The Significance of Desolate Places

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out."  And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean."  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them."  But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Mark 1:35‭-‬45 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Jesus heads out to a Desolate place for power and protection

Jesus had just done busy ministry and immediately afterwards, he left for a desolate place to pray. For us, when things get busy, prayer is often one of the first things to go. But that is not what Jesus does, his busy life of ministry drove Jesus to pray. If Jesus needed prayer, then how much more do we need to pray?

“Sometimes we think we are too busy to pray. That is a great mistake, for praying is a saving of time.” - Charles Surgeon

Why is prayer to be considered time saved?

When we are in tune with God, we act in tune with kingdom purposes. Jesus goes to pray in quiet places so that he can talk with the Father.

The disciples come find him and ask where he had gone, since everyone in the city was looking for him. Jesus tells them that they are moving onto another town. Jesus could've stayed and healed everyone, but He does not. The miracles were only to point out and bring authenticity to Jesus' teachings. But Jesus had taught enough, there was enough for the people of that town to decide on the gospel and whether Jesus is the Messiah.

Do we go to God during times of comfort and success? Do we only go to God when we need something? A sign of a Christian going in the right direction is a gnawing to be alone with Jesus. If you don't have that, don't feel guilty, don't add another item to your to do list. Consider that God desires to be close. If we fall asleep in prayer, it is like when a child falls asleep in a parent's lap. God honors the heart His child.

The leper runs into the crowd. There were strict rules for lepers. They were exiled from family, friends, and any community. They could not go to the temple to worship. They lived alone likely with other lepers. This leper risks the outage of the crowd to approach Jesus. He was desperate. He cries out for Jesus to heal. He says that if Jesus is willing, he could be made clean. And Jesus touches this leper and heals him. Jesus could've just spoken and healed, but instead Jesus touches this unclean man. He wanted to. 

So it is with us, Jesus can make us clean. He can bring us back into a new relationship with family & friends. He can heal us of our uncleanness and bring life back into our hearts. But more than that, note how the passage ends. The leper was restored in the city... But Jesus was unable to enter the city, he was stuck out in the desolate places. Jesus had traded places with the leper. So it is with the gospel, Jesus takes our sin and restores.