DATE: 7th February, 2020
THEME: JESUS HAS POWER OVER SICKNESS
SCRIPTURE READING
Isaiah 40:21-31
1st Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39
Psalter: Psalm 147:1-11 (Res v 5a)
PREPARED BY: Osofo Yaw Dodd
INTRODUCTION
God created man in His own image and likeness and knows everything there is to know about him. The only person who can deal with what has gone wrong with His creation is the CREATOR. He is all POWERFUL and CAPABLE of dealing with every problem that mars His creation. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush Moses asked for His name. He revealed His name as “I Am”. The full revelation of His name was made by Jesus when He used “I Am” to refer to Himself.
In the Scriptures “I Am” always refers to God and gives us a revelation of Who He is. At the burning bush God revealed several miracles to Moses to prove to Pharaoh that “I Am” had sent him. One of them was His power to heal leprosy.
When Moses put his hand under his cloak and brought it out it became leprous and when he repeated the process his hand was healed. Leprosy was the most dreaded disease in those times and this miracle was to confirm that God had power to heal every sickness and disease. When the Israelites left Egypt, there was not a sick person among them confirming God’s word “I am the LORD, your healer.
BACKGROUND
The first year of the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus was spent in RELATIVE OBSCURITY. There is very little information given to us of those early days. We do know that He was preaching the Gospel in the southern parts of Israel and reaching out to lost souls. Mark’s gospel introduces us to the early days of our Lord’s second year of earthly ministry.
The first year of Christ’s ministry has been called The Year Of OBSCURITY. The second year is called The Year Of POPULARITY. Mark passes over the first year of Jesus’ ministry and begins at that time when Jesus was beginning to gain a following in Israel.
When Jesus appeared on the scene preaching and teaching, He caused quite a stir! When the people heard His words and saw His works, they were left “astonished”, v. 22 and “amazed”, v. 27. When they heard Him speak they said, “Never man spake like this”. When they saw Him work they said, “We never saw it on this fashion”. Jesus left them dumbfounded by His power and by His teaching. As we have followed Mark’s narrative in this chapter, we saw the Lord call His first disciples, v. 16-20. We have also watched Him at work preaching in the synagogue, v. 21-22; casting out devils, v. 23-28; and healing many that were sick, v. 29-34. We have been watching the Amazing Servant go about His Father’s business.
BODY
I. HE HAS POWER OVER DISRUPTIONS
When the services were over at the synagogue, Jesus went home with Peter and Andrew. The synagogue usually let out around noon, and it was customary to have a family meal after services on the Sabbath. When they arrived at Peter’s house, they found his mother-in-law sick with a fever.
It does not appear that her fever was life threatening, but it left her incapacitated and unable to prepare the noon meal for the family. Instead of coming home to a feast, they came home to a woman with a fever.
They tell Jesus about the sickness, and He walks over and heals Peter’s mother-in-law. She gets up and goes to work getting the meal ready. If this passage teaches us anything, it teaches us that nothing is beyond the scope of His ability.
There is no disruption too great and there is no problem too ordinary for our Lord.
▪He ably created the universe from nothing, Gen. 1-2.
▪He is able to speak to the winds and the waves and calm the most violent of storms, Mark 4:35-41; 6:45-51.
▪He is able to take five small biscuits and two little sardines and feed thousands of people, John 5:1-13.
▪He is able to speak the word and deliver a man from the grip of thousands of demons, Mark 5:1-20.
▪He is able to do all these great things and more!
He is able to do the great things and He is able to take care of the ordinary things as well. Nothing is so large that His power cannot overcome it, Job 42:2; Luke 1:37; Matt. 19:26; Matt. 28:18. Nothing is too big! Nothing is too small! He cares, 1 Pet. 5:7; Heb. 4:15, and if you will give Him an opportunity, He will display His great power in your life!
Life is filled with DISRUPTIONS, but it is a comfort to know that our God can handle them all! Our duty is to bring them to Him and place them in His hands. When we do that, they are as good as handled!
II HE HAS POWER OVER SICKNESS
Jesus and his four new recruits spent the afternoon relaxing. When the sun went down, the people showed up. The Jews honored the Sabbath day from sundown of Friday until sundown on Saturday. When the Sabbath was over, they came to Jesus for healing.
The people who came that evening were suffering from every imaginable disease and affliction. There were people in that crowd suffering from sickness and others who were suffering from Satan. Some were diseased and some were demon possessed. NONE, HOWEVER, POSED A PROBLEM FOR THE LORD JESUS. From colds to cancer, from hemorrhages to hiccups, from deadly disease to demon possession, Jesus was able to heal every affliction that came His way.
Some came under their own power, others had to be carried. The word “brought” in verse 32 means “to carry as a burden.” Regardless of how they got there, Jesus received them and helped them all.
The people who came that evening were from all classes of life.
▪The rich and the poor came.
▪The influential and the anonymous came.
▪The religious and the rank sinner came.
Jesus received them all and turned none away. He reached out to them in His compassion and He delivered them from all their ailments!
III. JESUS POSSESSES A PASSION FOR PEOPLE
Jesus and His disciples left Capernaum to go into the other towns of Galilee to share the Gospel message with them. Jesus was CONSUMED with a PASSION to see people saved from their sins and brought into a relationship with the Father.
Jesus turned down the opportunity for fame because He wanted everyone to hear the message of hope. Jesus did not come to this world to be known as a miracle worker. He did not come primarily as a preacher and teacher. Jesus came to this world to give His life “A RANSOM FOR MANY ”, Mark 10:45. Jesus came to this world to die.
Jesus came to this world and endured everything He did so that He might open a way of salvation for all who will receive Him. To accomplish this, Jesus made many sacrifices.
Jesus did what He did because He loved people! He did what He did so that you and I might be saved from our sins.
HERE IS THE TRUTH: Jesus came to this world and died because He has a passion for people. He loves people of every CLASS, RACE and DESCRIPTION. Jesus loves people in spite of their PAST, their POTENTIAL, or their PERVERSIONS. He has a passion to see people saved!
CONCLUSION
Jesus was consumed with a passion to do the will of His Father. He was consumed with a passion to deliver people from the things that had them bound. Jesus was consumed with a passion for the people He met in His life and for people He never met physically. Jesus is consumed with a passion for you!
What kind of disruption do you need help with today? Do you have a situation that needs to be handled? Bring it to Him! Do you have sin that needs to be forgiven? Bring it to Him! Do you have problems that need to be solved? Bring them to Him! ENJOY THE SERVICE. Stay Blessed.
PREPARED BY
OSOFO YAW DODD
CALVARY METHODIST SOCIETY
ADABRAKA-ACCRA
