Mark 1:29-45

We were all created as worshippers. God made all things, great and small, that they might point back to His awesomeness. Whether it is a massive, billion-mile-wide star that hangs on nothing, or the tiny genome that packs intricate instructions into the cells of our bodies, all things audible and inaudible have a voice with which they proclaim the greatness and glory of our God.
Sadly, like C. S. Lewis put it, “we are far too easily pleased” with other things. “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.” Instead of finding the joy available to us in the obvious fulfillment of what we were hard-wired for, we pursue fulfillment and joy in anything else. Instead of worshipping God, we find ourselves objectifying (viewing people as “objects to observe and emulate” and not as they actually are, “other human beings with whom we should interact to the glory of God”) and worshipping men.
In Mark 1, the people of Galilee had this same sinful tendency. They began to objectify Jesus. They saw Him as a “healer.” So they flocked to him by the thousands. In compassion, He overlooked these objectifying tendencies and healed the masses.
But He had not come just to heal broken bodies or blinded eyes. He had come to offer spiritual healing. He had come to preach a message. He had come to proclaim the hope of the gospel.
But that message was lost in the crowd. Everywhere He went; his preaching was interrupted by healing. The people yearned to tell Jesus what they wanted, rather than to listen to Him for what they truly needed. Sadly, this objectification impeded His ability to share His message. They were interested in the Jesus that could do the neat little magic tricks. They weren’t interested in the Jesus who called for repentance and faith.
So Jesus healed. And when he healed, he would tell them, “Don’t tell anybody.” Why? Because He knew that the next day when He stood to preach the droves of people that would come would not want Him to lecture, they would just stifle Him and want Him to fix their sore bodies. Like attendees of modern day prayer services, they would offer up a hundred ailments for the great healer to just work His magic on.
But objectification was never God’s desire. He did not send His Son to be stared at. He sent Him to be believed in. He sent Him to proclaim the message of a sovereign God’s unfolding redemptive plan.

Food For Thought: In culture today, who are some people that often get sinfully objectified? Does God desire that human beings objectify other human beings?