Sermon Mark 1:21-28 Teaching With Authority

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Mark 1:21-28 Teaching With Authority
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
February 1, 2009

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I am continuing today with my series of sermons on the early ministry of Jesus as recorded in the Book of Mark. Last week we followed Jesus to the banks of a lake called, in the Bible, the Sea of Galilee. There Jesus saw four fishermen and proclaimed the good news that the kingdom of God was near. This proclamation of God’s word had an instant transformative effect on the four fishermen who immediately left their nets, boats, families and businesses to follow Jesus. Thus we saw how the Word of God can, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, immediately transform a person receptive to it. But today we are looking at the reverse of this. What if the Word of God is proclaimed to someone who is not receptive to it, and in fact is down right hostile to it? What if the Word of God is proclaimed to an evil spirit?

Before we begin this important work let us bow our heads and pray to Almighty God. Father in heaven we thank you that your words are still proclaimed by your church. Send your Spirit upon us, so that we may hear you though the words of scripture and the words I am speaking today. Silence in us any spirit but your own. Fill us with the Holy Spirit. And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

Mark 1:21-28 21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus and the four fishermen left the coastline and walked into a fishing village called Capernaum. The sun was going down and all five knew that the Sabbath was almost there. God had provided for his people a time of rest every week from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. At the Sabbath the Hebrews remembered that their creator God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Therefore the seventh day was set aside as a day of rest for all of God’s people.

As usual Jesus and his four followers entered the synagogue during the Sabbath. They sat down with other men from the village. Someone opened one of the scrolls and began to read from the Torah, or book of instruction. We know the Torah; it is the first five books in our Old Testament. After reading the scripture one of the men would then read from the Mishnah. The Mishnah was a book containing interpretation of the laws contained in the Torah. For example the following teaching might be heard in the synagogue concerning the Sabbath.
If a person left his house and went to spend the Shabbat in another town, whether a non-Jew or an Israelite, then he restricts; so Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehudah says: he does not restrict. Rabbi Yose says: A non-Jew restricts, an Israeli does not restrict for it is not the custom of an Israelite to come on the Shabbat. Rabbi Shimon says: Even if he left his house and went to spend the Shabbat with his daughter in the same town, he does not restrict, because he had already dismissed it from his mind. (http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/12-3-00/shabbat.htm)

This kind of detailed interpretation based on the opinions of previous rabbis would be read in the synagogue on the Sabbath. But when Jesus entered the synagogue with the four fishermen that evening he spoke as one with authority of his own. Jesus had no need to quote his predecessor rabbis because Jesus’ interpretation of scripture was new and inspired directly by the Holy Spirit. This just amazed the men sitting in the synagogue that night.

But among the men in the synagogue was one with an unclean spirit. As I read this story in Mark I realized that the authority of Jesus was not what Jesus said, but what Jesus did. Jesus had great compassion for the man with an evil spirit because the man was ill and needed help. He did not need a medical diagnosis or a magical spell. What he needed was a God who loved him very much. And it was this, God’s love expressed in Jesus Christ that satisfied his needs and drove out the evil spirit that tormented him.

Let’s talk for a moment about unclean spirits or demons. The New Testament is very clear that in the first century people believed in the spirit world. Spirits, both good and bad, coexisted with people on earth. And these spirits could effect how people felt and behaved. Today many people have a hard time believing in spirits. The modern mind looks for natural explanations of things. So what might have been interpreted as an evil spirit in the first century may now be explained as symptoms of a psychological problem. But increasingly we are seeing that modern psychology is having difficulty dealing with many of the problems that people face. And sometime the only relief that they can find is in prayer and the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Because of this I believe that spirits do exist, whether scientists acknowledge this or not. And the only way to deal with an evil spirit is with the power of prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.

The men in the synagogue that night knew Jesus as a teacher or rabbi. But the evil spirit knew exactly who Jesus really was; Jesus was the son of God. Jesus ordered the spirit to be silent because Jesus was not ready to have his identity as God’s son revealed. But Jesus was ready to reveal his great compassion and power by forcing the evil spirit out of the man it possessed. Jesus’ power of exorcism combined with his authoritative teaching convinced the men in that synagogue that night that Jesus was a very special teacher indeed. And Jesus’ fame spread throughout the region.

I have been wondering how this man with the evil spirit got into the synagogue in the first place. The synagogue was a holy place and you had to be ritually clean to enter. But as I look out at the congregation today I realize that many of you have brought evil spirits right here with you into this holy sanctuary. Some of you have brought in the spirit of worry and you are worried about your children’s heath, or worried about your job and finances, or worried about finding a place to live. Some of you have brought in the spirit of addiction and you can’t stop drinking alcohol or taking drugs. Some of you have brought in the spirit of giving up and you no longer try to find a job or make your life better. Others have brought in a spirit of anger because forgiveness seems so elusive.

All of these spirits know that you have brought them into the presence of Jesus Christ and they know that Jesus is the Son of God. These spirits are afraid that they might be destroyed right now and your worries, your addictions, your giving up, or your anger will go away. So they remain hidden deep in your hearts fearing what might happen during this worship.

What these evil spirits don’t know is that you are about to do something that has the power to destroy them. You are about to gather around this table, the table of the Lord Jesus. And right here on this table is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As you eat this bread and drink from this cup I pray that the spirit of Jesus Christ will enter your hearts to silence, rebuke and cast out the evil spirits that are lurking there. I pray that the spirit of Jesus Christ will command your evil spirits to be silent and come out. I pray that you will experience the peace of Jesus Christ’s spirit in your heart.

Lord Jesus Christ, we have assembled in your name to break bread and drink wine as you instructed. Like that day so many years ago when you entered the synagogue of Capernaum evil spirits are right here in the hearts of these people. We ask that you send your spirit to our hearts to confront the spirits that have tormented us for so long. Silence, rebuke and cast out all the spirits that keep us from your love. Prepare our hearts to receive your body and blood in the sacrament prepared for us. And bless us with your compassion and love. Amen.