Rest & Mission

01/09/2025 Mark 1:35-39

In today’s reading, Mark presents us with two microevents. 

The first is that Jesus takes a respite from the crowds in order to spend time alone with God in prayer. Jesus, God in human form, needed His Sabbath. We are not made to move constantly from demand to demand. Our bodies and our minds need rest in order to maintain our connection with God. However, rest is for rejuvenation. 

The second event is the one of greater importance. The disciples interrupt Jesus’s Sabbath by reminding Him that He has crowds that are waiting for Him. But Jesus tells them it is time to move on. Leave the crowds of Capernaum, and go to others who need the message Jesus came to bring. 

Jesus calls the church to a mission greater than coddling the crowds. He wants the church to move to the lost, to reach the unreached, ever moving forward to invade the territory of darkness.

Q: Which do you need most right now: a time to clear the deck so that you can reconnect with God, or a push to invade a place of darkness with God’s good news?