Mark 1:21-39
A. INTRODUCTION
I don’t really need to tell you, but ask someone today what it means to practice the Christian faith and you will end up with a variety of responses:
Some will say that it means living a good life. Some will say it means living according to the ethical principles on which this country was founded. Some will say it is a matter of being married in a church, and having your children ‘christened’. Some will say it’s a matter of being involved in the church, but by that they mean only doing as much as they feel the need. And some will say it is doing your bit for the church, but by that they mean limiting their commitment to only maintaining the physical presence of the church building.
If you ask people today what it means to be a Christian, you will end up with a variety of responses. But are they right? And what does it actually mean to practice the Christian faith?
Well, this is a question I’d like to examine. And what better way to examine it than to use the example of Jesus himself. Because in this passage from Mark’s gospel (and the short passage that follows) we have a cameo of the sort of things that Jesus did. It’s like a snapshot of twenty-four hours in the life of Jesus. And there are four things that Jesus did, of which are of particular note.
B. THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS
1. The Practice of Regular Worship (1:21-22)
And the first thing we find that Jesus did was to worship in the synagogue. Now, Jesus was in Capernaum and, as soon as it became the Sabbath, Jesus went into the synagogue, as was his regular practice.
Now, the synagogue was a very important religious institution among the Jews of the day. It provided a place where the people of God could study the scriptures and worship God. And that was precisely why Jesus was there. Except for the fact that in Jesus’s case, there’s a slight twist. Because there was also a custom to allow visiting teachers to actively participate in a worship service, by invitation of the synagogue leaders. And in this instance—even early on in his ministry—Jesus’s reputation had gone before him. As a consequence, he was invited to speak, and he used the opportunity to tell people about God. And what he had to say amazed people, to such an extent that the people knew there was something special about him—although they weren’t quite sure what.
2. The Practice of Showing Compassion (23-34)
The second thing that we find is that Jesus showed compassion. And we have three instances:
a) The Demoniac (23-28)
The first occurred whilst he was still in the synagogue, when he was confronted by a man possessed by a demon. A demon, who was calling out to all a sundry that he knew precisely who Jesus was.
Now bearing in mind it was against the rules of the day for anyone to be given healing on the Sabbath itself, unless there was a risk of immediate peril to life. But Jesus healed the man who was possessed anyway, and let him go on his way.
b) Peter’s Mother-in-Law (29-31)
The second instance occurred shortly after in the home of Peter and James, where Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever.
Now remembering fevers in those days were considered to be independent of whatever else a person may have had—and therefore not likely to have been considered life threatening. But Jesus stood by her bed, took her hand, and lifted her up. And almost immediately she started preparing a meal.
c) Healing the Sick and the Demon Possessed (32-34)
And the third instance occurred after sunset, when the Sabbath was considered to have been over and the new day begun. Because what Jesus had said and done in the synagogue had become public knowledge. And, as a consequence, the people of the town brought people with all sorts of diseases and the demon possessed to Jesus, and he healed them.
d) Comment
Now of course some people have suggested that Jesus’s motivation was not purely from the point of view of compassion. And there is an element of truth in that. After all, wouldn’t a sick mother-in-law at home have been a possible obstacle from Peter following Jesus. And wouldn’t Jesus have been keen not to have his ministry hijacked—so early on in his ministry—by the expectations of the people believing he was some sort of political Messiah.
However, breaking the rules in regard to healing on the Sabbath—where lives were not at risk, and risking the wrath of the religious authorities in doing so—seems to me to suggest more a mark of compassion, and a comment on the insensitivity of the rules, rather than a man seeking to cure people because he had another agenda.
3. The Practice of Private Prayer (35)
And after these events, the third thing that we find that Jesus did was to go out of his way for private prayer. Even in Jesus’s busy schedule he still made time to be alone to talk with his Father.
After the crowds of the evening had drifted away—and before the light of day had dawned—Jesus got up, left the village, and sought a solitary place for prayer. He deliberately withdrew himself from (being available to) the crowds, so that he could turn his attention to having time out for spiritual refreshment. And it is a pattern that Jesus repeated on a regular basis.
Indeed, there are three occasions recorded in Mark’s gospel alone where we’re told that he practiced these times of private devotion. In each instance it is at night and in solitude. The first, this one, at the beginning of his ministry, when his ministry is being defined (1:35). The second, in the middle of his ministry, after the feeding of the five thousand (6:46). And the third at the conclusion of his life and ministry, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane (14:32-42). But these weren’t just isolated incidents. This was a pattern that he had adopted through life.
4. The Practice of Obedience (36-39)
And the fourth thing that we find that Jesus did was to remain obedient to God—he kept focussed on the things God had asked him to do.
Because the crowds returned in the morning wanting to see more miracles. But being a miracle worker was not Jesus’s main mission in life. For sure the miracles provided proof of his claims. But his real mission was to tell people about God and how their relationship with God could be restored.
So, when the disciples found Jesus in that solitary place, praying, they told him that the crowd had returned. However, Jesus knew that in order to carry out what God had asked they would all need to get away, to move on so that they could do what God was asking of them all.
So Jesus, and disciples, got up and travelled around Galilee—away from the Capernaum crowd. And Jesus preached in the synagogues that they came to, and he cast out the demons of those who were demon possessed. A ministry that would have taken them away from Capernaum for some time.
Now it must have been a tough decision to move away from the crowd, being a man of compassion. However, Jesus knew that the message he had to bring would bring spiritual healing, which the crowd who were currently waiting for him were not ready to hear.
5. Summary
In a twenty-four-hour cycle, then, we get a cameo picture of the person of Jesus. He was a man who was committed to regular worship. He was a man who was not afraid to show compassion. He was a man, who despite his busyness, made time to be with God to pray. And, he was a man, who despite the wants of the crowd, was not prepared to be hijacked from the work that God had asked him to do. And that pattern, that cameo, repeated itself again and again throughout his life.
C. IMPLICATIONS
So, let’s get back to our original question: what does it mean to practice the Christian faith? Well, for me there can be no better way than to imitate the example of Jesus himself. And I’d just like to briefly comment on each of the practices.
1. The Practice of Regular Worship
Firstly, the practice of regular worship.
Now it may be true, from a technical point of view, that to be a believer you don’t need to go to church. After all, as believers we’re justified by faith, and not works. However, the importance of meeting together on a regular basis cannot be overstated.
The Jewish practice of meeting together regularly in the synagogue—for the purpose of studying the scriptures and worship—has much going for it, in terms of building up our faith and allowing for our expression of gratitude to God. However, the idea of meeting together to encourage one another is also an essential part of Christian living.
So much so that even in New Testament times, when people stopped meeting together, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews (10:25) wrote: ‘Let us not abandon meeting together, as is the custom of some. Instead, let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day of the Lord (as, in the second coming of Christ) approaching.’
Regular meeting for worship, then, has much to commend itself. And if it was important, and necessary, for Jesus to worship in the synagogue on a regular basis, how much more important will it be for us to too?
2. The Practice of Showing Compassion
Secondly, the practice of showing compassion.
Now, we’re not all going to be surrounded by people flocking to see us, like they did with Jesus. And we’re not all going to have gifts of healing for the sick or demon possessed either. But that doesn’t mean that in our own way we can’t show compassion too.
The people that Jesus mixed with, on a regular basis, were the sick, the poor, the outcasts, and the otherwise unloved of his society. And he didn’t just wait for them to come to him, but he went out of his way to approach them too.
The second of the two great commandments states: ‘You are to love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:31a).
Now in the time of Jesus, in order to make life more comfortable, the religious leaders had redefined the term ‘neighbours’ so that it only included the people they were comfortable with. But it was a redefinition that Jesus attacked on more than one occasion.
‘Love your neighbour’ means that the care that we so easily afford to ourselves we should also give to others. Not less than we give ourselves, but at the same level and to the same extent. And following Jesus’s example, to all people around us no matter what their social standing, and no matter whether we feel comfortable with them or not.
3. The Practice of Private Prayer
Thirdly, the practice of private prayer.
Well, how else do we build up a personal relationship with God? How else do we keep in touch with what God wants us to do? And didn’t Jesus teach his disciples to pray?
Jesus gave his disciples a model form of prayer which we’ve made into a prayer itself: the Lord’s Prayer. A prayer which acknowledges who God is, that requests that he looks after our daily needs, that acknowledges that we have been less than perfect and that we need to be forgiven; and requests that we not be tested any more than we can take. But it is a model prayer which if considered seriously does indicate the need to practice private prayer on a regular, if not daily basis.
4. The Practice of Obedience
And fourthly, the practice of obedience.
We need at all times to have in the back of our minds the things that God wants us to do. Jesus didn’t always do what was expected of him by the crowds or even the disciples. But he always had in mind the tasks that God wanted him to do.
God wanted Jesus to tell people about him, and to give people the opportunity to get their relationship with God right. And no matter how much he cared and had compassion on those who were sick, he wasn’t prepared to be hijacked from his main task—and that was to bring the message of salvation to his people. And we shouldn’t be hijacked from this main task either.
D. CONCLUSION
What then does it mean to practice the Christian faith? Well, it is not just about leading a good life. It’s not just about living according to certain ethical principles. It’s not about being married in church, or even having your children ‘christened’. It’s not about being involved in the church, but only to a limited degree. And it’s not even about doing your bit for a church in order to maintain its material presence.
Being a Christian involves: the practice of regular worship; the practice of showing compassion to those in need, particularly the poor; the practice of private prayer; and the practice of being obedient to God in all things.
That’s what the practice of being a Christian is all about. And we have no better example before us than the one Jesus set before us to follow.
Posted: 1st August 2023
© 2023, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
