As we explore Jesus being made known, being manifested or displayed in this season of epiphany Today we see Jesus being known in 2 ways. As a healer and as someone who prays.
We say Jesus came to save us, that he is our saviour. Saviour, which is salvator in Latin speaks of the one who brings healing, as in the old word ‘salve’ which means bathing wounds.
Jesus' healing powers is being seen as he heals many persons. The story just before our reading (Mark is Jesus casts out an impure or unclean spirit which is different word from the one uses for the demons in he casts out in verse 32, emphasizing his ability to deal with different situations and the nuances in our varied lives. No 2 lives are the same even if you are husband and wife or twins. Jesus gets into each as we allows him and leads as we allow him. If we look more broadly at the ministry of Jesus, healing is then not only physical but spiritual and emotional. Jesus removes what was preventing the persons from being their best.
Representing his Godself, his ability to make us whole and balanced is being shown in the passage.
Jesus in his ministry healed people of physical blindness, deafness and inability to move. He also healed people of spiritual blindness, deafness and inability to grow with God. He showed them how to see the kingdom of God being manifest on earth, how to hear the voice of the Spirit so they can be guided in God’s ways, how to overcome the inertia which prevents us from working for the good of all, and the hardness or numbness of the heart which we seem to suffer from. and how to be free of themselves so as to discover God. Jesus reconciles us to the goodness of God which we are called to. make manifest.
We manifest the goodness of God with a healthy relationship with God, keeping our soul in tune with God. And that is what Jesus manifests to us in verse 35. He goes by himself to pray to re-energize himself for more teaching and healing. When the disciples found him after praying you can hear the resuscitation and new energy as Jesus replies, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
That is why he came to teach and to show, to be an example for us to follow.
It is our time, no matter who we are, our physical state or status, our emotional or spiritual state or status. We like Jesus must show others how to see God in our time, how to hear and be guided by the voice of the Spirit, how to overcome the inertia which prevents us from working for the good of all, and the hardness or numbness of the heart which we all seem to suffer from. We must seek to be free of ourselves in such a way that we are able to discover God. Jesus manifests the goodness of God and reconciles us to this goodness, which we are called to make manifest in all the world. Let us as we are able and as the Lord guides bring healing, saving others as we are being saved and to always be in relationship with God through prayer which re-energizes.