Busy but not blinded

Mark 1:21—39      

Jesus busy ministering

The Gospel of Mark is known for its fast-paced narrative. There are only 16 chapters in contrast to John (21), Matthew (28) and Luke (24). In the book of Mark, the adverb “immediately εὐθὺς” appears 42 times. In Chapter one itself, there are 11 mentions. For example:

v.10	And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
v.12	The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
v.18	And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
v.20	And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee.
v.21	And immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue.
v.23	And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.
v.28	And immediately his fame spread everywhere.

And many more…..

The undertone in the book of Mark is “rushing”. Mark is seemingly telling the readers there is too much to do for Kingdom and time is running out! Is this scenario resembles our everyday life today?

Jesus is 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 1:

v.21	Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum.
v.23	Then cast out unclean spirit.
vv.29-31	Jesus left the synagogue, went to the disciple's house, healed Simon’s mother-in-law.
vv.32-34	Jesus left the house, about evening at sundown, people still come to Jesus and he healed them and cast out demons.

Jesus has to work overtime (about evening at sundown, people still come to him...). He is busy like us working overtime at our jobs. Mark’s description of the busy schedule of Jesus serves to remind us that we must be like Jesus, busy but not blind. But h could Jesus live a busy life yet not blinded?

Set apart a quiet time to pray to God

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 receive the Holy Spirit empowerment, so as to overcome Satan’s temptation and perform mighty acts in the ministry.

Jesus in his human form sets us an example to emulate, in pursuing a close relationship with the Father through prayers and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. He as the Son of man is the last Adam. On behalf of the human race he overcomes temptation, by being completely obedient to the Father until death, to accomplish salvation for humankind.

We can learn from Jesus that:

1	He was not too busy until he is too tired so has no stamina to pray!
2	He was not too busy until he loses direction so forget to pray.
3	He was not too busy until he is bogged down so has no time to pray.
4	However, he was so busy that he desperately needed to pray! And He got up to pray early in the morning.

Today, we are all busy working people. All the more we need to stay alert, watchful and not be blinded by the busy life we live. For this reason, we must keep a quiet time every day, even for just twenty minutes is good. In that time set apart, we can pray to God, meditate upon a Bible text or read the “Daily Bread” series, to draw ourselves to God like Jesus does.

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 at completing the God-given mission

Secondly, we see that Jesus remains focused at 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 are disturbing or even ‘tempting’ him as if 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 is “seeking out the will of God and complete the God-given mission”.

Jesus leads a prayerful life and by virtue of that he becomes clear about and committed to his mission. Jesus is not blinded by busyness, neither the “successes” nor the “urgent requests by 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 are 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 make people stumbled. As a result people become blind and lost; losing grip on the purpose of life that God has for them.

Jesus is not held up by the short-term successes, sense of being wanted, neither be halted by the perceived difficulties ahead. He seeks after God's will and strives 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 are different. They want 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:

1	He is not so busy until he can’t even breathe, then gives up his mission.
2	He is not so busy until he can’t pay the price anymore, and then reduces his work.
3	He is not so busy until he gets too engrossed with his ministry, or the praise from men, then refuses to go on the new phase or losing direction.

Conclusion:

We also have many “immediately” stuffs in our life. After this meeting at church today, we may need to rush to do something “immediately”, like: “sitting in a corporate meeting, go for class (MBA or MCS), finishing up assignments, do housekeeping, dating, business talks, closing deals, and many more “immediately”…

We ought to imitate Christ, who is so busy yet not blinded. Jesus Christ walks out from the crowd who has great expectation of him, to find a desert place to pray and listen to God. By this spiritual discipline he becomes discernible and resolute about own identity and values, and receives the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Then he is 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:

1	We still 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 empowers us so that we could overcome the challenges of life.
2	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 of life that God has placed in our lives; we must be focused in fulfilling such God-given mission.
3	We shall not give up our mission nor reduce our service to God just because we are too busy.
4	We shall not ignore nor forget our mission because we are too busy and not able to pay the price.