4th Sunday after Epiphany
Mark 1:11-28
For centuries people believed that Aristotle was right when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death. Legend has it that in 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied their eyesight. They continued to say Aristotle was right.
I believe that this illustrates perfectly what is going on in the world today. You could show the terrible ravaging effects of AIDS and people will have promiscuous sex anyway. You can show someone a diseased liver and cancerous lungs and people are going to abuse alcohol and smoke regardless of the facts.
You know what I wish? I wish someone would just climb to the top of the tower and push off a ten-pound argument and a one-pound argument and let's just see which will reach the ground first. That would finally prove who is right and who is wrong. But then I am reminded that when Galileo did that no one believed him. Even with the authority of obvious visible proof, i.e. the two weights reached the ground at the same time, the professors still did not believe. The problem here is obvious. Most people are going to believe what they have always believed regardless of the facts.
But something different occurred in the life of Jesus. Something persuasive. Mark records that when Jesus came to Capernaum, on the Sabbath day, and entered the synagogue and taught, the crowds were astounded. Why? One word: Authority. He taught, not as the scribes taught, but as one having authority.
What was it that convinced them? What did they hear and see in the life of Christ that made him stand above all other teachers. Why were they so drawn to him?
First, his teaching was new. It was new because Jesus moved from past tense to present tense. I'll tell you what I mean in a moment but let me try and set the stage first. If you ever take a tour of the Holy Land one of the places you'll visit is the ancient ruins of the city Capernaum. It is the fishing town that Jesus made his headquarters while he was in Galilee. Why did he make this his home? For one very good reason: It was Peter's hometown. He would have stayed in Peter’s house with Peter’s wife and mother-in-law.
What is remarkable is that you can go there today and see the erect walls of a small first century home. The home has been identified since the time of Constantine as Peter's house. 100 feet from the front door of Peter's home are the remains of the synagogue of Jesus. Standing there with the winds of the Sea of Galilee blowing through the ruins you can picture Jesus and Peter waking up on the Sabbath, walking across the street with the rest of the disciples, and attending services. This being Peter's home synagogue he probably had something to do with Jesus being asked to teach. It is a place where Jesus taught regularly. For a period of time he was there every week in the synagogue teaching as a visiting Rabbi. And as he began to teach, Mark tells us, the people were amazed.
What amazed them is that when Jesus stood up to teach he didn't say, Moses has taught us, or the exodus teaches us, or the prophet Isaiah reminds us, or Rabbi so-and-so has said. No. When he stood up in the synagogue, there in Peter's hometown, he said, "I say to you." All the other Rabbis told the people to offer a sacrifice at the temple for the remission of sins but Jesus said to people directly, "Your sins are forgiven." The Rabbis all encouraged the people to believe in God. Along comes Jesus and he tells them, "Believe in God, believe also in me."
The difference was astonishing. All the other Rabbis got their authority from quoting the Scriptures and talking about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They referenced the Rabbis before them to support their positions. But Jesus! Here was something new. He was the authority. I am the door; I am the vine; I am the gate; I am the Good Shepherd; I am the light of the world. His teachings echoed with something new, something astonishing. God was no longer in the past. God was in the present in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
And that brings up the second reason why people were so drawn to him: He taught with authority. It was obvious to the synagogue that day that Jesus was a teacher of a different order because he didn't quote the authorities of the past; he was the living authority himself. That was their first clue that something new was happening. But then something happened right in their midst that stunned them, made them sit up and take notice. He backed up what he taught with action. It may have been on Jesus' very first visit to the Synagogue, in the middle of his sermon, that a man with an evil spirit interrupted him. Jesus then demonstrated the authority of his teaching with his power over the spirits.
Let's take a look and what happened. The first thing to notice is that the man did not burst into the synagogue disrupting the service. Mark tells us that this was a man within their synagogue, probably a respected lay person and a productive member of society. The synagogue leaders would not permit any other kind. A second thing to notice is that this man's affliction is only identified as an evil spirit. The demon is not tied to any sickness. What then was this demon doing to this man? We cannot say for sure but I would suggest that the demons influence in this case was of a moral nature. Now, I don't know what moral issue this man had but it was tearing him up. What do you think it was? You pick one: a demon of hate, revenge, perverted sex, unbridled lust for power, uncontrolled greed, distorted ambition, fear, guilt, envy, jealousy. Or perhaps it was the demon of lust, negativism, slander, deceit, revenge, greed, gossip. Which one? These demons are all around us and uncontrolled, these demons will destroy our lives.
A third thing to notice is that this man had given up his personal authority to this demon. He was possessed. The demon had gained control and he had lost control, he had given up control. Paul reminds us that the chief demon himself, Satan, is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. There are authorities and teachings in this world that you can use to try and overpower these demons. You can turn to education, sociology, history, philosophy, or psychology, even religion. All these have a certain kind of power, but not the power of Jesus. Other teachings have authority but not the authority of Jesus' new teaching. "What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth, have you come to destroy us?" the evil spirit asks. "I know who you are, the holy one of God." The demon is not even addressed. He acknowledges, of his own accord, that one with a greater authority has arrived. "Be Quiet," Jesus speaks sternly, "Come out of him." The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
Now notice this last thing: The people were amazed. Something new, something astonishing just happened. The authority of God was occurring before their eyes. Like watching Moses part the Red Sea or watching the walls of Jericho fall, the power of God was present. "What is this?" they asked. "A new teaching and with authority. He even gives orders to evil sprits and they obey him."
Education can make us intelligent. Sociology can give us cultural knowledge. History can give us world knowledge. Philosophy teaches us conceptual knowledge. Science teaches us the natural laws. Psychology offers behavioral knowledge. Religion imparts divine knowledge. But in the end all of these do not have the authority to control the moral demons that plague mankind's soul. We need something more, a new teaching, someone with authority.
Here is what I have learned. I think in your life you have earned this too. The libraries and book stores are filled with books on self-help. These books assume that we have the power within us to do all these things. These intellectual disciplines can offer us self-knowledge. They help us see our selves more clearly and are incredibly important for that reason. But, the more clearly we see ourselves, the more we realize our need for salvation, for some authority outside ourselves, some power to deliver us. We don't simply need healing; we need to be saved, delivered from the demons seeking to destroy us. The Swiss psychiatrist Paul Tournier said it this way: it is not healing alone that man stands in need of, but salvation, of the assurance that the world and mankind have been redeemed. I believe Jesus brings that new kind of teaching, a new authority into this world to save, to make us whole, to overcome the demons that are bent on our destruction.
"What is this?" the people asked with amazement. "A new teaching-with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee."
Can you imagine what the crowds would have thought? Who is this guy? Is he some sort of magician? But when they met Jesus, when they heard him preach they would have encountered his authority and been moved by it. Some would assume he was making himself into something greater than God. Others would have heard his voice and been astounded. They would have been open to his message.
Let us pray that when we hear his voice that we are open to his authority.
God's peace be with you.
Patrick+
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