(Chapter 1:21-45)
THE LORD’S WAY has been prepared and the companions in His path of service have been chosen. In the portion that follows we have the record of certain incidents that very blessedly set forth the perfect Servant. In the glory of His Person He must ever be alone; but in His service we have the perfect pattern for any servant of the Lord. Peter gives us a very beautiful epitome of the Gospel of Mark when he says, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:3838How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)). We, indeed, are not called to perform miracles of healing, for in a day of failure the Church has been shorn of her ornaments; but in the manner of His service we are called to follow Him.
(Vv. 21, 22). Accompanied by His disciples the Lord entered the synagogue at Capernaum and taught on the sabbath day. At once we see an outstanding mark of the perfect Servant, for we read, in contrast to the scribes “He taught as one that had authority.” His word did not consist of mere arguments that appeal to reason, but He spake with the authority of One who proclaims the truth in convicting power. In our day, and measure, we are to use any God-given gift with authority, for, says Peter in his Epistle, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” (1 Peter 4:10-1110As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10‑11)). If we present doctrines with all the arguments for and against, leaving our hearers to judge whether it be truth or not, we shall hardly be speaking with authority, but rather as those who are groping for the truth. We are to speak as those who by grace, know the certainty of the truth they proclaim. This is not inconsistent with the lowly mind, for indeed it is the lowly that will know the mind of God, as we read, “The meek will He teach His way” (Psa. 25:99The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. (Psalm 25:9)).
(Vv. 23-28). The casting out of the unclean spirit makes manifest another mark of the perfect Servant. If He speaks with authority, His word carries power. In the place of religious profession there was a man with an unclean spirit. The presence of Jesus is intolerable to such; thus, “he cried out, saying, Let us alone.” Whatever the ignorance of man, the demons know that this lowly Servant―Jesus of Nazareth―is none less than the Son of God. The Lord, however, will have no witness borne to Himself by the Devil. Thus He rebukes the demon, silences him, and commands him to come out of the man. The demon having shown his power over the man by tearing him, and crying with a loud voice, has to submit to the yet greater power of the Lord by coming out of the man.
The audience, already astonished that He taught with authority, are now amazed at the power that accompanied His word of authority, to which even unclean spirits have to submit.
(Vv. 29-34). Yet another beautiful trait of the perfect servant comes before us in the scenes that follow. Though this blessed One has all authority and power He is accessible to all. When He enters the humble home of a fisherman, and there is one in need of His healing power, we read, “Anon they tell Him of her.” Again, when the sun was set, “they brought unto Him all that were diseased.” With the great men of this world it is far otherwise. The greater their authority and power the less accessible they are to the poor and needy. Nor is the Lord any different today: though high in heavenly glory we can “tell Him”, and bring “unto Him”, all our sorrows and our needs.
Not only did He heal men of divers diseases, He also delivered them from the power of demons. But while manifesting His complete power over demons, He “suffered not the demons to speak because they knew Him”. As one has said, “He refused a testimony that was not of God. It might be true, but He would not accept the testimony of the enemy.”
(V. 35). The crowded scene of the busy evening is followed by an early morning scene when, a great while before day, we are permitted to see the Lord departing into a solitary place to pray. Thus we learn that dependence upon God, expressed by prayer, is another mark of the perfect Servant. The power of service in public is found in prayer in secret. We hear the voice of Jesus, through the prophet, anticipating this moment, as He says, “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the instructed, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the instructed.” (Isa. 1:44Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. (Isaiah 1:4)). We have seen the Lord using the tongue of the instructed; now we see Him with the opened ear, to hear as the instructed. Thus we learn that prayer is behind His teaching (21), and His preaching (39). Well for us to seek to follow His perfect example and begin our day with God in prayer, before we face our fellow men in public, for it is difficult to find a “solitary place” in the burden and heat of the day.
(Vv. 36-39). The disciples follow, and having found the Lord, they say, “All men seek for Thee.” This brings to light another mark of the perfect Servant—the refusal of mere popularity. Nature might argue that if all are seeking us, it is the time to stay: but that was the moment when the Lord said, “Let us go into the next town.” As the Servant of Jehovah He was not here to win popularity, but to do the will of God.
(Vv. 40-42). We have seen the power of the Servant, and the secret of power; now we are permitted to see the grace that makes the power available for the vilest of sinners. A poor leper, driven by his need and attracted by a power which he realizes can meet his need, comes to the Lord, but with a doubt as to His grace to use the power on behalf of one whose loathsome disease made him an outcast from man. Thus, he says, “If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” Looking at Christ he had no doubt as to His power; looking at himself he questioned the Lord's grace. So, at times, with ourselves, if we get a view of the blackness of our hearts, we may question the grace of His heart, until, in His presence we find, like the leper, that the heart of Jesus is “moved with compassion” towards the vilest of sinners that turns to Him. Even so, the woman at the well, and the thief on the cross, found in Jesus One that knew the worst about them and yet had grace in His heart for them. His grace is greater than our sin. In the case of the leper, the Lord dispels the doubt by His words, “I will,” expressing the love and compassion of a heart that is ready to use His power on behalf of a needy man.
(Vv. 43-45). Another beautiful trait of the perfect Servant is seen in what follows. He does not seek His own glory, but the glory of the One He serves. So hear the Lord saying to the healed leper, “See thou say nothing to any man.” Nevertheless, he is to tell the priest and thus the law becomes a witness to the presence of God in grace. Under the law, God alone could heal the leper, and the priest could only bear witness to what God had done.
Thus, at the outset of the Lord's path of lowly service, there passes before us His perfection as the Servant. His service is marked by authority, accompanied with power. His power is combined with accessibility to the lowly and the needy, and exercised in dependence upon God: he refuses to use His power to gain popularity; it is combined with tender compassion, and never used simply to exalt Himself.