Miracles in Mark

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick

Each of the Four Evangelists of the New Testament seem to have a major sub-theme. Of course they all agree on the main theme, promoting the Good News of Jesus. But Matthew seems to be especially interested in identifying the prophesies in the Old Testament that will help convince his Jewish readers that Jesus is indeed the long awaited Messiah. Luke gives great emphasis on the Holy Spirit, a theme which is obviously picked up in his second volume, Acts. John is the theologian, providing deep insights from the teachings of Jesus. The book that we're currently reading in our daily "Through the Bible in a Year" program, is the book of Mark. The major sub-theme for Mark seems to be Miracles. Within the first 10 chapters are a score of accounts of miracles performed by Jesus. A few of them have to do with material things such as the calming of the storm, walking on water, the feeding of multitudes of people and appearance of Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. But the miracles we're interested in are the miracles of deliverance and healing. If Matthew sees fulfilled prophecy as evidence of Jesus' Messiahship, for Mark it is the Miracles, particularly the miracles of healing. Let's review them quickly: In chapter 1, while teaching in the Capernaum Synagogue, Jesus delivers a demon possessed man, and then went to the home of Peter and heals his mother-in-law. (Interesting - if the apostle claimed by the church to be the first Pope was married, why does the church now insist that all popes and priests remain single?) The same day, as evening fell, Mark tells us that "the whole town gathered at the door" as people brought sick and demon possessed people, "and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons." When Jesus left Capernaum to preach in other towns, a man with leprosy was healed. Returning to Capernaum (chapter 2), there was a crowd around the house where Jesus was teaching so that when four men brought their paralyzed friend to be healed, they had to resort to breaking up the roof to let the man down in front of Jesus. The man was forgiven, healed, and walked out of the house carrying his stretcher under his arm. Once again, as told in chapter 3, while Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, there was a man with a deformity which Jesus healed by simply saying "Stretch out your hand." News continued to spread so that not only from Galilee, but also from other parts of Israel crowds came to Jesus because they had heard that He had healed many who had been diseased. Mark devoted most of chapter 4 to share some of the parables used by Jesus, but in chapter 5 the demon-possessed man who called himself "Legion" was delivered - the demons then proceeded to drown 2,000 pigs in the lake. When Jesus returned to the Galilee side of the lake, He healed the little woman who had been suffering internal blood loss for 12 years, and raised from apparent death the 12 year old daughter of Jairus, a leading synagogue official. Then in chapter 6 Mark reported that when Jesus went to His home town of Nazareth to teach in the synagogue there, He healed "a few sick people." However, the author editorializes with the comment that Jesus couldn't do much there due to their lack of faith. As Jesus continued His traveling ministry, He expanded His work by sending out His disciples to preach and perform miracles. At the end of the chapter, when Jesus and His disciples landed their boat after the "Walking on Water" incident, we're told that a crowd of people brought their sick to Jesus. "They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed." In the next chapter, Mark reports that Jesus traveled outside of Israel to the region of Tyre and Sidon and there healed the young daughter of a foreigner. Returning to the Roman cities near Galilee, Jesus healed a man who had been both deaf and mute. Chapter 8 includes the report of the healing of a blind man in the town of Bethsaida - this could be called a progressive healing because at first the man received limited sight, but when Jesus laid hands on him again, his sight was completely restored. When Jesus and His disciples came down from the mountain where they had been visited by Moses and Elijah, Jesus healed the young son of a father who cried out the familiar words, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Chapter 10 ends with the healing of another blind man, Bartimaeus, near the edge of the town called Jericho. So there it is. In almost all of these 10 chapters, report after report of Jesus delivering and healing people - the diseased, the demon-possessed, the blind, the deaf - even raising the dead. There are several general observations we can make from this review. Jesus delivered and healed a great many people. Those that He healed were young and not so young, there were both men and women, Israelites and foreigners. Some were healed with a touch, others with just a word - in one case Jesus even used spit! Some were healed never even having seen Jesus, others were healed, not because He touched them but because they touched Him. Some who were healed worshipped Jesus, at least one was forgiven; some were healed due to their faith, and others were healed even though faith was week. Some received their healing when they asked for it; others were healed because someone else asked for them. In some areas many people were healed; in Jesus' hometown only a few were healed. Many were healed because they asked Jesus directly; on the other side, fathers and mothers asked for healing for their children; friends sought healing on behalf of friends; some persisted in their requests for healing in spite of attempts to persuade them to give up - at one point, Jesus Himself seems to put off someone who asked for healing. We can also observe that evidently Jesus didn't want this to be the main thing people talked about - He at times specifically asked that they not tell anyone about their healing. At other times it seems that Jesus was anxious to get away from the crowds of sick people because He wanted to concentrate on the main task, preaching the Gospel. Once He slipped out at night to get alone to pray and then went to other towns to preach. Another time He got into a boat moored a little away from the shore so the people couldn't get to Him while He was teaching. It certainly wasn't because He didn't want to help the people, but that He wanted them to listen to the message - healing for the body was not the main purpose of His ministry. With some healings, the apparent reason for the report was to comment on the reactions by witnesses - often it was awe and amazement (1:27; 2:12; 7:37); some reacted by praising God (2:12); others responded by following Jesus (10:52). There were occasions when crowds mobbed Him (5:24) or, when they heard Jesus was coming, ran to gather up all the sick folk (6:56); on the other hand, some reacted by asking Jesus to leave their area (5:17), and in at least one case, the reaction was the strengthened resolve of His enemies to kill Him (3:6). With many of these healing reports, Mark was quick to note what happened next - one healed woman fell to the ground in embarrassment (5:34), another got up from her sick bed to fix dinner (1:31), a child was served food for the first time in a long time (5:43). One man was immediately sent to get his healing verified by the priest (1:44), another gave his testimony to everyone in his town. (5:20). We could also take special note as to what Jesus says with each of these healings. To some recipients of healing He says, "don't tell anyone" (1:44); but to someone else He said, "go tell your family" (5:19). To one He said "be clean (1:41); to another, "your sins are forgiven" (2:5). To the woman touching His garment Jesus followed up by saying "go in peace" (5:34) and to the frightened father He simply said, "don't be afraid" (5:36). However, with some of the healings, there's a lesson attached. Here are some examples: There's the lesson about the healing of the body being at times linked to the forgiveness of sin, and that Jesus has power to both forgive and heal. (This reminds us of what James, the brother of Jesus would later write, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:14-16) There's another lesson about doing good on the Sabbath, i.e., placing acts of love before religious ritual. Of course there's a powerful lesson that Jesus has greater power than the demons that seek to kill and destroy. With the healing of the Greek woman's daughter, the lesson seems to be about the priority of ministry to Israelites. There are also lessons about faith, prayer and fasting. After reviewing all these accounts of healings and making these various observations, the question comes, "What does all this mean for us?" Here are six applications: The God that Jesus came to reveal, the One Jesus called Father, is a healing God. Jesus made it clear that He came to do His Father's works. What did Jesus do? He healed people; He was doing His Father's work of healing, thus the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is a God that heals. Secondly, contrary to what some people may try to tell us today, there was never any hint that healing was to be a right for us to demand from God. How many times have we heard someone say, "If you're sick, just claim your healing"? My question is, "What ever happened to 'Please'"? I like the title of the book by Robert Fulghum, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". In our earliest years, even before kindergarten, we learned to say "please." Jesus teaches us to pray, that is to seek, ask, and knock - He never invites us to demand. Remember there's one very famous story told by Jesus where a son demanded that his father give him his inheritance. Do you remember how that story turned out? The son got what he wanted, and it landed him in the pig pen. No, we don't demand healing, but because we know from Jesus that His Father is a healing God, and because Jesus taught us to pray, we come to Him every time we have a need. Do you remember the comment Luke made about the woman who came to Jesus seeking healing? She had already spent everything she had on the doctors who were unable to help her. Then she came to Jesus. Certainly that woman can be excused because before that, she didn't know she could come to Jesus. But we do know, and yet too often we come to Him as a last resort, when, I believe, He want us to come to Him first. Early in my ministry, I served as youth and music minister in a Philadelphia downtown church. The pastor I served with had a ready explanation as to why pastors tended to be speedy drivers. He said it was because whenever a member of the church would call, asking the pastor to come pray for them, he knew that before they had placed that call they had already called the doctor, and if the pastor wanted to have the opportunity to pray for his parishioner, he had to drive very fast to get there before the doctor arrived. Of course doctors don't do house calls anymore, but the truth is still the same - we tend to call on man for help, and only call on God as a last resort. God is a healing God; He wants to heal. Why not give Him the opportunity? Third, Jesus did not heal merely to call attention to Himself - His was not a political movement; He wasn’t after votes or popularity. Yes, Jesus invited people to follow Him, and twelve (no, eleven) did, but this was in the context of Jesus knowing that He would be taken from them and return to His Father. That's why He said, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later." (John 13:36) Once He completed His primary purpose, to die in order to provide for forgiveness to those who would accept it - once He completed that task, He returned to where He came from - Jesus didn't want people to be followers of a man, He wanted them to be followers of God. Fourth, the primary reason Jesus performed healings was because it was part of the larger program to demonstrate the love and power of God on behalf of His people - the healings were to authenticate His being the Son of God. Yes, people were healed due to the love of God and the compassion of Christ. But the healing episodes were part of a much larger purpose - to bring about a relationship with the Creator which would, through the salvation He offered, make possible eternal fellowship in God's heaven. Fifth, in providing healing, Jesus did not limit His activity to physical issues. As we reviewed the healings performed by Jesus in Mark’s gospel, we couldn't help notice that forgiveness was important to Jesus - in the case of the paralyzed man forgiveness preceded healing. It is also obvious that Jesus was concerned about some of the great inner problems people face, things such as fear, insecurity, turmoil, and guilt - to name just a few. And here's one last application for us - faith is important and it is transferable. Jesus often said, "Your faith has made you well," and it was duly noted by Mark that not many healings took place in Jesus’ home town due to their lack of faith. But He also honored the faith of fathers and mothers, and he honored the faith of friends and neighbors - it was their faith that caused them to bring their loved ones to Jesus. To this encouraging message, let us respond with a loud and positive sounding “AMEN!” When Jesus was here on earth, He healed many people – “AMEN!” God is our Healer – “AMEN!” God, our loving Heavenly Father wants to give His children gifts of healing – “AMEN!” When diseased, broken bruised and hurting, we will turn first to God in prayer – “AMEN!” As we humbly ask for healing, we will also ask for forgiveness – “AMEN!” We will pray to be healed, not only in our bodies, but also in our minds, our emotions and our spirits – “AMEN!” When we are healed, we will always give thanks to God and draw attention to the Gospel – “AMEN!” With God’s help, we will bring other people to Jesus so they too may be healed – “AMEN!” Some day, when all who believe are gathered in God’s heaven, we will no longer need to pray for healing because from that time on, there will be no more sickness – “AMEN!” Discussion Questions Miracles in Mark 1. What are the major sub-themes in each of the Four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? 2. Name some of the miracles mentioned by Mark which could be classified as miracles of matter rather than miracles of healing? 3. What are some good reasons to reject the obligation of celibacy for Christian leaders? 4. Identify by age or description some of the healings reported in the first 10 chapters of Mark’s Gospel. 5. A great many of people were healed by Jesus. What are some of the different classifications they represented? 6. What were some of the different methods Jesus used in His healing ministry? 7. Why was the blind man told to quiet down when calling out for Jesus to heal him? 8. Why did Jesus, on more than one occasion, tell people He healed not to tell anyone what had happened? 9. What were some of the different types of reactions by people who witnessed one of these healings? 10. What did the people who were healed do after they were healed? 11. How is healing for the body related to forgiveness of sins? 12. When Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath Day, what lesson was He trying to get across to His listeners? 13. Why is it improper for us to demand to be healed? 14. Can you give an example of “transferable” faith? - - Return to Top of this Page - Email a link to this page - Go To Next Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick - Back To Sermons Page or to the Sermons Alphabetical List - - Download This Sermon - - Download a Power Point Presentation for This Sermon - - If you have enjoyed joyfulministry.com, you may send a referral letter - Click Here, and enter email addresses of your friends. This Page's Title Is: Your Name Is: Your Email Address Is: Your State and Country: Please identify your vocation: Senior Pastor. Associate Pastor. Youth Pastor. Lay Minister. Church Member. Which section of this site would you most likely return to? 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