Astonishing Amazing Authority, Mark 1:21-28

 

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. ²² And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

²³ Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. ²⁷ Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

 

Jesus wastes no time.

After calling His disciples to be fishers of men, He started fishing.

Immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue...

Synagogue, means assembly.

Interestingly, synagogues, came from the time period we’re reading about on Sundays.

During the 70 years of captivity in Babylon, they started having little assemblies, synagogues, to gather and worship.

Jesus entered the synagogue. He entered the assembly.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8.

Wherever two or more are gathered (assembled) together in My name, there I AM in the midst of them. Matt. 18:20.

Today, if you are in Christ, He is in you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you are not your own, you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

Jesus entered the synagogue, He went to Church, as was His custom. Luke 4:16.

We should follow His example. And His Word. “Forsake not the assembling together of yourselves...” Hebrews 10:25.

Everybody needs a Church family, even if online, we need a place to gather, a place to call home.

However, don’t make it a rigid, legalistic, rule.

There are good reasons to miss Church.

Like Tex, last Sunday. He was headed out the door to walk to Church, when he heard a groan from the backyard. His neighbor had fallen. Good Samaritan Tex, helped his neighbor get off the ground, get in a chair, get hydrated, get back in the house.

That was the right thing to do. He was doing the Lord’s work.

Never be too busy with ministry, to minister.

Jesus had a habit, a tradition, a custom of, going to Church. Was it mandatory? No. But it was necessary to fulfill all righteousness, like His baptism.

It was necessary to carry out His Divine Eternal Purpose.

You have a Divine Eternal Purpose. To find it and fulfill it, you need to follow Jesus...

And Jesus went to Church. Still does.

So, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.

He didn’t just go and sit and take a nap. He was present. He got involved. He offered His Gift and calling.

If He is in you, He will do the same through you.

Whether assembling online or in person, Jesus through you is salt and light, making a difference, praying for the people, the preacher, the Presence of God, helping, serving, finding and filling His place for you, in the work of the ministry.

Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.

That’s how it worked in synagogues back then. A certain part of the service allowed for a visiting rabbi, or teacher, to read from Scripture and then, elaborate on it.

Jesus went to Church and taught.

²² And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

The scribes read Scripture and quoted rabbis. They were book smart, had head knowledge.

Today they’d download a sermon from google and impress you with scholarly quotes and technical jargon and data.

They might be entertaining, probably not, probably boring, no matter what, they’d have no Authority, no Power.

 Jesus brought Scripture to Life. He spoke with Authority.

How did that happen? Where did that come from?

Don’t say, “Because He was God.” He was. And is. But remember, He willingly took off His Divinity to put on the constraints of humanity.

So, He had to do what we have to do.

2 Tim. 2:15. He studied Scripture to show Himself approved.

Hebrews 5:8. He learned obedience through the things which He suffered.

Obedience earns authority.

In Matthew 8:5-13, about the same time as our text in Mark, a Centurion pleaded, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

⁷ And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸ The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! ¹¹ And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Jesus prayed more earnestly, more intensely, more fervently, than any man. Luke 22:44. Hebrews 12:4.

He waxed strong in Spirit and grew in favor with God and man. Luke 2:40, 52.

Obedient to the Spirit, led by the Spirit, Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days. Then, He came out in the Power, the Authority, of the Spirit. Matthew 4:1, Luke 4:14.

Jesus learned obedience. Earned authority. Went to Church. Taught what He learned and earned.

You can too.

²³ Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

 ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. ²⁷

Jesus went to Church.

The devil did too.

Was he a first time visitor, or was he a regular, one of the greeters?

One thing’s for sure. The unclean spirit knew Jesus and was probably trembling. James 2:19.

We see that same obnoxious demonic manifestation today in those crying out against Christ. 

Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth.

This is the first time in Scripture the phrase “Jesus of Nazareth” is used. It was a derogatory term, for, “nothing good can come out of Nazareth” as the saying went.

The demon knew that the crowd knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. Saying those words would discredit Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah.

But remember the demon is terrified and trembling as his next words reveal:

Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Psalm 16:10. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

The demon cried out with a loud voice, convulsed, trembled in fear, knowing his destiny is Sheol, the lake of fire, and Jesus, the Holy One of God, has the Authority to send him there.

Jesus went to Church to teach.

The demon went to interrupt, disrupt, steal, kill, destroy, the Word from being taught. John 10:10.

Jesus used what the devil meant for harm as an object lesson for His Authority. And an encouragement to the people who might be thinking: "If God uses someone from Nazareth, perhaps He will use me, too."

Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

The people were astonished and amazed at His awesome authority and spoke so often to one another about the Lord that His fame spread everywhere.

When we do that, the Lord likes it so much, He listens and records it...

Malachi 3:16-17
Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.

¹⁷ “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”

Are we childlike enough to be astonished and amazed by the Word of God?

Do we share among ourselves, on our social media, to all those God's given us, the astonishing, amazing things we've seen and heard from the Lord and His Word?

Or do we just rage about the corrupt, debased, strong delusions of the world?

As Christians, our job, our ministry, our Great Commission is to share the Good News of Jesus, not the bad news of satan.

They shared Jesus, and His fame spread everywhere.

We can do that too.

Will we?

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we just read how the people were astonished and amazed by Your teaching and Your works, help us to be that way too. We just read how You took authority over evil. Since You are the same, yesterday, today and forever, and You live and abide in us, we invite Your authority to flow through us against evil. Then, with amazement and authority we will talk about You one to another, spreading Your love and light and fame throughout the world until You come and take us Home. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

We love You, forever.

Amen.

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