The Price of Fame


Mark 1:29–45
29 And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. 40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

In our reading for today we find a brief glimpse into what the life of Jesus looked like day by day as He moved around the area around Galilee. The crush of people who needed something from Him grew increasingly as the people were looking for a fix for their immediate problems. Jesus, on the other hand, was focused on proclaiming God’s message to the people.

As a person who is quickly overwhelmed in a crowd, I find these texts difficult to imagine. The constant crush of people would have been a struggle. Of course, Jesus didn’t suffer my foibles, so I don’t suppose He would have dreaded the daily crowd. Instead He saw opportunity to preach. But just think about all the sicknesses and injuries that would have been brought to Him daily, not to mention the demon possessed. Everyone had a problem. And you know, I don’t blame them. I have long list of people who need touch from the Savior because they struggle with severe illness. And I bring them before the Lord and ask for healing. But it’s not the same situation. His physical presence was like a magnet and the people came from miles around to be healed.

But His focus was not on healing. It was on proclamation. “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” The pattern seems to remain the same throughout the Gospels. People come to Jesus for a healing, His compassion moves Him to heal them, He tells them to keep quiet about it, and they go off telling the world what happened to them. I have often wondered how many of those healed stayed to hear His message. That information isn’t a part of the text, so we just don’t know. But the list of those who left to tell their story is long. And, I wonder what I would have done in that situation. Would I have run off to tell my healing story or would I have sat at the feet of the Miracle Worker to hear His message? Wish I had a definitive answer for that one.

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