Mark 1:29-39 - Three Episodes in Galilee

In verses 21-39 of Mark chapter one we have recorded, more or less, a day in the life of Jesus. If we were curious to know what spending a day with him would have been like, this is it. Mark presents it as typical of his Galilean ministry. Recall where we left Jesus last week. It is a sabbath day and he has already taught the people in the synagogue and healed a man of demonic oppression. Then Mark says they leave the synagogue, walk to the house of Peter and Andrew, and find Peter's mother-in-law sick of a fever. Jesus heals her with a touch. She feels so well that she gets up and serves them.

What does the Bible say about serving that is different from the way it is looked at in our culture? Is being a servant a virtue or something to avoid at all costs? What do our attitudes about this say about us?

That evening at sundown Mark says the whole city came out to see Jesus.

And the whole city was gathered together at the door.--Mark 1:33

They had needs and they wanted Jesus to meet them. So Jesus stays up late into the night healing and casting out demons. Then early in the morning, before daylight, he arises and goes out into a desolate place to pray. The disciples miss him and are a bit confused about what is going on. They find him and tell him that the crowds are looking for him. Shouldn't he get back to this great thing that is happening in Capernaum (they imply)? Jesus surprisingly responds that they need to leave the crowds and move on to the next towns, for that is why he had come out. Proclaiming the gospel is his mission.

This is the sermon I preached from Mark 1:29-39. In it I give a practical verse by verse of what is going on in the narrative, helping us to see it better from our foreign cultural perspective. I also spend some time thinking about the implications of what we've read. I hope you will take the time to listen to the sermon and that God will speak to you through his word. Just click the link below. God bless.


Click here: Mark 1:29-39 - Three Episodes in Galilee



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