Well, if you would please stand as you open your Bibles to Mark chapter one. Mark chapter one. The passage that we're going to be in this evening starts in verse 29 and goes through the end of verse 34. But we will read a little bit longer or larger passage. We'll start in verse 21 and read through the end of verse 39. This is God's life-giving Word. And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him saying, be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of him. And they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves saying, what is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed 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. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him. And they found him and said to him, everyone is looking for you. And he said to them, let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out. And he went throughout all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this word. And now Lord, we confess that apart from a move of your spirit, it will profit us nothing. And Lord, this puts us in a position where we are beggars. Lord, please, please pour out your spirit upon us here and now. that we might see Your face for Your glory. Amen. All right, please be seated. No ordinary physician Well, as we examine these five verses, my hope is that we will see that Jesus Christ's exercise of absolute authority over illness and the human body tells us not only who Jesus is, but also why He came. Not only who Jesus is, but why He came. Well, so I want to first go quickly through just to try and help set the scene a little bit. and call attention to a couple details. So we know that here in verse 29, this is the Sabbath. He just got done teaching, and of course, it was there at the synagogue where he encountered a demon. And we saw last time we were together in Mark, Jesus Christ exercising authority over Satan, over the powers of Satan, over demons. And as he leaves the synagogue, he goes to the house of Simon. This is Simon Peter. And upon arriving, Jesus is made known or it's made known to him that Simon Peter's mother-in-law has a fever. She has some sort of affliction. And then after she's healed, we have the sun setting. And of course, this is significant because the Jewish days are marked by or each new day is marked by the setting of the sun. And so the Sabbath was for Jews on what we call Saturday, but it actually started sunset on what we would call Friday evening. So that's when the Sabbath began. And the Sabbath ends Saturday as soon as the sun sets. Now it's significant because what we have in verse 32 is as soon as the Sabbath is over, that's when the proverbial floodgates open up and the people are bringing to Jesus all those who are afflicted. You see, they were believing in the laws and traditions of men. A couple chapters in the future, we're going to see Jesus healing this man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. And it's a big deal. It causes the Pharisees to actually plot at that very moment with the Herodians to, as Mark says, destroy Jesus. This is actually here in this passage when he heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law. It's actually the second time that he's healing on the Sabbath. Now I just want to ask a question. as we look at the first part of this passage where Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law. And that is, how is it that ordinary doctors work, ordinary physicians? Well, firstly, ordinary physicians, even the most gifted among men, they must first diagnose their patients. And how do they do this? Well, generally, they interview their patients. They might even interview eyewitnesses, maybe family members. The physician takes a history, perhaps, looking for relevant bits that pertain to what's presenting in front of the physician. The ordinary physician will conduct some sort of a physical examination. And then as the physician comes up with perhaps a hypothesis, maybe it's one of a couple different things, then the physician will generally use some more directed questions, may manipulate the patient, ask if certain things aggravate the condition, does this hurt, et cetera, et cetera. And as the physician is narrowing in, they're trying to rule out the other possibilities. And then the ordinary physician will prescribe some sort of a treatment. Maybe rest, perhaps exercise, physical therapy, a change or addition to one's diet. perhaps sleep or sun or more fluids, maybe even surgery, a salve or a special concoction, or of course in America, everybody's favorite, it's a pill of some kind. That's the way ordinary physicians work. They come to a patient, they have to utilize many different means to come up with a diagnosis, and then hopefully apply the relevant treatment. Now is this the way Jesus operates in this particular case? Well let's look back at our text. In verse 30 we're told that Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with fever and immediately they the disciples, the residents of the home, told Jesus about her. And then in verse 31, and He came, that's one verb, He took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever is gone. No diagnosis. And is Jesus working through some sort of means? Now, I am not a physician. However, I'm fairly sure that the way you treat a fever is not taking somebody by the hand. So Jesus spends precisely no time whatsoever diagnosing Simon Peter's mother-in-law. And there's nothing wrong, of course, by using means or instruments. These are gifts that God has given to the ordinary physicians among us. But Jesus doesn't utilize means. This is something that the Westminster Confession of Faith recognizes in chapter 3 or chapter 5, paragraph 3. This is what the Bible teaches. that God often in history, we call it providence, He utilizes means. So when healing Reeves' book, God used means. But we also have examples in history where God is not bound whatsoever to using means. The three that were in the fiery furnace and were prevented from not so much as one hair being singed on their head, whereas those who put them in the furnace died because the furnace was so hot. God did not deliver those three because He applied some special fire retardant to the three. He worked beyond any means. And that's exactly what we have here in our text. Jesus does not utilize means when He heals the servant of the centurion. We read about that, not in this gospel, but Matthew 8 and Luke 7. The centurion begs Jesus saying, Jesus, I know you have authority. I know what authority is. I have authority over soldiers. And I know that you need to do no more than just say the word and it will be so. So Jesus doesn't even so much as set eyes on the servant at a distance, literally a town away, and the servant is healed. See what the centurion did correctly is note the authority of Jesus. And that's exactly what we see right here in our passage is we have seen the authority of Jesus Christ over many different aspects of and in creation. And now here's just another one. Jesus Christ has authority over illness, over disease, over our bodies. So what we have are a couple of, so we see this because a person who has ultimate authority is not subject to these means. When the exorcism took place in the last passage, people who are trying to excise a demon out of a person they resort to, as we mentioned, things like incantations and potions, and they're showing by their use of all these means that they're subject to something higher and beyond and outside of themselves. Jesus just says the word. He just says, leave them, get out of them. He doesn't have to apply any potion. He doesn't have to say some incantation. He's not invoking or channeling some higher power. He just says, boom. And so too with the illness. He has absolute, complete authority over this. So with respect to who Jesus is, well, we know that only God can heal without using means. And here we have Jesus healing without means. Jesus is God. He is showing Himself to be God incarnate. We could also say that the Messiah would heal. And here let's look at Isaiah chapter 29. Isaiah 29 verses 18 and 19. Here we have in Isaiah a description of what happens when the Messiah comes. Verse 18, in that day the death shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. These are things said of Jesus Christ, of the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel. The last passage again, the demon professes Jesus to be the Holy One of God. And indeed, that was a true profession. And so the Messiah would heal the blind, the deaf, the mute, and Jesus did just that. Ergo, Jesus is the long-awaited promised Messiah. And so it's very clear by Jesus choosing to work beyond means, beyond instruments, that he is demonstrating his authority over yet one more aspect of creation. Well, this activity is also a demonstration of why Jesus came, not just who He is, but why He came. Now Mark writes in what most theologians and commentators take to be the thesis of the book of Mark, that's chapter 10 verse 45, for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. And so it wasn't enough for Jesus to simply communicate who he was. See, Jesus could have actually done that by showing up, exercising the same kind of authority and taking an otherwise healthy person and afflicting them using no means whatsoever. He would not have needed to take a baton to anybody's knee to just drop them right on the spot. He could have just said it and it would have been so. He could have demonstrated the very same thing, but Jesus came to serve, to heal, to restore, to reverse the curse, to heal not only the body, but the soul and the mind, to restore what had been lost as a result of our transgressions. to reconcile and restore men who were fallen back to God. And to do this, Jesus had to serve. And that's exactly what we have in our passage. Now I'm trusting one of the foremost Greek experts of our day. But the particular construction where Jesus takes Simon Peter's mother-in-law by the hand is a bit unusual, and it conveys a sense of gentleness. This was not some mechanical motion that Jesus was going through, but he took her hand with compassion. He was serving her. and the people that were brought to Him that evening, person after person. We don't have a detailed record of each one, but we can be certain that when the Son of God was looking at those people, was taking their hands, that He did so with compassion. You know, you and I have received compassion from our mothers, from various people in our lives. We have been witnesses to acts of compassion, and they're beautiful. But no matter how beautiful, no matter how profound, they cannot compare to the compassion that Simon Peter's mother-in-law experienced. Jesus Christ is the most compassionate one. He came to serve. And this is his entire life in ministry. He's not just coming to flex, to show, here's who I am. I can do this. I have authority over your body. I could cripple you right now. I can maim you. No, it wasn't just about his ability, but Jesus came to serve and to serve sinners. Friends, brothers and sisters, this is shocking. It's scandalously beautiful. Jesus Christ came to love the Father and to love his neighbor precisely because you and I failed to love our Father and to love our neighbor. Jesus Christ did this in perfect fulfillment to the law. And even after the resurrection, even now, Jesus lives forever to intercede on our behalf. He sits at the right hand of the Father to plead for us. So Jesus serving of sinners like you and me was not even confined to his earthly ministry, but it is something, it is his perpetual office. He will be forever interceding for us and he's doing it even now. Well, this brings us to our duty. We've seen clearly who Jesus is, the authority he has, why he came, how exactly he would exercise that authority. But the question is, what does it mean to recognize Jesus as the sovereign, not over life generally, but over my life? What does that mean? Well, it means that Jesus has full claim to everything about us. Now, what's particularly in view in this passage is the body. What does it mean for Jesus Christ to have claim over our physical body? The scripture teaches that our bodies, among other things, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean for Jesus Christ to have lordship over it? Well, if he is the designer, he is the author, he gets to call the shots. But like any good designer, the proper function of the body is purposeful. I may break the mold a little bit, me personally. I love when I purchase something to read the instruction manual. And I figure if somebody went through all the trouble of designing it, of ensuring that it would come together just so, I might as well because I think it's actually ultimately for my good. It really is to actually understand how this thing is to properly operate. And guess what we have in God's Word? There are many things that He has given us that teach us about just how our body operates. And there is the second table of Revelation, right? Creation tells us a great number of things about how we are to treat our bodies, what we put into it. Of course, that's not altogether what makes us unclean, but there is a design there. If you were to just put nothing but sugar into your body, What will result? If we're to treat sleep as optional, what will result? See, we're not doing the designer any, we're not honoring the designer no more than if you take your diesel truck and put normal gas in it and just expect that all things are gonna go well. The truck is meant to do things. It's meant to get you from A to B, to maybe pull a load behind it. But if you frustrate the design of the engineer, you're gonna get nowhere. So what is good for our bodies? Well, again, the Word of God teaches us. Some of us were at a biblical activism bootcamp yesterday. And we're reminded that quarantines, this pertains to our physical bodies. Quarantines are for the sick, for human health and flourishing. God has shown us in His Word that a quarantine is appropriate for those who are sick. That's one of the reasons the rest of my family's not here. Honoring what we know about the body. The desire is to not get all of you sick with what they have. But those who are healthy, praise God, we're able to be here. Lastly, our delight. Two things. see that Jesus Christ has come, and that he has come to heal. Not to destroy, but to heal. Again, Jesus could have exercised his authority and come to exercise judgment upon every single person. And He would have been completely justified in doing so. It may seem a little shocking to our sensibilities, but if Jesus Christ wanted to come and walk into a room and break somebody's knees, It might seem shocking, but when we think for a moment about what true justice would actually look like, for him to merely break somebody's knees would be the very definition of mercy. And yet, that's not what he came to do. He has come to heal, to bind up, And so whether our physical infirmities, whether the things that afflict our souls and our minds, Jesus has come that all things might be made new. And brothers and sisters, if that does not happen in this life, it will happen in glory. And that is good news. Second, delight that He has come to serve us, that He came to do this in His active obedience. And this is what I referred to earlier, that He loved perfectly, fulfilled the law perfectly as He loved the Father. And He fulfilled the law perfectly as He loved His neighbor. that He serves even now, that He intercedes before the Father on our behalf. He came to serve. He is even now exercising lordship over creation and history. He is succeeding where Adam failed. This is our delight, brothers and sisters. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you came to seek and save the lost. Lord, we cry out to you. Save us, O Lord. Deliver us from this body of sin and death. Lord, give us hope in all those things that you have done, that you have conquered. that your ministry on earth and your ministry interceding even now for us will yield invincible results. Lord, we give you all the thanks and praise and honor and glory for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.