Knowing Christ

Mark 1:21-31 21They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil[a] spirit cried out, 24"What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"
25"Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" 26The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. 31So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

Our Pastor, Kurt Gebhards, is preaching on the Gospel of Mark this year and yesterday's sermon on 1:21-31 had some especially interesting thoughts.

In verses 23 – 28 Jesus commands the demon out of a man. The demon knew who Jesus was and he feared him and then he obeyed him! We need to know who He is, fear Him and obey Him! The difference is, the demon does this grudgingly and with great frustration, while we need to do it with great joy! Just “knowing” is useless! The demons know! Our knowledge is unto salvation! Our faith is of the heart, not just with the head. Demons say He is the Savior. We say He is MY Savior!

And in verses 29 – 31: what we take from these verses is when Peter’s mother-in-law got sick; they immediately turned to Jesus, even though He hadn’t healed anyone yet. When we are in trouble or sick, the first thing WE need to do is turn to Jesus. Through prayer and through the resources in His Word.

And when she was healed, she got up to serve Him. We are saved to serve. Jesus brings healing not as an end in itself, but as our beginning to serve. Our freedom from sin is for us to bear fruit. Being born again is the start of our ministry. The strength He gives us isn’t for us, but to glorify Him!