JESUS ENCOUNTERED MUCH DESPERATION (PART 2)
A second snapshot of desperation appears in our passage. The next morning Jesus rose early and went out to pray (Mark 1:35), but the needy people searched Him out. I wish I had words to express the feelings such scriptural moments stir in me. The thought of Christ ducking out the door while it was still dark to find a place to be by Himself with God floods my soul with emotion. I love every glimpse of the unique relationship Father and Son shared while Christ was on earth and His Father was in heaven. Never before had such a bridge connected the celestial and the terrestrial. I always wonder what Christ said to His Father in those intimate moments and what He saw.
We have no idea how many moments Jesus got to steal with His Father, but Scripture seems to imply He was soon interrupted: “When they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them” (v. 42). I’m convinced we don’t give enough thought to how challenging a prison of flesh must have been to Christ. Prior to His advent, He was completely unencumbered by the natural laws governing the human body. Suddenly He experienced for Himself the pull to be in many places at once and the challenge to prioritize not just the good but the goal. He stated the goal as nothing less than to “preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (v. 43). Healing the sick seems like an awfully important ministry to me, but the Savior plainly said that it was not the priority work He came to accomplish.
No comments:
Post a Comment