the devil, who, like a roaring lion, prowls about, looking for someone to devour. This is precisely why the Lord Jesus, when He sent out His disciples, did not send them out alone, but two by two, so that they could stand firm against the spiritual enemy we have.
Just as with the Lord Jesus and the disciples in the first century, so we too are sent out to work — to extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ in the twenty-first century. And to achieve this goal, we must work together and not in isolation. If we do not work together, we become easy prey for the adversary. Therefore we must labor — to build and to guard our relationships — while we are among the community, and, like Jesus, seek people out, talk with people, and reach out to people a helping hand.
The way Jesus worked was by investing in people and building relationships with them. There was a very powerful reason why He did all of this. There are only two things that are eternal by nature — God’s Word and people. This is why, even though He was a craftsman and a carpenter by trade, Jesus did not build Himself a unique house full of unique furniture. He was not consumed with wasting His time on things that are easily flammable, things that will burn up like chaff in the day of judgment. No, instead He invested in people — by seeking them out, by talking with them, and by reaching out to them a helping hand. We, as His followers, must become like Him in this aspect of His humanity as well.
BELONGING, BELIEVING, AND BEING TRANSFORMED
Becoming like Jesus could be compared to climbing a ladder. At the bottom of the ladder are people — the people of the neighborhood where we live, of the job we work, of school, of the community in which we live, our near and distant relatives — while at the top of the ladder is Christlikeness — people who have the mind of Christ and who submit to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
The ladder of Christlikeness has three rungs — belonging, believing, and being transformed. The first rung consists of becoming part of a living church — a church that preaches God’s Word and that is full of God’s love. It does not matter how we are dressed, it does not matter what work we do, it does not matter whether we are rich or poor, it does not matter how old we are — we have taken this first step, and we know that we belong to our church. All of us are accepted into the church, because all of us are sinners saved by grace through the offering of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of Golgotha. We are drawn by God’s presence and gather together in order to have fellowship with Him.
The second step consists of not only being part of the church, but also of believing in Christ as Lord and Savior of our life, and of becoming part not only of the visitors, but of the believers. Here I emphasize that this believing must be not only in Jesus as Savior, but also as Lord. We must not only recognize our spiritual condition, repent of our sins, and beg for mercy with tears of repentance, but, once we have repented, surrender our will to God in obedience as His servants. Repentance is exceedingly important to Jesus, because He began His public ministry with the words: “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
The third step is for those who have already believed, who have surrendered their lives to the Lord and have been saved. God does not desire that we remain as we are; He wants us to be transformed, to be changed in a positive direction, and to become more and more like Jesus.
Becoming like Jesus is called growth in Christlikeness — this is exactly what discipleship is — to live like Jesus, to speak like Jesus, to act like Jesus. And to grow to the point where we become spiritual parents and have spiritual children who also begin to become like Jesus (Matthew 28:18–20).
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)
Making disciples consists of being followers of Jesus and of building followers ourselves. In Mark 1:17 the Lord Jesus said:
17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Mark 1:17)
And in 1 Corinthians 11:1 the apostle Paul says:
1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Something must happen, something must change, when we become disciples of Jesus. We must not measure the effectiveness of our local church by numbers — the count of visitors, the square footage of the building, the income from donations, and so on. No. Our effectiveness must be measured by transformed lives, by the change that Jesus works in us. This must be so, because we measure what we value, what is of worth to us.
The Greek word for “disciple” is “mathetes.” It means someone who follows the teaching of another. A disciple is not only someone who accumulates knowledge in certain disciplines, but someone who adheres to the way of life of his teacher. A disciple, in the Christian sense of the word, is a person who has received the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and then applies them to his life, living according to the manner of his teacher.
Lightweight Christianity considers disciples to be those who have declared that they have accepted Jesus. But a disciple of Christ is one who has not only been saved, but who has become a follower of Christ. Far too many people equate going to church on Sunday with being a follower of Jesus. Their attitude could be expressed in these words: “All I have to do to show that I am a Christian is to go to church from time to time.” What happens to us on Sunday morning — particularly in our thinking? Do we come to church Sunday after Sunday only to feel some kind of spiritual excitement? Do we come only as spectators who have come to see the “show” — who is doing what and who is saying what? If we do not come in order to be changed into the image of God, if we do not come in order to be transformed from glory to glory and from strength to strength in the Holy Spirit, then we are wasting our time. If the transformation that God’s Word speaks of is not happening in us, then our going to church is in vain.
In far too many churches the preacher is like a coach, and the church is like a team. We gather to discuss what our tactics will be for victory over the enemy. As we listen, we are all inspired and joyful, but when we finish, everyone goes his separate way and no one goes out onto the field to enter the battle with the adversary. No one goes to seek people out, no one talks with them about their eternal soul, no one reaches out to them a helping hand. We have developed our strategy for the fight against Satan’s “team of darkness,” but when our meeting is over, instead of going out onto the field and defeating him, everyone goes home and forgets why he was redeemed by God and what the mission and the task are that stand before him.
But imagine what would happen if all of us who come to church were consciously trained and equipped for ministry! What would happen if, instead of nominal Christians, we became fully devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? What would happen if we stopped isolating ourselves, and instead entered into our contemporary culture with the anointing of the Holy Spirit? Think of the defeat that we, as God’s army, would inflict on the kingdom of darkness!
Belonging, believing, and being transformed — these are the rungs of the ladder to Christlikeness, to becoming like Jesus.
And so, when we look at the human side of Jesus, we discover that for Him people were of the utmost importance. He wanted people to be part of His life, and He made every effort to delight in them. Could we say the same of ourselves?
Become like Jesus — seek people out, talk with people, reach out to people a helping hand.