Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September 19, 2004
Introduction
Jesus has come onto the scene in Israel. As He was baptized by John the Baptist, the
Holy Spirit rested on Jesus and the Father spoke. John the Baptist let the people know that the
Messiah had come. After being tempted in
the wilderness for 40 days, Jesus began to call His disciples. He found Peter, Andrew, James, and John and challenged
them to follow Him so He could make them fishers of men.
Last week we saw Jesus demonstrate His authority through His teaching, the
casting out of demons, and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. After these displays of power, there are
crowds starting to follow Jesus.
Mark 1:35-39
:35 And in
the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into
a solitary place, and there prayed.
in the morning – proi – early; the fourth watch of the night, from 3 o’clock in the morning until 6 o’clock approximately
before day – ennuchon (“in” + “night”) – NAS – “while it was still dark”
solitary – eremos – lonely, desolate, uninhabited
Lesson
Prayer
Jesus seemed to have a need to pray.
He got up early to pray
To start a day to be used by God, you need to start the day with God.
Talking with God.
That’s what prayer is all about, simply talking to God.
It’s a time to put all your worries and burdens and God’s
feet.
(1 Pet 5:7 KJV)
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth
for you.
It’s a time to do spiritual work, using spiritual tools
and spiritual weapons.
(2 Cor 10:3-5 KJV) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not
war after the flesh: {4} (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
{5} Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ;
(Eph 6:12 KJV)
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.
(Eph 6:18 KJV)
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Hearing from God
(Isa 50:4 NASB) The Lord GOD has given Me
the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a
word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My
ear to listen as a disciple.
Spend time reading God’s Word and listening to what God
wants to teach you. You can read through
the Bible with us, its five chapters a day while we’re in Psalms (which doesn’t
take long), then it’s basically three chapters a day the rest of the year. There’s a daily chart on the church website,
or if you get the weekly Pastor-to-Person e-mails, you get the week’s
assignments by e-mail.
He withdrew to pray. He got away from people and distractions.
Elijah was in trouble. Jezebel was
upset with him for killing her prophets of Baal. So he ran away. He hid himself in a cave where he experienced
fire, wind, and earthquakes. But God
wasn’t in any of those things. God spoke
to him in a “still, small voice”.
God tends to speak in a “still, small voice”.
If you get much noise or distraction going on in a room, it’s pretty hard
to spend some quality time with God.
The life of prayer starts when you learn to pray when you’re alone.
Some people only pray or spend time with God when others are watching
(Mat 6:5 KJV) And when thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Don’t use prayer just to get attention from others.
Jesus taught that a person of prayer is a person who knows how to pray when
they’re alone.
(Mat 6:6 KJV) But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly.
There is nothing wrong with praying in public and praying
with other people. The Bible is filled
with examples of when this is done properly.
There is great power when God’s people come together and pray.
But if you never spend time alone praying, then your
prayer life needs to take some steps of growth.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray.
(Mat 6:9 KJV) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our
Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Luke records another incident when Jesus taught the “Lord’s Prayer”. He records that Jesus was asked to teach the
disciples how to pray, and He was asked after the disciples had been seen Him
praying.
(Luke 11:1-2 KJV)
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he
ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John
also taught his disciples. {2} And he said unto them,
When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in
earth.
Jesus taught by example. He didn’t just
talk about prayer, He prayed and talked about prayer.
Too often we get interested in prayer and we can read
books on prayer and hear people talk about prayer. Once a year Fullerton
hosts its own Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, which is a really neat thing and where
Jesus is talked about, but not too much actual praying goes on. Sometimes what is missing from our meetings is
simply getting down to praying.
Following the Lord, being His disciple, means learning a
life of prayer.
Jesus saw the needs of ministry and
knew that the way to respond to the overwhelming needs was to pray for more
laborers.
(Mat 9:36-38 KJV) But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved
with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as
sheep having no shepherd. {37} Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers
are few; {38} Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send
forth labourers into his harvest.
Luke records what Jesus did after saying that:
(Luke 6:12 KJV)
And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to
pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
The next morning Jesus went out and chose the twelve
apostles.
Some of you are involved in leading various ministries in the church. Some of you know that sometimes you need help
in your ministry. Jesus said the answer
was to pray.
Even after a tremendous time of ministry, after feeding the 5,000
and sending the disciples off in a boat, Jesus went to pray.
(Mat 14:23
KJV) And when he had
sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when
the evening was come, he was there alone.
It would appear that Jesus spent much of the night in
prayer.
Perhaps He felt drained and needed to draw near to God for
strength. Perhaps He sensed a need for
God’s continued work in the people He had just ministered to. Perhaps He knew God still wasn’t finished
with these folks.
Jesus was faced with a particular
difficult situation. Some of His
disciples had been attempting to cast a demon out of a boy, but they had been
unable to do so.
(Mat 17:17-21 KJV) Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and
perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how
long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. {18}
And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was
cured from that very hour. {19} Then came the
disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? {20} And
Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If
ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be
impossible unto you. {21} Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and
fasting.
Some kinds of ministry aren’t going to happen unless we
learn to be a praying people.
At the beach – some young children find it a challenge
just to get their toes into the water.
The waves can seem frightening.
Yet God doesn’t want us to spend our lives just dabbling
our toes at the water’s edge. He wants
us to learn to swim. He wants us to
learn to ride the waves.
If we want to see God doing bigger things at our church, we
need to be a people who believe so much in God answering prayer that we are
praying more and more.
:37 …All men seek for thee.
Simon Peter probably means that everyone in Capernaum
is out looking for Jesus. After all,
they had all been to his house the day before.
:38 …Let us go into the next towns…for therefore
came I forth.
came I forth – exerchomai – to go or come forth of
This is the same word used back in verse 35, translated “he went out”. Jesus is saying, “I went out to the
wilderness to pray because it is time to be moving on to these other towns to
preach”.
:39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout
all Galilee
Lesson
Be stretched
Jesus had experienced some wonderful times of ministry in the little town
of Capernaum. Capernaum
would be a sort of “home-base” for Jesus and His disciples.
But He didn’t spend all His time in Capernaum.
Sometimes we can get a bit too comfortable in the various roles we perform
in life.
What if God were to stretch you a little?
Jesus knew He had other towns to preach in beside Capernaum.
Phillip the evangelist was
having great success in Samaria. Many people were coming to the Lord.
But God told him to head south where he found one guy out in the desert,
the Ethiopian eunuch.
Phillip might have balked at the idea of leaving such a thriving ministry,
but God had someone who needed to hear about Jesus.
Jonah was also called out of his
comfort zone. God called him to preach
to the hated people of Nineveh.
When Jonah ran from God, God let Jonah get even more uncomfortable.
Let God stretch you. Don’t get too
comfortable.
Mark 1:40-45 Healing the leper
:40 there came a leper …If thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean.
a leper – lepros – scaly, rough; leprous, affected with leprosy
Leprosy in Jesus’ day included a variety of skin disorders, including
“Hanson’s Disease”, which today we call leprosy. It was all considered incurable at that time. It made a person an outcast, as they were no
longer able to associate with anyone else but lepers. The person would be barred from participating
in any kind of worship.
thou wilt – thelo – to will, intend; to purpose; to desire, to wish
There are two different words the leper could have used. There is a word that speaks of being willing
with the mind (boulomai),
a mental choice, “if you choose to …”. There is another word that speaks of being
willing with the emotions (thelo), a heart choice, “if
you want to …”. It’s the heart that the leper appeals to when
He asks Jesus for help.
:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth
his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
moved with compassion – splagchnizomai – to be moved as to one’s bowels, hence
to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be
the seat of love and pity)
put forth – ekteino – to stretch out, stretch forth
touched – haptomai – to fasten one’s self to, adhere to, cling to
This is the word used (John 20:17)
when Jesus appeared to Mary after His resurrection and she grabbed a hold of
Jesus and He said, “Touch Me not”, or, “Stop clinging to me”.
Jesus doesn’t just lightly brush His hand on the fellow. He doesn’t just lay His hand on the man. He grabs a hold of this man.
I will – thelo – to will, have in mind, intend; to be
resolved or determined, to purpose; to desire, to wish
The man asked if Jesus was willing.
Jesus said He was willing.
It would be against the Law of Moses for Jesus to touch an unclean leper.
But the grammar indicates that Jesus speaks the words “I will …” as He is
reaching out His hand to touch the man.
Jesus doesn’t touch the man to heal him, but to show that He has already
been healed by Jesus’ words.
Lesson
Jesus cleanses the unlovely
You might be thinking that you are the last person that someone like Jesus
would ever help.
You are exactly the kind of person that Jesus wants to help.
Leprosy is often seen in the Bible as a picture of sin.
It’s deadly. It works to numb us and
then kill us. It is incurable.
Yet there is someone who can cleanse the leper.
There is someone who can cleanse the sinner.
Is He willing? You bet He is. But you have to ask for His help.
(John 1:12 KJV)
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
:43 And he straitly charged him …
Jesus gives him some pretty stern, strict orders …
:44 … See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy
way, show thyself to the priest…for a testimony unto them.
Throughout the gospels we see Jesus telling various individuals not to talk
about Him. I’m not sure that Jesus’
reason is the same for every instance.
Last week we saw Jesus telling the demons not to talk about Him. Jesus doesn’t need free publicity from demons
or from those who haven’t chosen to follow Him.
He needs a witness from those who have been changed by Him.
Now it looks as if Jesus is telling this man not to tell anyone about his
healing from leprosy.
Jesus isn’t saying that this man should never say anything to anyone
else. Jesus’ concern is simply that the priests
have a witness to what God has done.
Jesus seemed to consider the healing of the lepers as part of the demonstration
of His being the Messiah. When John the
Baptist sent a message to Jesus because he was apparently having doubts about
Jesus being the Messiah:
(Luke 7:22 KJV)
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what
things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Jesus wants the priests to know that the Messiah has come.
…which Moses commanded …
There was a pretty bizarre ritual in the book of Leviticus concerning what
to do on the day that a leper was actually healed (Lev. 14).
The priest took two birds. One bird
was killed and its blood was mixed with cedar wood, a scarlet thread, and
hyssop. Then the live bird was dipped in
the mixture and set free, as a picture of the leper now being set free to a new
life. Then the mixture was sprinkled on
the cleansed leper. Then the leper was to be shaved and bathed. A week later two lambs were sacrificed for
him. Lamb’s blood was then put on the
leper’s ear, thumb, and big toe signifying that his life had been
cleansed.
It’s interesting that the only people in Scripture who would have blood put
on their ear, thumb, and big toe were either the priests (Ex. 29:20), or cleansed
lepers.
Then the priest was to take oil and put it on the man’s ear, thumb, and big
toe signifying that he was now anointed to serve the Lord.
This was not a common occurrence. There
were records of only two lepers healed in the Old Testament (Miriam and Naaman). The cleansing of a leper was a huge miracle.
Lesson
Listen to Jesus’ directions
There are people that God is concerned about that we would tell about Him.
Perhaps the man thought, “Hey, what’s the big deal? Don’t the priests already know about God?”
But the priests needed to hear what Jesus had done.
Perhaps Jesus felt it was important that this man experience go through the
ceremony to become socially and religiously “clean”. Perhaps Jesus wanted the man to obey the law.
Perhaps Jesus wanted the priests to see a bit of the connection between
themselves and this cleansed leper.
Perhaps Jesus wanted the priests to see that He had not come to do away
with the Law, but was actually fulfilling the Law.
Pay attention to God’s promptings.
God doesn’t always have to tell you why.
Just do what He says.
:45 But he went out, and began to publish it much,
and to blaze abroad the matter…
publish – kerusso – to be a herald, to officiate as a herald; to preach
to blaze abroad – diaphemizo – to spread abroad, blaze abroad; to
spread abroad his fame or renown
After this man began going around telling everyone about Jesus, there was a
period of time when Jesus couldn’t even enter into a city because He would be
mobbed by the crowds. He would
eventually be able to go back into the cities, but for awhile a temporary
problem pops up because Jesus becomes too popular.
I don’t think it’s a bad thing that the man went out and told others about
Jesus. I don’t think the man is directly
disobeying Jesus in telling others about what Jesus did for him.
But he’s not doing all that Jesus asked him to do.
Jesus asked him to send a message to the priests, which the man didn’t do.
Luke records what Jesus did in response to the crowds growing in size:
(Luke 5:16 KJV)
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.