Walnut Grove Week 86

Reflection

We must have the presence of God

We must not die while still wondering in the Wilderness of faith testing

“Smith Wigglesworth, an evangelist from the early 1900’s, would enter a train compartment and people would have to leave it because the presence of God in him convicted them of their sins. He didn’t preach or say anything. We don’t even begin to understand that. “

Jesus alone praying (1:35)

A) Getting up early in the morning while it was very dark

B) He left and went to a deserted place

C) and there He was praying

extended translation-- And in the last watch of the night between three and six, in the early part of the watch while it was still somewhat dark, He arose and went out, and went off into a deserted place, and was there praying.

66 tn The imperfect προσηύχετο (prosēucheto) implies some duration to the prayer.

Jesus rises early and leaves Capernaum to pray in solitude. The Greek word for “solitary place” (erēmos) is the same word for the wilderness where John preached (1:4) and where Jesus was tempted (1:12). As we noted earlier, in Mark the word does not connote a desert waste but, reflecting Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness following the Exodus, a place of repentance, restoration, and fellowship with God.40 Mark records Jesus praying only three times in the Gospel; here (1:35), following the feeding of the five thousand (6:46), and in Gethsemane (14:32–39). All three occur at night and in solitary places. All three also occur in contexts of either implied or expressed opposition to Jesus’ ministry.

Amid a whirlwind of activity, Jesus seeks a still point in prayer with the Father. There is a suggestive parallel in wording between Jesus going out to pray (v. 35) and his going out to preach and expel demons (v. 39). The work of the Son of God is both an inward and an outward work. Jesus cannot extend himself outward in compassion without first attending to the source of his mission and purpose with the Father; and, conversely, his oneness with the Father compels him outward in mission. The significance of Jesus’ ministry consists not simply in what he does for humanity, but equally in who he is in relation to the Father

Everyone is looking for you (1:36-37)

A) Simon and those with him searched diligently for him

B) They found him and said, “Everyone is looking for you!”

1:36–37. The crowds, returning to Simon’s door and expecting to find Jesus, discovered He was gone. Simon and his companions (cf. v. 29) went out to look for Him (lit., “to hunt Him down,” from katadiōkō, occurring only here in the NT). Their exclamation, Everyone is looking for You! implied some annoyance because they thought Jesus was failing to capitalize on some excellent opportunities in Capernaum.

Here for the first time we meet a recurrent theme of the gospel, that of the difference between Jesus’ programme and his disciples’ (and still more other people’s) expectation. It is not just that he is one step ahead of them; his whole conception of how God’s kingship is to be made effective is quite different from theirs. While they would naturally pursue the normal human policy of taking advantage of popularity and building on success on their own home ground, following Jesus will increasingly involve them in having to learn a new orientation.

Let us go elsewhere, I have come out for this (1:38)

A) We are leaving and going into neighboring towns, so I can preach there also because I have come out for this very reason.

1:38 Jesus refuses to have His agenda dictated by the demands of the people, but clearly states His avowed purpose—to preach in the neighboring towns.

He went into all Galilee preaching and expelling demons (1:39)

The Prayers of Jesus

Mark 6:45–46 LEB

And immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself dismissed the crowd. And after he had said farewell to them, he went away to the mountain to pray.

Luke 5:15–16 LEB

But the report about him spread even more, and large crowds were gathering to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses. But he himself was withdrawing in the wilderness and praying.

Luke 6:12–13 LEB

Now it happened that in these days he went away to the mountain to pray, and was spending the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, he summoned his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he also named apostles:

Luke 9:28–29 LEB

Now it happened that about eight days after these words, he took along Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing became white, gleaming like lightning.