Mark

By Joyce Webb 2022

Chapter 1 Verses 35-45

Verse 35 Early in the morning, long before sunrise, Jesus went to a quiet place where he could be alone—-and he prayed.

(If Jesus needed to take time to pray —-how much more should we take the time to pray. )

Verse 36 Simon Peter and some of the others—followed Jesus.

Verse 37 When they found Jesus —they said, “All men are looking for you.”

Verse 38 Jesus said to them— Let us go into the next towns—so I can preach to them. That is the reason I have come.

Verse 39. Jesus preached in all the synagogues (Jewish churches)
all through the area of Galilee. He cast out devils out of people. (threw out, made the evil spirits to leave)

Verse 40 A man who had leprosy came to Jesus. (Leprosy is a skin disease that eats away the flesh.)

The man kneeled down in front of Jesus and asked, “If you will, you can make me “clean”—meaning heal his skin.”

Verse 41 Jesus felt sorry for the man, —Jesus touched the man, and said to him, “I will, be clean.”

Verse 42 As soon as Jesus said that—the man’s skin was healed.

(Leprosy was a disease people feared. It was a terrible thing. People were afraid they would get it, too. They did not want to be near anyone who had it.

So when a person had leprosy, he had to leave his home and family, and had to go live outside the city—maybe in a tent, or cave—sometimes they lived with other people who had leprosy.

If they were near other people who did not have leprosy, they were required by law to shout—”Unclean, Unclean”—so that people around them would know not to come near.

This was a shameful thing to have to do. Anyone could get leprosy.
Rich people, important people—as well as poor people.

Having leprosy was shameful, painful, and lonely.

It was a slow terrible death, in the end, it would kill them.)

Verse 43 After the man was healed, Jesus told him not to tell anyone about his healing, but to go to the Jewish priest and show his skin to the priest.

(This was a Jewish law. If and when a person’s skin was “normal”–he was to go to the priest and show the priest his skin. If the priest thought that his skin looked “normal” then the person was allowed to go back home and live a normal life.”

The person was to bring a sacrifice and offering to the priest to be offered to God for his healing.)

Verse 45 The man left Jesus—-but he was so excited about being healed, he began to tell everyone all along the way.

When people heard that he had been healed of leprosy—-many people began looking for Jesus to heal them. There were so many people coming to Jesus that he could not preach and teach to the people. They all wanted to be healed.

The crowds of so many people were so big—-that Jesus had to leave the city and go out into the desert area for awhile to rest.

The people still followed him out there. They all wanted to be healed.