If you grew up with either a little bit or a lot of a “Churchy” background, then invoking the name of Jesus at least in some way is not that abnormal. You or your family may not have believed deeply or trusted Jesus with the day to day of life, but at least if there was some kind of acknowledgement of Him at Christmas time or Easter, then you were not out of line. And absolutely when there is a major crisis of disease, tragedy or death in the family, God will be brought somehow into the conversation. I’m always glad of course to have someone walk into our Easter or Christmas worship service. I am honored to help families at funeral times. I would never turn anyone away who was seeking some answers from God. But it makes me wonder if we are truly willing to grasp who this Jesus really is and what He came for? Do we really understand who Jesus is or are we just “Bible-Story God-acknowledgers”?
If this is how we view Jesus, then in some ways I can say we are in good company. As we study the Gospel of Mark I can watch that the early famous disciples who walked with Jesus, they too had to struggle with the “Messianic” figure and who Jesus really was as well. They were Jewish Scripture story people. And interestingly enough, these first century Jewish people had to sort this Messianic figure and His message out all while watching firsthand some of the most unbelievable miracles that Jesus performed. Jesus gave orders to impure spirits – healed family members – cast out demons – and even healed those with the most dreaded disease of the day, leprosy.
This Sunday we are continuing our messages out of the book of Mark. I will be focusing on the 2nd half of Mark chapter 1. Specifically, I encourage you to read Mark 1:21-44. In these few verses you will find four “Jesus healing” stories, and in the middle of these, a brief but incredibly profound interlude.
- Mark 1:21-28 – Jesus drives out an impure Spirit
- Mark 1:29- 31 Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law
- Mark 1:32-34 – Jesus drives out many demons
- Mark 1:40-45 – Jesus heals a man with leprosy
Placed in the middle of this series of miraculous healings is this critical short message. Pay attention to this message. It can be easily overlooked as it almost feels like a pause in the action.
Mark 1:35-39 – “This is why I have come!”
How we answer the question… “Who do I say Jesus is?” draws a line in the sand that determines our faith. This will become apparent all through this story of Jesus that we find in the Gospel book of Mark. This Sunday we will begin looking at many of the stories of Jesus in the weeks ahead and examine them with this in mind. But don’t forget that this all moves us in a direction that is life altering… “who do you really believe that Jesus is?”
See you Sunday morning. I so enjoy worshiping and studying with the family of faith here at LifeWay. I am preparing for our time together. I ask you to do the same.
