And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him followed him, and they found him and said to him, "Every one is searching 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." - Mark 1:34-38 (RSVCE)
Jesus performed at Capernaum many miracles, healing the sick and casting out devils, whom He suffered not to speak because they knew Him. In the evening He worked His work of mercy, and very early in the morning He went out into the desert to pray. There His disciples find Him, and when they urge Him to return, He tells them that He is sent to preach in other towns and cities as well.
Two kinds of miracles are here recorded of our Lord, the healing of bodily diseases and the casting out of devils. The latter is a far harder task than the former. How reluctant the devil is to quit his victims! Habit almost become second nature. What a firm hold he seems to have on them! So now that the conversion of sinners is a more wonderful exercise of Divine power than the healing of countless diseases.
Our Lord would not suffer the devils to proclaim His Divinity. He would not accept the declaration of the truth from such a source as this. So He does not bless the teaching of the truth by wicked men. Their power to influence others seems blighted. The first requisite is not eloquence or learning, but faithfulness to God and the love of Him.
In spite of His exhausting labors, Jesus goes into the desert to pray. This was for our sakes: He Himself needed no prayers. But He desired to teach us that when we do a great work for God, or meet with any sort of success, we should before all else go and thank Him, and attribute all to His Divine Providence.
- taken from The Ministry of Jesus Christ: Short Meditations on the Public Life of Our Lord, by Father Richard Frederick Clarke, SJ