Sunday, October 5, 2014

Snapshots of Jesus in Mark #4


JESUS THE HEALER
Mark 1:29-31



Photography began the social media revolution. It was the first major social media in history. In fact the computerized social media has its roots planted deep into the ground of photography. Photography started by centering upon people and events. Our early photographs are mainly people (portraits) or events (political, social, or military). Many of the most remembered pictures are done in a series (Civil war battles; pictures of the Great dust bowl; the depression). Mark has an interesting series of snapshots on the miracle healings by Jesus. He gives us a series of eight healing miracles (1:29-31, 40-45; 2:1-12; 3:1-6; 5:25-34; 7:31-37; 8:22-26; 10:46-52). This does not include other types of miracles portrayed in the gospel.

The first snapshot of Jesus as healer is a family affair. Is this not appropriate? It is the home that should see the healing power of Jesus. After being in synagogue on the Sabbath, he enters the house of Simon (Peter) and Andrew, with James and John. Mark 1:29-31 gives us a snapshot of the event.

The background is that which touches us all. It is a picture of every home at one time or another, when sickness strikes a loved one. It is a common event that hits us all. None are exempt from the suffering, stress, and strain of illness in the family. It strikes at our very heart, emotions, and physical well-being. It brings us to the reality of our helplessness not only for the one sick, but the family as well.  I am struck by threefold action in this snapshot:

  1. The Disciple’s action. It was immediate. The word is used twice in the text. Jesus immediately left the synagogue and entered the house (1:29). As soon as Jesus and the disciples entered the house, Simon and Andrew bring the situation before the Lord. There was no hesitation, no words of welcome, no small talk. “Immediately they spoke to Jesus about her” (1:30). The text in the Greek describes her condition more seriously than the English translation. It reads literally—“lying prostrate, burning with fever.”[1] Luke calls it the great fever (4:38). It is a present active participle built on the word fire and indicates a fever that is holding her in its grip.  Feel the sense of the urgent. Feel the sense of need. Feel the sense of desperation. This moves them to look to the person of hope—Jesus. The sense of dependence was placed in Jesus. They make their request known to Him. It is the natural place for the disciples to turn. And turn they did! “Therein there lies the very essence of the Christian life,” observes William Barclay. [2]
  2. Jesus’ action. Notice first of all, it is a silent action. Not a word is spoken by Jesus. He simply moves into action. Is this not the case in most of our lives? Jesus simply moves and works his ways silently and mysteriously in our midst. He makes no great pronouncement, but just acts in reply to our request. He silently moves with compassion, grace, and sufficiency. This has been called the private miracle. It is away from the crowds; done in the privacy of the home. The miracle is done simply by the touch of the Master’s hand. Upon taking her by the hand, the “the fever left her.” Is the touch of the Master’s hand in your home and your life?
  3. The mother-in-law’s action. She is raised to serve. It reads as if it is the most natural thing in the world—“she waited on them” (1:31). These simple words manifest many things. It demonstrates the completeness of her healing. No weakness or lingering effects as a normal ordinary recovery would display. It demonstrates the healing action by the serving action of the one healed. It is an action of appreciation and thanksgiving. It demonstrates newness of purpose: serving the one that healed her. It pictures the reality of the saying: “saved to serve.”  How about us? We who have been saved from the feverishness of sin—are we serving the one who touched us?  





[1]  D. Edmond Hiebert, THE GOSPEL OF MARK, [Bob Jones University Press, Greenville, SC, 1994],
[2]  William Barclay, DBS: MARK, [Westminster Press, Philedelphia, 1973], 38. 

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