This section complets the study on Mark chapter 1. It whittles through a few details to look at some interesting aspects of the few compact verses that finish the chapter. I hope that you enjoy and learn from them as we examine the nuances of Judiasm and the way that the Messiah healed. Remember, it is critical to keep an open Bible available since I do not quote all the verses. Context is the most critical thing in Bible study. Read in context to avoid errors. If you disagree with me or wish to add comments, please fill out the response form at the bottom in order to contact me. I will then add your comments to the bottom of the study. Thanks.

Mark 1:29-34  Yeshua had spoken on the Sabbath at the synagogue. This is the setting of this set of healings. After leaving the Synagogue, Yeshua went to Simon Peter’s house with the four chosen apostles. Jesus entered the house and went to Simon’s mother-in-law who was sick with a fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her, she was immediately healed. The picture given is the fever or sickness simply left.

I have never been to the Holy Land. Those that have been there tell me that the entire country shuts down for the Sabbath. At sundown on Saturday evening it is as if a light switch is thrown. The entire country comes alive instantly. People flood the market places and come out of the Sabbath rested and busy. This is the scene that we have here. There was a quiet healing at Simon Peter’s house. The disease left of its own volition. Then the Sun went down. This is called Havdalah, or the closing of the Sabbath.

Evening had come, Mark specified that the sun had set. The Sabbath ends at sundown. The healing that soon follows takes place on the first day of the week, which begins at sundown Saturday evening. The entire town turns out to visit the amazing new teacher. They saw the healing that took place in the Synagogue. The people waited and rested on the Sabbath. At sundown, everyone turned up with those who were sick, diseased and demon possessed.  Yeshua was busy at that point healing all who came to the house. The town came alive after the Sabbath was over to visit Yeshua.

In the scene we have two separate healings going on. So, let’s back up a bit and examine the details closely one more time. The first actual “healing” took place when Yeshua cast the demon out of the person in the synagogue (Mark 1:23-26). I consider this a healing since the man was obviously distressed emotionally, and displayed physical symptoms when the demon was exercised. The second healing took place when Yeshua entered Peter’s house. The fever left her. Then, full of energy the woman got up and served her guests. Both of these healings took place on the Sabbath. In both situations, the healings were incidental to where Jesus was located. He was in the synagogue and He was in Peter’s house. Two people were in immediate distress and He healed them both. He healed these people by the use of authority. The demon possessed man was healed by a command. Peter’s mother was healed by the authority of his presence.

Then we have a break, the Sabbath is over. Now Mark used the word “therapeuo” which translated into English is “healing” (Mark 1:34). Kittle gives this Greek definition to be “This word, in secular Greek, means a. “to serve,” “to be serviceable,” and b. “to care for the sick,” “to treat,” “to cure” (also figuratively).”^[1] Then went on several pages to define the word biblically… When this word is translated into English we lose this meaning. Healing in this sense uses the root word for our modern-day word “therapy”. This gives us the idea of medical treatment. Which any doctor will tell you is very hard work.

When the city showed up at Peter’s door, Yeshua went to work healing the sick. He went to work casting out demons. Mark specified that this healing was different than the healing that was done on the Sabbath. Why?

Let’s go to Torah briefly. Torah teaches that if a donkey or ox that has fallen down, you are to help them (Deut 22:2). If you see an ox that has gotten out and wandered away, you are to return them to their owner and if the donkey is overloaded, you are to unload it to give it relief (Ex 23:4-5). These commands were given regardless of the day of the week. This was a command of mercy or grace toward animals. Yeshua took these commands and applied them in a different way:

Matthew 12:11–12 (NET)

¹¹ He said to them, “Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

With both of the Sabbath cases, healing was incidental. Yeshua noticed the need because it came up in His presence on the Sabbath. He healed these two people in the same manner as one who sees a donkey in distress will help it. The later healings were of a different nature. They involved the work of healing.

The demons were silenced. Yeshua did not allow the demons to speak because they would reveal His identity too soon. Yeshua knew His mission on earth, He was not going to allow the enemy to reveal who he was.

Mark 1:35-39  Jesus prays and carries on with His mission.  Jesus did not ask anyone to pray with Him, He went off on His own, and prayed. This took place early morning before sunrise on the first day of the week. We do not know what He prayed about or if this was a daily habit that Yeshua had developed. Remember, Simon and the other three had just been commissioned. This was the first day that they stayed with Yeshua. It is possible that Yeshua had a daily habit of rising early to spend time in prayer. There has been a modern movement that has the slogan “what would Jesus do?” We know that this is what Jesus did. Perhaps we could learn from Him and devote the early morning time to prayer…

Yeshua went on a journey after this time. He went from synagogue to synagogue preaching and casting out demons. If we follow the thought of Mark, these situations arose on the Sabbath and casting these demons out were in line of releasing people from captivity. Just as one would release a donkey from a load that was too great for him (Ex 23:5).

Mark 1:40-45  Leper Messiah. I am going to give you a preview of the book that I am in the process of writing. Here is an excerpt from a section that looks a the nature of the Messiah:

The Jewish sages had figured out through the scriptures that the coming Messiah would minister to the lepers. In this brief section we will look at some of the expectations of the Messiah according to the Jewish teachers that were handed down through the ages.

“D.         He said to him, “When is the Messiah coming?”

1. He said to him, “Go and ask him.”
2. “And where is he sitting?”
3. “At the gate of the city.”
4. “And what are the marks that indicate who he is?”
5. “He is sitting among the poor who suffer illness, and all of them untie and tie their bandages all together, but he unties them and ties them one by one. He is thinking, ‘Perhaps I may be wanted, and I do not want to be held up.’ ”^[2]

The idea of an illness which requires bandages to be utilized points directly to leprosy. It is interesting that the Jewish sages pointed to this disease in reference to prophecies. Hosea prophesied that the Messiah will bandage the wounded. The following verse points to the resurrection of the Messiah (Hosea 6:1-2).  Hosea goes on to prophecy that the Messiah will heal the apostasy of the land and turn the anger of the Lord away from them (Hosea 14:1-5).  Jeremiah prophesied that the Messiah will move Jacob from being an outcast to complete restoration by healing the wounds (Jer 30:17).  Perhaps it was from these verses that the Jewish sages developed the idea that the Messiah will heal leprosy. It could also come from extra-biblical writings. The Jewish sages expected the Messiah to minister to the Lepers as one of the ear-marks of his ministry. In the following discussion we will note several places where Yeshua heals lepers. These carry special instructions for reporting to the priests. The Jewish teachers were scholars who carefully examined the scriptures. Just as with Christians who study eschatology, so also Jewish people who studied prophecy made errors. Some Jewish scholars saw the messiah as one who was an overwhelming conqueror. We see evidence of this in the arguments of the disciples when they argue over who will be greatest in the kingdom, and who would rank highest (Mat 18:1; 20:20-24; Mark 9:34; 10:37-41; Lk 22:24).  They pictured the Messiah Yeshua as one who would eventually overthrow the Roman Empire and move into His earthly reign.

The Leper Messiah idea from the Jewish scholars is drawn from many scriptures. The prophetic Messiah would heal lepers, restore sight to the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf and cure the lame (Isa 35:6; 53:3-6;

What is important in this discussion is regardless of the scriptural support for their deduction, Yeshua made special effort to heal leprosy and send the healed ones to the priests as a witness.

Returning to Mark: Without adding to the discussion on the Leper Messiah that the Jewish people were looking for. Yeshua ordered the man to go to the priests so that he could go through the process of being declared healed. This required a two-week period where the priest verified the healing of temporary leprosy (Lev 13:1-6; 30-33). Complete healing of a leper involved greater verification from the priest (Lev 14:1-32). This verification also took two weeks but also involved intimate inspection and many sacrifices. The point. Healing was verified by the priest. Yeshua was sending a message to the priests that the “Leper Messiah” had arrived.

Free will: Yeshua commanded the man to be silent about his healing and to go to the priest for verification and cleansing. The man did not keep silent. He went out and spread his great news of being healed to everyone. This caused Yeshua great problems. Instead of continuing his synagogue tour, His strategy was altered. This man disobeyed God after being healed. He also retained his healing. For modern faith healers, this should be a lesson. They often preach that if a person does not continue on the narrow path, the disease they are healed from will return. In my opinion, if the disease returns, they were not healed in the first place. I am very tired of hearing the garbage spewed by some modern faith healers.

I am going to close here. I discovered when rewriting this study that previously I had rewritten this study twice. I will go through the second rewriting and see if it adds to the commentary. If it is significant it will be added to the bottom of the archived page on the internet. Thank you for bearing with me through the first chapter of Mark. The previous study will be attached to the archived copy as an addendum.

Joe Turner.

^[1] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 331.

^[2] Jacob Neusner, The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary, vol. 16 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011), 525.