This is a surprising moment. Up to this point in Matthew, the scribes have not come off well. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, the crowds were astonished because Jesus “was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:29). The...
It had been the longest day of Jesus’ ministry so far. The leper was clean, the centurion’s servant was healed, Peter’s mother-in-law was up and serving, and by sundown the whole town of Capernaum was gathered at the door. If any moment called for staying put, this...
In Capernaum, he carried illnesses. In Jerusalem he carried what lies underneath every illness and every grief: our sin. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree… By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). “For even the Son of...
It would be easy to take the wrong lesson from this week’s passage. If Jesus never stopped serving, shouldn’t we just keep running until we drop? Many in ministry, in caregiving, and in demanding jobs have lived that way, and it is not faithfulness. Mark...
The Sabbath ends at sundown, and the moment it does, the town comes. Carrying the sick would have counted as work on the Sabbath, so they waited. Now Mark tells us “the whole city was gathered together at the door” (Mark 1:33). Imagine finally sitting down...
