The Three Year Work of Jesus
Preached at Wayside Presbyterian
Church
February 28, 2010
SCRIPTURE
and SERMON: Mark 1:29-39
29 ¶ As soon as they left the synagogue,
they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.
30 Simon’s
mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her.
31 So he went
to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to
wait on them.
32 That evening
after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.
33 The whole
town gathered at the door,
34 and Jesus
healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he
would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in
the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off
to a solitary place, where he prayed.
36 Simon and his
companions went to look for him,
37 and when they
found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
38 Jesus replied,
"Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so that I can preach
there also. That is why I have come."
39 So he travelled throughout
What did Jesus DO for three years?
In these verses, we have a summary of what Jesus did. He did three things:
1. He healed the sick.
2. He cast out demons.
3. He preached the Word of
God.
Let's take these one at a time….
I. Jesus healed the sick.
In this passage in Mark we see that he healed Simon's
mother-in-law. Simon of course is the one
that Jesus named Peter. He is the one
that the Roman Catholic Church says was the first Pope. Well, Peter was married. He had a wife, and a mother-in-law. They why can't Popes and Roman Catholic
priests be married today? There is a
good principle highlighted by this situation:
Churches should teach what the Bible teaches, and they should not make a
sin out of what is really a good thing.
Sure, there is a time and a place where it is unwise to be married. But generally speaking, the Bible encourages
marriage, and ministers and elders of the Church ought to be married. As Paul wrote in I Timothy 3:1-5
1 ¶ Here is a trustworthy saying: If
anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
2 Now the
overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate,
self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3 not given to
drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
4 He must
manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper
respect.
5 (If anyone
does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s
church?)
But getting back to our first point: Jesus healed the sick. As Mark records the order of things, Peter's
mother-in-law is the first person ever healed by Jesus, as far as we know. She was in bed with a fever. This must have been a fairly serious illness,
because people don't usually take to their beds with a small fever. It MAY have been VERY serious. In those days there were no anti-biotics, no modern drugs, and people often died of
fevers. Average life expectancy 2000
years ago was about 40. Some lived
longer, half did not. Many women and
many infants died in childbirth due to infections. A broken arm, just a trifle today, was
seriously life threatening then.
I would like you to notice the progression of what happened in her
healing….
1. They told Jesus about
her.
That's what we do when we pray for the sick. We do it all the time. And it is right for us to pray for the health
and recovery of others.
2. He went to her, and He
took her hand.
That's what happens when we pray for the sick. God goes to them. If you are sick and pray for yourself, God
goes to you. Being ill is an opportunity
for fellowship with God that we often do not take time for otherwise.
3. He helped her up, and
the fever left her.
Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. When we pray for people, or for ourselves,
God often heals us. He does not always
heal. Sometimes He says no. Sometimes He heals us, but not right
away. Sometimes He heals
miraculously. Sometimes He heals through
surgery and medicine, or the natural abilities of the body to heal itself. Doctors are not really healers. They do surgery. They prescribe medicine. But it is God Himself who makes things work,
and who does the healing.
Jesus did a lot of healing in his three-year ministry: "People brought to Jesus all the
sick…the whole town gathered at the door…Jesus healed many who had various
diseases."
4. She began to wait on
them.
When God heals you, it's not JUST to make you feel better. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy
Spirit. He is IN us. And we are Christ's servants. So, if He gives us strong bodies, it is our
duty to serve God and serve others. And
this motto is true, too: "Use it or
lose it!"
II. Jesus Cast Out Demons.
The first "exorcism" was one that we read last
week. There was a man in the synagogue
in
Jesus apparently did a lot of casting out demons in his three-year
ministry. In the Gospel of Mark, Mark
records three other cases, in addition to the man in the synagogue.
Mr 5:2
When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to
meet him.
Mr 5:16
Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told
about the pigs as well.
Mr 5:18
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go
with him.
Mr 7:25
In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little
daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.
Mr 7:26
The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian
Mr 7:29
Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your
daughter."
Mr 7:30
She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Mr 9:17
A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son,
who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.
Mr 9:18
Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at
the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive
out the spirit, but they could not."
Mr 9:20
So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion.
He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Mr 9:25
When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked
the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and
never enter him again."
Mr 9:26
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy
looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He’s dead."
Mark 1:34 indicates that Jesus cast out "many demons,"
and this was just on one day at the beginning of His three-year ministry, so
there must have been many more cases.
What should Christians in
We have been called to be Christian soldiers, and to do battle
against Satan and the fallen angels.
Christ has given us power to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick, and to
drive out demons. It is a long, long war;
but we must be engaged in battles every day, and do our part. "Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching As
to War!"
"And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a
public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Colossians 2:15)
3 For though we live in the
world, we do not wage war as the world does.
4 The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to
demolish strongholds.
5 We demolish arguments and
every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God… (2 Cor 10:3-5)
"He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them
authority to drive out evil spirits and
to heal every disease and sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out with the
following
instructions: As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom
of heaven is near.’
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely
you have received, freely give." (Matt 10:1-8)
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked
them for their lack
of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe
those who had seen him after he had risen.
He said to them, "Go into all the
world and preach the good news to all creation….
Whoever believes and is baptised will be
saved, but whoever does not believe will be
condemned.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will
drive out demons; they will speak in new
tongues; they will pick up snakes with
their
hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not
hurt them at all; they will place their
hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:14-18)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour
of God so
that you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. Therefore put
on the full armour of
God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand
your ground…(Eph 6:10-13)
We see much less of demon possession in our time and place,
because the Gospel has been preached here, and the Christian Faith is so
strong! But the war is not over. And particularly in nations which still lie
in full darkness, we should expect to see more demon possession and influence
than we see in our own country. But be
warned! As
III. Jesus Taught and Preached God's Word
to the People.
He was a teacher. He was
sometimes called "Rabbi," which is a respectful title for a Bible
teacher.
Both the people and the Scribes and Pharisees were ignorant of
much Bible truth. For example, look at
this story from the ministry of Jesus…
23 ¶ That
same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a
question.
24 "Teacher," they
said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his
brother must marry the widow and have children for him.
25 Now there were seven
brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no
children, he left his wife to his brother.
26 The same thing happened to
the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh.
27
Finally, the woman died.
28 Now then, at the
resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were
married to her?"
29 Jesus replied, "You are
in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
(Matthew 22:23-29)
And do you remember Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus, who was a
Rabbi, a Pharisee, and a member of the Jewish ruling council….
1 ¶ Now
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling
council.
2 He came to Jesus at night
and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For
no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with
him."
3 In reply Jesus declared,
"I tell you the truth, no-one can see the
4 "How can a man be born
when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second
time into his mother’s womb to be born!"
5 Jesus answered, "I tell
you the truth, no-one can enter the
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised
at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it
pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where
it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
9 "How can this be?"
Nicodemus asked.
10 "You are
(John 3:1-10)
American Christians today are also ignorant about the Bible. They have gone to church all their lives,
they have received Jesus as Savior, but they have not been taught spiritual
truth. To illustrate, there is a professor
at Wheaton College in Illinois, a leading Christian college, who gives a Bible
knowledge quiz to incoming freshmen every year, and he discovered……..
Half
of the incoming freshmen did not know that Isaac, Abraham's son, was born
before Moses led the Israelites out of
In
his study of the beliefs of mainline Protestants (including Methodists,
Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians), George Barna
documented a rejection of key Christian doctrines. Only 35% of mainline
Protestant church members believe Christ was sinless; 34% believe the Bible is
totally accurate; 27% agree that works don’t earn heaven; and 20% believe Satan
is real.
Barna summarizes his survey findings by saying this: “The average born-again, baptized,
churchgoing person has embraced elements of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam,
Mormonism, Scientology, Unitarianism and Christian Science—without any idea
they have just created their own faith.”
Jesus
was a teacher and a preacher. That is
the message of the Gospel of Mark, and also the other Gospels. For three years He walked all over the
Jesus
commanded His apostles to preach and teach the Gospel. For example, Matthew
28:18-20.
18 Then Jesus came to them and
said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age."
And
the apostles passed this legacy of preaching and teaching the Gospel on to us
today, and yet in our generation so many many
denominations and churches have strayed from our mission.
Conclusion:
This little passage from the Gospel of Mark tells us that basically Jesus did
three things for three years…
1. He healed the sick.
2. He cast out demons.
3. He taught and preached the Word of God.
We
should do likewise, as we walk in His steps.
We should do deeds of mercy. Pray
for the sick. Help them as we can. We should be engaged in spiritual warfare,
casting out demons, and driving away Satan, by the preaching of the Gospel and
holy living. And we should be holding up
the Word of God. Our churches need to be
re-emphasizing the Bible. Our culture is
becoming increasingly "pluralistic" and multi-religion, and the key
word is "tolerance." No one
wants to hear that only the Bible is God's Word, and that Jesus is God's only
Savior for the world. But this is our
message, and we must stick with it.