Mark 1:35-39 meaning

The parallel Gospel accounts for Mark 1:35-39 are Matthew 4:23-25 and Luke 4:42-44.

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 (v 35).

Following the miraculous and possibly exhausting events of the prior day, Jesus sought communion with God the Father and to renew His strength in prayer. Even though Jesus was God, His source of power on earth did not come from His own divinity. It came from trusting God, His Father. It was His Father’s strength that Jesus relied on—not His own.

As Jesus explained many times to the Jews who were upset that He was not following their religious traditions,

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
(John 5:30)

Jesus said many things like this throughout His earthly ministry (John 5:19, 7:16, 8:54 and a).

As the Apostle Paul wrote, Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, so He emptied Himself and did not rely on His own divine power to overcome, but did so by trusting God by faith—even to the point of death (Philippians 2:6-8).

In His teaching about the vine and the branches (John 15:1-11), Jesus explained to His disciples to work in His divine strength by faith instead of their own, just as He had worked in His Father’s divine strength instead of His own (John 15:9),

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
(John 15:4-5)

Here, in Mark, is an example of how Jesus deliberately sought to operate in His Father’s power.

Jesus strategically sought a time and place where He could be alone to pray to God.

The time that Jesus did this was in the early morning, while it was still dark. During this time, there is generally quiet and focus. The distractions and demands of the day are less likely to impose themselves while it is dark and early in the morning.

Jesus withdrew to a secluded place. This means He was alone. It likely was outside of town. Here, it would be difficult for the distractions of tasks to find Him.

And while He was alone in a secluded place, Mark writes that Jesus was praying there. God was praying to God. Mark does not tell us exactly what Jesus prayed when He was alone. But it seems that He was seeking His Father’s will, sharing His earthly burdens with His Father, listening, asking for strength and courage to do what God required of Him. It was likely during these times of quiet prayer that Jesus received clarity about His mission to establish His kingdom.

Jesus regularly withdrew to secluded places to pray. Luke writes: “Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness to pray” (Luke 5:16).

Deliberate time of prayer and secluding one’s self to seek God’s will was essential to Jesus and the success of His mission. It is essential to the success of our mission also.

In His teaching about the vine and branches, Jesus acknowledged this pattern of dependence:

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”
(John 15:9)

Paul similarly exhorted the Philippian church:

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 2:5)

Though Jesus went to a secluded place, His disciples began looking for Him: Simon and his companions searched for Him (v 36).

Luke wrote that the crowds were searching for Jesus (Luke 4:42b). When we consider Luke’s account alongside Mark’s, it appears as though when they could not find Jesus, the crowds found Jesus’s followers, Simon and his companions, and began asking them where Jesus was. Simon and his companions did not exactly know where Jesus was, so they searched for Him.

Eventually, they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You" (v 37).

The pronoun everyone refers to the crowds who were clamoring to see Jesus (Luke 4:42b).

Many likely suspected or hoped that Jesus might be the promised Messiah. And the people wanted to see more. Everyone was excited. They wanted to be healed or see Jesus perform more miracles, and/or hear Him teach.

Though Jesus always had remarkable compassion for each and everyone, He had much bigger plans than healing and casting out demons. It may have been tempting for Jesus to keep doing what He was doing in and around Capernaum, where He was popular among the people. This may even be particularly true given the suffering and death He knew His mission would cause Him to endure. But Jesus was devoted to God and the special purpose for which God sent Him to earth,

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” (v 38).

Jesus explained to His followers that He needed to preach in more than just Capernaum. He was to go to other towns and proclaim the Gospel there also. Jesus explained that the reason why they should go somewhere else was because that was what God and His mission required Him to do, when He said—for that is what I came for.

Jesus came not merely to Capernaum. Jesus came to redeem the whole of Israel—and the world.

Jesus proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God throughout the predominantly Jewish towns outside of Capernaum in the regions of Galilee (Mark 1:14-15). However, He also journeyed to other cities throughout Judea and even beyond the borders of Israel that were less Jewish and predominantly Gentile. He taught and performed miracles in those towns as well.

Some of the more Gentile towns Jesus travelled to during His earthly ministry included:

• The Greek Decapolis located on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:28,  Mark 5:20, 6:53, 7:31, Luke 8:26)
• Caesarea Philippi located north of Galilee (Matthew 16:13)
• Tyre and Sidon located northwest of Galilee (Matthew 15:21,  Mark 7:24, 7:31)

Mark’s Roman audience would have likely identified with Jesus’s devotion to His mission over His own personal comfort, as Rome’s foremost virtue was “pietas” which is a relentless devotion to one’s duty.

After reporting about this exchange, Mark then “zooms back out” to provide a broader overview of Jesus's public ministry as He traveled from town to town,

And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons (v 39).

Jesus preached in the Jewish synagogues throughout all of Galilee. His itinerant ministry occurred in the region of Galilee, which stretched from the western shoreline to the surrounding hills and towns. His ministry involved both teaching and healing.

Jesus taught in the local Jewish meeting places known as synagogues. The exact origins of synagogues remain somewhat unclear, but it is believed that Jews returning from Babylonian exile established them. Synagogues were primarily under the influence of the Pharisees, serving as centers for Jewish culture and worship. The ruins of ancient synagogues can still be seen among the remnants of ancient Capernaum, as well as in the nearby ruins of villages identified as Chorazin and Magdala.

The Pharisees aimed to preserve a vibrant Jewish identity by adhering to the Law. Each Sabbath, scrolls of the Law were read and interpreted by a master teacher or Rabbi. Every sizable town had at least one synagogue, and some had multiple. According to Jewish tradition, a synagogue should be established wherever ten Jewish men resided. This tradition implied a remarkably high degree of literacy among the people.

For Jesus to teach in a synagogue, He needed an invitation from the head of the synagogue. From Luke 2:41-52, we know that even as a young boy, Jesus possessed remarkable knowledge and insight into the scriptures. By the age of 30, Jesus had further increased in wisdom and knowledge.

Matthew’s gospel provides further insight into the message Jesus was preaching as He went about casting out demons. Matthew states that He was “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). Gospel means “good news.” This Good News was both spiritual and political. It concerned the Kingdom (of Heaven). Kingdom is a political term, and heaven is a spiritual term. Jesus was announcing its arrival and describing its nature. The kingdom He was preaching was most likely understood to be the Messianic kingdom.

Mark may have omitted this refence to the kingdom at this spot in his Gospel account for the sake of simplicity and to avoid a false sense of exclusivity.

• He may have omitted it for the sake of brevity and to keep his narrative moving for his Roman audience.
• Mark also may have omitted the reference to the kingdom because it could have been understood to be overtly Jewish. At the time when Jesus said this, most Jews would have considered the Messianic kingdom to be exclusively Jewish, but by the time Mark wrote his Gospel account a few decades later, followers of Jesus were beginning to be understand that Gentiles could also enter the kingdom. By omitting this reference here, it may have helped avoid this confusion.