December 1927
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man came .with an “if,” the Savior turned the tables and placed the “if” where it belonged, upon the man’s unbelief (9:23). We cannot always say it is His purpose to heal, nor can failure to be healed be always charged to unbelief. Where faith is not given, our prayer must be “Thy will, not mine, be done.” The leper was healed. Strange to note, Jesus charged him not to advertise the fact. There are several of these injunc tions to silence about His miracles. The reason in this case is revealed in the clos ing verses. It is evident that our Lord desired to check, so far as possible, the tendency to regard Him simply as_a “mir acle-man,” a wonder-worker. This would draw: great crowds of curiosity seekers, hinder His movements and blind men to the primary object of His mission, the salvation of men. The Savior seems to have placed a dif ferent estimate upon miracles than do some today. It was no “advertising me dium” to draw crowds, with Him. He did not desire crowds who were drawn by news of miracles. When the leper started “broadcasting,” Jesus left town and did His work in desert places. There is something worth pondering here. Careful students have often sus pected that miracles may often be a burden to the Gospel, rather than a help —at least a certain kind. They cause too many mouths to run away. Furthermore, too many are deceived by “lying wonders,” against, which the Scriptures have warned us in the last days. Many do not discern the fact that the world has always been full of so-called miracles, from an in fernal source. Miracles like unto those our Lord per formed—miracles performed in the spirit in which He performed them—are rarely heard of today. That many are healed through the prayer of faith, there can be no doubt. Those who are so healed may well praise God, and then remember that their gratitude can best be shown by liv ing for Christ and winning men to Him—- not by parading their faith before the world (Rom. 14:22). When it comes to some of the widely advertised healing operations today, it might be well, before starting to testify to their divine powers, to recall the story of the man who for five years sat in a wheel chair so crippled with rheumatism that he could scarcely move. His wheel chair had been taken one day to a near by park that the cripple might enjoy the sunshiije. A swarm of bees came along. The invalid jumped from the chair, ran a block to the house, and was never afflict ed thereafter. I - o— P ith and P oint “Let us alone” (v. 24). That’s all sin asks of purity. A man can be orthodox and in the bonds of iniquity at the same time (v. 24). V.-,-' A Jesus wants no compliments from those who are possessed of the devil (v. 34). Some think much business excuses them from prayer; others think God is pleased with prayer in lieu of work. Christ’s example answers all such trifling. “Nothing we do can ever fail, If God directs our way; Then let us seek His guidance sure, Lest we should go astray” (v. 35). I( :s never a question of conquering
J anuary 8, 1928 Jesus and th e Sick Text: Mk. 1:21-45
J OHN the Baptist having been put in prison, “Jesus went into ■ Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand : re- _
panies such cases, just as recorded in several of the New Testament stories. All the faculties become deranged. Such a case is beyond the power of medicine or any other healing system. Nothing but the word of Jesus (or the use of His name in the power of the Holy Spirit) can deliver those in such bond age. “Jesus rebuked him saying, Hold thy peace and come out of him” (v. 25). It was the demon speaking through the man. Jesus’ promptness in silencing the demon’s testimony concerning Him, shows that it was intended for mischief and in the end could accomplish nothing else. . To the amazement of all, after throw ing the man into convulsions, the foreign spirit departed from the man, and he stood before them in full possession of his fac ulties. Thus our Lord’s disciples learned the secret of delivering men by com manding evil spirits “in the name of Jesus Christ” to depart from men. Jesus not only had a public, but a pri vate ministry. He regarded individual cases as well as multitudes. So must all true servants of His. Peter’s wife’s mother who “lay sick of a fever" (v. 30), was lifted up by the hand of Jesus, and at once she began to minister unto others (v. 31)—a hint for all who have been blessed by Him. That evening many “who were dis eased’ and some who ’“were possessed with demons" (v. 32) were brought to Peter’s doorstep that they might experi ence the delivering touch of the Master. How the picture must have lingered in Peter’s memory—that crowd of suffer ing men and women in his yard—and all going away rejoicing in the Lord! It should be noted that clear distinction is made between cases of disease and demon possession and that demon cases were, in every instance, treated differently from cases of sickness or lunacy. The balance of the chapter pictures Jesus in His Galilean ministry. Mark loves to describe the ceaseless activity of Jesus, yet he notes fourteen of the Savior’s retirements for prayer. He sees Him “in the morning, a great while before day,” in a solitary place in prayer (v. 35). On no account would Jesus forego daily prayer, nor. did He let devotions interfere with work. These frequent- withdrawals of Jesus for prayer evidently chafed the impetu ous Peter. He, with others, interrupted Jesus with the words: “All men seek for thee" (v. 37). That was a lame excuse for intruding upon the Son of God. Did He not know when He was ready to leave the power-house and deal with men? Once when the son of a king called upon Mr. Spurgeon and was told by the servant that the great preacher was at prayer, it was thought necessary to in terrupt. The word went back to the caller: “Tell him I am talking with the King,." No matter how many wait for us, we cannot afford to leave out of our program what Jesus would riot omit from His. A leper comes to Jesus saying, “I f thou wilt, thou const make me whole" (v. 40). Some seem to doubt His willingness who do not doubt His power. When another
pent ye and believe the gospel” (vs. 14- 15). I . . God keeps time and punctually fulfills it. Up to this point, the Carpenter of Naza reth in meekness, had been performing the
common duties of life. Now He_ comes forth as the Christ of God, the Light of men. His private life ended in the river Jordan. The call of Peter, Andrew, James and John is next recorded by Mark (vs. 16- 20). Note in passing that Jesus always called busy, never lazy, men. These men were fishermen, and at the call of Jesus changed their nets for a new kind. They left all to follow Him and to prepare themselves to be “fishers of men” (v. 17). We read that James and John “left their father Xebedee in the ship with the hired- servants and went after Him” (v. 20). So should the call of Christ ever be considered superior to parental claims or even to those of a prosperous business. If He calls—go. Business can never give satisfaction if His call is not heeded. Mark opens the story of our Lord’s ministry with His casting out of demons at Capernaum (vs. 21-28). On the Sab bath day, Jesus entered the Capernaum synagogue and began to teach. “They were astonished at His doctrine for He taught as One having authority and not as the scribes” (v. 22). He did not quote the Rabbis but said: “I say unto you,” and He made statements that no mere man could make. We never hear any real authority in speaking on religious topics apart from association with Jesus and a profound belief in His word. " If any man speak,” wrote Peter afterward, '“let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). The preacher or teacher who is willing to be the mouthpiece of Jesus Christ will find that he has peculiar power over the lives of men and that “they are astonished at his doctrine." A man possessed of a demon became noisy in the midst of our Lord’s message in the synagogue. He began to cry out, “Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee,-thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know who Thou art, the Holy One of God” (v. 24). This was no mere case of hallucination, a nervous disorder, a mental case. This, man’s personality was under the dominion of a foreign spirit. He was deprived of the normal control of his own spirit. He was mastered by a superior will. Modern scientists are not so hasty as some have been to ridicule the Bible accounts of demon possession and to classify them as ordinary lunatics. There are cases in asylums known to be more than mentally deranged. They are affected by the influence of some more powerful spirit. They have a dual-per sonality. Illness of body often accom
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