Christ Heals the Sick and Casts out Demons

Driving home: all responsible study and application of these first century documents contained in the New Testament in a very real sense demand of us a journey of 40 centuries every time we would properly study them and apply them.

The analogy of a time capsule is used to illustrate the need to travel back 20 centuries to understand the biblical text in its original setting, and then forward 20 centuries to apply it to the present.

that I had occasion to say that all responsible study and application of these first century documents contained in the New Testament in a very real sense demand of us a journey of 40 centuries every time we would properly study them and apply them. And I used the imagery of a space capsule, or sorry, a time capsule into which we must strap ourselves and go back from 1984 to the first century and seek to understand what these documents tell us in their own original setting. Then having done that, we must strap ourselves back in our time capsule and shoot ahead 20 centuries and seek to understa...

2:58 - 4:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains the critical importance of the timing of the events—'when the sun did set'—as it marked the end of the Jewish Sabbath, allowing people to bring their sick and…

The people waiting for the Sabbath to end are compared to runners in starting blocks, poised to move the moment the 'gun' (sunset) signals the end of restrictions, vividly portraying their pent-up longing.

And yet, they dare not break the rules and regulations imposed upon them by their religious leaders. And so the picture Mark sets is like runners in the starting blocks waiting for the official starter to pull the trigger on his gun. And the moment it is pulled, they come out of the block, out of the blocks. And one can only imagine what it was like in those households with people standing and sitting or cradling their sick loved ones in their arms, watching the sun as it begins to set.

9:19 - 9:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The crowd gathered at Peter's door is described as vast and diverse, comprising the sick with various physical maladies and those possessed by demons, all filled with hope and…

The gathered crowd is pictured as a funnel, with its point resting against Peter's door and the wider end representing the vast mob of people, emphasizing the sheer number and concentration of people.

A description of the gathered crowd. Mark tells us that the crowd was so vast that it could, with normal literary liberty, be described as the whole city gathered at the door. You'll notice in verse 33, and all the city was gathered together at the door. And I like to picture it as the point of a funnel resting against the door of Peter's house.

11:12 - 11:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The crowd gathered at Peter's door is described as vast and diverse, comprising the sick with various physical maladies and those possessed by demons, all filled with hope and…

The Capernaum crowd is contrasted with the frenzied, lawless mob at Lot's door, highlighting the orderly and expectant nature of the people seeking Jesus.

And out from that, the wider end, this vast mob of people who are there. And Mark describes this gathered group not as a frenzied, noisy, lawless mob such as the mob that gathered at the door of Lot. You remember that incident? Burning with their perverted passions, and ready to knock down the door that they might have illicit sexual relationships with these visiting strangers.

11:46 - 12:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: On the other hand, we must not yield to the fanatical notion that all sickness is the direct result of some demonic influence. There was sickness and there was demon possession. And the two are distinct and the two are r…

The crowd's diversity of physical needs is likened to an infirmary on a mission field, where the ravages of sin manifest in various physical maladies, helping the listener visualize the scene.

All forms of human need are present in that crowd. At that door, we see what could be likened to an infirmary on a mission field where medical science has had very little inroads. And some of us have seen slides and pictures, pictures of what those infirmaries look like. And in a crowd of 100 or 200 people, you see almost every single form of the ravages of sin as those ravages come to expression in physical maladies and abnormalities.

14:49 - 15:24 Read in full sermon

Driving home: On the other hand, we must not yield to the fanatical notion that all sickness is the direct result of some demonic influence. There was sickness and there was demon possession. And the two are distinct and the two are r…

Imagination is described as a magnifying glass for Scripture, not adding content but helping to see more clearly what is already present, encouraging deeper engagement with the text.

And the two are distinct and the two are real. And now such are brought to the door of Peter. Now try to use your imagination. Imagination should be used like a magnifying glass upon the text of Scripture.

18:09 - 18:27 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section details Jesus' two main activities: healing many sick with various diseases and casting out many demons, emphasizing his individual attention to each person by laying…

The healed lame man in Acts, who ran, shouted, and danced, is used to illustrate the likely joyous and uninhibited reactions of those healed by Jesus that night.

I don't know how to describe it. I fished for words to try to describe what probably was controlled disruption. And restrained hilarity. For we read in Acts of one man who had been lame from his birth.

25:30 - 25:44 Read in full sermon