Hello everyone and welcome back to the podcast.

If you go to mass today, you'll hear from Mark chapter 1 versus 29 to 39.

So we're continuing our exploration of the early

chapters of the gospel of mark so let's start by looking at the text on leaving the synagogue

jesus went with james and john straight to the house of simon andrew now simon's mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever,

and they told him about her straight away. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up,

and the fever left her, and she began to wait on them. That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed

by devils. The whole town came crowding around the door, and he cured many who were suffering

from diseases of one kind or another. He also cast out many devils, but he would not allow

them to speak because they knew who he was.

In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.

Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him, they said,

Everybody is looking for you.

He answered, let us go elsewhere to the neighboring country towns so that I can preach there too,

because that is why I came.

And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

Okay, so starting this passage here, verse 29, it says, on leaving the synagogue, or in a more

literal translation, immediately he left the synagogue. There's that key mark word there immediately.

So this tells us that the incident

we're about to hear about happens straight after the previous incident. Remember, in yesterday's

exegesis, we looked at the demon-possessed man in the synagogue. So this happens straight after

that. They leave the synagogue. and Jesus takes James and John straight

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