Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 9 Study # 2
April 2, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(062)
1901 ASV
33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.
34 And he healed many that were sick with divers diseases, and cast out many demons; and he suffered not the demons to speak, because they knew him.
35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and there prayed.
36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him;
37 and they found him, and say unto him, All are seeking thee.
38 And he saith unto them, Let us go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for to this end came I forth.
39 And he went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons.
- I. The Second Hint of Trouble.
- A. The first hint was the willingness of the people to seek "deliverance" from a Man whom they saw as breaking the Sabbath (a capital crime in Israel).
- 1. It goes without saying that He did not break the Sabbath; He "broke" with their "traditions" concerning the Sabbath and the intense self-interest that was associated with the theology of salvation by works.
- 2. The externalism of the people was an inherent aspect of the "Law" as they saw it because any internalization of that "Law" would have buried them under a pile of guilt and condemnation.
- B. This second hint: the whole city had been gathered (Perfect Passive Participle) to the door.
- 1. There is, in this, a huge threat to the "synagogue" as the bastion of "Law" and doctrine because the people simply dare not go to the heart of synagogue theology: they will wait upon the setting of the sun, but they will go to a Man Who did not so wait. Jesus has demonstrated that He has the "authority" (and its undergirding power) to completely change synagogue doctrine.
- a. If He is falsely accused by the scribes from Jerusalem (Mark 3:22), there is no problem with the people following His authority and seeking Him out for deliverance.
- b. If, however, the accusation is, somehow, true, there is a huge problem because the people are willing to sacrifice eternity for a few "favors" in time.
- c. There is a strong need for a firm decision here, but that "firmness" is complicated by all of the misunderstandings caused by the deceits of the demons.
- 2. But, there is another huge threat: the entire city is predisposed to fulfill the potent lust of men to have others "seeking them out" (the end game of the "pride of life").
- a. There are only the three basic motivations "of the world" (1 John 2:16).
- b. In Israel, the most potent is the last of the three: this "pride of life" upon which is built the entire structure of the doctrine of the synagogue.
- 1) This entire structure has one foundation: salvation by works of law (acceptance by God and "godly" men on the basis of personal accomplishment).
- 2) The appeal of this foundation is one of its major "edifices" (alongside "salvation"): the ability to "boast" (Romans 3:27).
- c. However, for the ability to "boast" to have any sustaining reality, there has to be some form of "recognition by others" of the demonstrated "abilities" of the boastful.
- 1) If this "recognition" is found among a significant group of human beings, those men who offer their "recognition" become a basis for "boasting".
- 2) However, all men ultimately recognize that the One Whose recognition is most important is "the God", so that any semblance of His "recognition" can be used by the "boastful" with great confidence and overweening pride.
- a) In Israel, the "semblance of divine recognition" was two-fold.
- i. "Recognition" and a "following" among "the people of God".
- ii. "Physical Prosperity" in the forms of outward health, wealth, and "success".
- b) If, therefore, "Israelites" had any of these major forms of "semblance", they could, and did, make themselves utterly obnoxious in their attitudes of superiority and condescension: perhaps the most destructive elements in any "society" and, thus, in complete opposition to the harmony of the Kingdom of God.
- II. Jesus' Approach To This "Trouble".
- A. An adamant refusal to allow the demons to "speak" (make "theological noises": laleo) so that whatever decisions the people made regarding Jesus did not come from the vast storehouse of deceit from which the demons trotted out their "theology".
- B. Mark only records three examples of Jesus "praying" (which, interestingly, did not include Luke's record in 3:21 where we are told that the Holy Spirit came upon Him while He was praying).
- 1. The first is here.
- 2. The second is after the feeding of the 5,000 (6:46).
- 3. The third, and most intent, is just before His crucifixion as "The Malefactor" (14:32-39).
- C. The "suggestion" is that Jesus was "hyper-aware" of the strength of the appeal of being "in the lime light" of peoples' recognition and approval and loyal following (this was, after all, a major aspect of Jesus' confrontation with Satan in the wilderness following His baptism -- a fact that Mark simply does not mention).
- D. The details... .
- 1. The "whole city" was gathered at the door of Simon's home.
- 2. Jesus' abilities were demonstrated to have "no limits".
- a. "Healings" were without barriers (not even any requirement of "faith"). At this point, Jesus is establishing His "authority", not "requiring faith" in it).
- b. "Exorcisms" were without failure (no "demonic" opponent could resist His demands).
- 3. Very early, while it was yet dark, Jesus sought a "desert place" and "was praying".
- a. This was a portion of the place where John forced his hearers to confront their own personal condition as "wilderness" (1:3-4).
- b. This was a portion of the place to which the Spirit "drove" Jesus to force a confrontation between Him and Satan (1:12-13).
- c. Jesus' prayer addressed His Father in the light of His task and the extreme complexity of Sin's impact upon humanity.
- 4. Simon is highlighted as the "leader" who sought to find Jesus with the "good news": "Everyone is seeking You".
- a. His pursuit was intense (katedioxen) and indicates a certain level of, perhaps, "panic" because Jesus had quietly disappeared while all were sleeping.
- b. The implication of Peter's declaration was that there were already people "at the door" zealously seeking Jesus.
- 5. Jesus "abandons" the "everyone" in order to pursue His divine agenda, established by the Father.
- a. The focus is upon the "why?" of His coming and His total dedication to it (the reality of the wilderness did not dissuade Him).
- b. At issue for Mark is the fact that it was the "exorcisms" (not the "healings") that were of greatest import.