St. Mark 8: 27 – 9: 1

February 15, 2023

27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.

33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.

34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.

37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.

38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.

39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;

44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

Two things stand out to me – “publish it much” and “they came to him from every quarter.“. At that time in history, the only way something could be ‘published’ was by word of mouth (not withstanding orders from the Roman government). For the most part, no one could read (with the obvious exceptions, of course). There were no cellphones, newspapers, radios or televisions. “to blaze abroad the matter” is perfect in creating the visual of a spark igniting a huge fire and huge fires travel fast. To my mind, it’s everybody telling everybody they meet about Jesus and what He could and did do. We sit in our pretty little churches and nod to each other how wonderful Jesus is. That’s not even a spark. Jesus tells St.John 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3) Hmmm – something we may want to think about …

“they came to him from every quarter.” The need for the Savior was so great, even though they had no clue Who and What Jesus is, in their hearts and in their minds, they had an understanding – a need. We may have to remind ourselves that the people didn’t just show up to get healed or have someone healed. The two stories. of feeding the five thousand and of four thousand, isn’t just about the miracle – it’s all those people coming just to hear Jesus preach. They had no idea their bodies were going to be fed – they didn’t care about that; they were feeding on the Word of God in their hearts. Isn’t the fact that all those people showed up a miracle as important as the bread and fishes? It reminds me of when Jesus was calling the disciples – they immediately left their jobs, their families, the lives they had always known. That’s a miracle, too. Because our need for Him is so great.

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