Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Choose a Path Anyone Can Follow
It is fascinating to look at youngsters and see what their ambitions are. Maybe they want to own a ranch, be a police officer, or, oftentimes, do something that Dad or Mom do. Sometimes what they want is an exaggeration of what they have seen their parents do. So whether it is the car they drive, the house in which they live, or the job they have, they have ambitions.
Imagine if you spent your days following the Lord Jesus and seeing what He did. Imagine the kinds of things you would see and the kind of ambitions you would have. Think of all that is recorded of Jesus in Mark 1. Two words you find over and again are the words “straightway,” and “immediately.” There is an economy of words in Mark but a lot of action going on.
How many of the things the disciples had seen Jesus do, would they have been able to do themselves? How many things could you do? Mark 1:27 says, “For with authority commandeth he [Jesus] even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.” Can you do that? With Christ’s power we can do things we could not naturally do, but could you naturally and with authority command an unclean sprit and have it obey? The answer is “no.”
In Mark 1:29-31 Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Could you do that? The answer is “no.” Later, Jesus cleansed a leper because it was in His heart to do so. Could you do that? The answer is “no.”
Jesus did what others could not do, and that is not really amazing because He is God the Son. That is what one would expect from such a One as Jesus. But, there are a couple other things in Mark 1 that you could do, and, in fact, you should do.
Mark 1:9 says, “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.” That is incredible! Did Jesus need to be baptized? After John protested baptizing Him, Jesus said, “For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus didn’t advocate the law; He fulfilled it. Having said that, was Jesus, God in flesh, obligated to be baptized? There is a sense in which He was not.
Mark 1:35 says, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Now if you want to flip-flop your brain, consider Jesus, God the Son, praying to God the Father. Jesus was baptized, then, He prayed. Jesus did what others could not do, but Jesus also did that which He Himself did not have to do.
Which is more astonishing to you, that God incarnate would do what you cannot do, or that God incarnate would do things that you both can and should do? Jesus’ lesson for us is to choose a path that anyone who should follow you, can in doing the right thing.
These disciples eventually did things that they could not have done otherwise because Jesus empowered them, but before giving these men that authority, Jesus gave them His example of taking care of basic areas of responsibility. We should follow His example by leaving an example that others can follow.