Mark 1:29-39
Pr. Kurt A. Van Fossan – In Nomine Christi Iesu
Did you see the connection between the OT and Gospel readings? In the OT reading from Isaiah, God is described as the one “who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.”—who “does not faint or grow weary,” and whose “understanding is unsearchable.” Then in verse 29 we read that this same God, “gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.”
We first hear of the power and majesty of God, which can be frightening to us weak sinful people, especially if you think of this God-man comparison as being similar to man over insects. God fills the universe and we are, in our sight, tiny specks. As easily as we sweep way annoying insects, so too God can sweep us way—He can “make rulers of the earth as nothing.” When we consider this greatness of God and then hear of His mercy on us poor miserable sinners, we can better appreciate His incredible love for us. This almighty God who fills the universe loves us faint, weary specks.
This is also what we see about God in our Gospel reading. His strength and majesty as almighty God is demonstrated in His power over all diseases and demons, while at the same time we see His love and mercy as He heals those who are weak and plagued with sickness. Jesus is even concerned with and heals Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever. When it comes to the effects of sin, nothing is too big or too small for the Lord to deal with.
Having said all that, this is a message that can easily be misunderstood. It’s misunderstood by those who teach that if you trust in Jesus you will live out your life in this world in good health and great wealth. If you’re not in good health or great wealth then you just need to trust in Jesus more. After all, doesn’t He have power over all sickness. Our text is proof of that. And doesn’t it say in 2 Corinthians 8:9 that Jesus Christ, “though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”
Such teaching is not only common in some cults, but is also taught in many parts of the Christian church today. It’s an easy mistake to make, because Jesus certainly did come to deliver us from sin and all its effects. But if we are searching for a Jesus who will cure all our earthly problems according to our “wisdom” and timing, then we’re searching for the wrong Jesus.
That’s why the last paragraph of our Gospel reading is important. “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] 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.’"
Why do you suppose there were so many people looking for Jesus? Was it because of His preaching or His miraculous healing of the sick and demon possessed? Most likely the majority of them were searching for Jesus to be healed immediately of their various diseases. But Jesus’ purpose in healing “many” (notice our text says He healed “many,” not all), His purpose was not to suggest that He would immediately wipe out all sin and sickness in this fallen world (that will happen on Judgement Day). His miraculous healing of the sick and demon possessed identified His divine power as God, as well as His love and mercy, so that we would now listen to His every word—that we would listen to His plan of salvation.
In His response to the disciples’ comment that “everyone is looking for you,” Jesus emphasized this preaching of His Word—His plan for our eternal salvation.
The same is true today. The proclamation of God’ Law and Gospel through His Word and Sacraments is the most important thing. By the way, that is the significance of the two stained glass windows above the altar. The one on your left represents God’s Law or 10 Commandments. The commandments of God certainly condemn each one of us, making it clear that we deserve God’s harsh judgement. I think the sabre in the hand of this Moses looking figure helps to get that message across! Then on your right is an image of Christ holding not only the Word of God (of which He is the flesh), but also a cross.
Which is a perfect lead into the Gospel. Next Saturday is Valentines’ Day, and the most prominent symbol in this world for love, especially seen on Valentine Day, is a heart. In fact it’s such a well known symbol for love that all you have to do is write “I ♥ YOU,” and people automatically read. “i love you.”
What would you think about sending a Valentine Card which said “i you.” What does this mean? We as Christians know it as the deepest expression of love. The cross reminds us of the great love of God who, even though He is infinitely more powerful and knowledgeable than man; even though He can melt the earth in a breath; even though He would be perfectly justified in condemning each and everyone of us—yet He become a man so that He could sacrifice Himself on the cross for our sins—so that He could take His harsh judgement against our sins upon Himself, and give us instead the gift of eternal life in the kingdom of God.
Whenever you start feeling sorry for yourself because of whatever, and need some motivation to keep you going, the cross is a good place to go. It reminds us of God’s sacrificial love—that in order to cure us of our greatest sickness (the sickness of sin which doesn’t just make our lives unpleasant here but would have resulted in our eternal misery), that in order to cure us of our sins, God Himself had to become a man so that He could suffer and die in our place. And the empty cross reminds us not only of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, assuring us that He is more powerful than sin, death or the devil, but it also reminds us that He is alive and with us today just as He promised. He’s here today through His Word and Sacrament to continue to keep us free from the eternal effects of sin and thus assure us of our eternal life with Him as a children of God.
Why do we still suffer? We don’t know all the details, but God does. What we do know and hopefully believe, by the grace of God, is that whenever we suffer now, it’s not because God doesn’t love us, and it’s not because He can’t immediately relieve us me of our suffering. Instead, He allows us to suffer for our good, or the good of someone else, or both.
If Jesus wasn’t above suffering for our good, neither are we! Instead we pray that He would strengthen our faith in His promises so that we would accept His will for our lives, whatever it is—that we would be able to look at all of this life, the good and the bad—as an adventure with a happy ending. Instead of complaining or being jealous of others, we pray that our Lord would enable us to be better witnesses of our faith in the midst of suffering—to, with St. Paul, “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Thanks be to God!
Amen
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