Why Has He Come?
006 Why Has He Come?
Mark 1:29-45
December 21, 2025
Mark chapter 1 can pretty easily be divided into 2 main points.
1) Who is He? (1-11)
· Where we learned that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
· The One whom the forerunner announced.
· The One whom God announced from heaven.
2) Why has He come? (12-45)
Where we have thus far spoken of Jesus as the King ON CONQUEST.
· He entered the wilderness
· He got a good look at the enemy
· He charged ahead anyway
Last time we met we looked at the first battle in Mark’s gospel.
We called it: “The Battle of Capernaum Synagogue”
· Jesus entered the land and headed straight for an enemy stronghold.
· He went to the synagogue.
· He went to speak truth.
· He went to shine light into darkness.
And as He did, the darkness came screaming back.
Mark 1:23-24 “Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
The demon was in effect asking
The very question we are asking at the outset of this sermon.
He asked, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?”
In other words, “Why have You come?”
WE DID NOTE THAT
· The demon was derogatory in calling Him “Jesus of Nazareth”
· But also the demon was deceitful in seeking to explain why Jesus had come.
· The demon asked, “Have You come to destroy us?”
It was the demon’s way of
Trying to distort the view of Jesus in the synagogue.
The demon would announce to everyone there
That Jesus had come, not as Savior, but as Executioner.
The demon wanted everyone to think severely of Jesus,
To see Him only as One who would expose their sin
And heap condemnation upon them.
Certainly that is what Jesus will one day do to all demons,
But the demon wanted the crowd to expect the same.
This is why Jesus silenced that demon.
Mark 1:25 “And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
· Jesus muzzled him or gagged him.
· Jesus refused to allow Satan to define His ministry publicly.
And when the demon came out everyone was AMAZED.
· This Jesus had arrived with authority.
· Not only in the way He preached, but even authority over the unclean spirits.
And Mark says:
Mark 1:28 “Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.”
The conquest is no longer secret.
Jesus is here.
He has infiltrated enemy territory.
But the question remains to be answered:
WHY HAS HE COME?
The demon wanted men to think that
It was a mission aimed at the destruction of sinners.
Jesus quickly silenced him.
SO WHAT IS THE MISSION?
WHY HAS HE COME?
For that we move forward in Mark’s gospel.
· And while Mark will show you Jesus’ answer to that question.
· Mark is also dedicated to showing you how so many misunderstood it.
In these 17 verses we still see Jesus on conquest.
But we also see that no one seemed to understand it.
You will see that the immediate interest in Jesus
Is almost entirely regarding His ability to do the miraculous.
They only seem to want His healing, and this is a problem.
In fact, by the time we get to the end of the chapter,
It almost reads like Jesus’ healing ministry
Is becoming a hindrance to His preaching ministry.
NOW, I DO NOT WANT TO MINIMIZE
THE IMPORTANCE OF JESUS’ MIRACULOUS WORKS.
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”
John 20:30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Clearly the miraculous works of Jesus are important.
We are not trying to minimize that He did things that only God can do.
But what we are seeing here in Mark’s gospel is that
Men are clearly missing the point of His amazing authority
And this is proving to be a hindrance to His ministry.
There is really no other way to say it.
(45) “But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.”
SO WE CAN SEE THAT:
The very people He came to save are missing the point of the mission
And even being used by the enemy to hinder it.
IN WWII – almost 2 months after D-Day,
The allied troops were 8 months ahead of schedule.
· They had liberated France, Belgium, and parts of Holland.
· They were right up against German west wall.
A plan was hatched to go on the offensive.
It was a plan that would end the war in a matter of weeks.
· Eisenhour and the allies were so confident in it, that Christmas packages were halted and winter clothes were not sent on the supply lines.
· It was expected that the troops would be home by Christmas.
The plan was called: “Operation Market Garden”
· The plan was to drop 20,000 allied troops behind enemy lines by parachute.
· These troops would then seize 64 miles of highway and 9 bridges around the north end of the west wall, across the Rhine river and into the heart of the Rhule valley which was Germany’s industrial heart.
· Once the highway and bridges were seized, British General Montgomery would be able to move his 800 tanks and 50,00 soldiers up the seized highway and across the seized bridges right into Germany in less than 48 hours.
At first the plan worked perfectly.
· The 82nd airborne and the 101st airborne seized 7 bridges and much of the highway.
· But when the 10,000 troops of the British 1st airborne were dropped 7 miles from the all-important bridge across the Rhine,
· Belgium civilians were so eager to see them that they delayed their mission, and only 500 troops made it to the bridge on time.
· The delay allowed the Germans to rally, surround the bridge and 8,000 of the British 1st airborne were killed or missing.
· Ultimately 17,000 allied troops were killed, the Germans were able to push them back and the war, thought to end in October would go on another 8 months.
The very people who were meant to benefit from the mission,
Played a hand in derailing it
Simply because they did not understand the objective.
As I pondered the end of Mark chapter 1, that event just kept coming to my mind because it is the same sort of thing we see taking place here.
THAT IS NOT TO SAY that people were a threat to the success of Christ’s mission.
· We don’t even insinuate that men can in any way thwart or hinder the mission
of the sovereign Christ.
· Christ came and accomplished exactly what He intended to accomplish in
exactly the way He intended to accomplish it.
But the similarity is seen in the tragedy of people
Who fail to understand what Christ is doing
And who do not join Christ as they should.
In this conquest, Jesus is the only One who is focused.
In this conquest, Jesus is the only One who is rightly moving forward.
EVERYONE ELSE IS MISSING THE POINT.
Now, I want to put this in your mind here at the beginning
So that you will be aware to it in your own life.
1. WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS REGARDING THE MISSION OF JESUS?
2. HOW IS IT THAT YOU ARE SEEKING TO MAKE USE OF JESUS?
You can ponder that as we look at these verses
And we’ll come back to it again at the end.
We are going to make a sweeping look at these stories.
But I want you to make some observations here and maybe catch Mark’s point.
So let’s first just talk about some of the things we see:
#1 JESUS PERFORMING
Mark 1:29-31, 32-34, 40-42
What we notice first is JESUS OBVIOUS POWER
Over all the effects of the enemy.
I certainly don’t want to read this text and not make the obvious point
That we have never seen power like Jesus had anywhere else.
It starts with Peter’s mother-in-law who “was lying sick with a fever”
· The assumption is some kind of infection.
· It’s obviously bad enough to have her bedridden.
· No other details are given.
But we read of Jesus (31) “He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.”
THIS WAS A MIRACLE.
· There is nothing gradual here.
· There is nothing even medical here.
This woman went from bedridden to serving in an instant.
· She was better.
· She felt better.
· She was well instantly.
Fever is scary, fever makes you feel terrible,
They had no real way to fight it, it just had to run its course.
JESUS STOPPED IT IN ITS TRACKS.
That is remarkable power.
Then we see more of Jesus performing:
(32-34) “When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.”
Passages like this help us to get some sense of
Just how many miracles Jesus must have worked.
They aren’t even all documented.
They aren’t even all written down.
· You can read Numbers and almost bog down in the repetition of the counting and the moving.
· You can read Joshua and almost bog down in the lists of the conquest and the divvying up of the land.
· You can read Chronicles and almost bog down in the lists of genealogies.
But we get to passages like this
He is healing everyone of everything, and it is so routine for Him
That a list isn’t even provided of all that He healed.
We read (34) “He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons;”
It’s just spoken of as another day at the office.
· He is so thorough
· He is so powerful
And then we see yet another remarkable miracle at the end of the chapter.
(40-42) “And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.”
Leprosy seems to be one of the real enemies of the Bible.
Today it is known as Hansen’s Disease
Leprosy is often highlighted not only because of its cruelty,
But also because it makes such a natural analogy of sin.
Leprosy does to the body what sin does to the soul.
It basically works as bacterial infection that can affect nerves.
· Skin lesions
· Loss of sensation
· Muscle weakness
· A leper will in effect self-mutilate due to the loss of sensation.
· A leper may injure or even burn themselves without knowing it.
· Stories are told of lepers literally rubbing their own noses off.
THAT’S WHAT SIN DOES TO THE SOUL.
It comes with a numbing agent
That basically allows the soul to self-mutilate.
But leprosy in the Bible was also terrible because
1. There was no cure,
2. You had to be quarantined from everyone,
3. And you were thought to be under the judgment of God.
So it is remarkable what we read here
How quickly and easily Jesus healed this leper.
Jesus said, “be cleansed”. Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.”
It’s hard to imagine what this must have looked like.
· Wounds closing
· Missing fingers or limbs restored
· Eyesight restored
· The stench removed
SO WE ARE CERTAINLY AMAZED AT THE POWER OF JESUS.
Fevers, leprosy, diseases, demon possession…
Those things are certainly a biproduct of the fall.
They are all consequences of sin having infiltrated our world.
So clearly we are seeing Jesus with the power to
Overthrow Satan, sin, and all its consequences.
THERE IS NO DENYING HIS POWER.
What Jesus is doing is that which only God can do.
WE ALSO don’t lose sight of the fact that
THE PEOPLE HE IS MINISTERING TO ARE DESPERATE.
When you read verse 34 it says, “He healed many who were ill with various diseases”
That word “ill” is (ka-KOCE)
It can certainly mean “ill or sick”
But it isn’t just referring to a head cold.
Matthew 15:22 “And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.”
· There the word is translated “cruelly”
Matthew 21:41 “They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
· There the same word is rendered “wretched”.
These are people who have diseases that they are suffering from.
· They are being treated cruelly by their infirmities.
· They are in a wretched condition.
JESUS IS HEALING THEM ALL.
So we also are keenly aware that Jesus is
VERY COMPASSIONATE.
“He healed many…”
“He…cast out many demons…”
(41) “Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
WE DON’T WANT TO DOWNPLAY THAT.
I WANT YOU TO SEE Jesus performing miracles and showing mercy
To otherwise helpless and hopeless people.
YOU NEED TO SEE THAT.
Jesus did that.
Jesus cared for people.
So see Jesus performing
#2 JESUS PREVENTING
Mark 1:34, 43-44
This is now somewhat interesting.
Perhaps the first reference makes sense,
But the second certainly catches us a little off guard.
The first is pretty clear:
(34b) “and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.”
Just as we saw earlier in the synagogue,
· The demon does not get to set the narrative.
· The father of lies does not get to write the story on Jesus.
· They don’t get to set the expectation.
But when dealing with the leper we read:
(43-44) “And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
THIS ONE IS INTERESTING.
For we see that Jesus has tremendous compassion this leprous man
And totally heals Him.
But in the very next breath He “sternly warned him and immediately sent him away”
“sternly warned” is an onomatopoetic work.
It is (em-bre-MY-O-MY) – it means “to snort like a horse”
It means “to snort in anger”
Mark 14:5 “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.”
· There it is “scolding”
John 11:33 “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,”
John 11:38 “So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.”
· In both of those instances it is “deeply moved”.
It is a word that speaks of people who are frustrated.
· The disciples that Mary would seemingly waste that perfume on Jesus’ feet.
· Jesus that everyone thought death was an enemy too great for Him.
And even here with this leper. There is a frustration there.
An inner groaning, an outward snort.
He was moved with compassion but He “sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
There is a sense that though Jesus was compassionate to help,
In some way this miracle would be detrimental to the overall plan.
THIS IS HARDLY THE ONLY INSTANCE OF SUCH A THING.
1. (3:11-12) He forbids more demons
2. (5:43) He tells Jairus not to tell anyone about Him raising their daughter
Mark 7:32-36 “They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.”
· That story reads quite similar.
· Jesus compassionately healing but even there we read of His “deep sigh” and
then He healed the man and ordered Him not tell anyone.
3. (8:26) He healed a blind man and told him not to tell.
I mean you see it over and over.
JESUS DOES SHOW MERCY.
He is moved with compassion to help those who are greatly afflicted.
But at the same time He is insistent that
This is not the story He wants spread around.
AND THIS CHAPTER IN MARK MAKES IT OBVIOUS AS TO WHY.
It’s because that is all anyone is focusing on.
Look at this text as a whole again.
Jesus has just cast out that demon in the synagogue and everyone is amazed.
Mark 1:28 “Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.”
WORD SPREADS.
· But what kind of word?
It is obviously NOT word of the gospel He is preaching.
It is obviously NOT word of the salvation He is offering.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
· Because no one shows up for forgiveness.
· They all show up to benefit from His power.
AND THAT INCLUDES HIS DISCIPLES.
They leave that synagogue and go to Peter and Andrew’s house and what’s the first thing we read?
(3) “Immediately they spoke to Jesus about her.”
(That phrase is unique to Mark’s gospel by the way.)
The first thing they do, after that amazing synagogue display
Is to point out that they have a sick mother
Who needs to benefit from Jesus’ power.
AND THEY ARE NOT ALONE.
(32) “When evening came, after the sun had set”
· These people were waiting for the Sabbath to be over.
“they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door.”
· They weren’t there for the gospel.
· They weren’t there for salvation.
· They weren’t there for forgiveness of sins.
This was not about the kingdom, this was about relief.
EVEN THE LEPER…
(4) “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
NOT, “if You are willing, You can forgive my sin.”
DO YOU SEE WHAT MARK IS POINTING OUT?
Everyone was amazed at Jesus, and rightly so,
But they were misguided in their amazement.
They saw Jesus as One who could make their lives easier,
Not as the King who could grant them access into God’s kingdom.
They didn’t see a savior, they saw a physician.
And look, we are NOT GOING TO BE TOO HARD on them for that.
Jesus wasn’t.
· He had compassion on them.
We know what it is to hurt or fear.
We know what it is to appeal to Jesus for our temporal problem.
We even have a God who tells us
Not to worry but to present our requests to Him.
So I’m not seeking to paint these people as somehow evil
For wanting their pain removed.
Just like you can’t fault the Belgians for being excited
When allied troops parachuted into their region.
BUT THEY ARE MISSING THE POINT.
And Mark shows us that with Jesus.
Jesus Performing Jesus Preventing
#3 JESUS PREACHING
Mark 1:35-39
These verses are the heart of the section.
· Jesus DID NOT overlook those who came to Him.
· He DID NOT reject those in need.
But He also didn’t open up a hospital,
Nor did He set up a humanitarian ministry headquarters.
Instead we read:
(35-39) “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.”
Why has He come?
“Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”
Why preaching?
Romans 10:14-17 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
What does true warfare look like?
2 Corinthians 10:3-5a “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God”
Jesus came to overthrow Satan’s kingdom.
He did not come just to patch up Satan’s wounded.
It was about going on the offensive,
Not simply ministering to those who were afflicted.
NOW, AT THIS POINT, let me simply ask you again one of those questions we discussed earlier.
WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS REGARDING THE MISSION OF JESUS?
What is it that you suppose Jesus has called us as a church to do?
· There is nothing wrong with humanitarian ministries.
· There is nothing wrong with having compassion.
· There is nothing wrong with having mercy on those who hurt.
Jesus did those things.
Jesus didn’t turn those people away.
But this chapter makes it clear what the real mission was.
Jesus was here to set captives free by the preaching of the gospel.
WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS A KINGDOM MINDSET.
This hit me the other night while laying in bed.
· Zech and Hannah just went on a quick weekend ski trip last weekend.
· They skied all day Monday, quit at 4pm and then drove home.
· They didn’t get in until 5 in the morning.
· And laying in bed, I’m thinking about kids who have skied for 3 straight days
now driving all night long.
· You know very well what I’m praying.
· I’m asking for safety and protection and alertness, and all that entails.
And, as I said, God told us we can present our requests to Him.
But at the same time, it is apparent to me,
That the matter which had kept me awake at night
And which had captivated my prayer
Had nothing to do with the advancement of God’s kingdom,
But only had to do with sparing me pain.
But when Jesus missed sleep and prayed all night,
IT WAS ABOUT THE KINGDOM.
Jesus was focused on needs much bigger than our temporal struggles.
No one can accuse Him of not caring, He cares more than anyone,
But at the same time it is obvious to us what matters most to Him.
I think that needs to challenge us to evaluate our own ministries.
Both the corporate ministries of the church
And even our own personal ministries.
What is the main goal?
What is the main objective?
I know if we do mercy ministries the people will love us for it,
· And I am not saying we should not do them,
I’m just asking if we can say that those types of ministries
Are secondary to our desire to advance the kingdom?
What we see here is that those ministries
Almost get in the way of the real ministry.
#4 JESUS PREVENTED
Mark 1:45
“But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.”
The healing ministry was hindering the preaching ministry.
I most definitely think that churches can fall into this trap.
Where we get so preoccupied with the wrong kind of ministry.
JESUS PRIORITY IS NOT DIFFICULT TO SEE.
THAT MUST BE OUR PRIORITY TOO.
· Make sure that your ministry focused on the right objective.
· We are here to advance the kingdom.
· Our prayer and our preaching must be to that end.
Jesus did not come just to treat the casualties of Satan’s brutality.
Jesus came to overthrow Satan’s kingdom.
AND PEOPLE ARE PRONE TO MISS THAT.
So I also want to revisit that question:
HOW IS IT THAT YOU ARE SEEKING TO MAKE USE OF JESUS?
The crowd heard of the amazing Jesus,
But they only wanted to use Him to eradicate fevers and illnesses.
100 million years from now, all of those people
Who received physical healing, but not salvation,
Will undoubtedly remember their chance meeting with Jesus
Where they asked for the wrong thing.
WHAT ARE YOU SEEKING FROM JESUS?
· Are you just wanting Him to make this world more comfortable for you?
· Are you just wanting Him to give you relief from suffering?
· What about your sin?
· What about eternal life?
· What about your captivity in Satan’s grasp?
· Have you thought to petition Him for those things?
· Have you thought to call on His name for forgiveness?
THESE PEOPLE TOTALLY MISSED THE POINT OF HIS CONQUEST.
DON’T YOU MISS IT.
Up in verse 24 we balked at a demon
Who would insinuate that Jesus came to destroy us.
But that is no worse than thinking Jesus only came
To break fevers, cleanse lepers, and remove illnesses.
This morning as we are pondering why Jesus came.
Even at Christmas time as we ponder why Jesus came.
LET ME REMIND YOU that He came to save you from your sin.
· He came to rescue you from Satan’s kingdom.
· He came to deliver you from bondage.
It would be a shame to seek Him only
For physical comforts and emotional relief.
Run to Him as the Savior from sin.
THAT IS WHY HE CAME.
Paul told the Galatians:
Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
And Paul knew what that meant:
1 Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”