Anchor My Faith

Go, Your Son Will Live

Scripture: Mk 1:35-37

We finished the previous section with Jesus spending time with those who came to the door of Simon’s house, who were sick or demon possessed, by meeting their needs. A busy day of ministry has now ended and another day follows: “Mk 1:35 Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” There are four interesting verbs in this verse concerning Jesus and his desire to connect with his Father that maybe we should think about in our relationship to the Father. These verbs are rising, departed, went, and prayed.

Jesus got up, not just early in the morning, but very early, while it was still dark. Because of his rising popularity, he knew people would be looking for him and if he was to spend sufficient time with his Father, he would have to start very early. Most of us face a particular time when the demands of the day come upon us and if we are to have sufficient quality time, we may have to also rise early, maybe very early.

Jesus departed from where he was staying to provide him with additional time while people were looking for him. For us we may have to depart from a particular environment because of things that may distract us and prevent us from having the needed quality time. For us that may mean getting away from our electronic devices as they can be a great temptation in drawing us away from why we got up in the first place.

Jesus not only departed from where he was staying, but he went to a particular place that was secluded. Jesus intentionally went to a place where there would not be distractions and where it would take some time for people to find him. Do you have a particular place to go which encourages your time with the Father?

After arriving at his desired location, Jesus didn’t waste time, but got down to the business of prayer. It was a time Jesus looked forward to; a time he treasured. There have been many times in the middle of the night when I would feel compelled to get up and go to my special location and enjoy a wonderful time with my Father and my Lord. These may be times of rejoicing or they may be times of wrestling with some issue of life that needs attention at the time.

As suspected “Mk 1:36 Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”’ Had Jesus not gotten up very early and gone to a secluded location, he would not have had very much time with his Father. Staying at Simon’s home, he probably knew where Jesus might have gone and soon he was found and told that a crowd was again gathering to see Jesus.

Prayer

Father, you sent Jesus to provide the way of salvation for sinful people and to teach them about the resulting new life of faith. However, as Jesus teaches with authority and demonstrates his power, his popularity greatly increases. Attracting people around him could be a good thing in getting out the message, but the attraction was not to embrace Jesus for who he was, but to meet their desires. Their interest was more about themselves and not the message Jesus came to deliver. Father, it is clear that as Jesus teaches more and more about who he is and why he was sent by you that tension will begin to grow between Jesus and the people and eventually end in his crucifixion.