The Prayer

Noah Hicks

The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

0 ratings

· 8 views

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Good evening students! It is so good to be back in the youth room for worship. I have been longing for us to meet back in here. This week, we will continue in our series through the Gospel of Mark. So, if you have your Bibles open us to Mark 1 again. This week we will be looking at verses 35-45 of Mark 1.

Just a recap from last week, remember that Jesus went to Peter’s mother-in-law and healed her from a severe fever. After healing her, man other people from the city came to Jesus to be healed as well. So, Jesus was healing and casting out demons well into the night. Jesus was showing His power and not only that, Jesus was showing that He was God’s Son. However, remember that He also veiled His Messiahship because it was not time for Him to be revealed.

However, now, let’s take a look at

Mark 1:35–45 ESV

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. 40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Jesus left Peter’s house early in the morning. Remember that Jesus was up working into the night healing people and casting out demons. Now, He has gotten up early to pray and be with God the Father.

Prayer is essential in the Christian life.

As we see in verse 35, Jesus got up very early in the morning to pray. The Scripture says that He even got up before the sun rose. I do not know about many of you, but it is rare for many of us to get up before the sun comes up. However, Jesus got up early to pray and spend time with God the Father. Not only did Jesus get up early, He also went to a secluded or desolate place. Jesus went away from others so that He could focus and spend undivided time with God the Father.

Many of us are easily distracted. I know that I am easily distracted. I can sit down to work on homework or a sermon and my mind can just wonder off thinking about what else I have to do that day. Likewise, I can be distracted by my surroundings. However, Jesus went away not because He was easily distracted, but He went away to distance Himself from other people. He need to have time of intentional prayer with God the Father. He did not need any disruptions. He did not need Peter busting in and hindering Him from being with God.

Now, Jesus going away early to pray teaches us a few things about prayer.

First, if Jesus needed intentional times of prayer, so do we. We need to set aside specific times during the day in which we spend time in prayer with God. For me, my prayer time is in the morning. Each morning, I wake up, get ready, sit in the living room at my house before Jesse wakes up, and I spend time reading Scripture and praying. The reason I do that is because it is the time whenever I am awake, fresh, and distraction free. So, spend time in intentional prayer each day. For you it may not be in the morning. Maybe you need to pray in the evenings or at night time. However, I want to emphasize that times of prayer are essential for the Christian life.

Second, if Jesus was dependent upon God the Father while on earth, so are we. We are not perfect. In fact, we are all sinners. Jesus is the perfect Son of God. Jesus was sinless while on earth, yet He still knew that He needed God the Father. R. Kent Hughes tells us, “But there was also a human reason for Jesus’ prayers, for we must remember that though Jesus was God, he did not live his life as God apart from the Father, but rather as a man in dependence upon God.” What Hughes means is that while on earth Jesus for a short time submitted Himself to God the Father. And during this time of submission to the Father, Jesus was fully human and fully God. He needed God for power.

John 5:19 ESV

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

John 14:10 ESV

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

So Jesus was dependent upon God, and He was sinless. What Jesus is modeling for us here is that we are submitted and dependent upon God as well. We are sinful and therefore in more need of God’s power. We need God to help us and strengthen us in our daily walk with Jesus. That is why we must pray. Without prayer there is no power within the Christian life. Therefore, spend time in intentional prayer each day just as Jesus did. “Jesus is the eternal God Incarnate, the Creator of all, who holds everything together by his power. Yet, he still lived by and in prayer!” -R. Kent Hughes

Though Jesus withdrew from Peter’s house, He couldn’t get far enough away. Look back at

Mark 1:36–37 ESV

36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

They found Jesus. Jesus was seeking to spend time alone with the Father. While He was able to spend some time with God the Father, Peter found Him. And whenever Peter and those with him found Jesus, notice what they say to Jesus, “Everyone is looking for you.”

Peter and the others were basically scolding or getting on to Jesus for being away from everyone to pray. Remember just the night before, Jesus was up healing and casting out demons into the night. Now, some commentators believe, the crowds were showing back up to be healed and have demons cast out. The disciples seeing this went to look for Jesus seeing an opportunity for Jesus to work again.

We see this even today. This happens within our culture all the time. People come to church for what they can get. People will oftentimes come to church seeking to be healed so that they can move on with their lives and live however they would like. While God can still heal, the primary healing is a spiritual healing.

The crowd had more than likely shown back up at Peter’s house looking for more miracles. The disciples then went looking for Jesus and when they found Him praying they rebuked Him. Why? Because they did not understand the reason as to why Jesus came. Jesus came so that humanity would repent of sin and place their faith in Him.

Look at Jesus’s response to Peter and those that found Him:

Mark 1:38–39 ESV

38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus said that they were going to the next town for Him to preach. Jesus came to declare the Word of God. Jesus came to proclaim the Gospel which would bring about spiritual healing. The crowds missed it. Jesus came to proclaim salvation from sin and eternal healing through faith in Him. The crowds were looking for earthly healing and miracles. They missed the point. Jesus is the Savior of the world that saves sinners.

Just like the crowd, we often miss the point as well. Our culture wants a Jesus that fits into their box. Likewise, we see this happen all the time in our area. People will go to the church that offers them great music, a fun atmosphere, and smoke and lights. However, the reason we come to church is to worship God and hear the preaching of His Word. The Word is why we come to church. We do not come to church to have fun. We come to church to worship and grow in our knowledge, understanding, and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is why we come to church. We need the preaching of the Word and not the flashing lights and a fun game. Just like the crowd wanted miracles and not the Savior, our culture wants the entertainment and not the Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, remember students we come to church to serve God and learn His Word. We do not come to church to get things and be entertained. We come to worship Jesus and grow closer to Him.

Likewise, spiritual growth begins when the believer is in prayer and in the Word.

Let’s take a look back at

Mark 1:40–45 ESV

40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Just as the leper was cleansed of leprosy, so we can be cleansed of sin.

After Jesus has gone to the next town to preach, He is confronted by a man with leprosy. Now, let’s understand what leprosy is. Leprosy is a terrible, terrible skin disease. It is caused by bacteria and leads to skin becoming irritated and breaking out. In the Old Testament, those who had leprosy were treated as outcasts. They were not permitted within the city gates. No one talked to them. Whenever they came into town they had to yell, “unclean, unclean” so that other could avoid them. Also, no one talked to them or payed them any attention. They were considered to be unclean and unworthy.

Leviticus 13:45–46 ESV

45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.

We see that the person with leprosy had to live alone and away from others. Talk about a terrible, terrible life. Imagine that you could not have contact with anyone, even your family. The life a leper was a life of misery. However, this leper heard of Jesus’ healing and casting out demons. Notice how the leper approaches Jesus. He come and kneels before Jesus. And he says, “if you will, you can make me clean. He knew that Jesus had the power to cleanse his body from this terrible disease. It was not a matter of if Jesus could heal the leper. It was a matter of if Jesus would heal the leper.

As we see, Jesus had compassion and pity on this man. He healed the leper. However, Jesus did something very interesting whenever He healed the leper. What did Jesus do? He reached down and He touched the leper. That is significant because if someone touched a leper, that person was considered unclean. Now, Jesus has touched this leper to heal him. This made Jesus ceremonially unclean. However, Jesus made the unclean, clean. He removed the leprosy of this man. He healed him. Jesus could have turned and walked away from the man, but He didn’t. Instead, He healed the man.

After healing this man, Jesus then told him to not say a word to anyone but for him to go to the priest make an offering an prove his cleanliness. This seemed like a simple task. But the man went about telling everyone. However, think about it for a moment. Your whole life you have had to walk around shouting unclean, unclean. Then, in a moment, you are made clean and free from this terrible disease. I would be jumping up and down and telling everybody I knew.

Wouldn’t you be telling everybody about the healing that you just experienced? We see this all the time. People are healed from cancer and they tell everybody.

Get this, we are healed from sin and oftentimes we tell no one. When is the last time you shared the Gospel?

I ask that question because if we are in Christ, we have been healed. “Warren Wiersbe notes, ‘When you read the ‘tests’ for leprosy in Leviticus 13, you can see how the disease is a picture of sin. Like sin, leprosy is deeper than the skin; it spreads; it defiles and isolates; and it renders things fit only for the fire. Anyone who has never trusted the Savior is spiritually in worse shape than this man was physically.’”

Jesus has healed us spiritually whenever we trust in His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus took our place on the cross. We all are worthy of death and hell. Notice in verse 45, the leper and Jesus traded places. Jesus had to stay in desolate places after the man went about talking about Jesus. The healed leper was able to walk wherever he pleased. Jesus took his place.

Likewise, Jesus took our place on the cross. We are the ones who sinned against God and distanced ourselves from God. While we were worthy of the wrath of God, Jesus took our place on the cross and took the wrath of God so that we can be saved from sin and have forgiveness and salvation.