JESUS PRAYS IN A SOLITARY PLACE
chapter 1
35. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
36. Simon and his companions went to look for him,
37. and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
38. Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."
39. So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
40. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
41. Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"
42. Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
43. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning:
44. "See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."
45. Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
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Mark 1:35-45Mark Lesson 4 (2022)
“I AM WILLING, BE CLEAN”
Mark 1:35-45
Key Verse: 1:41
Open it:
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What childhood memories do you have of a peer being ridiculed or rejected?
Explore it:
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Read verses 35-38. How did Jesus begin this particular day? What role do you think solitude should have in your life? Why wasn’t Jesus able to pray alone? (36-37) What motivated Jesus to go to the nearby village, and what did he do there? (38-39)
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Read verses 40-41. What did the man’s words to Jesus tell us about the attitude or spiritual condition? (40) Why did Jesus heal the man who came to him? (41) What did Jesus’ specific actions in this episode tell us about him?
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Read verses 42-44. What happened to the man? (42) Why do you think God sometimes heals people miraculously yet at other times chooses not to? Why did Jesus strongly urge the man to tell no one about his healing? (43-44a) Why did Jesus want the man to go to a priest? (44b)
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Read verse 45. How did the man respond to all that had happened to him? What was the result of the man’s action? When have you ever done the opposite of what you knew Jesus would have wanted you to do? Think about the importance of trust and obedience in our life of faith?
Apply it:
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What concrete action can you take this week to trust Jesus and obey him?