7th February 2021
Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany
Title: God’s Protection & Jesus’ Healing
(Isaiah 40:21-31; Mark 1:29-39)
By Heeyoung Lim
The holy God is our Creator, He brings comfort and renewed strength to his people. At the beginning of Isaiah 40, a call went out to comfort the people who have been exiled from their homeland, those who are tired and weary, experiencing trouble thinking of a new future.
In verses 21-24, there are questions and rebukes, “Have you not known?”, “Have you not heard?” People did not feel God’s protection and His creative power, but today’s text proclaims God’s power that will make this vision a reality.
Isaiah tells us God is more than one who brings punishment and judgment, He is also the one who brings comfort. We need to be aware of the importance of God’s power and humanity’s powerlessness in our lives.
Our powerful, caring God will provide people with strength to overcome their difficulties when darkness enters every person’s life. We sometimes see no way out of the situation we face, but God will make a way for us.
We may have reasons to fear evil as we acknowledge the existence of evil, however because we are under God’s protection, we fully trust that God will keep us safe, as God is with us even in the darkest moments. I hope we can trust in our comforter and His promise to save us even when we are suffering. We can ask God for strength to continue serving Him and others when we are weak and tired of doing good.
God is telling us through Isaiah.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. (29-31)
We shared Jesus’ first exorcism last Sunday, Jesus could have stayed in Capernaum more and become a local hero in many people’s problems and demands for the purpose of being popular. However, he decided to move on to another ministry of healing.
As soon as Jesus left the Capernaum synagogue, Jesus went into a house, a private place for women because the synagogue gathering was for men in those days. The house belonged to Simon and Andrew, and Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever.
Jesus healed the woman, and she served Jesus and his disciples straight-away. Every patient needs to rest to be completely recovered, but how come the healed woman’s first response to serve Jesus and his disciples? The fact that she got up and served immediately indicates that the woman was fully healed at once or she might be expected to serve in her culture.
Jesus healed the woman and set her free from her fever and her service was a faithful response which is a way to show respect and gratitude to her healer. What a miracle. Jesus describes himself as one who came to serve, and he commends humble service to us. (10:45)
We can imagine the scenes from Scriptures, Jesus was busy to spread the gospel and to heal many people including another exorcism in both private and public places, He encountered a few people or big crowds in various situations. But He went into the dark desert to pray seeking God’s will. Jesus showed us the way to live out the gospel. Our lives and service need to be in prayers just like Jesus.
The sacrificial servant continued his ministry with His disciples, He also got crowds to hear the good news of the gospel. (29) Jesus did not allow the demons to speak in verse 25, he did not want them to have power over him. They are forbidden by Jesus.
We encountered Jesus’ first healing when He raised up Simon’s mother-in-law. The verb to “raise up” is used in healing stories several times in Mark. (1:31, 2:9, 2:11, 3:3, 5:41, 9:27.) The healing of the woman is the first healing and the echo of resurrection story in the gospel.
Mark’s gospel invites us to look for experiences of healing and resurrection in everyday life. We believe that we will be resurrected in God’s timing, but we can live the life of resurrection here and now restarting and getting up even from the deep abyss of despair and anxiety.
Jesus did not just heal individuals, but also, He restored people’s relationships and communities. Even the unaccompanied woman in the crowd was healed by touching Jesus. “Who touched me?”, he said and looked around to see who has done it. Jesus said to her “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.” All we are His daughter or son, and Jesus is looking around to see you. That is one of reasons that we are not alone, Jesus is always with us.
The LORD is the everlasting God. We can walk through the toughest situations without giving up because the unchangeable fact that the LORD knows, recreates, and strengthen us. God brings comfort and renewed strength to us. That is why those who place their hope in the LORD find new strength. We will be able to soar like eagles to new heights of achievement under God’s protection. (Isaiah 40:27)
Jesus had his own private place to pray. Do we have our own special place? We all need to find our own time and place to fill our hearts and pray once again.
Jesus is our healer. I believe Jesus will touch our broken hearts and anxious minds. We are all going through different situations and tough times, but we can still travel, rebuild, and trust in the Lord. It requires energy and strength when we are on a journey of faith, but those can be ways to move forward into the new creation that the LORD has created and in further progress of.
Our healer, Jesus does not stop His ministry, He continues the ministry of healing and liberation. What is our response to Jesus’ healing? I hope and pray we can all fulfill our responsibilities through our faithful appreciation, immediate responses, and humble service together.
We are blessed by God’s protection and Jesus’ healing, and we are invited to follow Jesus spreading the gospel and growing in faith.
Thanks be to God! Amen!
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)
