Mark 1:23-28;40-45 – Something to Tell

²³ And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

²⁴ Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

²⁶ And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

²⁷ And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

²⁸ And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

…

⁴⁰ And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

⁴¹ And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

⁴² And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

⁴³ And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;

⁴⁴ And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

⁴⁵ But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

 

Now Jesus’ ministry has begun! If you have not notice, Mark’s Gospel is very fast pased and gets right what is going on in the narrative. Mark wrote for the Romans, a society who did not care about background and detail, but were a “just-get-to-it” kind of people. So by now, Jesus has taught in the Synagogues, cast out devils that had possessed people, healed tons of people, and now word was starting to spread. Jesus first told the devil and the leper who he world heal to not tell anyone who He was or what He was doing. The leper failed to do this, and the result was that so many people wanted to get to Jesus that He could not even go into the city any more!

What is interesting in the two above passages is that both entities (one was a demon and one was a person) who were influenced by Jesus wanted to say something about it. The demon, because of his nature, had to obey. The person, who had free will, did not, but choose to tell what happened. When Jesus gets involved, there is something to tell! This is true for us today! Jesus is still working. He may not be here anymore in His physical body healing people and preaching, but His sacrifice still saves people! The good news (i.e. the gospel) of what he did still changes lives! God the Holy Spirit now lives inside of believers and God has given us His Word to help teach and guide us. God is still working in our world, and sometimes it is all too easy for us to miss that fact. Lets pay attention to where and how God is working and in what ways we  can be involved in His work.

 Life Step: Think about it…

In what ways to you see God working in today’s world?

What can we do to be involved in what God is doing?