A Day in Capernaum

Mark 1:21-39 records what may be a single day and the morning after. Jesus teaches in the synagogue at Capernaum, and people are struck that he speaks with authority rather than by citing others. A man with an unclean spirit cries out, and Jesus silences and expels it. He goes to Simon's house, where Simon's mother-in-law lies with a fever; he takes her hand and lifts her up, and she begins to serve them. When the sun sets and the Sabbath ends, the whole town gathers at the door, and he heals many.

Then comes the verse that is easy to skim. Very early, while it is still dark, Jesus gets up, leaves the house and goes to a solitary place to pray. Simon and the others hunt him down, almost scolding him: everyone is looking for you. Jesus answers that they must go elsewhere, to the other villages, because that is why he has come.

Two things stand out. The first is that Jesus' authority in word and deed flows from a life of prayer, not from momentum. After the most successful day imaginable, he withdraws. The crowd's demand is not the same as the Father's direction, and he knows the difference because he has been listening.

The second is that he is willing to leave a place where he is wanted in order to go where he is sent. Popularity in Capernaum would have been easy. He chooses the road.

Our lives rarely look like this day, but the pattern applies. Busyness, even good and fruitful busyness, does not exempt us from the solitary place. It makes it more necessary. If you find yourself in demand this weekend, at home, at church or at work, notice where Jesus went before the day began. Then go there too, and ask not only for strength to meet the demands, but for clarity about which of them are actually yours.