Passage
As
the night progressed, more and more sick people were brought to Jesus. Soon an incredible crowd was gathered at the
door of Andrew and Peter’s house. Jesus
healed many sick people. Jesus cast out
many demons. But He forbade the demons
from speaking because they knew who He was.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Grammar
is such an interesting thing. In the
Greek text, there is no subject of the verb “brought.” Like most declined languages, this happens
often – so it’s no big deal. From the
form of the verb, we know it is 3rd person plural. So, we grab the appropriate pronoun and
insert it because English demands a subject.
The appropriate pronoun is “they.”
That’s not the neat part.
What
is neat is that in these cases, the subject of the verb is assumed to be the
prior noun of the same gender and number.
{We pretty much do the same thing
in English when we’re trying to figure out the antecedents to an English pronoun.} The prior noun is found at the end of verse
31: “them.” Who are “them?” It is Jesus’ own disciples! The people that Peter’s mother served are the
ones who bring all the sick to Jesus. So
often we think that the crowds of Capernaum brought their own sick to pester
Jesus while He was trying to have an intimate moment with His disciples. This is not what happened at all! It is the disciples – amazed at how Jesus has
already worked in their lives – who are going out and bringing people to
Jesus! Isn’t that a novel concept?
Who
do you go out and bring to Jesus? What
has Jesus done in your life that you should be using to help bring other people
to Him? What does it say about us if we
aren’t actively going out and trying to bring people to Jesus?
Second Thought:
Jesus
healed many sick people. Imagine the
scene. A large crowd gathers. Someone is healed. Another person is healed. The whooping!
The ahhh-ing! The excitement
builds. If we let Him be, Jesus is a
person that creates and incredible amount of excitement in our life.
When
you think of faith and spirituality, do you get excited? Is excitement something people usually
associate with faith and religion? What
does this tell us about how we may be sending the wrong message to the
world? How can we change that message?
Third Thought:
Jesus
refuses to let the demons speak because they know who He is. Again, it might be confusing as to why Jesus
doesn’t want His identity getting around.
After all, aren’t we supposed to talk about Jesus?
The
truth is that Jesus wants people to discover Him based on His teaching and the
movement within people’s hearts. He
doesn’t want them to get caught up in the whole “Messiah is going to overthrow
Rome and make us a great nation” turmoil.
Jesus wants people to come because they believe in how He can change
their life, not because they think Jesus can bring them earthly glory. With Jesus, it is all about personal
relationship and personal growth. It is
not about glory and power and prestige.
How
does this passage help you begin to understand why the “Jesus movement” stayed
so small? How does this passage help you
understand that Jesus isn’t as interested in the big group mass-of-humanity as
He is in the small discipleship 1-on-1 kind of conversations?
Passage
for Tomorrow: Mark 1:35-39
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