Mark 1:14-45

PART II. THE SERVANT'S WORK; NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, BUT TO MINISTER -- Chapter 1:14-10:52

Chapter 1:14-45.

The Ministry in Galilee after John's Imprisonment.

1. The Servant in Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. (Mark 1:14 .Matthew 4:12; Luke 4:14 .)

2. The Calling of fellow servants. (Mark 1:16. Matthew 4:18; Luke 5:1 .)

3. The Servant in Capernaum. (Mark 1:21; Luke 4:31 .)

4. Peter's Mother-in-law raised up. (Mark 1:29 .Matthew 8:14; Luke 4:38 .)

5. The Servant heals many and casts out demons. (Mark 1:32 .Luke 4:31; Matthew 8:16; Luke 4:40 .)

6. The Servant in prayer. (Mark 1:35 .)

7. The Interruption and the renewed service. (Mark 1:36. Luke 4:42. Luke 4:8. The Leper healed. (Mark 1:40 .Matthew 8:1; Luke 5:12 .)

1. The Servant in Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. Mark 1:14 .

The Servant begins His blessed service in Galilee immediately after John had been put into prison. And now the Lord takes up the hushed testimony of the forerunner. The heralding of the Kingdom at hand through the presence of Him who came to His own is less prominent in Mark. In the first twelve Chapter s of the Gospel of Matthew it is one of the leading features. The time, indeed, was fulfilled. While Matthew and Luke report the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom with the demand to repent, here in Mark the words are added “and believe the Gospel.” This gospel is of course not the Gospel of our salvation. That was not preached till after He had finished the work the Father gave Him to do.

2. The Calling of fellow servants. Mark 1:16 .

It is a blessed scene which we have before us. The Servant of God calls fellow servants, weak and sinful men, to become fishers of men. These are Simon and Andrew, James and John. They knew Him and had believed in Him. They were his disciples. But now He calls them into service. “Come ye after Me.” The Grace which called them gave them power to forsake earthly things and to come after Him. Boats and nets, their trade as fishermen and even their father, Zebedee, were left behind. Oh! blessed place to serve the Lord Christ and yield obedience to His call. We must own Him as Lord and follow Him in His own path of faith, obedience and humility. To seek others and bring them to Himself is the service to which He still calls. Note the word “straightway” in Mark 1:17 and Mark 1:20 .

3. The Servant in Capernaum. Mark 1:21 .

The Servant and His fellow servants went to Capernaum. Straightway he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath to teach. His first preaching in Nazareth (Luke 4:16) is not reported by Mark. It is after they thrust Him out of the city where He had been brought up, that He went to Capernaum. The blessed Servant knew no discouragement nor self pity. They laid their wicked hands on Him in Nazareth, then He went on to Capernaum and straightway taught there. His doctrine uttered with authority and power astonished all, yet He ever was the meek and lowly One. But the Word had another effect. A man with an unclean spirit interrupted Him in the synagogue. Satan's power was present and the demons were forced to confess “Jesus of Nazareth “ as “the Holy One of God.” Then the Servant's power is manifested. He rebuked him and commanded the demon to come out of him. The Servant's fame spread abroad throughout all that region.

4. Peter's Mother-in-law raised up. Mark 1:29 .

This miracle is found in the Gospel of Matthew in a different setting. For the dispensational setting see “The Gospel of Matthew,” chapter 8. The place given to this miracle here is equally significant. The first healing of disease in the Gospel of Mark follows the casting out of the demon, the defeat of Satan's power. This order will be followed when He comes again, not as the lowly Servant, but as the mighty King. Then Satan will be bound first and the greatest spiritual and physical blessings will come to this poor world at last. Concerning the healing of Peter's wife's mother, Matthew tells us “He touched her hand;” Luke “He stood over her and rebuked the fever.” Mark's testimony by the Holy Spirit is “He took her by the hand and lifted her up.” How beautiful! It reveals the tenderness, the loving sympathy of the blessed One. With what gentleness He must have lifted her up so as to avoid another pang of pain in her feverish body; but immediately she was healed. And He is still the same.

5. The Servant heals many and casts out demons. Mark 1:32 .

Deliverance from demons and divers diseases came to many on that memorable day “when the sun did set.” We must view these deliverances and healings in Mark's Gospel not so much as the evidences of His power as the manifestations of the great love and goodness of the Servant. Then He suffered the demons not to speak, because they knew Him. He loved to be unknown and did not want the applause of men nor the witness of the unclean spirits. Of His unostentatiousness we shall find further evidences.

6. The Servant in Prayer. Mark 1:35 .

And after such a day of uninterrupted toil, preaching, healing diseases, driving out demons, occupied from early morning till the sun did set, we find Him, rising a great while before day, in a solitary place, praying. He is alone in the presence of the Father. Thus it was fulfilled, “He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear as the instructed” (Isaiah 50:4). Only Mark gives us this precious information. It tells us that the Servant, though the Son of God, walked in complete dependence on God His Father. Prayer is the expression of such dependence. He had been anointed with the Spirit for His work, heard the Father's loving approval, defeated Satan, cast out demons, healed divers diseases, yet He is still the dependent One. Independence in service for God is a snare, the very spirit of Satan. The perfect Servant had His times for quietness, retirement and prayer, in which He cast Himself anew upon Him, whom to glorify He had come to earth. “And if He thus retired to be with God, Himself the Lord God, before He entered upon the work of the day, can we wonder that we fail so much in outward labor, who fail yet more in this inward intimacy with our Father? Be assured, the secret of holy strength and endurance in service is found there alone.” (W. Kelly. “Gospel of Mark.”) What child of God does not feel the deep necessity of this and deplores the neglect of this blessed privilege?

7. The Interruption and the renewed service. Mark 1:36 .

But He is followed by his disciples and is interrupted even in prayer. No rebuke comes from His lips. Willing He responds to the new demands. For that He came “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”

8. The Leper healed. Mark 1:40 .

Leprosy, that vile and loathsome disease, is a type of sin. Like sin it is incurable and only Jehovah could cure leprosy. When Jehovah had healed the disease the priest had to pronounce the leper clean. This leper recognized in the humble Servant the mighty Jehovah. He kneeled in His presence and expressed his faith in His power and implored Him to make him clean. Here again Mark tells us something of our blessed Lord, which we find neither in Matthew or Luke's account. He was moved with compassion. Thus the spirit of God in some brief additions portrays the Servant in His loving service. The leper is healed. The Servant is Jehovah and both His love and His power are revealed. He charged him to say nothing to any man. In this the Servant once more manifests His humility, that He served in an unostentatious way. He did not want honor from man. His Father knew all His service; that was enough for Him. Yet the enemy through the cleansed leper attempted the popularity of the Servant. He sought the desert places once more to hide Himself. May we serve after this great pattern Servant.