Mar 1:29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
Mar 1:30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.
Mar 1:31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.
Leaving the synagogue after astonishing all with the authority with which He spoke and commanding an unclean spirit to come from a man, Jesus went into the house of Simon and Andrew. Inside the house Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a fever. The brothers told Jesus about the sick woman and Jesus went to her.
Taking her by the hand he lift her up and IMMEDIATELY the fever was gone! Healed instantly! The poor woman lay there all morning maybe into the afternoon sick with a fever and we all know how awful you feel when you're feverish. Too sick to get out of bed, she languished there and was probably longing for the fever to leave her just as we all long to feel better when we're ill. I know after a recent illness where I was feverish and sickly, confined mostly to bed that, I couldn't wait to feel better again. Had someone came into my bedroom and taken my hand lifting me up from the bed and I was instantly healed I would be in shock! This woman was healed and instantly grateful she was eager to minister to them. They'd just come from a Sabbath morning/early afternoon in the synagogue and they were most likely in need of sustenance. Ministering to them as if she'd never been bed-ridden earlier was amazing! I don’t know about you but for a lot of illnesses which make me bed ridden it takes a while to get my full strength back, a few days at the least as I gradually recover. This woman felt none of the lingering weakness an illness brings, she was fully healed and able to minister to the men. Praise God! Can you just imagine the joy in that house? I can.
After the sabbath was over people began to leave their houses. While they'd been taking their own sabbath repast, while they'd been continuing their worship of God in celebrating the weekly rest, the weekly God ordained sabbath, they were all thinking about Jesus. They'd witnessed something miraculous and they weren't forgetting it at all, would you have? I doubt very highly any of us would forget witnessing a miracle such as that. We know they didn't forget in fact every one in that synagogue went to their homes and discussed all they'd witnessed. As soon as the sabbath was passed they came to Jesus as Simon and Andrew's house and they didn't come alone. Just picture it… that first knock upon the door. Inside Jesus and the four disciples with him along with Simon's mother-in-law had enjoyed a wonderful sabbath and well rested physically, mentally, spiritually they were probably ready to discuss what would Jesus have them do next, where would they go next, what would they do, what were they going to learn. Then that knock sounded. Behind that door there was a gathering crowd of people who had brought their sick and possessed loved ones to Jesus. How big do you think the crowd was? Well ALL the city was gathered there! All the people of the city gathered at the door to that one house with all the hope of a miracle in them. Do you know anyone who is sick? Do you know anyone who you might suspect is possessed? Chronic illness is very, very common today and in younger and younger people, it'd be shocking if you didn't know of a single sick person, a single person suffering. I know of more than one personally and if I'd been there I'd have had them there waiting at that door praying for a miracle for them.
Jesus did not disappoint. He healed many that were sick of all sorts of diseases and He cast out many devils. It's important to note here that we are told that He suffered NOT the devils to speak- why? Because the devils knew Him. Of course they did! All the devils, all the evil spirits know who the Son of God is! They all know the sinless Son of God, they knew who He was from the moment He was born. God's protection kept them from attacking and killing Him, but they tried. Remember Herod asking the wisemen to come back and tell them where the Messiah was born? The wisemen didn't do that and an angry Herod had all the male babies two and under killed. Why'd he do that? It was at Satan's urging and it was because he had to try and destroy the Savior. Jesus at that point had been taken to Egypt at the urging of an angel to Joseph, and to safety. The Savior would be allowed to grow, to mature and then to begin His ministry. The devils all knew Him though. In His presence they couldn't survive and they knew that too.
So why didn't Jesus want the devils naming Him for who He was? Because He was creating a new covenant way and that new covenant would be established on faith in Him as the Savior, through a personal acceptance of Him after hearing His message. The healing, the freeing from possession was all part of opening the hearts, the minds, and the eyes of a people long blinded by untruths. To have devils speaking from the mouths of those they possessed would have meant people listening to the evil spirits as they cried out against their destruction- and honestly- people hearing these others speaking with the evil spirit voice declaring Jesus the Son of God would not have made those people believe in Jesus as the Son of God. They would not suddenly have an opened mind and heart saying to others- that's Jesus, the Son of God- an evil spirit said so. No, Jesus would not be declared the Son of God by evil spirits. The evil spirits wanted to fight for their existence, they wanted to bring the spiritual fight into the corporal world. The things they would say would not bring any edification to the people at all. It was enough that Jesus was destroying them, He didn't have to let them give voice to their existence- the recovered people were proof enough that they'd been possessed. We know evil spirits tell lies and there was no telling at all what sort of lies they might spew if they'd been allowed to speak.
Mar 1:32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Mar 1:33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.
Mar 1:34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
After all that healing Jesus went to sleep but He couldn't have slept long because before day light had come He was out of bed and out of the house. Jesus found a place where He could be completely alone and there He prayed.
Mar 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
We pray to Jesus don't we? We pray to God the Father but we also pray to Jesus and someone might contend that Jesus didn't need to pray. But HE DID, He needed to pray! And if the Son of God needed to pray how much more do WE need to pray? Seriously. Jesus received ALL His power from the Father. Jesus had to commune with God! Jesus was committing His life to God's will, wanting God's plan, the plan they'd made together before He'd taken on humanity, wanting their plan to be realized. Jesus was no longer in spirit form, Jesus no longer of His own self to anything. All things had to be done through the power given to Him by God the Father.
Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Joh 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
Jesus alone, without God the Father could do NOTHING. This is the truth spoken of by Jesus Himself!
Yes, Jesus prayed and prayer is what? Prayer is talking to God, it's talking to the Father. Jesus even told us to pray…
Our Father which art in heaven.
How wondrous was the message our Savior was bringing to us! Jesus was revealing the Father to us in a way no other could do! It was the will of the Father that people be healed. It was the will of the Father that people be freed from unclean spirits, freed from devil possession. It was the will of the Father that people understand that the bondage they were captive to was a result of living in a sin-sick world and it wasn't a sin-sick world that God wanted! He wanted people to live free from sickness, free from possession! Revealing this to people was vital because sin had hardened the hearts of so many, the hearts needed to be cultivated, the hard ground broken so that the message of the Savior could have a chance to thrive.
Today we live in a world even more immersed in sin than ever before and it's the message that Jesus came and gave to us that we need to live and breath in order to allow Him to thrive within us. We have His message it is given to us as it was given to them and we need to live it, really live the message, really live the faith!
By His amazing, amazing grace!
In His love!
Amen.
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