This guy knows what he’s talking about. People sit up and listen. No mind-numbing waves of considered opinions. Just straight out telling it like it is.
Jesus and his small band of men have come to Capernaum, where they lived. First thing on the Sabbath, Jesus goes to the synagogue and begins to teach. People are astonished. He wasn’t teaching in the manner of their usual teachers, the scribes, but as one who had authority. One whose words rang true and commanded a response.
No one expected the response he got. It wasn’t from an intruder or stranger. Apparently they were used to seeing him there: a man with an unclean spirit. He complained loudly about what he saw and heard, yet made a startling declaration – “I know who you are – the Holy One of God.”
Jesus will have none of it. He silences the man in the strongest of terms. He commands the unclean spirit to come out of him. With violence and screams the spirit is removed.
Stop a moment to take that in. It’s not quite what you would expect in a worship service. First, everyone is astonished at the unexpected authority of Jesus’ teaching. Next, we see their sudden amazement when that authority is displayed in great power right before them.
Mark records the people’s reactions to Jesus. We don’t hear what Jesus says about himself or what the apostles said about him. We hear what ordinary people witnessed firsthand, what they saw and heard and told others about. And what they remembered most from that day was the authority of Jesus.
What does it mean for Jesus to have authority, in other words, to be Lord? Is he really Lord of my life, my words, my attitudes, my actions?
For more, see Mark 1:21-28.
Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley