Providence Church (CREC)
February, 8th, the year of our Lord, 2009.
Mark 1:29-39
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
Fifth Official Sermon
Prayer: May the kings of the earth give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. May your holy nation of priests prepared to hear the spoken word rejoice in the message of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The gospel of Mark stresses the kingship of Messiah. The great King is coming to inspect His house and we read last week from verses 21-28 of Mark 1, Jesus finds his house unclean. The synagogue, which is the very center of worship and adoration, is now the house of Satanism. Jesus performs His first exorcism. It is a dramatic exorcism. It takes place in the middle of the synagogue in Capernaum. It is a public miracle that leads the religious leaders of the day to be astonished and amazed at the authority of Jesus not only to teach, but also to cast out the unclean spirit. The king is bringing His kingdom with great power and authority and the satanic forces attempt a massive attack.
In our narrative this morning we see the growing nature of these manifestations. The authority of Jesus is displayed in public, as we saw in the synagogue, but it is also displayed in private. In verse 29, Jesus enters the house of Simon and Andrew. We find that Simon Peter’s mother in law is sick with a fever. The text does not tell us what disease has caused the illness. In fact, in the ancient world a fever was described as a fire in the bones. Her body is exceedingly warm.[1] Jesus the public exorcist now comes as the private healer. Jesus’ confrontation with the unclean spirit is dramatic, but his encounter with Peter’s mother-in-law carries a domestic simplicity. Note the sequence of Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother in law: a) First, He comes to her. She is incapacitated. Unlike the blind that can still walk, this woman cannot stand. B) Secondly, He takes her by the hand. Jesus wants to comfort this woman by touching her hand. C) Thirdly, He lifts her up. Her fever kept her down, but Jesus lifts her up, and then d) the fever left her. Mark is very fond of using the word “immediately.” Here we have an immediate healing. It might have taken a matter of seconds to heal this woman. But also note that this process of healing is similar to the resurrection God grants His people. We were once dead in sin and Christ came to us, we did not go to Him. He touched our spiritually dead corpses, lifted us out of the grave and immediately took away the sin, which made us captive to death. This is one of the many pictures of our resurrection. This is the newness of life we have in Messiah our Lord. Continue reading “The Coming of the King, Part 2; Mark 1:29-39”
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