Why Do You Seek Jesus? (Mark 1:29-39)
Why Do You Seek Jesus?
Mark 1:29-39
Introduction
Why do you seek Jesus?
A tragedy is a story about someone who, because of a fatal flaw, and often with great skill or luck, attains to a great degree of success. Yet that success, so coveted and sought after, proves to be the very source of their downfall, a reality which the main character realizes all too late.
Consider, for example, Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Prince Hamlet of Denmark, after he learns that his uncle has murdered his father, seeks avidly for revenge. Yet, in his quest for revenge, he causes more chaos than if he would have simply let sleeping dogs lie. He deceives, fakes being insane, and causes multiple deaths, including his own in the end.
Yet this kind of tragedy plays out all the time. A man lusts for money so drives himself to work constantly. Even though he becomes rich, it is only at the cost of divorce, disordered family, and a heart attack. A woman craves a family and so tries to manipulate men into marrying her and giving her children. Even though she may have them, her controlling tendencies deform her family into something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed. A young man wants sexual fulfillment and turns to the internet and pornography, deforming him into the kind of man that only the wrong kind of women want to marry. A young woman desires to be beautiful and noticeable, so she turns to more and more bizarre styles of hair and outfit until she begins to look like something laughable rather than beautiful. All tragedies in the contemporary and classical sense.
The same dynamic plays out in relationship to Jesus. Many seek Jesus, yet in their avid desire to find him, they miss him—all to the ill of their own soul. Many seek out Jesus to get things that Jesus did not promise. Many seek him for ostensibly good reasons yet come short of a true understanding of who he is or what he came to do.
Yet still, in another example, the health and wealth gospel continues to thrive in America. According to Lifeway research, 76% of churchgoers believe that God wants them to prosper financially. Of the same group, 45% believe that they must do something (obey, give, etc.) in order to receive more material blessings in return from God. That is to say, at least half of people who go to church every Sunday (if not more) believe that God’s will for their life is to get more money, bigger houses, and nicer cars. And so they are driven in a pursuit of Jesus, striving after him, giving money to his cause, sometimes even exorbitant amounts. Yet, because Jesus has not promised them this in his word, the movement is full of discouragement, hopelessness, pragmatism, and vanity. The very thing that they seek in Jesus’ name is taken away from them, to the eternal destruction of their soul. It’s a tragedy.
Lest we point fingers at those evil health and wealth believers, let us be careful to measure to ourselves the same measure we use. We often treat Jesus like a vending machine. We come to him only when we have problems, difficulties, trials. We are frequently fair-weather Christians. We seek Jesus when we need him to do something for us—heal our bodies, fill our bank accounts, save our children, grow our church. Think about how many of your prayers this week were driven by simple desire for communion with him, or a desire to be in his word.
We see something very much like this play out in the Word this morning. This is the Tragedy in Galilee—the same tragedy that has played out in churches across the centuries, across the world, across all types of people, down to this very day. And it confronts us with a question that has eternal implications: Why do you seek for Jesus? As we will see, everyone in the story is looking for Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James, and John speak with Jesus about Peter’s mother-in-law. The city of Capernaum crams the door of the house to seek his healing. Peter finds Jesus in the wilderness and, with a reproaching tone, says, “Everyone is looking for you.” And the same scene played out all throughout Galilee.
We are confronted with the reality of the kingdom. Yet, just as the synagogue-goers in the story, we can either be caught up in the frenzied fascination of the spectacle, or we can respond humble in repentance and faith under Jesus’ word.
I. The Lifting of a Fever (Mark 1:29-31)
You recall the events of the previous passage. Jesus sat teaching. The people were astonished. A demon possessed man starts shrieking. Jesus commands him to be quiet and come out. The demon obeys. Capernaum recognizes Jesus’ authority. Remember that among that crowd sat Jesus’ four disciples—Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Synagogue would have happened in the morning, and the main meal after synagogue would have been around noon, right after synagogue got out. So, Jesus returned with Peter and the others to Peter’s house, which archeological evidence tells us was little more than 30 meters away from the synagogue—just up the street.
There his wife’s mother was laying ill on the bed. She had a fever—literally “fire.” It must have been somewhat serious. She was burning up, in our language. And Peter had to have put two and two together—here is a man with power, perhaps that power can help my wife’s mom. So, it says, “immediately the told him about her.” Literally, “The spoke to him concerning her.” “Jesus, you just cast out a demon. Is it possible that you could also cure my mother-in-law? She is sick, and she is here. She has a fever. Can you heal her?” Jesus agrees to it. He came into the room, took her by the hand, lit. “raised her up” and the fever forsook her, and she began to serve them.
Mark emphasizes that this was a private healing. It was just him, his disciples, and Peter’s mother-in-law. His wife was likely there also. Peter was married, and later we know that Peter took his wife with him on mission trips. Tradition says that Peter’s wife preceded him in martyrdom for her faith.
This little vignette demonstrates something happening in Peter. He knew Jesus. Jesus had called him to follow him and become a fisher of men—a bearer of a message of repentance in light of impending judgment and forgiveness on behalf of faith. He watched Jesus command a demon and teach with authority. He was beginning to see in some measure that the Messiah had come. No doubt passages like Isaiah 53:4 begin to buzz through his head, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” Yet, like many of his disciples, he begins to think of this healing in terms not entirely selfless. It is an understandable thing to bring someone with power like Jesus to a sick family member—what else can he be expected to do? Yet, as we will see, this began to give him the wrong impression of why Jesus came.
But it also shows us something about Jesus. The OT has only a couple references to fever, but the primary one is in the Curses in Deuteronomy. “The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat…” (Deut 28:22). When the land was filled with fever, illness, and sickness, it lay under the curse. And because the curse came due to sin, it was only God who could alleviate a fever. In fact, one rabbi would later comment, “Greater is the miracle wrought for the sick than for Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah. For [their fire was] kindled by man, which all can extinguish, whilst that of the sick person is a heavenly fire, and who can extinguish that?” The answer, of course, is God alone.
Yet also we see something about Peter’s mother-in-law, indeed about all the background characters in Mark. Wherever Jesus went, he left an indelible impression on all he met and helped. Immediately she served them. Not only does this underscore the completeness of the healing, but also the effect that Jesus has on those he heals. Far from the kind of trite parallelism that we often draw—she served, we should serve—it underscores the impact this had on her. Remember: she was not at synagogue. She was home with fever. She did not see the exorcism. She knew nothing of who this Jesus really was—she had not seen his authority demonstrated. And now, seemingly out of nowhere, he comes in, unceremoniously grabs her hand, lifts her up, and she feels like a million bucks. What else are you going to do?
II. The Healing of a City (Mark 1:32-24)
The day passes on and the sun goes down, which has a big significance—Sabbath is over. While the hard-liner regulations of the scribes were not biblical ones, the people were still bound to them, and so they waited until the Sabbath had ended before they brought (lit, “carried”) their sick to him. Apparently, Peter wasn’t the only one with this idea.
The verb in v32, “they brought” is in the imperfect tense, literally, “they were bringing”—an ongoing process. They sat down for dinner—*knock knock*—answer the door, and its Mariam and Judah from down the street with sick little Benjamin. Jesus heals him. Sit down—*knock knock*—back to the door. Now it’s Asher with his injured wife, Dorcas. Jesus heals them. Before they can close the door, they see two more families coming—one with a long term demon possession problem, and another with a persistent fever. And pretty soon the whole town was at the door with all their illnesses and problems, and he heals all of them. That’s what it means by “many”—there were many who were sick, and he healed them all.
Now, there is a very clear distinction between demon possession and illness—v34 makes that clear. There are “various diseases,” and then there is another category of demon possession. And here we need to remember the point of verses 21-29. Jesus came primarily to preach—that’s vv14-15. He came not as a miracle worker but an itinerant preacher, coming to proclaim that the kingdom of God was at hand and that all those who did not repent and trust in him would be judged. And as a way of demonstrating his authority over his kingdom, and that his kingdom was at hand, he casts out a demon in front of the whole town. Thus, there is a unique role for exorcisms in Mark’s gospel—it demonstrates Jesus authority as the Messiah, the Son of God.
That’s why Mark separates demon possession from other illnesses—it has a different role. And that is also why he commands all the demons to be silent. They knew him—and so he makes them quiet. And here again we see a great irony. The demons see Jesus and the know him, yet they cry out in terror. Yet the crowd all the while doesn’t seem to be listening or watching. In other words, the crowds perceive Jesus’ authority but fail to understand its significance! He has authority to cast out demons—this much they knew as proven by the fact that they brought the demonized to him. Yet they should have seen in that authority—here is the Messiah! The Kingdom of God is at hand! I must repent and believe, just as Jesus preaches! Yet they don’t. The silence is deafening.
All of this has a striking effect on how we understand Jesus’ ministry. Jesus did not come primarily to heal. Not as Mark presents Jesus. Yet the striking reality is that he still does heal! Even though it is not his primary purpose, there was still something of his authority demonstrated in every healing. His compassion for the hurting leads him to alleviate suffering wherever he saw it. Even the whole city—again, relatively small, around 600 people.
Yet even still, it would be a mistake to read this report of Jesus ministry in Capernaum as a report of success. Jesus extends physical healing out of compassion, yet we should not miss the fact that the frenzied attention he receives is a misunderstanding of who he is and what he came to do. Jesus is not a miracle worker. He has not come just to heal. He has come as the King of his kingdom. He has come to preach that kingdom and call people to repentance and faith. He has come to establish it upon the sacrifice of himself. The response he seeks to his preaching and his authority is not to heal, but to repent and believe!
III. The Mission of the Messiah (Mark 1:35-39)
Jesus doubtlessly served late into the night, and yet he was still up before the sun—between 3-6am. And he went out to pray.
There are only three times in Mark where it reports Jesus praying, and it is always at a pivotal moment in his ministry. Here, he is about to launch into his preaching ministry in Galilee. In Mark 6:64, Jesus prays right before feeding the 5000. And in Gethsemane (ch14) Jesus prays before his crucifixion. In the beginning and middle and end of Mark, Jesus prays.
But more important than Jesus’ example is the place where he goes. Mark is deliberate. In his adept storytelling, he weaves in another reference to what he has already laid down. He goes to a “desolate place.” But that doesn’t get it across. Literally, it says, he went out to a “wilderness place.” If we don’t know Capernaum, we don’t catch the significance. It obviously isn’t that. It’s cultivated, populated, livable. It isn’t a desert. So, we must ask, why call it that?
It recalls Jesus’ own wandering in the wilderness for 40 days in 1:12-13. The wilderness is a place of judgment, a place of exile, a place where the people of God bear the curse. Jesus, in an identification with his people, sojourns as an exile under the judgment of God in the wilderness. He goes out into the wilderness to retrieve his people and lead them to the promised land. But what happens? He comes preaching the nearness of the kingdom, demonstrating his authority—and his people do not recognize him.
In fact, the pattern is the same each time the phrase “wilderness places” occurs (3x, here; 1:45; 6:31-32). Jesus comes preaching. He heals. It draws a crowd. He withdraws to the wilderness places. Some of the people seek him there for the wrong reasons. At one and the same time, it is like Jesus is both beckoning them to join him, while showing them that their rejection keeps them under the curse of God. They don’t see who he is! He prays in the wilderness!
Now, when Peter woke up, he immediately recognized that Jesus was missing. So, he gets the others and goes looking for Jesus. When they find Jesus, their statement bears the tone of criticism—“what are you doing out here? Everyone is looking for you. You belong back in town. We need to keep the ball rolling! You’ve got to keep healing people!” Apparently, the frenzied attention had got to their head. They would have read the report of Jesus ministry in vv32-34 and concluded that Jesus’ ministry was a smashing success! And so we begin to see that the disciples have a lot to learn. Even Jesus’ own followers have a difficult time understanding what Jesus is up to—something that persists to this very day, even among our own church at times.
The fisherman have not yet understood their purpose. They are there to follow Jesus in proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom, and therefore the requirement for repentance and faith. They have failed to understand their own calling. Mercifully, the Lord will lead them into greater understanding of what they have been called to do, but isn’t it always a long and patient and painstaking process. Even we as disciples misunderstand Jesus and require him to do what we believe amounts to success. “Jesus, the church isn’t exploding.” “Jesus, you need to heal us!” “Jesus, we need more kids!” “Jesus, why aren’t we in a building yet.”
How does Jesus respond to the misunderstanding of his disciples? Through patient, gentle correction: “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” He patiently instructs them, saying, “It is not my purpose to stay here. I came out to preach, not heal. I came to proclaim the kingdom, not to make everyone perfectly healthy and wealthy. I seek repentance and faith, not fame and attention.”
Yet, it is a great irony—one that continues throughout the gospel—that the very acts intended to elicit repentance and faith (e.g., casting out demons, preaching, healing) only manage to gin up a frenzied attention. Even though he does not come with that intention, it is what manages to happen nearly every time. His people consistently misunderstand him, and rather than being drawn to see the seriousness of their sin, they are drawn to the spectacle and the prospect of healing.
In fact, Mark reinforces this by his summary in v39: “He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.” Did you notice what is absent from that verse? Healing. No doubt Jesus did heal—but when Mark summarizes Jesus’ ministry, he only reports the casting out of demons. Why? Because that was a unique act of Jesus to demonstrate his authority over his own kingdom. And if the king was here, the kingdom was near, and repentance and faith was required. Yet, we assume, in town after town the same story played out as in Capernaum.
Conclusion
Why do you seek Jesus? Why do you gather with his church? What draws you to pray to him? To read his word? Why are you here?
That is not a theological question. It is a question of motive. It is a question that exposes our hearts. It turns us inside out. It holds up the mirror to ourselves. So, look in it. What do you see? Why do you seek Jesus?
Some seek Jesus for selfish purposes. As we already stated, many today are seeking Jesus because of the promise of wealth and prosperity and health. This is idolatry. And yet churches are stuffed because of the message, and these stories are championed as success stories that magnify the glory of Christ. They are not.
Yet there are many other reasons today that people seek Jesus.
· Church is therapy. Jesus makes me feel good about myself. Attending church is good for my mental health. He’s a psychologist designed to fix my brain chemistry or some other disorder.
· Church is connection. Jesus connects me to other people. Jesus gives me community, meaningful connection, a spiritual family.
· Church is experience. Jesus leads me into deep spiritual experiences. Communion in prayer. In some traditions, speaking in tongues, witnessing miracles, or seeing amazing things happen.
· Church is life-help. Jesus is a life-coach. Sanctified TED talks. Good advice on the issues of life. Jesus is here to solve my problems.
Jesus did not come for these purposes. Doubtless it is true that Jesus is the wonderful counselor. It is true that in his body there is a warm and meaningful fellowship. Truly those who know him are at times carried up as it were into the third heaven in communion with him. Surely he can help us with decisions in life. But these are only fringe benefits. The true and substantive reason for seeking Jesus is to be with him—to enter his kingdom. Which means that the only means of truly seeking him is repentance and faith. Peter says “everyone is looking for you.” If only everyone prosecuted their search for Jesus on these terms.
However, I think that many of us are in a somewhat different position. Many follow Jesus with good intentions but still misunderstand his mission—like Peter. We look for him to do certain things among us, and they don’t happen. Or, they happen for a little bit and then they stop. Then we seek out Jesus with our friends in order to tell him, in a reproachful tone, “Jesus, everyone is looking for you.” Brothers and sisters, if we seek Jesus like this, we will not find him.
So, what needs to be realigned in your thinking about what we’re doing here? Think specifically of church planting. Why were we drawn to this? Are we seeking him in repentant faith and obedience to his call to make disciples in all nations, including Rosemount? Or do we want to be part of something that simply is meaningful, lasting, self-soothing? Something I can influence, something I can take control of, something I can steer and direct.
At bottom, we need to remember that the mission of Jesus is not to make a spectacle—it is to proclaim the kingdom. And this is our mission as well. We proclaim the kingdom. We call for faith and repentance. And we practice repentance and faith ourselves. Let our lives not mirror that tragedy of Galilee. Let us not voraciously pursue what we want, only to have it culminate in our downfall.