Bible Study on Mark - Part 4, Mark 1:21-45

After our opening prayer, we quickly reviewed Mark 1:21-22, where Jesus came on the Sabbath to the synagogue in Capernaum and was teaching in an amazing way, with authority. (See last week’s study for details about these verses and what a synagogue was.)

A man with an “unclean spirit” quickly interrupted Jesus, to disrupt what He was saying. An “unclean spirit” means an evil spirit, one who is opposed to God and His will. We know from Genesis, Chapters 1-3, that God had created a perfect universe, with everything good, including the first people (Genesis 1:26-27,31). Sadly, by Genesis 3, these people had sinned and rebelled against God, and humans have been infected with sin ever since.

Other Scriptures tell us that there had been another rebellion, too. God had created angels, also - spirit beings who were intended to serve God and be of help to human beings. See Hebrews 1:13-14. Sadly, at some point before the fall of human beings into sin, some of these angels had rebelled against God and had fallen into sin and evil and wanted only to create more evil (Revelation 12:7-9). Their leader is identified as “that ancient serpent” who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and is also called “the devil and Satan.”

Though angels are “spirits” without bodies, they can appear in various forms to communicate with people, for good or evil. Satan wanted to be in control and “the deceiver of the world," and many angels followed him into evil and still want to create and spread more evil everywhere, in opposition to God. (See Deuteronomy 18:9-12 for a strong warning that we should not try to contact the dead or try to use any seemingly supernatural forces, other than praying to the one true Triune God, revealed in Scripture. Otherwise, we might actually be contacting some of these evil angels.)

These evil angels are the unclean spirits, the evil spirits, the demons spoken of in the Scriptures. They want to tempt everyone to do evil - even Jesus, as we heard  in a previous lesson - though they were not able to get Him to do evil. They are not equal to God, but are only fallen angels. Neither are evil spirits human beings, as some think, whose spirits come back after the people have died and cause trouble, unless we or their relatives honor them and keep them happy. Neither do human beings become angels when they die, as is popularly said by many. Even believing Christians only become like the angels in certain respects, as glorified beings in heaven, when they die, as Jesus says in Luke 20:34-36. There are also, of course, many good angels who remain faithful to God and serve Him and guard and help people, including Jesus, as we heard in Mark 1:13. (See also the good angel’s work in the Book of Daniel, in a previous study series.)

In Mark 1:23-25, though, we do not see ordinary temptation but a special work of Satan and his evil spirits. It is the possessing of people where an evil spirit or spirits get physical control of someone and can speak through him and cause the person to act in bizarre or unusual ways. Jesus deals with people who are possessed quite a number of times in the Gospel of Mark, as we will see. This kind of possession seems very rare today, though we don’t know why. It seems to happen more when people are very open to clear, direct evil, in certain periods and cultures. Some think that Satan knows that in our supposedly sophisticated, scientific society of today, he is more successful in convincing people that he does not even exist, by not showing himself so clearly and directly. He can then tempt people more easily and pull them away from what is good and true, when they are not so aware that real and genuine evil is all around them.

In Mark 1:23-25, the evil spirit spoke through the man he possessed and cried out and questioned Jesus and even identified who Jesus is: “I know who you are,  - the Holy One of God.” The evil spirit (or spirits, since the word “us” is used twice), is exactly right. Jesus is the Son of God, and the term, “Holy One of God” is used of God in Isaiah 12:6 and 41:16 and by Peter, in describing Jesus in John 6:66-69. An angel also predicted that the child to be born of Mary would be called holy - the Son of God - in Luke 1:35.

In fact, see what is said in James 2:19: “You believe that God is one; you do well” - for that is true. There is only one real true God who exists, the God of the Bible; but, James says, “Even the demons believe - and shudder.” The devil and the evil angels probably know more facts about God than we do; but that knowledge, that belief, makes them “shudder,” shake with fear, for they do not say “Yes” to God or trust Him, but oppose Him. He is their enemy, and the evil spirit cried out to Jesus in Mark 1:24, “Have you come to destroy us?” That also was true. Jesus had come to overpower and defeat Satan and His forces.

We have here a very important message about belief and faith. Most people in the US still say, “I believe in God” - but they simply mean they think He exists. Even the demons believe that, as we have just heard. God wants to bring us farther, to true knowledge of Him, so that we assent to Him, say “Yes” to Him, and trust in Him, with confidence in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and what He has done to rescue us sinful people, from sin and Satan and evil. That is the gift of faith God wants to give to us, as we shall see.

So, even though the unclean spirit was saying true things about Jesus, Jesus silenced him and cast him out of the man, in verses 25 and 26. Literally, Jesus “muzzled” him, closed, shut his mouth. Jesus did not want it to seem as if evil forces were connected to Him and supporting Him, even when they were saying true things about Him. They were saying the right words, but they did not believe them. Jesus had more power than the evil spirit, and though the spirit could shake and convulse the man, he had to leave him; and the man was free of demon possession. In verses 27 and 28, then, the people in the synagogue are even more amazed. Jesus had “a new teaching with authority” and “even the unclean spirits obey Him.” As a result, the fame of Jesus spread throughout that region of Galilee, because of the power and authority of what He said and did.

Jesus was still in the town of Capernaum when immediately, that same Sabbath day, Jesus went to the house of Simon and Andrew with the other disciples He had called (Mark 1:29-31). Simon’s mother-in-law was there, but ill with a fever. The fact that Peter has a mother-in-law indicates that he was married. Corinthians 9:5 affirms that Peter and most of the original disciples were married. This comes a surprise to some today, because the Roman Catholic church says that Simon, also called Peter, was the first Pope of the Catholic church. That is hard to prove, Biblically or historically, but clearly, the early Christian pastors and other leaders were allowed to be married. The idea that priests must be unmarried was not a Biblical command, but came much later in the history of the Roman Catholic church, from the church, not from the Bible.

Today, we have lots of jokes about mothers-in-law and in-laws. To Jesus, though, every person is important and every human life matters. When Jesus was told about the illness, He took the mother-in-law by the hand and lifted her up and healed her. The fever was a symptom of some illness, and it was now gone. Jesus was not afraid to touch the woman, even though sick people were often also considered to be spiritually unclean by the Jews and could make others unclean by any contact with them. In addition, when we have a fever, even with our modern medicines, it takes a while to feel better and stronger. The mother-in-law immediately started serving her guests. Her actions show her complete healing and her gratefulness to Jesus.

This was still the Sabbath, and Jewish law of the time said that no work was to be done by Jews on that day. Yet the mother-in-law was working and serving. Jewish leaders even said that there should be no healing or helping others on the Sabbath; but Jesus had healed the woman. We will soon see that Jesus gets in trouble for doing such acts of mercy on the Sabbath. He is already beginning to change the old ways and laws into new ways of love and service to others.

In Mark 1:32-34, it was now evening and the Sabbath day was over. (See how a day is counted and described in Genesis 1:5, and among the Jews still today.) After sundown, Jews were now free to do some work, and they brought many people to Jesus for His help and healing, including some others possessed by demons. “They” brought people. Who were “they”? Just ordinary people, like you or me, who cared for others and wanted to assist them. This is a reminder that we could, still today, help bring people to Jesus by our prayers and our words about our Savior and deeds that show that Christians care to others. The whole city was stirred up and Jesus healed many with various diseases and cast out some demons, too. Again, He did not allow the demons to speak, “because they knew Him.” His battle against Satan and evil continued.

Jesus was surely very tired after such a long, busy day. He was the Son of God, but also a real human being who could get just as tired as we do. Yet we read in Mark 1:35 that Jesus got up very early in the morning, before sunrise, and went out to a desolate place to pray. He sets the example for us. We need to take the time to talk with God in prayer and to listen to Him speaking in His Word. Some would say, “The busier your day, the more you need to spend some time with your Lord.” The time of day or the exact amount of time does not matter - just the pattern of prayer and some time with God and His Word, at some point. It will help us, too.

In verses 36-37, the disciples finally got up and went looking for Jesus to tell Him, “Everyone is looking for you.” They likely were thinking: “You are so popular here, Jesus. This would be a great place to stay and build up your fame even more. Come see the people and enjoy this time.” Jesus had another plan - His heavenly Father’s plan (Mark 1:38-39). He needed to go to the next towns to preach there also. “That is why I came out,” He said. We don’t have specifics of what He said and did; but He surely preached with authority, and His deeds of mercy in helping people supported His message. He battled and cast out more demons and kept preaching throughout Galilee, the message of Mark 1:14-15.

Mark 1:40-44 tells of another encounter Jesus had while He was traveling. A leper came to Him, which lepers were not to do. (They were to isolate themselves and warn people to stay away, because their disease was considered very contagious and dangerous and there was no cure for it. It sounds something like the Covid problems we have had in our own day.) The man knelt before Jesus to show his respect and honor for Jesus. He showed faith, too, for he said to Jesus, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus had deep compassion for the man and reached out and touched the man and said just a few words: “I will; be clean.” The man was immediately healed. Even though lepers were also considered spiritually unclean people, Jesus was not afraid to touch and help them.

Jesus also spoke sternly to this man and told him to say nothing to anyone, but to go to a priest and show that he was healed and offer a proper sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. You could read more about what was expected in Leviticus 13-14, and what lepers were supposed to do. Do note that the term “leprosy” could also refer to other skin diseases, as well, that still could make a person “unclean.” See also the warning about touching unclean things in Leviticus 5:2. Jesus was beginning to change these rules, but He still upheld and supported the basic Jewish law, at this point, and called others to do the same.

The man in Mark 1:45, however, seemed so excited about being cured that he went and told everyone about Jesus and what has happened. That was good, in a sense, but it also contradicted what Jesus asked for at that time, and meant that Jesus could no longer go freely from town to town. He had to stay in more isolated places, and yet people kept searching for and finding him. Next week, we will hear another important message of Jesus, as he finally is able to go back to Capernaum. Spiritual healing is more important than physical healing.