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Sermons

April 8/9, 2017

Authority and Astonishment

Jason Meyer | Mark 1:21-28

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. 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.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.—Mark 1:21–28

Introduction: Fill These Cities Update

God is on the move at Bethlehem and things are moving fast. Let’s just review some of what has happened in the last two weeks.

1. Church Planting
The first two of our 25 new churches have been planted. Word of Grace church in South Minneapolis with Tyler Mykkanen and Paul Pryzblowski. Last weekend, Northfield Community Church had its launch weekend with 86 people in attendance. This is so exciting. The North Campus got to hear the North Campus church planting resident Ryan Eagy. Downtown will hear the church planting resident Adam Pohlman on April 30. You will be able to hear from more of our seminary students and alumni on that weekend.

2. Unengaged Peoples
Right now we have 28 people praying about going to the unengaged. These numbers are world-changing. Please pray. We also have a family already on the field that is looking to begin pursuing a people group and two of the groups they are praying about are unengaged.

3. Strengthening the Core
We have had a North campus lead pastor candidate preach for us and we will vote on him at the April 30 strategy meeting. Last night the elders voted to commend two people as ministers: Daniel Viezbiecke at the South Campus (youth ministry) would move from Director to Minister. Bryan Pickering – a former elder and a someone who teaches biblical counseling at Bethlehem College & Seminary—we are putting forward as minister for care and counseling at the Downtown campus. We are working to strengthen the core at all three campuses.

4. South Campus Building 
The Lord led one of the building team members to start asking some “what if” questions. What if the sanctuary part of the building on the east side was flip-flopped with the education space on the west? Some really good dominos began to fall at that point when they began to explore the possibilities. We all saw three big improvements:

  • It would give us a main entrance visible from the freeway and upon entering the property. That was a big win.
  • We would have better access between the two parts of the building. In architect lingo, that’s referred to as “circulation.”  The new plan would give us access to the education wing with a stairway going up to it from the gathering space. And we’d also get to it from the balcony level. The previous plan had funneled everyone down a single stairwell to the education wing. That was another huge gain.
  • When we look out the sanctuary windows, we won’t be looking out over a 14,000 sq ft rooftop.

But it gets better. That flip-flop idea led us to asking “Since we can now access the education space from the mezzanine (balcony) level, what if we increased the mezzanine level floor space by adding a second floor over the gathering space and multi purpose rooms? With our builder drilling down into the numbers, he estimated that for every 2sf feet we gave up in the one story part, we could get 3sf in finished mezzanine level space for the same price (50% savings).

After much prayer, the committee decided to replace the soaring 28-foot ceilings with space for more class rooms because it would best serve the needs of the people. The upshot of all this is that by using most of that airspace, we’ve been able to shrink the size of the building’s footprint, yet provide more classroom space—another huge gain.

This new design also allows for easier, cheaper future expansion. The old plan would have either surrounded the offices with new classrooms leaving the offices without any outdoor windows, or it would have required the offices to be moved to keep windows to the outdoors. The new plan leaves the offices right where they are when future classrooms are added—a nice cost savings down the road.

Even more amazing is that one of our Bethlehem families attending the forums, and noticing the gymnasium had been eliminated, was moved by the Spirit of God to make a generous offer of additional money if it would help provide a gym now. The offer was made with humility and a Christ-like attitude: “if you would like to accept this gift, great, but if it complicates things too much then we’ll accept that it’s not the will of God.” We are accepting this gift with gratitude. A gymnasium in Phase 1 will not only provide more classroom space, but gives us an exciting tool for reaching out to our community. None of these things could have been scripted. This is the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful in our eyes. Stunning, actually. Now we come to the strategy meeting. It was one of the most unified, worshipful strategy meetings I have ever attended. We voted 470 to 30. So please pray for us. There is much work left to be done, but we are encouraged by how the Lord is leading us.

Prayer

Today’s Text

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.—Mark 1:21–22

They went to Capernaum. The “they” refers to Jesus and the four disciples he just called in the previous story (Peter, Andrew, James and John). Capernaum may have had a population of about 10,000. It was on the upper Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was regarded as an important enough village to have a detachment of Roman troops (Matthew 8:5-13) and a tax booth (Mark 2:14). The townspeople would have been fisherman, merchants, craftsmen, laborers, and their wives.

We move immediately from the shores of the sea to the synagogue. One commentator rightly notes that we have moved in one sentence from the social margins (fishermen) right to the social center of Jewish life: the synagogue (sacred space) and the Sabbath (sacred time).

The key word or theme Mark wants us to see is the word “authority.” Jesus’ displays of authority lead to the response of the astonishment of the people. His authority is displayed in two areas: authority in teaching and authority over demons.

  1. Authority in Teaching (vv. 21–22)
  2. Authority Over Demons (vv. 23–28)

Authority in Teaching (vv. 21–22)

The pattern is authority and astonishment: “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” Astonishment means to be struck with panic or shock—like thunderstruck. Why were they astonished by his teaching? Look at the end of verse 22 – “for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” One must understand the contrast between Jesus and the scribes.

The scribes: they were experts in the interpretation of the law. Their interpretations, which in the time of Jesus existed only in oral form and are therefore called the oral tradition (which we will see in Mark 7:5–13), constituted a second law that came to be as important as the written, or Mosaic, law.

The category of “truth” for scribes largely consisted of quotations that displayed their learning. They quoted the authorities, and often in a rapid fire way: “Rabbi Hillel says …  but Gamaliel says … “but Rabbi Eleazar says …” They were second-handers, third-handers, fourth-handers. Imagine the shock of someone coming with such directness—almost as if he had heard directly from God. We know more. He is God! They are hearing directly from God in this synagogue. If they had known the truth, they would have been even more thunderstruck.

The emphasis is on the manner or method of his teaching, not directly upon the matter or content. Jesus teaching was not derived from somewhere else or someone else (he did not cite the authorities—he spoke as if he was the authority). His identity as the Son of God is clearly reflected in the ways that he taught. It was an innate authority; not a derived authority. It was self-authenticating. He taught as if he himself were the source of truth.

The authority of the scribes was based upon their learning, that is, their ability to cite the authorities. Jesus did not cite authorities. He spoke with authority, as the source of truth.

There is a constant refrain of conflict over authority with the scribes (cf. 1:22; 2:6, 10; 3:15, 22; 11:27–29, 33). Jesus’ teaching was independent of the traditions of the scribes and so they would see Jesus as a direct threat to their power and control and authority over the people (Ben Witherington, The Gospel of Mark, p. 90).

Authority Over Demons (vv. 23–28)

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”  And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.—Luke 1:25–28

These verses follow a simple situation/response flow. First, Mark narrates the (1) encounter with the demon, then (2) the defense of the demon, (3) Jesus’ command to the demon, (4) the demon’s response, and (5) the people’s response.

1. The Encounter With the Demon (v. 23)

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.

One is surprised to find an unclean spirit in what was supposed to be sacred space at a sacred time. We are not surprised to find unclean demons in unclean places (Gentile territory, tombs, pigs, etc). “The demon seems to be suggesting that by his teaching there, Jesus had invaded the territory of this spirit” (Witherington, p. 91).

2. The Defense of the Demon (vv. 23–24)

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.”

The counterfeit of Satan and the demons is horrific. This is the demonic form of incarnation—Satan and the demons do not take on flesh—they enter into someone to take control of them in order to steal, kill, and destroy. Demonic possession is a counterfeit form of incarnation; the demons take on a human host and have so taken over the core of him that the demon utilized his voice and controlling faculties. Talk about lost and walking in darkness. He was already an unclean sinner, but he was doubly dark as he was being controlled by an unclean spirit.

This is a hostile, yet feeble attempt to confront the Lord of glory. The unique phrase “What have you to do with us” is a phrase for conflict in the Old Testament (“what to me and to you,” cf. Judges 11:12; 2 Samuel 16:10; 19:22; 1 Kings 17:18). Why have you come against me … what do you want with us … why this confrontation? The plural “us” is probably a recognition that Jesus has come against the whole host of demons, not just this individual demon. The whole Satanic realm is under attack because the rightful king has come to reclaim what has been lost.

The demon’s naming of Jesus should probably be read as a naming ritual – an attempt to get control of the situation and power over the person. This maneuver required that a correct name or title be used to gain control or power over him. 

3. The Command of Jesus to the Demon (v. 25)

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

Don’t miss the compassion of Christ here. One commentator said it right. “Most would take steps to remove the troublemaker from a place of worship, but Jesus moves to deliver the troubled man” (David Garland, Mark, p. 70).

We have discovered various magical papyri from history that discusses strategies for addressing demons. Commentator Craig Keener has studied these backgrounds (IVP Background Commentary, Mark 1:25–28).

This is what he says,

Although exorcists—people who tried to chase demons out of other people—also occasionally used phrases like “Come out of so-and-so!” they used the phrases as parts of elaborate magical incantations. They had two main methods of expelling demons: (1) revolting or scaring the demon out (e.g., by putting a smelly root up the possessed person’s nose in the hope that the demon would not be able to stand it); (2) invoking the name of a higher spirit to get rid of the lower one.

The same kind of thing can be seen in Acts 19:13–20 in the example of Paul and the Jewish exorcists. Paul was doing many miracles and casting out demons:

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Jesus does not use any chants, spells, magical incantations, chicken livers, or smelly roots up anyone’s nose, and he does not appeal to a higher, greater power. He just gives a command. He is not deriving authority or power from anywhere else, but himself. He has it. The power in Jesus’ teaching comes from the same place as the power to cast out demons—he is the Son of God coming to do the will of God in the power of the Spirit of God.

The word “silence” is the same word Jesus will use when rebuking the wind and the waves in the stilling of the storm (Mark 4:35–41). It is used quite literally in 1 Corinthians 9:9 and 1 Timothy 5:18 for what a farmer would do with an ox – muzzle the oxen. Jesus has authority over demons like a farmer has authority over livestock. “Be muzzled” is just a way of saying: “Shut up—not another word.”

4. The Response of the Demon (v. 26)

And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

The demon convulses the man and lets out a loud chilling demonic shriek, but it’s inarticulate because he is not allowed to say anything. And he did exactly what Jesus commanded—he came out. 

5. The response of the crowd (vv. 27–28)

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

E.F. Kirschner did a dissertation on casting out demons in the ancient literature. His conclusions surprised me and help put us into a position where we can respond the way the crowds did. He noted frequent references to the concept of casting out demons and the techniques for casting out demons, but almost no narratives or examples or stories of casting them out.

Despite the great amount of material referring to exorcism/demons in the literature surveyed, there are very few narratives available. It is mainly in the NT, particularly in the Gospel of Mark, that most of the narratives are found. … Even fewer exorcistic figures, to whom exorcism stories are clearly ascribed, can be found. Of these, one is obviously a legendary figure (Solomon), another is apparently semi-legendary (Apollonius), still another is referred to only once (Eleazar), while another despite his fame for dealing with demons is never shown to be exorcizing a demon (Ḥanina). The only exorcistic figure in the extant literature to whom a number of exorcism stories are ascribed and related in detail is the biblical figure of Jesus of Nazareth.

In other words, no one would read this account of Jesus’ authority over demons and say “Ho hum, that is what we would expect of any remarkable religious person.” They would be astonished, as we are meant to be. Astonishment is not the same as people repenting and believing. It just means that Jesus has blown apart all of their categories for who he is. We will find that no category except divine can explain what Jesus does and says.

Application

1. Saving faith is a matter of the heart, not just the head.
The first obvious point to deduce in application is the inadequacy of merely believing that Jesus is God. There is irony that the demons recognize who he is, even when the people and the religious experts do not. But the knowledge of the demons obviously did not save them. Mere knowledge or belief never saves anyone. You can give intellectual assent all day that you believe Jesus is the Son of God and it would be no better than the demons. They know who Jesus is, and they know about the inevitability of his total victory. They know about hell and the fact that they are going there. Some doubt the existence of hell and judgment. The demons don’t. They are further ahead on some of these matters than some of you are.

Here is the vital issue. They know the truth, believe the truth, and hate the truth with all their demonic dark hearts (cf. James 2:19). What about you? Do you believe? You must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead to be saved. Faith is a matter of the heart, not just the head. Do you love the truth, treasure the truth that Jesus is Lord and King and Savior? Is it personal? The demons know he is Lord. But they would never say “my Lord.” What about you?

2. Why does Mark put such emphasis on Jesus’ conflict with and authority over the demons?
Mark records 17 individual miracles and gives summaries of many more. In doing so, he devotes more space in proportion to total length than any other gospel. There are four individual exorcisms (1:23–27; 5:1–20; 7:24–30; 9:14–29) and other summaries including the detail that the demons knew his name (1:32–34, 39; 3:11–12).

So we must ask why Mark begins with this miracle. Everyone agrees that the miracle at Cana—turning water into wine—is important in John’s Gospel as the first there. What about here?

Why is the conflict with the demon so important that Mark puts it first? Of course, the answer is that it is one of the clearest signs that the kingdom of God has drawn near. The King has come and he is exerting his Almighty authority upon rebels to his kingdom. The good news that our God reigns (Isaiah 52:7) is clearly on display. 

But there is more. The introduction of the book closed with the conflict with the devil. Mark 3 will take that conflict even further. Conflict with the scribes will happen again and they accuse Jesus of being in league with Satan. Jesus tells the parable of the strong man being bound by someone stronger and then his goods are plundered. Why does that matter? Once again, remember my request: “I wonder if Isaiah has something to say about that?”

Indeed he does. The servant of the Lord will be the Messiah warrior that comes to deliver his people from those who are stronger.

Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
     or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
For thus says the LORD:
     “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
      and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
     and I will save your children. …
Then all flesh shall know
     t
hat I am the LORD your Savior,
     and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
—Mark 3:24–26

The Jews would often read this text as a promise concerning what the Messiah would do to the Romans when he came. The original context of these words is speaking about the exile of the Jews under the power of the Babylonians. God’s new exodus would set them free from captivity the way that he set his people free from the Egyptians in the first exodus. The people thought that the Romans were the real enemy – the strong nation that needed to be defeated so that they could be set free from physical oppression and dominion.

The people were still making that mistake when they confessed him as King on Palm Sunday: 

And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”—Mark 11:7–10

But they did not understand the kingdom of God and they did not see their real slavery and their real need so they could not understand the deliverer. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. But here is the problem. Jesus said that if a demon is cast out and there is no repentance, then the demons can simply come back with more than before. What is it that can create permanent—even eternal—deliverance? There are no more exorcisms after chapter 9 because now Mark shows how deliverance happens.

Conclusion

No one could muzzle or silence him. No one could overpower him and take his life from him. He willingly made himself silent and willingly gave up his life.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
     yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
     and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
     so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
     and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living, 
     stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
     and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
     and there was no deceit in his mouth. 

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
     he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
     he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
     make many to be accounted righteous,
     and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
     and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
     and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
     and makes intercession for the transgressors.—Isaiah 53:7–12

No one could muzzle or silence him. No one could overpower him and take his life from him. He willingly made himself silent and willingly gave up his life. Why? So that we could be saved and so that we could open our mouth and not be silent —singing and testifying: worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. All authority is yours.

[God] raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.—Ephesians 1:20–21

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.—Revelation 12:9–11

Sermon Discussion Questions

Outline

  1. Authority in Teaching (vv. 21–22)
  2. Authority Over Demons (vv. 23–28)

Main Point: Jesus’ authority in teaching and over demons displays his deity.

Discussion Questions

  • Why did Jesus’ authority in teaching stun the people? How was Jesus’ teaching different than the teaching of the scribes?
  • Unpack Jesus’ encounter with the demon. What was the demon trying to do? What is surprising about the way Jesus cast out the demon compared to other people who were “trained” to cast out demons?
  • Why does Mark put so much emphasis on Jesus casting out demons—so much so that it is the first miracle he records? What does the prophet Isaiah have to say about it? What is the connection to the interpretation in Mark 3:22–27? 

Application Questions

  • Take a few moments to examine yourself and your belief or unbelief in Jesus. Do you have faith only with your head (like the demons) or with your head and heart?  
  • The Jews of Jesus’ day did not understand the deliverance he came to bring. They thought in political terms instead of spiritual and eternal terms. Are there times when you expect more of an earthly or physical deliverance in our nation or in your health, home, or vocation?
  • In this message, what truths landed on you that you need to share with others in your life? How can you share these truths? Devote it to prayer.

Prayer Focus 
Pray for a grace to see and savor Jesus’ unparalleled authority and the way that he uses it for our eternal good.