St. Matthew’s Ev. Lutheran Church + Benton Harbor, Michigan

The 5^th Sunday after Epiphany, February 6, 2000

Mark 1:29-39

“Praise the One Who Preached the Gospel”

By Pastor Timothy H. Buelow

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. ³¹ So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. ³² That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. ³³ The whole town gathered at the door, ³⁴ and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. ³⁵ Very 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. ³⁶ Simon and his companions went to look for him, ³⁷ and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” ³⁸ Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” ³⁹ So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Dear friends in Christ,

During the Epiphany season, we get a glimpse of Jesus as the disciples first met him. In another month we’ll be entering the Lenten season where we’ll focus on the latter part and the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry on earth. There we’ll focus on his intense instructions to his disciples about his mission’s final climax, how he must suffer and die and rise again for the sins of the world. But before we see Jesus die for us, we must see also how he lived for us. How he came to make the lame walk, the deaf hear and the mute speak and how he came to preach good news to the poor. That’s the Jesus manifested for us during the Epiphany season.

1. Jesus Was Filled with Love and Compassion for People

As we walk through texts like this, we meet a Jesus who is real, the Jesus whom we can see interacting with other real human beings. And of all the real things we see about Jesus, we see in him first of all an intense, deep, personal, warm love for people. As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.

Jesus loved those who were close to him. He was not a loner. He wasn’t just a teacher to his disciples. He was also their dear friend. He became very close to John in particular. In his own Gospel, John always refers to himself as the disciple Jesus loved. Jesus had the same kind of friendship with John that David had with Jonathan. After church that day, Jesus went with him and his brother James to the home of another of his closest disciples and earthly friends, Peter. Those three, Peter, James and John, are the ones Jesus took alone with him to some of his most intimate encounters. They’re the three who accompanied Jesus to the place where he prayed so intently the night of his betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane. They were his best friends.

Jesus also cared about those whom his friends cared about. When they got to Peter’s house, he discovered that Peter’s mother-in-law was seriously ill. Jesus cared. He immediately went to her and healed her. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. ³¹ So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

Jesus was not a charlatan like some modern tent-preacher. Notice how miraculous, how immediate and complete it is when Jesus heals her. Normally when a fever breaks you are lightheaded and drained and want to sleep. But not here! She immediately got up and headed to the kitchen to take care of not only her family, but even her house guests. How wonderful it is to have the Almighty Jesus care for you and love you. When we say that Jesus can do anything with his almighty power, we mean that he, in love will use that power to show love to us and care for us. And how do I know he loves and cares for me? Well, in our text we see that Jesus showed the same love and care even to those who were perfect strangers to him. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. ³³ The whole town gathered at the door, ³⁴ and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

It didn’t matter to Jesus that it was already after dark. It didn’t matter to him that he was tired at the end of a long day. What mattered to him was people, people who needed him, people who felt the effects of sin in their lives, people who knew real suffering—personal and up close. Jesus loved people and Jesus still loves people. He loves you.

But Jesus had still more love to give. Jesus also showed love for His Father, taking time out from the work and the stress to commune privately with his Father in prayer. ³⁵ Very 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. Just before our text, we read that Jesus was in the synagogue for the Sabbath day service. He went there, not just because it was the thing to do, but because he wanted to be there to hear his Father’s word proclaimed. Strengthened by the Word, Jesus was ready for the ministry of the day. After the service he went to Peter’s house, healed his mother-in-law and spent the day teaching her and Peter and Peter’s wife, and Andrew, James and John. Then after dusk and well into the night Jesus took pity on all the desperate people that came to see him. That was all on one Saturday. Where would Jesus get the strength to carry on for another day? The same place he got Saturday’s strength. Despite the long evening of work, before it even gets light again, early Sunday morning, as on so many other occasions, we see Jesus taking time to meditate and pray. He was communing with His Father whom he loved and who loved him. He talked to his Father in prayer. He was refreshed by his father’s love. He was reminded of the Father’s promises to him and instructions for him to carry out. That’s where he found the strength to love all those who came to him for another day.

What perfect love — love for his friends, love for strangers, love for his Father, love for all! When Good Friday comes, we’ll perhaps sing the hymn again “O Perfect life of Love, All, all is finished now.” We see what is meant by Jesus’ “perfect life of love” in our text. Still, we haven’t yet covered the highest form of love Jesus showed people in this day’s activities. All the love Jesus showed for those close to him, for perfect strangers who came knocking in crowds at his door, and for his Father, culminated in what Jesus himself tells us was the highlight and focus of his public ministry: the preaching of the Gospel.

2. Jesus’ Love and Compassion Culminated in Proclaiming the Gospel

Simon and his companions went to look for him, ³⁷ and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” ³⁸ Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” ³⁹ So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

When we think of Jesus’ earthly ministry, perhaps the first thing that comes to our minds is the miracles which he did. His miracles are certainly the flashiest part of Jesus’ ministry. And, finally, that’s once of the main reasons so many people crowded around him in all the villages and cities where his ministry took him. But Jesus himself did not consider the miracles to be the center of what he had come to do. The Gospels often call the miracles which Jesus did “signs.” And that is what they were. They were sign posts designed to focus attention on something important that people needed to know for their own good.

The purpose of Jesus’ miracles was to draw attention to his message. Just as a picture on a road sign is not there simply to beautify the side of the road, but to tell you something important, Jesus did his miracles to draw people’s attention to his words so he could preach the Gospel to them.

The purpose of Jesus miracles was to show that he was the one prophesied as the Messiah: “Surely he took up our infirmities,” Isaiah had said of the suffering Servant, referring to the Christ, and Jesus showed he was the Messiah by taking up even the physical infirmities of those who came to him suffering. Jesus’ miracles showed that he had the authority to proclaim the prophetic message he brought. They showed everyone that he was the Son of God.

It was not Jesus’ primary goal to deal with all temporal infirmities and diseases. As much as he loved people and wanted out of personal concern to heal those who came to him sick or handicapped, Jesus didn’t heal everyone. He isn’t traveling around on earth miraculously healing people today. But he is still doing today what he considered central then. He is still sending out his disciples to preach the Gospel. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he didn’t tell his disciples to go into all the world and heal, but to show people the higher, yes the highest love: to preach the Gospel to every creature. This is what Jesus came to do.

Certainly Jesus still has power to heal. He hears the prayers of his people on behalf of the sick. He still grants healing, sometimes even miraculously in answer to those prayers. But just as in his own day, Jesus wants the focus to be not on temporary healing of our bodies but on the permanent healing of our souls, which will lead to resurrection of our glorified, perfect bodies on the last day. As difficult as it may be for us to focus on such future glory, that’s precisely where the Gospel wants us to place our focus and faith.

Simon and his companions went to look for him, ³⁷ and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” ³⁸ Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” ³⁹ So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching.

Jesus came to preach the Gospel — to the people of the villages of Galilee, and to Judea and Samaria, and to all the world. The message he came to bring is lasting “Good news”: “There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”

It’s the Gospel that brings us forgiveness for all of our sins. It’s the Gospel that elevates us sinners through faith to the status of kings and priests and children of God, and that is what we are. Even Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead after four days in the grave, died again. But through Jesus’ preaching of the Gospel, Lazarus, and Peter’s mother-in-law and Peter and Andrew and James and John and you and I have been made ready for the resurrection that has no end.

This is the Jesus of Epiphany, the Christ manifested during his ministry — Manifest in making whole, Palsied limbs and fainting soul, Manifest in valiant fight, Quelling all the devil’s might, Manifest in gracious will, Ever bringing good from ill. He has been manifested as the one who came to preach the good news of salvation, to point us to his perfect life of love in our place and his innocent death as our substitute. He came to point us by His word to his resurrection as our brother, the first-fruits of them that sleep, that we might know his power and his promise to raise us also. He came to preach to us the comforting message of his forgiveness and his grace, that we might eagerly in faith await the consummation of all things. That’s the Jesus you have come to know as your eternal best friend. He loves you. Praise the one who preached the Gospel. Amen.