Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place
35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
38Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
A Man With Leprosy
40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
43Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44"See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 45Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
BACKGROUND READING:
Leviticus 13:1-46
Leviticus 14:1-32
Dig Deeper
Any athlete will tell you that championships are not really won during the championship game. That, of course, is not entirely true, but the point they are making is a good one. What they mean by statements like that is that they believe they won their championship during the hard practice times that took place long before the season began. This is when the foundation was laid that enabled them to do the great things they did. Here, Mark is careful to point out that the many spectacular things that Jesus did had a foundation that was laid in solitude. It was his prayer life. We can conclude that his prayer habits were important considering that his closest followers felt it vital to comment on them, pointing to their belief that Jesus’ prayer habits were the source of his authority and power.
What can we learn from Jesus’ prayer life? Perhaps the most important thing is that his prayer life was costly and sacrificial. It took place early in the morning when he probably would have rather been sleeping. Jesus did not just take a few quick minutes on his way to something else, to sneak in an obligatory prayer. Jesus prayed both after great victories and before great challenges, he didn’t just pray when he wanted God to bail him out of a tough situation.
It was this incredible commitment to prayer with the Father that enabled Jesus to do what he did and be who he was. This included his ability to encounter the most fearsome forces of evil and to treat everyone with loving kindness, even those who were relegated to the dregs of society because of an illness like leprosy.
This passage raises on obvious question. If Jesus was going about announcing this new kingdom movement, why would he strongly warn this man that had been healed of leprosy to be quiet about what Jesus had done? He had also forbade the demons from announcing his identity but why?
It seems that it is all tied up in Jesus’ sense of timing and fulfilling the prophecies. As we will see later in his life, Jesus knew, as a prophet, that he must die in Jerusalem. He also knew that there were many things he had to accomplish before he would die. It was not yet his time. He could not do things that risked his enemies pressing in on him too soon. He didn’t want to attract the wrong kind of notice from the wrong kind of people. This action of healing the man with leprosy would certainly do that.
Jesus’ instructions to the man after he heals him seem a bit puzzling. Jesus tells him to go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them. If someone had been cured of blindness or paralysis they could go back to their friends and family and clearly demonstrate that they had been cured. With leprosy, it wasn’t that easy. This man could not simply show up in his hometown and claim to be healed. (Jesus’ act of healing, incidentally, would have been shocking to the original readers, if for no other reason than he touched this man with a highly contagious disease). It would cause deep suspicions amongst the priests and officials. He should go through the proper steps, said Jesus, to be officially accepted as having been healed and accepted back into society. The next time he went to Jerusalem he would make the required sacrifice, thank God officially, and be given a proper endorsement of his clean bill of health. He needed to do all of this in order to keep the law of Moses, to be accepted into his society once again, and to avoid bringing too much premature attention to Jesus.
Healing a man of leprosy was dangerous business for Jesus, particularly if the man just began to walk around and tell everyone (which of course he did which caused some trouble to Jesus). This was a clear indicator that Jesus was doing things that only the Temple had the authority to do. Jesus was sending a message that he had the authority that had been previously held by the Temple, but that message could not get out too quickly.
Jesus’ desire to keep his actions quiet wasn’t an act of cowardice, it was an act of wisdom. As Mark tells us, though, the word leaked out anyway, yet, Jesus remained confident and focused. We can, no doubt, attribute that in large part, to his depth of prayer life.
Devotional Thought
From where do you receive your strength and security? Is it from God through prayer or is from other things like friends, self-esteem, money, or something else? Is it better to rely on temporary things that will pass away, or the eternal creator of the universe? It seems kind of obvious when stated in those terms, yet is that really how things are in your life? What do you need to do in order to have the kind of sacrificial prayer life that Jesus had?
No comments:
Post a Comment