That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
–Mark 1.32-39 (NIV)
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
–Ephesians 2.1, 3-5
In today’s Gospel lesson, Mark describes a scene to which we can almost all instinctively relate. He tells us that folks have caught wind of Jesus’ remarkable healing power and they are scrambling to find him. “Everyone is looking for you!” the apostles exclaim. And why not? Who wouldn’t be seeking a miracle worker to heal them of their physical and psychological brokenness? I mean, duh!
But notice the context of the story. After a busy day of healing folks of all that ailed them, Jesus withdrew to a solitary place to recharge his batteries in prayer (are you paying attention?). And when his disciples find him and tell him that “everybody” is looking for him, Jesus’ response surprises us. If he came to proclaim the Good News as he says, then we would expect him to be eager to return to the crowd. After all, if they are looking for him, we would expect them to be eager to hear his message. Instead, he tells the disciples that they need to go elsewhere. In other words, Jesus wants to avoid those looking for him.
What’s going on here?
While it is always a dangerous thing to claim to know the inner thoughts and motivations of someone else, fortunately the text (and context) give us some valuable clues. Apparently Jesus thought he had bigger fish to fry than healing folks of their various illnesses. He tells us that he came to preach the Good News. But isn’t getting healed of your illness good news? I bet if you ask anyone with a serious illness, they would tell you it is.
But Jesus evidently understood that physical and psychological healing, while a good and desirable thing, isn’t the end game because our bodies are mortal. Every one of the folks that Jesus healed and even raised from the dead eventually died (or died again). Death is the end game for our mortal bodies and none of us will escape it, unless the Second Coming occurs in our lifetime.
No, Jesus seems to be telling us to get our priorities straight. As Paul tells us in today’s excerpt from Ephesians, Jesus came to end our exile from God so that we could live with him and enjoy life as God intended forever. Our life span, long as it may seem at times, especially in bad times or times of suffering, are but a drop in the bucket in the comprehensive ocean of eternity and Jesus understood this clearly as the text indicates here.
Jesus seems to be saying to us, “Look. I know that you want to be healed and I want to heal you. But that can’t be the basis for a real relationship with me. No relationship can be based on what one party can do for the other. Besides, you are only looking at your immediate situation. You need to expand your horizons and look to see what constitutes real life!”
And we can readily appreciate this dynamic, can’t we? How often do we see folks kiss up to the rich and famous in hopes of riding on their popularity coattails or in hopes of getting something from them that they want. This happens in the political arena all the time. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it certainly does not constitute the basis for forming any real relationship. If you are a rich and/or famous and/or powerful individual, you will naturally be leery of people’s motives when they approach you. What do they really want? What about you attracts them? Is it you or your position? Would they want to be your friends if you weren’t famous or in a position of power to help them get what they want? Of course, only time will make clear people’s real intentions and motives, but the point remains valid nevertheless.
Jesus wants us to come to him because he can give us life, real life. He has no desire to form a relationship that is parasitic in nature. That just cannot work. But when we understand what he has really done for us on the cross, when we really wrap our minds around the dire straights we are in when left to our own devices, it changes everything. We start to see God’s great love for us in Christ and our hearts are both humbled and filled with thanksgiving. We understand instinctively that God loves us even when we were thoroughly unlovable and has acted decisively in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus to establish the conditions that make possible the end of our exile from him. What God demands of us is to recognize him as God, not ourselves, and that’s no small task for us because we are so profoundly broken.
Are you looking for Jesus? If you are not, it’s likely because you don’t believe he can do anything for you. If you are, is it because of what he can do for you right here and now? Or by God’s grace have you been let in on the joke and understand the ramifications of the human condition? How you respond will contribute significantly to the kind of relationship you will (or will not) enjoy with the God who loves you, the God who created you to love and enjoy him forever. That’s the kind of relationship Jesus wants to have with you.
Give Jesus a real chance, if you have not done so already. Resist the temptation to look at him as some sort of cosmic Santa Claus and look at him instead as the Lord of life who is eager and willing to give you the precious gift of a life-giving relationship with him, the kind of relationship that will sustain you through thick and thin during your mortal life and bless you with unspeakable joy and fulfillment as you live in his direct Presence forever.