Daily Devotion – February 1, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Mark 1:29-39
1:29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
1:30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.
1:31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
1:32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.
1:33 And the whole city was gathered around the door.
1:34 And he cured 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.
1:35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.
1:36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him.
1:37 When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.”
1:38 He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”
1:39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Early early early on in Jesus’s ministry he healed both friends and strangers. Jesus, with a touch, could cure a fever, as he did with Peter’s mother-in-law, and as word spread, the disciples could see Jesus would be a man with a crowd following him always. I would like to have been a fly on the wall in Peter and Andrew’s house, as Peter’s mother-in-law was cured, got into the kitchen, and started serving. No doubt someone else there immediately ran across the street and brought her sick relative over, and then word spread to 2-3 streets away, and soon the house filled up. The new disciples (there weren’t even 12 yet) must have looked at each other and must have begun to think about what they had signed on for when they agreed to follow Jesus. They would be learning from a master who drew crowds.
Probably dozens arrived that same day and night to be cured and to have demons cast out. Eventually things got quiet, and Jesus himself, weary from the power he had expended loving and caring for this crowd, probably slept a bit. But he awoke early and, knowing it would be another busy day, went off to pray alone in some secret place.
If Jesus’s mission was to proclaim that God’s kingdom was among the people, embodied in himself, and to show the abundant love of that Kingdom by curing the sick, he knew he would have to move among the many towns in Galilee. Or perhaps he wondered whether that ought to be his strategy. He may not have known when he left to pray, but later, when the disciples sought him out, the answer from God had been clear: he told his disciples, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”
If you have ever felt yourself at a turning point, unsure exactly which way to turn, and if your decision is complicated by a lot of people swarming around you with all their needs or even all their advice, have you ever departed to a deserted place to ask God about it? Jesus’s so doing seems to have helped him clarify his mission and purpose, and he was able to state it clearly for his followers as well.
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. You remind us again and again that as God’s beloved children we each have gifts that we are called to put in service to our neighbors. Whenever we feel overwhelmed or confused, help us to remember what Jesus did in this story: get in touch with you, put our ears to work listening for you, get free of distractions so that we can pay full attention to you, and then be directed, loved, and empowered. Thank you for caring for us. Amen.
