Mark 1:29-45

Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law, and the leper, while dedicating time to prayer and training his new disciples. Questions to ask while reading the text 1. Why does Jesus use physical touch as a remedy for illness when he could obviously simply speak and heal people as he did in casting out the demon in the preceding story?

2. Jesus seems to have established a place and time of prayer which helped focus him on God, what rhythm have you set to your devotional life to help you grow closer to God?

3. Jesus seems to have left the popular (and needed) ministry, healing, to stay true to what God wanted of him, what ministry do you think God is calling you to and how are you staying true to it?

4. Jesus shows a remarkable level of compassion with the man with leprosy, while the man shows a stunning lack of obedience, how does this interchange make you think about your dealings with Jesus and your attempts to be like Jesus dealing with others?

5. Unlike the previous section, here we see Jesus moving his ministry away from people (see question 2), Why would he make that move, and how does it alter your perception of Jesus’ (and your) ministry from the last section?