A Christ Kind of Ministry | Mark 1:36–38
36 And
Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is
looking for you.” 38 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.” 39 And
he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out
demons.
We get a lot of funny ideas about the point of
ministry. Sometimes we think more people
is better than fewer, and we think the point is to draw crowds with spectacle. Because of that, we also tend to deemphasize
classical elements of church services, such as preaching. Jesus challenges our misconceptions with His
singular purpose for ministry.
Christ did not come
to gather a crowd. Remember that
this is still the morning after His long day of working miracles. His disciples words should be no surprise to
us—“Everyone is looking for you” (v. 37).
He was the buzz, and Peter and the others are understandably excited,
and, perhaps, a bit surprised that Jesus fails to capitalize on it. However, crowds are fickle, for unscrupulous
fellows sway them to evil (for instance, at the trial of Christ, Mt 27:20). We often see Jesus turning away from crowds to
keep preaching (like here) or turning them away from Him with His preaching,
which brings us to the next point.
Christ came to preach
the repentance and belief in the gospel.
We noted back in Mark 1:15 this very fact. He says in verse 38 that His purpose is to
preach. We see Him in v. 39 preaching
throughout Galilee over the intervening weeks.
In Luke 19:10, we read, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the
lost.” Seen in this light, the miracles
are secondary to the message of the Good Shepherd, only confirming the need of
the sheep to listen to His gospel call.
Do you attend a church that seems to be more about crowds
than Christ’s ministry? Are you a
minister who drifted from the purpose of the Great Shepherd? Remember that Jesus said, “I will build my
church” (Mt 16:18), not our churches
or ministries. Repent of the tomfoolery and
return to the message of the gospel, the message worthy of the Son of God’s
time and focus.
