The Authority of Jesus

Mark 11:27-33.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 26, 2020.

With the advent of this summer’s protests and the consequent actions, the question of authority is a timely one.  The First Amendment of the US Constitution recognizes the God-given right of every citizen to peaceably assemble in order to give voice to their concerns, and to ask for redress of their grievances- what the Bible would call justice.  Thus, the founding generation saw God as the one who authorizes our right to do so, not the government.

However, if God has authorized the action that you are taking then you had better do it in a way that is pleasing to him because you will be accountable to him.  This is why our founders added the word “peaceably.”  Those authorized by God must work peaceably in this age of his grace.

The same can be said for police officers who are to protect and defend the public good.  It is God who tells men that they are to uphold righteousness within their nations.  Each nation is responsible to set up the means of authorizing individuals to serve as police, and as judges, so that righteousness may flourish.  Thus, there is a divine and human aspect to their authority.  Again, let us not forget that an authorized person must act in accordance with and under the direction of that which authorizes them.  Of course, this all applies as well to protesters as well.

Today, we are going back to the week leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, and to the question of just what authorized Jesus to do what he did.

The religious leaders question the authority of Jesus

Just the day before our passage, Jesus had driven the vendors and money changers out of the temple compound.  The chief priests, scribes, and the elders of Israel were probably in shock at the time, but they have had their private discussions overnight and they are determined to publicly confront Jesus.  Just who does he think he is?  No doubt, they were watching for him to come into the temple area that day.

When he does, they are quick to confront him with a two-pronged question that is ultimately one.  By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?  Now, the immediate context would suggest that this is not about his itinerant teaching in Israel and the working of miracles.  Rather, they are questioning him about his right to interfere in the operations of the temple and to make it his public place of teaching.  You see, they were the ones who had authorized the vendors and money changers to be there in the first place.  Jesus had not so much challenged their authority, but rather, the particular things that they were using their authority to authorize.  They legitimately sat in the seat of Moses, but they were not making legitimate judgments and decisions.  They were unwilling to receive the public rebuke and were attempting to turn the tables on Jesus, so to speak.

Just because a person holds a position that is legitimately authorized by humans, it does not mean that they are actually authorized.  In Jeremiah 23:32, God rebukes the false prophets of that day. 

‘“Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness.  Yet, I did not send them or command them; therefore, they shall not profit this people at all,” says the LORD.’ (NKJV)

Whether some of these guys falsely obtained their positions, or they held them legitimately, they were at the least misusing their authority.  God was not pleased with their judgments.  All authority in this world is ultimately answerable to God for its actions.  Those who questioned Jesus did not realize that they should have been asking themselves that question regarding each decision that they were making.  It is precisely their failure in this area that made it necessary for God to send His Son to set things right.

It can look like Jesus is avoiding the question, but notice that he actually promises to answer it, if they will answer his question first.  “Was John’s baptism from heaven or men?”  This is essentially the same question that they were asking, but regarding John the Baptist.  Who gave him the authority to do what he had done?  This is a masterful turn of the tables because they are assuming to be the proper authorities and are in judgment of him.  Jesus essentially says, “Let’s see if you can judge the case of John the Baptist before you judge mine.”

Now, John’s ministry was far less controversial than the ministry of Jesus, but it was adversarial to the religious leaders nonetheless.  They had not authorized John to baptize people in the Jordan River.  He seemed to be skipping around their domain at the temple.  John even publicly declared that they were a brood of vipers who needed to flee the wrath that was coming (Matthew 3:7).  John 1:19-28 gives us a picture of these religious leaders examining John the Baptist.  Jesus is merely asking them to publicly declare the conclusion of their investigations into John.  Was following himself, or another man, or had God sent him?

There is another aspect to this.  It was John who publicly declared that he saw the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus, and that he was the one that he had been promising would come after him, the Messiah.  If John was authorized then it was most likely that Jesus was too.

It appears that they have a sort of huddle to determine their answer.  However, they are in a predicament.  If they say that John was authorized by heaven (God) then Jesus will ask them why they didn’t believe him, and embrace his ministry.  Yet, on the other hand, if they say that John was not authorized by God then they feared what the people would say and do because it was popularly felt that John was a true prophet of God. 

Here, we see part of the problem with all authorities and their authorizing mechanisms.  They typically fear people more than they fear God.  They rely upon the power of their position, but they always realize that if enough people reject them then they will lose it.  What do powerful people who do not fear God do in such circumstances?  They operate behind the scenes and in the dark to manipulate the passions of the crowd.  O, Christian, let us not be caught up in the manipulations of wicked people, who have no fear of God, but rather, let us hear the crying of the voice in the wilderness.

“Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth…”  (Isaiah 40:3 NKJV)

There are a lot of mountains that are yet to be brought low, and a lot of crooked people, both in leadership and among the people.  God has a day of dealing with such, if they refuse to repent, but let us be about our Father’s business!

The leaders decide to say that they do not know by what authority John did what he did.  Jesus then responds that neither will he answer their question.  Those who refuse to give sound judgments do not deserve an answer because they do not seek truth, but are only serving themselves.  Very few people in our day and age are actually seeking truth.  Those who start out to do so are often hijacked by false prophets and the false wisdom of this age.  If you are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and if you are in a daily relationship with God through prayer, studying the scriptures and doing the commands of Christ, then you will be able to navigate these times of peril in which we live.

Was Jesus authorized?  Completely!  The Scriptures foretold his coming, and it was even testified by Moses who said that a prophet would come that would be like him, raising up the house of God.  They would need to listen to him.  The prophet John had publicly revealed who Jesus was.  The Spirit of God had powerfully worked through his ministry.  He was the Son of God who had come to that which was his own.  He was the Good Shepherd seeking out the lost sheep of Israel before the wolves would come and have their way.  He is the only way to the Father by which all men must be saved!  Yes, Jesus was authorized, but they refused to accept it because they loved lies rather than truth.

How about me?  How about you?  May God help us to love truth more than lies, even when the truth publicly reveals that I have not been as good as I have pretended before the world.  Such a person will find Jesus and in him find eternal life!

Authority of Jesus Audio

A Deaf Man is Healed

Mark 7:31-37.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 24, 2019.

Last week we saw that Jesus was in the region of Tyre and Sidon, which is on the coast of what we would call Lebanon today.  Our story today has Jesus traveling all the way back to the Sea of Galilee and he heals a deaf man upon his arrival.

We should note up front that the parallel account in Matthew 15 focuses on the general activity of Jesus.  In general, Jesus comes back to Israel and begins healing people.  However, Mark focuses in on one of those miracles and gives us a specific account.  It is important to have both a wide, general view of what Jesus did, as well as the specific stories of how individuals were touched by him.  The same is true today.  Many people are coming to Christ around this world every day, and we should not be discouraged by the limitations on what we can see.  Also, each of these people are a story of how Christ stepped into their lives and transformed them in powerful ways.  Let’s look at our story.

A deaf person is brought to Jesus

Mark starts the story by describing the route that Jesus took from the coast northwest of Israel to the Sea of Galilee.  The route is interesting because it is not the most direct route.  The emphasis is placed upon the fact that Jesus purposefully came to the Sea of Galilee through the one region that was Gentile.  Here is a map from www.bibleatlas.org. 

The easiest path would be to travel south along the coast and come up the Jezreel valley past Nazareth and then drop down into the Galilee.  Alternatively, a person could travel east through the mountains and drop down into the Jordan River valley and then travel south through the region that was ruled by Herod Philip.  Both ways would leave Gentile territory and enter the Galilee through Israelite territory.

Jesus on the other hand starts out on the alternative route, but he then skirts around the sea and approaches it from the southeast, instead of heading south through Philip’s territory.

This area was called Decapolis and it bordered the southeast quarter of the Sea of Galilee.  Decapolis was not so much a political entity as it was an area where there were 10 cities on the frontier between Rome and the kingdoms of Parthia (northeast) and Nabatea (southeast).  When Rome had conquered the Syrian region in the First Century BC, they allowed these 10 Gentile cities to remain autonomous as long as they stayed loyal to Rome.  Though the story does not tell us where on the sea Jesus is specifically, it seems likely that he is on the southeast coast of it and therefore still in Gentile territory.  This area would have a mix of Jews and Gentiles, but would heavily favor Gentiles.  Why do I mention this?

All of this seems to be Mark’s way of highlighting or showing that more than a few crumbs were falling off of the table of the children towards the Gentiles (See the dialogue between Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician woman we talked about last week).  Jesus does care about the Gentiles and is preparing to send the remnant of Israel to all the nations of the earth, and this is part of the proof that he was already setting this up.

In our story, we are told that a group of people (either the crowd as a whole, or a group that is a part of it) bring a man to Jesus and beg him to lay his hands upon him.  This might be an insignificant detail.  However, we are told that Jesus removes the man from the crowd.  Why would he do this?  No, doubt the crowd wanted to see a miracle and witness it.

When you think about the history of deaf people, you will have to recognize that it has not been very nice, much like many other social minorities.  Deaf people were often seen as mentally deficient because they ranged from being unable to speak at all to those who could talk, but did so with a speech impediment.  Of course, such impeded speech is generally due to the effect that not being able to hear has upon our learning and mimicking of the sounds of speech.  In fact, the Middle English phrase, “Deaf and Dumb,” was used to describe that a person is deaf and unable to talk.  This is considered highly offensive by deaf people because it is not true.  Sure, deaf people are not all geniuses.  Yet, their troubles do not usually come from mental deficiency.  By the way, a number of years ago it became vogue to refer to them as hearing impaired.  Most deaf people do not like that phrase and would rather just be called deaf.

I mention all of this because there is no doubt that this man had a tough life of people abusing him, making fun of him, and generally ignoring him.  This social component would seem to be at least part of the reason that Jesus removes him from the crowd.  To them, he is just a hard case that they want to see if Jesus can fix.  Like setting up a series of hoops and asking a dog to jump through them, the crowd is wanting to see a show from Jesus.  We don’t know the state of mind of the man at this point.  It seems that Jesus recognizes that the crowd is an impediment to the man’s true need at this point.  So, Jesus takes the man aside and deals with him alone.  Jesus wants this to be something that is between him and the deaf man, instead of him and the crowd.

It is easy for those with full capability- which, if you think about it, is a lie- to see a disabled person as somehow less than human.  What is it that happens in our hearts to allow us to tell ourselves that a person is not worth treating with proper respect and dignity?  May God teach us to really see people who can often be masked behind physical disabilities that make it hard for us to do so.

What should we make of the strange things that Jesus does in healing the man?  First, Jesus sticks his fingers in the man’s ears.  Then, Jesus spits and touches the man’s tongue.  The story leaves us with the impression that Jesus may have put some of his spit upon the man’s tongue.  What is this about?

We know from countless other accounts that Jesus can heal without any touching, speaking, or even being present.  His power is not in a method, or the chemical properties of his spit, etc.  His power comes from who he is.  John tells us that nothing that was made was made without Jesus.  He was involved in the creation.  Jesus did certain things not because he had to do them to heal someone, but as an aid to their faith.  It is just how we are as humans.  We often don’t have faith until we can actually see something.  God often accommodates our weaknesses.  These outward actions like: laying hands upon a person, anointing them with oil, and praying for healing out loud, are simply that, aids to our faith.  They have no inherent power to heal people.

In this case, the man is hard of hearing.  When Jesus sticks his fingers in his ears, it leaves the clear impression that he is going to do something to the man’s ears.  This is the simplest form of communication.  Touching his tongue would similarly send a message that he is also going to do something about his ability to speak.  The spit may only be sending the message that something from within Christ is going to be the reason that the man is given full ability.  However, it is not his spit itself.  Jesus is the creator.  That same creative power that created the first ear and tongue of Adam is now hear to touch this son of Adam.  It is in this intersection of mortal man and divine man that he is going to be healed.

A common theme throughout the gospels is touching of people by Jesus.  Even lepers were touched by him.  This is important for us to understand today.  People need other people to touch them in appropriate and loving ways.  Studies have shown that newborns who are not touched, held, and cared for in that first year, are negatively impacted for the rest of their lives.  People often feel that the Creator does not care and yet in Jesus the Creator came down and touched us.  I am here.  You are valued and loved.  To Jesus, this man is not just a prop to be trotted out for the entertainment of the crowd.  He is not just a prop for the promotion of a ministry empire, or for a political agenda.  No, this man is a human being who was created to bear the image of the God of heaven.

Several things happen in rapid succession at this point.  Jesus looks up into heaven to let us know the source of the healing.  God Almighty is about to grant a healing to this man.  It also says that Jesus sighed or groaned.  This is the same word that Paul uses to speak of how we feel when we are burdened with this mortal body, longing to be clothed with our promised, immortal one.  I believe that Jesus is feeling the weight and heaviness of the effects of sin upon mankind in general, and this man specifically.  What a heavy burden this man had to carry up to this point, and Jesus is about to set him free.  We must understand that God fully empathizes with the burdens of this life, even those that are the effects of our own sin.  He is not just intellectually aware of them, but he groans with those who groan.

Jesus then says a simple command.  Mark tells us the Aramaic word that Jesus uses, “Ephphatha!”  The translation is the command to be opened.  Such a simple command tells us and any who see that the power does not come from long incantation or some healing spell.  This is the voice of authority that commands all of creation.  It is not normal, or as God created it to be, for a man’s ears to be closed and his tongue to be tied.  God did not make mankind to be deaf and unable to speak properly among many other things.  Thus, in a moment in time, Jesus commands the man’s body to come into conformity with the proper function and image for which God had created it. 

The man is completely healed

We are told that the healing takes place immediately upon the command of Jesus.  The man is able to hear, and even more incredible, he is able to speak without impediment.  The Greek word describing his speech is that is now “orthos.”  This is the word we use in orthodontics and orthodoxy.  It has the idea of something that is right, correct, and as it should be.  His sounds were now perfectly formed and easily understood.  How amazing must that have been for the man.

Yet, there are many who do not speak as they should and they do not have the excuse of being deaf upon which to blame it.  Yes, we all want full capability, but the greater question is what am I doing with it?  Oh, that God would touch our tongues and help us to speak the right things that we should speak, to speak correctly with one another, and not with the emotional and corrupt impediments of this world!  It is one thing to be able to speak and to be understood.  What a wonderful blessing and rejoicing was had by this man.  Yet, it is quite another thing to exercise this power that God has given us with correct and righteous intent, in the image of our Creator.  Oh, be careful little mouth what you say.  There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love.  So, be careful little mouth what you say.  Be careful ears what you hear.  Be careful in all that we do, that it reflects the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone was the perfect representation of our heavenly Father.

Jesus then tells the people not to tell others about this healing.  This is a similar dynamic throughout all the Gospels.  It did not always help the plan of God to promote everything that He has done.  The world promotes everything, but God has a timing all His own.  In our world of promotion and building of little empires, we don’t always understand this spiritual principle.  God’s purposes are not increased by the promotions of this world.  He will do and accomplish what He wants to do.  The real question is this.  Am I a part of it?  May God help us to go from seeing Jesus as a cosmic vending machine to seeing him as our pattern, more importantly, our Lord.  We were made to be like him, and he works by his Holy Spirit to create that image in us today and tomorrow.  God help us to give full cooperation with His Spirit, so that we can be a river of life to those around us!

Deaf man healed audio

The Authority of Jesus

Mark 3:1-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on May 19, 2019.

Today, we are back in the Gospel of Mark.  We will be talking about the authority of Jesus. 

After the Resurrection, Jesus told his disciples that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him.  Thus, he was sending them out to proclaim who he was and what he had done.  They were to disciple those who believed in Jesus.  When you bring the Gospel into someone’s life and teach them to follow Jesus, you are operating under the authority of One who is greater than the Washington State Legislature, or the United States Congress, or the United Nations Security Council.  You are operating under the authority of Jesus, who is the King over all kings and the Lord over all lords.

However, this does not mean that we should be arrogant, and neither does it mean that we should be fearful and timid.  May the Spirit of Christ rise up within us and enable us to rise up in the face of the spirit of this world.  May we be bold enough to lead people to Jesus.

Jesus appoints The Twelve Apostles

Though Jesus has already called the twelve disciples to follow him, here we have an actual appointment to a position that these men didn’t understand completely, at the time.  They are not just to be his disciples (a word that focuses on being students of Jesus), but also to be his apostles (we will talk more about this word in a bit).

Verse 14 in the King James Version and in the New King James Version do not have the added phrase “whom he also named apostles.”  This is due to the fact that many more manuscripts and many older manuscripts have been discovered since the creation of the KJV in the early 1600’s.  Modern translators have had to weigh the evidence of the many manuscripts that currently exist and make choices of what was in the original.  In case you think this is unacceptable, you may be interested to know that the translators of the King James Version testified that they had done this very thing themselves.  They did their best with the manuscripts they had at the time.  This is why most modern versions have added the phrase “whom he also named apostles.”  It is interesting that sometimes it goes the other way, a phrase is believed to have been added later and is thus removed by newer versions.  Either way, we want to have what was written originally, no more and no less.  Thankfully, none of these questionable phrases or words affect any doctrinal positions of the Bible.  Even if the word “apostle” should not be connected to this passage (even though the evidence seems to point in the other direction), Mark will undisputedly use the word apostles of these guys in chapter 6.  This is also backed up by multitudes of other passages throughout the New Testament.  The 12 Disciples were also called to become the 12 Apostles.

Before we look at the names that are listed, we should note that it says that these men are those that Jesus wanted.  We should not rush by that statement.  It is his choice; and when you analyze his choices, you find them to be revealing.  None of these men are professionally trained in the Scriptures.  They are also mostly lower class (although Matthew does represent the wealthy).  Even in Matthew’s case, his wealth is attained through taxation and therefore makes him an outcast to his people.  They all are from a rural area of Israel, and all from Galilee except for Judas Iscariot.  He is the only man from Judah picked and his name is also the Greek form of the Hebrew name Judah.  Still he is “Iscariot.”  This is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Ish Kerioth, or man of Kerioth (a rural town in Judah).  When you connect all of this to the New Testament theme that Jesus calls those who are not always the greatest and wisest of this world, you begin to get the picture.  The greatest and wisest of this world are often so full of themselves that there is no room for God.  Also, God purposefully operates in a way that the simplest among us can understand and come to Him for salvation (not to say that The Twelve were simple-minded).  This is counter to the operations of the great in our world today.  Those who wish to create great organizations look for the brightest stars to work for them, but Jesus calls those who are not the brightest stars.

So, what is an Apostle anyways?  In the vernacular of the day, they would be official representatives of Jesus, at least when he is not available.  They would be his “sent ones.”  The main purpose of this appointment would be evident after the ascension of Jesus.  The text tells us that these apostles would be with Jesus (everywhere he went).  Thus, they would be eye-witnesses of all the miracles that he did and the teachings that he delivered.  They would also be eye-witnesses of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.  They would represent a solid foundational witness that would stand the test of time.  In this sense there are no apostles today.  We operate on the foundation built by Jesus and his apostles, once and for all, in the first century.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 is a better place where the Apostle Paul takes time to describe and explain the appointing of the apostles.  They were those who were eye-witnesses of the post-resurrection appearances and had been given the Gospel directly from Jesus.  In fact, Hebrews 3:1 tells us that Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our faith.  Just as the father sent Jesus to the world, so Jesus was sending his apostles to continue his work to the ends of the earth.

Now, I know that there is a lot of controversy in the Church today over whether or not there are still apostles today, and in what sense.  There is a good article online at the Assemblies of God website: https://ag.org/Beliefs/Position-Papers/Apostles-and-Prophets.  This should walk you through all of the pertinent issues and is well-balanced.

Mark emphasizes their closeness to Jesus (as opposed to the many other disciples who did not travel everywhere with Jesus).  These guys would have the most time with Jesus compared to anyone else.  He would explain things to them that he may not have explained to the crowds.  This would enable them to accurately preach, or proclaim, what Jesus wanted them to teach.  The Kingdom of Heaven was here, and whosoever will could join and become a part of it.  Always remember that proclaiming the truth for Jesus begins with first spending time with him, through his Word and spiritually in prayer.

They were also going to be given power to heal and cast out demons.  This demonstrates the power of Christ in regards to physical matters and spiritual matters.  They would truly operate under and in his authority.  This would be especially important as the Gospel was taken to the nations.  These nations represented the territory of the spiritual enemies of Christ and his people.  The apostles were the tip of the spear of Christ’s invasion of the spiritual kingdom that Satan had amassed over the years. 

So just who were these guys?  The apostle Peter is actually named Simon and Jesus has given him the nickname Peter, which means rock.  Yes, Peter may have been the original Rocky!  Jesus also gave nicknames to the two sons of Zebedee, James and John.  They are called the Sons of Thunder.  Boanerges is a Greek spelling of an Aramaic compound word.  We can also notice that there is another James in the list, the son of Alphaeus.  He is sometimes called James the Lesser.  There is another Simon who is a Cananite.  This is not a reference to Canaan (notice the two a’s in a row).  It was a word that was used of a group of Zealots who resisted and plotted against Rome.  Lastly, we have the infamous Judas Iscariot.  He would be the one who would betray Jesus and then go on to commit suicide.  He is replaced in Acts 1 by Matthias.  Yes, Jesus knew very well that he had chosen a guy who would one day betray him, but that was part of the plan.

Challenges to his authority occurred

Jesus had far more authority than people could really accept.  He literally is the One who had given the Law and had brought Israel into the Land of Canaan, but that is another story.  So in these verses, we see several challenges to what Jesus was doing.

First, there is a challenge mentioned from his own family (this is what is meant by “his own people.”)  It could mean those who are from his clan, but most likely meant his immediate family.  The question here is that they think Jesus is out of his mind.  Perhaps it was the continual traveling around causing disruption with great crowds of people.  Perhaps it was the way in which he didn’t fit in with the religious establishment.  We don’t know exactly what bothered them, except the fact that they don’t understand and spiritually are not in the right place. 

Let that be a lesson to us.  Sometimes those closest to us can resist the work of God in our life the most.  This is not always true, but it often can be.  Don’t be that type of person that holds people back from what God is doing, out of your own fears.  Make sure that you are following God and then you will be in a good position to help others to do so.  Yet, even then, remember that you are not God.  Leave room for the Holy Spirit to operate in the lives of your loved ones. 

Now, recognize that this passage is not supporting crazy actions.  Jesus was not climbing up on top of the temple and casting himself to the ground.  Rather, it is showing that what Jesus was doing was far outside the normal, and thus, it was hard to accept for many, including his own family.

The second attack on his authority in this passage is from the scribes who are experts in The Law.  They come down from the big city and proclaim that these country bumpkins are being taken in by a charlatan.  They claim that Jesus is able to cast out demons because he is in league with Beellzebub, which was an Aramaic term for the “Lord of the flies,” (aka, the lord of the demons).

However, Jesus sets the record straight.  He first points out that Satan is not going to cast himself out (that is cast out demons who are there doing his bidding and extending his kingdom).  Clearly, Jesus sees Satan as the head honcho of an evil, spiritual kingdom that had been set up on this earth.  No general or king gives up their territory of authority without it being taken from them in some way, which leads to the next point.

Jesus makes it clear that he is casting out demons because he has first “bound the strong man.”  He has somehow put Satan in bonds and thus can go out and mop up his territory at will.  So, what does Jesus mean by binding Satan?

Revelation 20 speaks of a time when Satan will be captured and bound in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.  He is then going to be released for a short time before he is recaptured and thrown into the Lake of Fire, never to return again.  Of course, Jesus cannot be talking about this actual removal of Satan from earth because the apostles later warn believers to be aware of Satan and his tactics, i.e. he is not bound up yet.  1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  So, we can call this the ultimate binding of Satan and it is not what Jesus means.

The binding is in his own life.  The gospels all point out that the first thing Jesus does in his ministry is to go into the wilderness, where he is tempted by the devil.  Jesus thwarts Satan’s every attempt to bring him under his control.  That is why Jesus later says in John 14:30 that the ruler of this world is coming, but “he has nothing in me.”  So, Jesus has bound Satan in his own life by countering each temptation and spiritual attack.  Notice that most people are not possessed by a demon.  However, if we are to set other people free from the bonds of sin that Satan has used to bind them, t hen we must first bind Satan’s work in our own life.  It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit and looking to Jesus Christ that we can overcome the enemy and then plunder his kingdom.

So, as we close this morning, just remember that Christ calls all of his believers to be learners or students of his word.  He also calls us to pick up the work that the apostles began and go to the world with the good news of the person and work of Jesus Christ.  He is God’s answer for the problem of sin in this world.  Put your faith in him today.

Authority of Jesus audio

The Power of Jesus

Mark 1:21-28.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 24, 2019.

Having introduced us to Jesus, Mark goes on to give evidence of the powerful things that Jesus did while he ministered on this earth.  This is important because we need to recognize that, though Jesus was smart and spoke in a way that amazed people, the biblical authors highlighted his power over his talk.  Paul references the effect of this reality in 1 Corinthians 4:20, when he says, “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power.” (NIV) 

If we only have fine sounding words to offer people then we might as well hang up our hat now.  At some point, they will come to realize that they need real power.  Yes, knowledge is power, but not all knowledge can set you free from the bondage of sin and hurts that so easily entangles us.  Even knowing the Scriptures is not enough to break the bondage of sin.  We must have a living relationship with Jesus, who alone has power to break every fetter!

Jesus teaches in Capernaum

Jesus focuses his ministry in the northern part of Israel for several reasons.  The more he ministered in Jerusalem the quicker the authorities would want to kill Him, and God had a particular timing about all of this.  Another reason is that it was symbolic of God’s care and heart for those who need help.    Jerusalem represented the best of Israel in the natural.  All the political and religious leaders were there.  Compared to Jerusalem, Capernaum represented the country bumpkins.  Jerusalem represented riches and knowledge, whereas Capernaum was a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee and would not have the greatest teachers in the land.  Those who know they are poor are quicker to receive than those who think they already have everything.

So Jesus goes into the synagogue of Capernaum on the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was the day of rest, which corresponds to Friday evening to Saturday evening.  The people of Israel had developed the habit of gathering in buildings in order to worship God, to hear the Word of God read and to have it explained.  The concept of a synagogue developed at some point after Israel’s exile into Babylon and subsequent return to the land.  Before this time, their religious life was mainly at the Temple, where they worshipped God and offered sacrifices.  With the temple destroyed in 586 B.C., they had to wrestle with continuing to worship.  Thus the concept of synagogues that focused on teaching was born.  In fact, early Jewish Christians called their gatherings synagogues as well.  However, the term “Church,” that had been used by Jesus, later became the main word to describe Christian gatherings.  So this is much like a Jewish Church service in its function. 

The fact that the leaders of the synagogue let Jesus teach says something.  He was not a rabbi who had learned under the rabbis of the day.  Normally this would preclude him from being able to teach.  Yet, the prophet, John the Baptist, had gone on record that Jesus was God’s anointed one, the Messiah.  Thus the talk had preceded Christ and the people were eager to hear from Him. 

We are told that the people were astonished because he taught “as one with authority.”  It may be easy to read into these words that Jesus was cocky and arrogant.  However, the emphasis is the contrast between how Jesus taught and how the scribes taught (who were men trained in the religion of Israel).  The scribes normally taught by referring to different views of the great rabbis from the past and the present.  They basically were relaying what others had said and those great rabbis often disagreed with each other.  Though we do not have a text of this teaching, it is safe to say that Jesus did not quote any authorities to substantiate his interpretation of the text.  Jesus is “acting as if” He is the authority on the subject.  Of course, that is because He actually is.  Knowing who Jesus is, we can recognize that He is the most qualified man of all history who could give authoritative understanding on what passages of the Bible meant and what God intended us to understand from it.

Today, we need to be careful that we do not make either of two mistakes.  One, we can forget that we have received authoritative understanding on what passages of the Bible meant and why the Law of Moses was given.  These were given by the true author of the Bible, God Himself, and those who He personally trained.  Two, we can use the authority of Jesus in order to teach things that He and His apostles did not teach.  Confidence is not good if it is placed in the wrong thing, but when it is placed upon the right thing, or right person, then it is a good thing.  We can confidently proclaim the teachings of Christ and His Apostles, but we should never become arrogant and take to ourselves a confidence that sees the authority of Jesus as something that has been handed down to us.  Jesus is still the authority.  Paul Himself said in Galatians 1:8 that even if the apostles were to teach a gospel that was other than what was originally given, they should be considered cursed by God and rejected.   We must never forget this truth.

Jesus casts out an unclean spirit

At some point in the teaching of Jesus a man with an unclean spirit cries out and interrupts the meeting.  It doesn’t seem that he had been brought to the meeting in order to be delivered, but it is possible.  Sometimes a person who is demon possessed may retain their faculties most of the time.  Depending on the situation these demons will “manifest” or show their presence from time to time.  The Gadarene demoniac seems to have been under constant “manifestation.”  He was never in his right mind and people could not interact with his human psyche.  Whereas others have demonstrated varying amounts of self control with times in which the spirit takes control, or manifests.

The phrase that is used in this passage is “unclean spirit.”  What is an unclean spirit?  Unclean is another way of saying evil or bad.  It is a reference to the spiritual defilement that sin and rebellion against God brings to a being.  Therefore this spirit is sinful and in rebellion against God.  In that sense we could say that the Devil and his angels are also unclean spirits.  This would be true technically, but the phrase never seems to be used of the Devil and his angels (fallen angels).  Much speculation and dogmatic ideas have been put forth from then to now.  However, the Bible seems to equate unclean spirits with evil spirits and demons.  There are different beings within the spirit realm and there are hierarchies within the spirit real as well.  Thus we cannot be completely sure what exact “species” (for lack of a better word) demons or evil spirits are.  They may just be lower level beings that rebelled with the devil and his angels, or they may be something else.  However, we can be confident that the Bible has told us what we need to know.  We do know that demons, or unclean spirits, appear to be restless until they are able to control a human being to some varying degree.  How do they get this control over humans?  They are not “spiritual ticks” that happen to fall on people.  Rather, they are able to get control and influence through the activity of the person who has connected to the spirit through some form of spiritual arts (divination, séance, occult rituals, and basically anything promoted by these spirits to get control).  Christians should not be enticed by t he so called knowledge that spiritists of any sort promise to give to them because these spirits cannot be trusted.  They resist God and hate mankind.

At this point, I should point out that it is easy to make the mistake of seeing all mental problems as demonic, and the opposite mistake of seeing all such problems as only a physical problem of the mind.  Unclean spirits are real, but they are not the only reason why people have ailments.

It is clear from this passage that the unclean spirit is afraid of Jesus.  This is notable because it was not common for demons to show any fear in the presence of people, quite the opposite.  Thus, this is astounding to the people watching.  The spirit is afraid and Jesus is not.  By following the text, we can see some of the fears of the spirit.  First, it wants to be left alone.  If fears that Jesus is going to interfere with its control on this human (and for good reason).  It also asks if Jesus has come “to destroy us.”  Since there is no sense that multiple spirits are involved, this seems to be the same fear that the legion of demons in the Gadarene demoniac.  The unclean, demonic spirits know that there is coming a time when they will be evicted from this earth and put in the Lake of Fire.  Thus, they are afraid of that coming destruction.  Third, it is afraid because it knows exactly who Jesus is.  It refers to Jesus as “The Holy One of God.”  It is a phrase that refers to God’s Anointed One who is beside Him in the heavens, but would come to earth one day. 

At this point, Jesus commands the spirit to be silent and to come out of the man.  We do not want to make a big deal out of the fact that the demon calls Jesus the Holy One of God because the spirit is a tainted witness.  He can’t be trusted either way.  The testimony about Jesus is an important theme in the Gospels.  They emphasize that the Father and the Spirit witnessed or testified that Jesus was the Messiah.  They also emphasize that John the Baptist, the greatest prophet of that time, had testified that Jesus was the Messiah.  Then lastly, we have the testimony of the words that Jesus spoke, the life He lived, and the powerful miracles He did.  Jesus had very strong testimony from far better sources than to let demons give testimony.  Demons are liars and as such, you cannot know when to trust what they say and when it is a lie.  If we believe Jesus is God because a demon says so, then we are on shaky ground.

In the exorcism that occurs we do not see Jesus doing any rituals or reciting a mantra, as were common in those days.  He simply commands the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  The power of Jesus is not in ritual knowledge and magical arts.  Rather, His power is in the authority of who He is and the position that He holds.  Jesus has a position that is above all beings on earth or in Heaven, save the Father.  Though this spirit had “legally” gained entry to this human, Jesus had come to set the man free.  Thus, one command from Him was enough to send the demon packing.  Even in cases where one has consciously and willingly chosen things that ail them, there is hope that Jesus will set them free.  Many people today are stuck in things that they know they chose, but Jesus has come to offer us freedom.

We are told that the unclean spirit leaves with a convulsion and a cry.  This seems to be one last fit of resistance and protest from the demon at having to leave.  Of course, the real challenge is to remain free of the spirit.  The man’s life needs to change, if he is not to fall prey to another or the same unclean spirit.

The people watching this are amazed at how easily Jesus does this.  They are flabbergasted that he could make an unclean spirit leave with a simple command.  No rabbi had demonstrated such power in all their experience. 

As believers today, Christ has given us power over the enemy as well.  Yet, we must remember the lesson of the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19.  They attempted to cast out a demon by saying, “We cast you out by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  The spirit then responded, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”  The authority that Jesus gives to us is not some special power that we hold in and of ourselves.  It is always His authority.  By their own testimony, the sons of Sceva did not really know Jesus.  When we really know Jesus and have a relationship with Him, then and only then should we confidently stand in opposition to such unclean spirits when they manifest.

Praise God that we need not fear any evil spirits no matter what station they hold on the other side.  It is our relationship with the All-Powerful One that protects us and gives us strength.  I pray today that you will not so easily scoff at the power of Jesus as mere tricks in an age when people were ignorant.  If Jesus were too walk into our mental institutions today and with a mere command give someone their sound mind, who would we rely upon to give an accurate description of what happened, Jesus or the psychiatrists who are often unable to do anything with schizophrenia?    Again, I am not saying all mental illness is demonic.  However, I am saying that regardless the problem, whether they need healing or freedom from an unclean spirit, Jesus has the power to set us free!

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