A Day In The Life Of Jesus

Mark 1:21—39

Jesus in Solitude and Silence Amidst Busy at Work

Introduction

The hallmark of present-day society is busy working and chasing after economic growth. Thus, people find it so hard to spend quiet time to reflect upon meanings and issues of life and commune with God. They often turn on the TV to hear the noise even when they are not watching it.

However, many parts of the world now are imposing lockdown of the city due to the rampant corona virus epidemic. So, now we are compelled to practice social-distancing whereby we can take this opportunity to practice the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence.

Let us see how Mark described a day in the life of Jesus as one who was busy working yet had the time to practice spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence.

The Gospel of Mark is known for its fast-paced narrative. There are only 16 chapters in Mark, whereas John has 21 chapters, Matthew has 28 and Luke has 24 chapters.

In the book of Mark, the adverb “immediately εὐθὺς” appears 42 times. In Chapter One itself, there are 11 mentions. For example:

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove (v10).

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness (v12).

And immediately they left their nets and followed him (v18).

And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee (v20).

And immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue(v21).

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit(v23).

And immediately his fame spread everywhere(v28).

And many more…..

So, we find that the undertone in the book of Mark is “busy and rushing”. Mark was seemingly telling the readers there was too much to do for God’s Kingdom and time was running out! Is this scenario resembling our everyday life today?

Jesus was busy like us with so many things to do, one after another, back-to-back. Let's go through his action-packed schedule in Chapter One:

Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum (v21).

Then cast out an unclean spirit (v23).

Jesus left the synagogue, went to the disciple's house, healed Simon’s mother-in-law (vv29-31).

Jesus left the house, about evening at sundown, yet people still come to Jesus and he healed them and cast out demons (vv32-34).

We observe that Jesus worked overtime (about evening at sundown, people still come to him...). He was busy like us working overtime at our jobs.

Mark’s description of the busy schedule of Jesus served to remind us that we must be like Jesus, busy but not blinded. But how could Jesus live a busy life yet not blinded?

Practicing Spiritual Disciplines of Solitude and Silence

Firstly, verse 35 says: “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus departed and went out to a desert place, and there he prayed.”

Here is the secret of Jesus’ life and work for God: he prayerfully waited for his Fathers’ instructions and for the strength to follow them. Jesus prays to the Father to maintain an intimate relationship with his Father, and to receive the Holy Spirit empowerment, so as to overcome Satan’s temptation, enabling Him to perform mighty acts in the ministry.

Prayer equipped Jesus to preach, teach, heal, and cast out demons. Jesus in his humanity set for us an example to emulate, that is, pursuing a close relationship with the Father through prayers and being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus, as the Son of man is the last Adam. On behalf of the human race he overcame temptation by being completely obedient to the Father until death, in order to accomplish salvation for humankind.

We can learn from Jesus that:

He was not too busy till he was too tired and had no stamina to pray. He was not too busy till he loses direction and forgot to pray. He was not too busy till he was bogged down and had no time to pray. However, he was so busy that he desperately needed to pray! And He got up to pray early in the morning.

Today, many of us are busy working people, so all the more we need to stay alert, watchful so as not to be blinded by the busy life we live. It is easy to be so caught up with ministry that we neglect times of solitude, individual worship, and prayer. Perhaps you need to reschedule your time to find quiet time for earnest prayer, even for just 15 minutes daily is good.

By now we are sure that it is vitally importantly to:

 Seek the Lord before busy schedule takes over our thoughts.

Withdraw from noise and demands so we can focus on God.

 Follow Jesus ‘attitude of regular communion with the Father.

 Reflect on the priorities Jesus had for his life;

 Determine to pray on a more regular basis, not just in times of crisis.

In the quiet times set apart we can start with singing praises, then meditate upon a Bible text or read the “Daily Bread” series; follow by praying to God and listening to his voice that resonates in our hearts.

If prayer was important for Jesus, then it must be important for his followers. Pray even if you have to get up very early in the morning to do it. Let us make a resolution today. Starting from now, we will keep a quiet time daily, so that we remain spiritually vibrant and alert!

Focus on Completing the God-given Mission

Secondly, we see that Jesus remained focused on the mission entrusted to him by His Father. Verse 37 says: “Simon and others searched for Jesus and found him, said to him: Everyone is looking for you!”

Simon and the others, instead of following Jesus, they were disturbing or even ‘tempting’ him just as Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness! They wanted Jesus to return to Capernaum where they had a day of successful and praise worthy ministry (v.28).

However, Jesus’ principle of ministry was “seeking out the will of God and completing the God-given mission”.

Jesus led a prayerful life and by virtue of that he became clear about and committed to his mission. Jesus was not blinded by busyness, neither by the “successes” nor the “urgent requests of the folks”.

Thus in vv.38—39, Jesus responded: “Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

And He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

The disciples of Jesus apparently were obsessed by the successful ministries that took place the day before at Capernaum and the urgent requests at the doorstep now. This sense of accomplishment, honor and being wanted could cause people to stumble. 

As a result, people become blind and lost; losing grip on the purpose of life that God has for them.

Jesus was not held up by the short-term successes, sense of being wanted and neither was He halted by the perceived difficulties ahead. He seeked after God's will and strove to complete the God-given mission for his entire life ministry.

On the night before he died, Jesus made an astonishing claim, “I glorify you (the Father) on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do (John 17:4).” But the disciples were different. They wanted to "retain" Jesus, hinder his ministry, and even deter him from going on the way to the Cross.

Hence, we see that Jesus was so focused in his God-given mission that:

He was not so busy until he couldn’t even breathe, that he gave up his mission.

He was not so busy until he couldn’t pay the price anymore, that caused Him to reduce his work.

He was not so busy until he got too engrossed with his ministry, or the praise from men, that He refused to go on the new phase or losing direction.

Conclusion

We have many “immediately stuffs” in our life. After this meeting at church today, we may need to rush to do something immediately, like:

“sit in a corporate meeting, go for class (MBA or MCS), finish up assignments, do housekeeping, go dating, have business talks, close deals, and many more “immediately”s …

We ought to imitate Christ, who was so busy yet not blinded. Jesus Christ walked out from the crowd who had great expectation of him, to find a desert place to pray and listen to God.

By this spiritual discipline he became discernable and resolute about His own identity and values, and received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Then he was well prepared to again walk into the crowd to proclaim the kingdom of God and finish his mission.

Let these be our commitment to God today. We are so busy, yet:

We shall come to the presence of God daily to pray, to ask God for forgiveness of our sin, to seek out God’s will and let the Holy Spirit empower us so that we could overcome the challenges of life.

We shall respond to the conviction of the Spirit; not forgetting what we have promised to God. All these are calling from God, being the mission and purpose in life that God has placed in our lives; we must be focused in fulfilling such God-given mission.

We shall not give up our mission nor reduce our service to God just because we are too busy.

We shall not ignore nor forget our mission because we are reluctant to pay the price.