A Day In The Life of Jesus

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS – Mark 1: 21-28

This passage that was just read is a very unique passage of scripture and what makes it so unique is that it covers a full 24 hours in the life of Jesus.

I am not sure that there are any other passages in the gospels that do that.
Most of the time a passage will cover an event that happened on one day…then skip to another day…and then to another day.
But this passage, as far as I know, is the only one that tells us what a full day in the life of Jesus was like.
- And what I would like to do is go though this day of events so that we might learn the valuable lessons…the encouraging lessons…that God wants us to learn.
- So, let’s start in verse 21 of Mark 1.

In verse 21, Jesus and His disciples go to Capernaum…and on the Sabbath they go to the synagogue where Jesus teaches.

And in verse 22 we are told that the people are amazed at his teachings because he taught them as one “having authority, not as the scribes.”

Now what Mark means here is this.

The teachers of the Law in that day spoke with borrowed authority.
A text would be read and a Rabbi would stand up and say, “Now Rabbi so and so has said this….and Rabbi so and so has taught that…and there is a teaching that says this…..and so and so interprets this passage this way.”
But Jesus, when He preached, didn’t do that.

Instead, he taught with no reference to any authority except Himself.

He didn’t have to quote someone else for it to sound true.
It sounded true because it harmonized with the scriptures, and with their personal experiences and their inner convictions.
And they never heard preaching like this.

And so Jesus teaches as “one having authority” and it was more than one man and an unclean spirit could take.

And so right in the middle of the service a man with an unclean spirit cries out and says, “What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Let me just say this.
I think it is a sad commentary on the spiritual situation in Capernaum that a demoniac could worship in the synagogue every week with no sense of “feeling out of line” until Jesus shows up.
No one else in this gathering, either by their conduct, or by what they were teaching made this demoniac uncomfortable.
It was only after Jesus showed up that this demoniac felt that way.
I hope that isn’t true with us as a group of individuals.

Any way, I want you to notice that the demons do something that a lot of people today don’t do and that is they recognize who Jesus is!

“What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”

These demons recognized who Jesus is…in fact, in the gospel of Mark they are the only ones who do.

No one else in this entire book acknowledges who Jesus really is until you get over to chapter 15 and the crucifixion…and a Roman centurion…after Jesus dies…says, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Why is it that so many people refuse to acknowledge who Jesus really is?

Let me show you something…look up at verse 1.

In verse 1 Mark says that “Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
And through out this book Mark is going to record miracle after miracle after miracle to prove to us that Jesus is the Son of God.

But look now at verse 2 and 3.

In these two verses you have two prophets from the O.T. that confirm that Jesus is the Son of God.
Then in verses 4-8 you have John the Baptist that confirms that Jesus is the Son of God.
Then in verse 11 you have the Holy Spirit as well as God Himself confirming that Jesus is the Son of God.
And if that isn’t enough to convince you…if you are still hesitant to believe…here in verse 24 you have this demon…what we might call “one of the enemy”…one from the opposing side…and he acknowledges who Jesus is…
And yet, some people still refuse to believe that Jesus is the Son of God…that Jesus is the ONE that God sent to save us from our sins.

And, because God wants everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved, do you know what else God did to prove to us that Jesus is the Son of God?

He raised Him from the dead!
- You have all these witnesses, you have God Himself…and you have a demon…and you have an empty tomb…all telling you that Jesus is the Son of God…and I don’t mean to be cruel or harsh here…but if you are one of those still refuses to believe that your only excuse is you simply have chosen not too.
- God would say, “You have hardened your heart” and that is dangerous because you can so harden your heart that you can reach a point of no return…just like Pharaoh did.

Now, I want you to notice something else here…this demon recognizes who Jesus is but notice what else this demon says to Jesus: “Have you come to destroy us?”

Isn’t that interesting?
Apparently this demon understood something a lot of people today do not understand.
Apparently this demon understood that there is more to being saved than just acknowledging or believing in Jesus!

This demon knew exactly who Jesus was…he publicly acknowledged it and yet he asks Jesus, “Have you come to destroy us?”

Obviously this demon understood that just because you believe in Jesus and acknowledge who is does not grant you salvation!

I have, many times, come across people who will tell you that they are saved simply because they believe in Jesus.

Faith alone…simply believing in who He is…will not save anyone.
James says in James 2: 20 that “faith without works” is useless.
And in Matthew 7: 21 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord” will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
- You see, you can call Him Lord all day long…you can acknowledge Him as the Son of God all you want…but if there is no change of heart…no repentance…and no obedience to His will and commands…there will be no salvation.

Now, the Jews believed in demons…and they had exorcists, and they had magic spells and incantations, and magical rites, and they were used to seeing all of that.

But Jesus doesn’t use any of that to deal with this demon.
All Jesus does is he depends solely on the authority of his own word, and he says to the demon, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
And the demon must obey….and the people are stunned.
And they cannot evade the impression of having been confronted by a word invested with a power of which they had never seen before.
And news about him spread quickly all over the whole region of Galilee.

Now look at verses 29-34.

The main Sabbath meal was around noon after the Sabbath services were over.

And so Peter invites Jesus over for a Sabbath meal.
Now when they get to Peter’s house, Peter’s mother in law is “lying sick with a fever.”
And Jesus goes and he takes her by the hand and He sends the fever away.

Now some skeptics say, “That’s no miracle because fevers break. We have all had fevers break and hers just broke.”

No, this is a miracle because you know that when you have had a high fever for a long time that even when the fever breaks you are too weak to do anything.

But Jesus sends the fever away and strengthens her so that she can get up from that bed and go and begin to serve them.

Maybe we get a clue here about what ministry is.
Maybe ministry is your hearts response to Jesus’ ministry to you?
Ministry is how you react when you have been helped by the hand of Jesus.

At any rate it has been quite a day.

They have a meal….then a strange thing happens.
The news of what Jesus has done has gone all over town.
But the people who have many sick and demon possessed in town don’t come to Jesus until the sun sets.
You see, the Sabbath law said, “you cannot carry a burden on the Sabbath day”…not even a sick person, so they believed.
So they waited till the sun goes down…to bring their sick.

And when Jesus and those inside the house open the door the whole town is in the street.

And Jesus begins to take away sickness…and He begins to cast out demon.
And notice: “HE refused to let the demons speak, because they knew who He was.”
Why?

Maybe it is because anyone who knows who Christ is, and yet does not manifest it in their lives, really doesn’t have anything too say!

If they know who Jesus is but do not manifest it in their lives all they can offer is excuses.

Maybe He didn’t allow them to speak because He knows how Satan works.

He had already been in the wilderness with Satan…He knows that Satan will tell just enough truth to get people to listen…to get them hooked…and then he lies to them.
That’s the way so many occults start.
Whatever the reason, Jesus refuses to let the demons speak.

But I want you to notice something here.

Jesus could have stayed busy doing just what He was doing.
I mean he could have stayed there and been busy healing and casting out demons for the rest of his life.
And He could have enjoyed tremendous success and popularity.

But that wasn’t what was important. Look at verses 35-39.

Jesus gets up early in the morning and goes out to a lonely place to pray.
And Simon and his companions come hunting for him and when they find him they say, “Everyone is looking for you!”
And I think they think that is what Jesus wanted to hear.
“Everyone is looking for you!’

But Jesus has been out that morning talking to His Father because something is deeply troubling Him.

You see, Mark doesn’t talk much about the prayer life of Jesus.
But every time Mark mentions the prayer life of Jesus there is a crisis in Jesus’ life.
In chapter 6 he feeds the multitudes, the people want to make him king…and Jesus goes off to a mountain to pray.
In Chapter 14 the cross is right in front of him and Jesus has to decide if he will do the will of his Father.

So, you say, where is the crisis in chapter 1? The people love Jesus!

The crisis here involves the shallow superficial response of the people.

Jesus says in verse 38 that “He wants to go somewhere else so He can preach, because that is what He came to do.”
You see, the message of salvation and repentance was what was important…but these people didn’t come for that.
They didn’t come to hear Jesus teach…they came to be healed.
Their motive wasn’t repentance…it was relief.
They weren’t interested in what Jesus had to say…they were only interested in what He could do for them.

His miracles are leading the people to marvel and to wonder….but not to repentance and belief.

They are coming for the wrong reasons.
There is no hint that any one in that village is recognizing Jesus for who he is except the demons.
I know that is a strong thing to say but Jesus says it.

Look at Matt. 11 and verses 23-24. Look at this, he talks about Capernaum with these words.

23 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in {the} day of judgment, than for you.”

Those are strong words.

Jesus says, “You know, if I had done in Sodom what I did in Capernaum, Sodom that wicked city would have repented and turned to God. But all Capernaum did was applaud and say, “Do some more Jesus. Do some more!”

They are like a lot of people today.

All they want is Jesus to give them some relief!
“Heal me Jesus!” Make me rich Jesus! Help me Jesus!
And there are a lot of preachers out there that tell people that that is just exactly what Jesus will do.
And they stress it….and teach it, and cause people to think that that is what Jesus is all about….and that is what is important.
And” if you don’t receive a healing then something is wrong with you”

The healing and the casting out of the demons that Jesus did here was not what was really important.

It had its purpose…John 20:30-31 tell us what that purpose is.

What was really important here was the fact that Jesus came to preach…and His message of salvation and repentance was what they people needed to hear! And it is what people need to hear today.

Because without that message people are lost even if they are healed.

So much of the time we only come to Jesus because we want Him to help us…

“Make me well…take away all my problems…”
Well, Jesus can heal you…and He can take away your problems…
But if that is all you come to Jesus for….
If you haven’t heard the message He has preached…and if you haven’t obeyed His will…you are still lost even if you have been healed!

Healing may be what we all want…but salvation is what we need because without it nothing else really matters.

In this passage you see a lot of people come to Jesus…but they all came for the wrong reasons.

Will you come to Him this morning for the right reasons?

A demon in this passage has told you that Jesus truly is the Son of God.

And that same demon has told you that just simply believing that Jesus is the Son of God is not enough.
It takes repentance…and an obedience to His will.
- Will you come this morning and confess Him as Lord…and will you repent…and obey His will…
- Will you be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins…just as He has commanded?
- If you will do that, His blood will wash away your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit…as well as a home with Him in heaven…