Immediately then Immediately, and then…

Epiphany              January 7, 2024  

2nd in the Gospel of Mark series:  Mark 1:9-45

In our first Sunday in Mark, on December 3, we focused on the first nine verses of Mark’s Gospel where Mark sets forth what he believed to be The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mark reminds his readers of long-ago prophetic declarations that told of a prophet who would come to prepare for the coming of The Promised One. Mark outlines how the description these prophets gave of this new prophet match John the Baptist. Mark then links Jesus to John the Baptist and John’s proclamation that The Promised One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

And what happens then when Jesus is baptized by John? Immediately The Spirit descends on Jesus. (v10)

Note that what happens at Jesus’ baptism is seen only by him; no one else. He sees the heavens open, the Spirit descend like a dove and he hears a voice “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”

So now Mark has linked Jesus to the Holy Spirit, the mark of The Promised One.

Now, it’s important to realize that while the witnesses to Jesus’ baptism did not see what Jesus saw, Mark brings us into a secret and so going forward we will have a point of view that differs from all of the characters in the story. We know something they do not. We know that Jesus is the Christ, they, on the other hand, must wrestle with what they witness and wonder what it really means. Part of the story here is about how they go about doing that. 

Then, immediately after the baptism, the Spirit calls Jesus to the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan. (v12) The other gospels tell us more about this episode, Mark simply tells us, in verse 12, that Jesus is in the wilderness for 40 days, is tempted and that he is with wild beasts and that angels minister to Him. 

In this one verse, Mark puts Jesus into relationship with three realms: the realm of darkness, the realm of nature, the realm of heaven. Jesus defeats the realm of darkness, Jesus is able to cohabitate unharmed with the wild of nature and heaven communes with him.  Again, the people who surrounded Jesus in that day did not know all of this. We, as readers, are given insight they do not have. Mark tells us something about Jesus that isn’t yet revealed to Jesus’ audience. Mark again invites us into a point of view of belief not accessible to anyone in the story.

When Jesus emerges victorious from the wilderness, he goes to Galilee where he begins to preach. He repeats John’s message to repent but his message differs from John’s in that John warned people of judgment; Jesus announces redemption: the Kingdom of God or the realm of God is at hand!  Hope, redemption, promise, fulfillment, they have arrived. Repent of the old, cleanse yourself from your stains so that you are prepared for this great arrival!

As Jesus walks the country preaching this message, he sees Simon and Andrew and he invites them to follow him.  They immediately drop what they are doing and follow him. (v 18) Then, he calls to James and John the Zebedee brothers and they too immediately leave their nets to go with him. (v20) These are not vagrants, they are not fly-by-night, irresponsible people looking for adventure. No, these are responsible fathers and providers. Yet they leave their business to follow Jesus. Here Mark implies that there is something so compelling about Jesus that these grounded men leave all to follow him. Note, they do not abandon the care of their families (as we shall see) but our Gospel writers do not give time to this balance between call and family.

Now Jesus enters the synagogue in Capernaum and there he teaches. He unfolds the scripture in such a way that all who hear him are amazed. They describe a stark contrast between what they hear from Jesus and what they hear from their scribes. 

Within this congregation is a man yells out “What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth. I know who You are. The Holy One of God!” Marks tells us that this man is possessed of a demon and we should understand that the demonic spirit is the one who shouts out. Jesus orders this demon to be quiet and to leave the man. The demon obeys.

This encounter throws Jesus’ audience into a quandary. They wonder in amazement at this! Not only does his teaching carry amazing authority but he has authority over demons. Immediately word of this spreads like wild fire. (v28)

Immediately upon leaving the synagogue, Jesus and his disciples go to Simon’s house where they are immediately told that Simon’s mother in law sick. (vs29,30) Jesus heals her, she rises, well, and serves them. An immediate and complete healing. (Here we have evidence of the continued care for the families of the disciples.) Now, when this news also spreads, people from the town surround the house, bringing their sick. Jesus heals those ill and frees those possessed by demons. Jesus did not permit the demons to speak but Mark tells us that the demons recognized who Jesus was.

Finally, in verse 35, we have a little interlude from all of this staccato activity. Jesus steals away to pray. But his solitude is short-lived as his disciples come searching for him pleading with him to return to the people.

Jesus declines by saying they must move on, he has to the preach to others. So Jesus moves beyond Capernaum out into Galilee where he teaches in the synagogues and evicts demons. [Let’s pause here and think about this issue of demons. We have to understand that then, when people behaved or spoke in deeply distressing ways, they were thought to be possessed. Now some of this distress could have been mental illness, but it is also the case that those who recoiled from Jesus were those who were confronted by their debase-ness. They could not tolerate the illumination of Jesus’ holiness. They perceived the Spirit of God.]

While Jesus was out and about in Galilee, healing and telling the good news of redemption, a leper comes, kneels before him, and says, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” This statement is actually a prayer. And with this prayer, Mark lets us know that this leper has perceived Jesus to be empowered by God: able to answer such a prayer as his. 

Leprosy was a highly contagious, feared lesion of the skin. All types of skin anomalies were considered leprosy and those who suffered with it were cast out of society. They had to leave their families and keep several yards away from all other people. The only society they had was with other lepers.  If a leper’s lesions went away they could go to a priest and upon examination be declared clean. So priests could pronounce someone clean, but they could not make them clean. 

This leper recognizes that Jesus can heal him.  And Jesus does, not just by word, but by touch and he is immediately healed. (v42) This is a jaw-dropping action.  Jesus touches the man and makes him clean. Jesus orders the man not to speak of this and immediately tells him to do as the law requires and present himself to the priest. (v43) Whether or not the man does, we aren’t told, but instead of being quiet like Jesus instructed him, he goes everywhere telling people how Jesus healed him.

This man’s testimony causes so many people to seek Jesus that he can no longer appear in any town. He has to stay out in the countryside in order to move unhindered. But even there people far afield seek him out. 

In this first Chapter of Mark, we are told that Jesus is The Promised Messiah, that evidence of his identity with God was displayed in his baptism and that even with all of this, he had to endure dangerous deprivation and temptation--serious temptation not pretend temptation. Coming through that deprivation unscathed and victorious over temptations he sets about telling the Good News that God has come near, and that repentance brings redemption.  

Individuals called out are so moved they follow him without question. When he preaches people ascribe authority to him unlike any other and when he heals and casts out demons they are amazed and seek his intervention.

Everything Mark includes in this first chapter speaks of affirming, making-whole grace.

Every episode Mark includes tells us that God is eager for relationship and is ready to bless any and all who seek God. No one is beyond God’s reach. This is the God we say we name; this is the God we think of when we come to church.  We might ask ourselves if, first, we seek God with the same fervency as did the people of Mark’s Gospel? and second, if we allow God full reign in our lives?

Pastor Quanstrom

NOTE: Some translations do not use the word ‘immediately’ but translate it in different ways such as ‘at once’ or ‘without delay’. The point is to note the quickness with which one thing moves to another. Mark is using momentum to augment the significance and uniqueness of this that has happened.