Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
2 Kings 4: (8-17) 18-21 (22-31) 32-37; Psalm 142; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39
Jesus’ very first recorded words in Mark’s gospel are “Repent and believe in the gospel.” God had one son and he made him a preacher. He preached about the Kingdom of God of which he is King! No wonder C.S. Lewis said that it is impossible to think of Jesus simply as moral example or a good teacher. He did not leave us that option. He is a lunatic, a bad man, or who he says he is, the Son of God. This becomes obvious when we see how he preached about himself! The selection of Mark in today’s gospel presents us with Jesus’ first dilemma. Mark records Jesus praying three times (1:35; 6:46; 14:32) and each comes at a crisis point in his ministry. What is the crisis here? In Mark 1, as Jesus proclaims the gospel, he also heals everyone he meets (v. 33-34). The crowds are coming in great numbers; so much so, Jesus has to reexamine his priorities.
What is his most important priority? He tells us in 1:38, “Let us go to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” It’s hard to imagine a person who could empty wards in a hospital decide to give up healing, unless there was something even more important to do. That is the case here. Of course, Jesus continues his healing ministry. However, he has come not to heal, but to preach and he can heal if he so chooses. The priority then is the gospel word through which God calls people to himself and out of the clutches of Satan’s rule over them. As Jesus enters the synagogue in Capernaum the congregation was amazed at his teaching, and later after he exorcised the demon, the crowd was still amazed, not just at the healing, but at his ‘new teaching’ (v 27).
Jesus teaches 16 times in Mark, and The Teacher 11 times. Jesus teaches, the Word is opposed and evil is revealed and rebuked. The great miracles Jesus performs are not compelling proofs of his divine mission. They are often misunderstood, and some can be duplicated by false prophets. The miracles are not evidence for the presence of the Kingdom of God just by their occurrence, but are eloquent symbols of it.
As Paul says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Look It Up
Mark recounts three times Jesus prays. Look up Mark 6:46 and 14:32. What events move Jesus to pray?
Think About It
The Anglican Reformers considered the Eucharist a visible word. They believed that the spoken and preached word was necessary at each celebration of the Eucharist. Do you agree?
Next Sunday
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
2 Kings 5:1-15ab; Psalm 42 or 43:1-7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Mark 1:40-45
