Five-year Bible reading plan for 22 August 2016

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Mark, Chapter 1, verses 21-34

¹⁶ calleth Peter, Andrew, James and John, ²³ healeth one that had a devil, ²⁹ Peter's mother-in-law, ³² many diseased persons

²¹And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

²²And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

²³And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

²⁴Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

²⁵And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

²⁶And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

²⁷And 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

³⁴And 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.

Read more:Mark, Chapter 1

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1

1:21 Luk 4:31.

1:26 A loud noise - For he was forbidden to speak. Christ would neither suffer those evil spirits to speak in opposition, nor yet in favour of him. He needed not their testimony, nor would encourage it, lest any should infer that he acted in concert with them.

1:29 Mat 8:14; Luk 4:38.

1:32 When the sun was set - And, consequently, the Sabbath was ended, which they reckoned from sunset to sunset.

1:33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door - O what a fair prospect was here! Who could then have imagined that all these blossoms would die away without fruit?

1:34 He suffered not the devils to say that they knew him - That is, according to Dr. Mead's hypothesis, (that the Scriptural demoniacs were only diseased persons,) He suffered not the diseases to say that they knew him!

NOTES

The evangelist notes an interesting fact: it is Jesus' victory over the “unclean spirit” that makes the strongest impression on the people. In principle, of course, there is nothing surprising here: the Kingdom is indeed fatal to the dark powers, and the breath of God that permeates it proves to be...

The evangelist notes an interesting fact: it is Jesus' victory over the “unclean spirit” that makes the strongest impression on the people. In principle, of course, there is nothing surprising here: the Kingdom is indeed fatal to the dark powers, and the breath of God that permeates it proves to be a force that kills the spirits of darkness, so it is entirely natural that it should torment them.

Yet the power of the Kingdom manifested itself in other ways in Jesus' presence, but such manifestations evidently made far less of an impression on people's minds. Why was this so? Probably because fallen man associates strength and power (after the power of earthly rulers, of course, which is always in plain view and manifests itself all too clearly) precisely with the actions of dark forces. There is nothing surprising in this either: fallen man lives in a world that is under the dominion of these very forces and always senses this deep down, even when considering himself a materialist and an atheist. And he always watches with apprehension (quite appropriate in this case) and curiosity (wholly inappropriate and superfluous, by contrast) the manifestations in surrounding life of the power that represents his true master, in whose hands all earthly rulers are merely toys and pawns in a great game.

But, of course, the greatest commotion among people is caused by the appearance of the One who, as is obvious to everyone, can not only challenge the dark ruler but also put his subjects to flight. For every fallen person (sometimes without realising it) understands perfectly well that this cannot happen. And if something like it has nevertheless occurred, it can mean only one thing: something truly radical has changed in the world. Such testimony may prove more impressive than many words about the Kingdom drawing near.

Of course, in itself it still does not guarantee that everyone impressed by Jesus' victory over the powers of darkness will follow Him. But there can be no guarantees here at all. And for someone, perhaps, it is precisely such a visible victory of the Messiah over the “unclean spirit” that will become the event that leads them to reflect on the Kingdom and on their own salvation.

What is a calling? How can we find our calling and understand what God wants from us? So much has been said and written on this subject over two thousand years of Christian history that one might think no questions should remain, yet they do not grow any fewer. The apostles, however...

What is a calling? How can we find our calling and understand what God wants from us? So much has been said and written on this subject over two thousand years of Christian history that one might think no questions should remain, yet they do not grow any fewer. The apostles, however, or one might say the future apostles, faced no problem of choice and had neither doubts nor hesitation. Curiously, Jesus says nothing special to them, does not teach them anything or deliver long sermons; He simply invites each of them to follow Him. And they go, as though they had always been waiting for this encounter. Of course, they had most likely heard something about Jesus before and may even have heard Jesus Himself. But hearing is one thing, and leaving everything to follow Him is quite another. It is clear that a true calling is always revealed to a person with complete certainty.

One might, of course, say that this was a unique situation, for the Saviour Himself stood before them, and if the future apostles understood Who stood before them and where He was calling them, there was nothing surprising in their resolve. And yet the evangelists give examples of far less resolve among some of those whom Jesus called to follow Him in exactly the same way. On the other hand, can there be any discussion of a Christian's calling without that personal encounter with the Risen One, without which not only any calling, but Christianity itself is impossible? Apparently, the question of calling is resolved quite simply: a calling is that without which it is impossible to live, because life loses its meaning. And if a person still has questions, doubts or hesitation about whether a particular activity is his calling, then the answer is most likely negative. If the answer were positive, the person called to serve, whatever that service might be, could and would have no doubts or hesitation.

Of course, what is meant here is specifically doubts and hesitation concerning the content of the service itself, not the difficulties that may accompany it. Sometimes the cunning human mind, in its desire to spare its owner the difficulties and problems inherent in the service to which God is calling him, supplies doubts about whether the call is genuine and whether the decision already made or being made is right. But that is another matter, a question of spiritual honesty, without which no one can find his calling.

There is, of course, nothing surprising in the fact that the sick and the possessed long for healing and deliverance. Something else is interesting: exactly how the evangelist describes such events...

There is, of course, nothing surprising in the fact that the sick and the possessed long for healing and deliverance. Something else is interesting: exactly how the evangelist describes such events. He tells some of them in detail, for example the healing of Peter's mother-in-law; others he mentions briefly, as he mentioned the many healings Jesus performed in Capernaum. Of course, this difference could be explained in purely literary terms: by speaking of an event in detail, the evangelist thereby sets it apart, while in general terms he speaks of events that turn out to be a kind of background for the separate episodes. But in the Gospel there are no unimportant or insignificant parts; even the background matters here. And what first catches the eye in descriptions of such background events is the mass, the crowd, the multitude.

It is quite possible that all these healings did not happen at one single moment, that the brief mention of many healings is brief only in the evangelist's description, while in reality the healings described took more than one day. But even if that is so, the difference in how the events are described is still obvious: on the one hand, a single event; on the other, something mass-scale, where the individual person cannot be distinguished.

But perhaps the issue here is not literary composition alone. Perhaps it is the very nature of the Kingdom: the Kingdom in which there is no place for illness or possession, and therefore everyone it touches is delivered from both one and the other, if only he has even a drop of trust in the One who brought this Kingdom into the world. But deliverance from illness is only the first step. After that life begins, that new life in the Kingdom in which nothing simply happens by itself anymore, where one must serve so that this life becomes for the person who has shared in it not only an external fact, but also the inner content and meaning of his own existence.

And this is already a strictly individual and deeply personal process. Here it is not enough simply to come into contact with the Kingdom; what is needed is a spiritual process that cannot take place without the person's own conscious and purposeful participation. And while there are always many who want to be healed and freed from the power of dark forces, there are generally far fewer who make the effort to move forward on the spiritual path.

This is why, perhaps, there are not so many Christians among those healed by Jesus. Healing, after all, is only the beginning. It is a beginning that requires continuation. Otherwise the life of the Kingdom will never become reality for the one who has been healed.

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