Day 3 - You’ll have to ask Jesus (if you can find him)
Mark 1:35-45
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 travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
Bern Leckie writes:
Jesus was “indignant” – really? If that grabbed your attention, you might remember other Bibles saying “filled with compassion”, and scholars can’t agree on which is right. It’s probably not meant to be both, because the problem is most likely a copying error between two similar Greek words, but no-one is sure which was the original and which was the error. You’ll have to ask Jesus!
This brings up a big question which is also part of the story here – why can Jesus be so hard to find? Everyone was looking for Jesus, but he didn’t go straight to those people who wanted and needed him. Why? You’ll have to ask Jesus.
Maybe this passage feels like other parts of our faith life – frustrating, ambiguous, impossible to agree on or understand. But here it is. Can you accept it as it is, without fully understanding? Can you reflect on what it means to seek space, like Jesus did, for prayer? If you can find that space today, can you ask Jesus whatever you like, and still be content not to have all the answers?