Jesus Did Not Meet Every Need
Mark 1:29-39
Illustration
by William Loader

Jesus did not have the need to respond to every need. I have always found it odd that people imagine Jesus met every need. When Jesus was Capernaum, he was not in Bethsaida! People in Bethsaida could have been healed. When he was in the wilderness, people back in town were suffering. Jesus might have met the needs of one or two per cent of the needy in Palestine of the day. Coming to terms with our human limitations in time and space and energy is crucial if we are to survive in ministry and Jesus was no exception. Jesus did not exercise his ministry on the basis of his need to be needed, but on the basis of what he could do as a bearer of the Spirit, nothing more. That is always enough – and never enough to meet all needs. Failure to acknowledge our limitations often leads to denial of the immensity of human need, because we are afraid of not being in control.

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., ChristianGlobe Illustrations, by William Loader