Authorities
figures have always been in my life. First it was my parents. They were to be
obeyed. My parents were tough; they didn’t go for excuses on bad grades, they
made sure we were obedient little kids. It’s funny, but I think my parents got
tired of parenting. My brother had a much easier time being my parents son than
I did. My friends have noticed the same thing; that parents get easier with
each successive child. Maybe its my fault, and I wore them out, but I don’t
think so. Authority was earned by my parents, but it was also given to them by
God. They were called to be my parents.
I’ve
had other authority figures; teachers, professors, mentors, coaches. And of
course, I’ve been an authority figure, and am presently an authority figure.
Authorities in my life rarely have had to prove their authority, but then
again, I’ve been pretty easily impressed by people. When I worked with troubled
teenagers in the care of the State of California, they weren’t like me. They
didn’t like authority figures. Authority figures had to prove themselves to the
kids; that they were meaner, that they were smarter and so the kids better do
what the adults said to do. I was lucky. Many of the adults had to prove that
they were tough, that they could physically restrain the kids. I never had to
prove that I could handle the kids physically, because of my size, so I was
free to be nice to the kids, free to be myself rather than an authority figure
that used fear to control the kids.
To
me, that’s the kind of authority figure Jesus is. He is so big and powerful
that it is really pointless to challenge His authority. There is no point, so
He is free to love us and we are freed to love and respect His authority, His
position over us. Mark is beginning to educate his readers on Jesus’ authority
in today’s passage. Look for the authority Mark is pointing to as we read in
Mark 1, starting in verse 16.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother
Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and
I will make you fishers of men.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When
he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John
in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father
Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath
came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his
teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers
of the law. 23 Just then a
man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 “Be
quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of
him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked
each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives
orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of
Galilee. [1]
Let’s pray.
We’ve been going through Mark for a little bit now.
We’ll be going through it for a while. Mark is one of the 4 gospels, and one of
the three Synoptic gospels. The Synoptic gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke.
They are very close in terms on their perspective on Jesus; they include many
of the same stories about Jesus, they have the same basic structure of the tale
of Jesus life. John, of course, is very different in its style of writing, in
the construction of the story of Jesus life. John is more deeply theological
than the others, and so it is not considered to be one of the synoptics.
Matthew has the perspective of being written by a Jew, for Jewish folks. Luke
was written by a Gentile, for non-Jews to learn about the Messiah, the Savior.
But Mark appears to be written for just about everyone.
I had always thought that Mark was a rough first shot at
telling the story of Jesus to people who hadn’t yet heard about Him. I got that
impression from a couple of things; first, Mark is the shortest gospel. Matthew
28 chapters, Luke 24, Mark, just 16. Much of the teachings of Jesus were left
out, some of the miracles and stories. It has always seemed to me that there
was a haste in getting out the message of Christ, and that translated into a
quickly written gospel. Contributing to this view was that Mark was
chronologically likely the first gospel written, perhaps as many as 10 years
prior to both Luke and Matthew. John was written much later, probably in the
80’s. So I had always held the bias that Mark was hastily written, and not as
deep as the other gospels. But that view is slowly changing. I’ve been
influenced by a New Testament expert on the Middle East who says Mark is much
deeper, much more refined and theological that I had suspected. So I’m excited
to be preaching through Mark, and I hope you are equally interested.
Let’s dive into the text. The first part is about Jesus’
authority as He began to gather disciples around Himself.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother
Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and
I will make you fishers of men.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When
he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John
in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father
Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Mark
has accurately written this account of the calling of the first disciples, and
additionally he has composed it in what is called step parallelism. Notice
there are two very similar call situations. Jesus is passing by; sees Simon and
Andrew. Later on, He is passing by James and John. Jesus sees them too. Then in
both situations, He calls them to follow Him. Both times. It is only to Simon
and Andrew that He says they will catch people. Simon, of course, will later be
renamed Peter, who most scholars think is helping Mark write his account of
Jesus life.
There
is something about Jesus that makes these men give up their livelihoods, leave
their father behind in the boat and just take off following this preacher. In
the Middle East to leave your family responsibilities to take care of your
parents is a serious insult, a very serious breach of community ethics of
behavior. You simply wouldn’t leave your dad holding the bag by the side of the
lake. But James and John did. Peter left his family behind; we know he had a
family because in the next section we see Jesus healing his mother-in-law. But
all of these guys have dropped their responsibilities, in dropping their work
and following Jesus they have potentially committed an unforgivable act toward
their families and their communities. Family is much and was much more
important there than it is here. My point is that Jesus must have had an air of
authority; in what He said and in the way He said it; who He was exuded
authority.
Who
else can just call people out of their lives; come, follow me? Sure, this
happens occasionally with weak minded, vulnerable people. We see this in cults
on occasion. But in reality, only Christ has this kind of legitimate authority.
We don’t see weak mindedness in the disciples. They were not weak minded; but
they recognized something different about Jesus and gave up everything to
follow and learn. Jesus had that kind of authority. He was God. And He still
has that kind of authority. I subscribe to something called “The Voices of the
Martyrs”, and I am so impressed with new Christians all over the world who are
standing up for Christ. Christians who are leaving everything behind; families,
the safety of communal beliefs, the safety of the government in order to follow
Christ. It still happens. People still give up everything and follow. My worry
is that we start to dictate terms to God about how and when we will follow. It
was pointed out again to me one of the differences the Reformed tradition has
from other Christian traditions. Other Christian views are very much people
centered; like God is somehow waiting and hoping that we’ll show up and follow
Him with whatever we feel like in ourselves. We do believe that God is waiting
and hoping, but our relationship with God is not that He is our servant, but
rather we are His. He says follow, and we do. Whatever the destination,
whatever the cost, it is our duty to follow Him. God has that kind of authority.
It is out of His great love for us, and ours for Him that He is our only
authority in Heaven and on the earth. Come, He says to us, come and follow.
Clearly
Mark wants his readers to understand that this Jesus they are being introduced
to has the authority to call His own disciples, something unusual in that time
and place. Then Mark further illustrates Jesus authority over, not just people,
but the supernatural-the “more than human”. Listen…
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the
synagogue and began to teach. 22 The
people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had
authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by
an evil spirit cried out, 24 “What
do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who
you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 “Be
quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of
him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked
each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives
orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of
Galilee.
This section is a neat chiasm. I have mentioned chiasms before, but to reiterate, it is a Jewish form of writing, where there are parallels in the text. The key is that the passage builds to a central point, and then moves away from the middle emphasis hitting the same points on the way back. Maybe this will help, A then B then C then main point D, then C again, then B again, then A. So let’s take a look at how well this passage was constructed, and what the readers in the first century would have read.
The passage begins with an introduction, and ends with a
conclusion. Both mention a place; the top mentions Capernaum, the bottom
mentions Galilee. So throughout the passage, whatever happens, we know that
Jesus starts at a particular place and news about Him spread far afield. Verse
22 and 27 are closely related. We’ll call this A-that people were amazed at His
teaching. They were amazed before the healing, and they continued to be amazed
afterward. You need to hear that what Jewish people heard on Saturdays at
worship was just a reading of the Old Testament, and perhaps a commentary on
those verses read. There had been a number of rabbi’s whose teaching had been
preserved in writing, and this was likely what the Jews would have heard on a
Saturday morning. But Jesus didn’t do that. He read Scripture, He read the OT,
and then did His own teaching. That was what was so amazing to the Jews. Here
was someone with a new teaching, a new authority to teach. This is what is so
amazing-there is a new authority, a new teaching. Rabbi’s with the authority to
teach didn’t come along very often in Jewish history, and so to be present to
hear one was indeed a blessing.
The next point, or B, is the unclean spirit. In verse 23
we learn there is a man with a demon, and in verse 26 the demon is tossed out
by Jesus. In verse 24, the first part, the spirit cries out, and then in verse
25 Jesus cries out. Point C then, is someone crying out. The very center, point
D, and the important idea Mark wants his readers to hear is the end of verse 24-
that Jesus is the Holy One of Israel. Oddly, it is the demon and not the people
who first make that proclamation. Certainly, God has made this declaration
earlier in Jesus baptism, but in Mark’s gospel John the Baptist doesn’t make
the declaration of who Jesus is. Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah
doesn’t happen until chapter 8, much later after Peter has been with Jesus for
a long time, and had seen many miracles. It is a demon, a combatant of Jesus in
the spiritual realm, that openly recognizes and proclaims Jesus.
That’s the main point Mark wants us to know, early into
his account of Jesus life. John the Baptist prepares the way, fulfilling
prophesy, Jesus is baptized, and now we see that Jesus has authority, to call
disciples and the authority to cast out demons because of who He is; He is the
Holy one of God. He is the Holy one of God, with authority.
The question I’d like us all to wrestle with today is if
Jesus really has authority over our lives. Clearly He had authority over the
lives of the disciples, it seems clear that there are many people all over the
world who have submitted themselves to Christ’s authority…I wonder if you have.
I wonder if, when you were praying, and you felt strongly God was calling you
to do something difficult, something that would change your life, I wonder if
you would do it. I hope so. Clearly Jesus has the authority, as God, as the
Creator, as the biggest and most powerful, to command our lives. But He doesn’t
command us; He let’s us be obedient rather than forcing us. This is done in
love; not pressure. His love should help us to lay down our lives as an
offering before Him because of what He has done for us on the cross.
Maybe you need to get more involved in a ministry of the
church. We certainly need people who are fund raisers, we need teachers, we
need people who can dream big; we need artists to help with worship, we may
need you. Or you may need to turn over your life, not just the good parts, but
all of it, to God. God doesn’t want just the parts of your life that you have
cleaned up; He wants all of you. Your family relationships, your friendships,
your tongue and the things you say, your finances, your time, your passions,
your talents and God-given abilities, all that. I’ve heard Christians say that
they were strong believers, but they were extremely rude; people who would
think nothing of degrading someone else when given the opportunity. Those folks
haven’t turned over their whole live to Christ. They’ve just allowed Him to
change the parts of their lives they were comfortable with changing.
Christ has authority; over people and over the evils
that plague us. The real question is if you are going to submit to that
authority, submit to that love that died for you, or will you shake your fist
at the sky and say “not me, not today…” You don’t have authority over me! I
don’t need that! I’m perfectly fine the way I am…which I’ve done at times,
until the truth hits me that I’m not perfectly fine…and I deeply need Jesus’
love, I deeply need God’s presence in my life. The truth is that if there is
something wrong about God’s authority in my life, in our lives, the wrongness
comes from me, it comes from us. God is the loving God who is so powerful, so
truthful, so righteous that we cannot rage against Him. His authority comes
from Himself; from His truth, from His goodness, from His power, from Him. The
first question we all have to answer is “Who do you say that I am?” and the
second is this: “What are you going to do about it?” Will you recognize and
live under God’s authority? Or under your own? Everything hinges on the answer.
Let’s pray.