Mark 1:29-39 (NRSV)
Read Mark 1:29-39 on biblegateway.com
Verse 29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Verse 30Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. Verse 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
Verse 32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. Verse 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. Verse 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. Verse 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. Verse 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. Verse 37When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." Verse 38He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." Verse 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Devotion
Jesus met many ill and demon-possessed people in his home territory. We too know friends and relatives who are ill. We pray for them and put their names in the Sunday bulletin. But we’d be cautious in even naming any as mentally ill since a certain embarrassment attaches to it. Furthermore, in our Western culture, few think that demons or Satan even exist.
Has a miracle occurred as a result of any of your prayers? Does your church have a healing ministry or service? When did such healing, as Jesus and the apostles engaged in, cease in the Church’s history? Or did it ever? Does modern medicine take its place?
Prayer
Lord, You are the Great Healer. We call on you to work miracles among us, as you did in Galilee. Amen.