as St.

Paul says, I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save 
some for the sake of the gospel, This is what the parallel missionary spirit which had by him and
especially today’s St. John de Britto, Amid strong opposition from his family, in 1673 John
traveled to Madura in southern India.
As he traveled throughout India on foot, John lived austerely. He dressed himself in the saffron
cloak and turban of the native Indians, abstained from eating meat and lived humbly. Through
his holy efforts, John soon became well-known, and developed a group of catechists.
Though the practice of Catholicism was not illegal in India, John was hated by many because of
his faith. He and his followers were often subjected to agonizing torture, but each time John
miraculously recovered.
In 1683, John was banished from India, and departed for Portugal. Returning soon after, the
ardent missionary continued in his apostolate for three more years. In 1693, he was again
arrested, tortured and once more commanded to leave India. When he refused, John was
sentenced to death. “I await death, and I await it with impatience,” he wrote to his superior. “It
has always been the object of my prayers. It forms today the most precious reward of my labors
and my sufferings.”
On February 4, John de Britto was executed. As he knelt at the execution block, the rajah's order
of death was read aloud.
The executioner hesitated, but John said to him, "My friend, I have prayed to God. On my part, I
have done what I should do. Now do your part.”
John de Britto was canonized in 1947.
What are your expectations of Jesus?
      As Christians, we would all claim to be a follower of Jesus and we would all claim to be in a
relationship with him. But what are your expectations of how he might impact your life? As with
any relationship, it is something we grow into and our expectations change over the years as we
gain more experience together. But it is far too easy to get stuck with a fairly naïve, perhaps even
immature expectation of Jesus’ activity in our lives…
      For many people, they never move beyond treating Jesus a little like the Genie in the Lamp:
if I pray to him and ask him for things, then I expect him to respond to me and give me what I
ask for and I will get angry with him if he doesn’t deliver and maybe even stop coming to
worship him altogether.
      That Genie in a Lamp mentality doesn’t represent the fullness of relationship that we are
called to enjoy with Jesus. But it is very common amongst many people and it was particularly
prevalent amongst the people who first knew Jesus when he began his ministry in Palestine 2,000
years ago.
      The story that we have just heard read from Mark’s Gospel is fundamentally about a
misunderstanding of who Jesus and what should be expected from him in a relationship. So let’s
think about this passage a little more deeply and think about what we can learn from it, for
ourselves, today.
      Jesus performed hundreds and hundreds of healings during his earthly ministry and not all of
them are recorded in the four Gospels. So the Gospel writers were very careful about which
healing stories they included in their accounts of Jesus’ life and they chose certain stories to
teach us specific things about Jesus, and the onus is on us to try and get beneath the skin of these
stories to see what they want us to learn.
      On one level – on a surface level - it is pretty obvious why Mark included this one about the
healing of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. Mark gleaned the information for his Gospel primarily
from the reminiscences of Simon Peter, so it would seem fairly likely that this particular healing
of a family member would be close to Simon’s heart: of course he would want it recorded for
posterity. But I think there is more to it than that, so let’s go a little more deeply…
      In the first two verses, 29 and 30, we twice come across this word ‘immediately’: verse 29:
“And immediately they left the synagogue…” verse 30: “And immediately they told him about
her…” What is going on here? Mark is trying to stress the fact that there is urgency on the part of
the followers of Jesus. Why might they be in such a hurry?
      Well, they have been with him in the synagogue and they have just watched him heal a man
with an unclean spirit and Simon’s mind must have been racing Here is a healer – a miracle man!
“How else can we use his powers? I know – my mother-in-law is sick: let’s get him to heal her
too!” So his followers rush him out of the synagogue and want to utilise his gifts for their own
ends, perhaps a little bit like the genie in the lamp: there to grant wishes.
      And as I say, there is something a bit like that in all of us, isn’t there? When we pray, how
often do we treat God like a genie in the lamp; hoping that he will grant our every wish, our
every desire? Here we are in a relationship with Almighty God who has all power and all
authority and the temptation is always there, isn’t it, to ask him to do things for us that we want
him to do. Not that there is anything wrong in praying for ourselves, of course; but we must
always attend closely to our motivations and try our best to ensure that we are not being driven
by selfish desires.
      And then, in verse 32, the problem becomes exacerbated: “That evening after sunset the
people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed.” Clearly word was spreading about
this new miracle worker in their midst and now, everyone wanted a piece of the action. As Mark
says in verse 33, “The whole town gathered at the door…”
      Jesus had healed the man in the synagogue and so the disciples first – and then the whole
town begin to define who Jesus is: he is a miracle worker. Jesus begins to be put in a box by
those who see him in action; he is put into the box of their choice and they begin to relate to him
in a particular way that best meets their own, specific needs. But already, they have moved so far
from the beginning of the story; the way they are relating to Jesus already is a far cry from how
he had introduced himself to them just a few days before, which was as a Messenger from God
with a Message for the People.
      Within days, Jesus has become objectified as a miracle worker who can meet their every
need and that is how the people of Israel begin to relate to him.
      Nevertheless, Jesus’ compassion transcends the misunderstanding of the people and we read
in verse 34 that he “healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons…”
      There is an interesting paradox in this bit of the story as the people begin to forge a
relationship with Jesus. Clearly, they want to utilise his power because they are bringing the sick
to him and in verse 32, it says, “they brought to Jesus all the sick…” But in that same verse, we
are also told that this constant stream of people began “after sunset” and that is significant
because the Sabbath ended at sunset so it would then have been within the religious law for them
to carry sick people through the streets. So we see the people caught in an interesting situation:
they are thirsting for something new; the power of this new miracle worker - but they are still
residing within the purity laws of Judaism; waiting until after sunset to come to him. Caught in
the tension between the new and the old, between a living faith and ritualism: which, of course,
is where most of us find ourselves in our Christian journey and that is why Mark wants to
include this story.
      It is more than just a story about Jesus’ healing power: he is continuing to really drive home
his key point so far; that Jesus represents something new and, if we want to experience a
relationship with God through Jesus, we need to open ourselves up to the new, and not just reside
in empty tradition…
      And so we come to verse 35: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up,
left the house and went off to a wilderness place, where he prayed.” And we are told in verse 35
that he prays there; finding himself in the wilderness alone with his God is a moment of
reconnection for Jesus. A moment of deep intimacy in which he can breathe deeply and be
himself with his Father. A beautiful moment…
      But look what happens, verse 36: “Simon and his companions went to look for him…” Those
pesky people just won’t leave him alone! They want their miracle worker back! How dare he just
walk out in the middle of the night! They’ve got more healings and exorcisms lined up for him.
      And isn’t it interesting that Mark doesn’t call them “the disciples”: he calls them “Simon and
his companions”. Why is that? Because, quite simply, they weren’t behaving like disciples at this
point! They weren’t following their Lord in humble obedience. Instead, they were still treating
Jesus like a genie in the lamp. “Come on Jesus, get off your knees, get back to Capernaum:
there’s work for you to do!”
      Simon and his companions are hunting Jesus down. They are hassling him, they are harassing
him, reminding him just how much he is needed as a miracle worker! But Jesus is having none of
it…Verse 38: ‘Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so that I can
preach there also. For that is why I came out”.’
      There’s a couple of things to notice about this verse. Firstly, Jesus says that he wants to move
on to other villages, and the phrase he uses is: “So that I can preach there also”. No mention of
healings, no mention of exorcisms but only that he has a message to bring…Again, Mark is
contrasting Jesus’ self-understanding with the expectations of the crowd. He wants to preach –
they want him to perform miracles. Secondly, notice what he says: “For that is why I came out”.
Many English Bibles translate this wrong; they usually say, “That is why I have come”, or
something similar but the Greek doesn’t say, “That is why I have come”, it says “That is why I
came out”. The difference is important because if we translate it, “That is why I have come”, we
can read this as a statement by Jesus about his ministry and vocation in its totality. But if we
translate it directly from the Greek, “That is why I came out”, it is a comment on the fact that
Jesus has come out of Capernaum and Peter’s house and that takes on a completely different
meaning…
      Jesus is saying that he came out of Capernaum and Peter’s house because he wants to escape
from people’s wrong expectations of him: he is not a tame miracle worker; he is a man with a
message about the Kingdom of God and he must come out of the box they have put him in in
order to preach that message. Jesus will not be contained in their box. Jesus will not be contained
in your box, or mine…he is not a genie in the lamp; he is the Son of God will an entirely
different mission…
      And Mark really pushes this point home in verse 36: “So he travelled throughout Galilee,
preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.” Notice that he doesn’t say, “Preaching
in the synagogues…” but “Preaching in their synagogues…” Again, Jesus is pictured by Mark as
distancing himself from the traditions and institutionalism of the established faith. Even though
this is Jesus’ home district, Mark speaks of him as if he is a visitor; it’s their synagogues he
preaches in All the conventions of a comfortable faith are ‘theirs’, not ‘his’…
      So, in conclusion, we see again Mark’s agenda that he is driving home to us: Jesus will not
be put in a box: it doesn’t matter what box you want to put Jesus in. Jesus refuses to sit in it. He
will not be turned into a consumer product. He will not identify with your desire, my desire, to
turn him into a genie in the lamp.
      But, whilst that is true, the amazing truth of the grace and love of Jesus is that, even though
the crowds and the first disciples got it so wrong, he never chastised them, he did not get angry
with them. He did not turn his back on them, or refuse their demands…Even though they
misunderstood him, he still, out of love, met them in their need.
      And so he is with us today: we may not have a perfect understanding of who Jesus is, we
may not relate to him as we should, we may treat him inappropriately, but he will not forsake us
or turn his back on us out of frustration. His love for us transcends our ignorance, our selfishness.
      Certainly, we need to grow up and mature in the faith. But in the meantime, whilst we still
behave like spoilt brats who have all the answers and silly children who want to snap our fingers
and have the Messiah come running, he will never forsake us. Such is the love of God for us and
we are eternally grateful for his forbearance and forgiveness.