True Authority 1-28-24
True Authority
Deut 18:15-20; Mark 1:21-28
Deut 18:15-20
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.”
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then 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 with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? 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.
Prayer – Gracious God, we are gathered here today full of cares and concerns, troubled by challenges that face us. We know you come to us with gifts we don’t even know we need. Sometimes when you show up you disrupt life and shake us up – perhaps because we need it. So go ahead, Lord, shake us up just as Jesus did so many years ago. Even as you may turn us upside down, you do so because it may very well set us right side up – that takes true authority – amen.
Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, ‘what’s this? A new teaching authority! He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!’ Right away the news about Jesus spread throughout the entire region of Galilee. What a reaction to Jesus’ very first sermon in Mark’s gospel. Jesus preaching as they are ‘shaken up.’ Questions arise about the nature of Jesus’ message and his authoritative power even over the spirits.
I have to admit that as preacher I work really hard not to shake a congregation up on my very first sermon the way Jesus did. I’m curious what he said that shook them up so much – I wonder if his words about God’s grace and boundary-less love may have turned their follow the law lives upside down. I usually wait at least a month or so into my role before I start upsetting the apple cart if you will. And I also admit I have never had any success trying to rid myself, much less anyone else of their own unclean spirits. I guess I just wasn’t patient enough when God was calling to get that particular gift.
Mark introduces Jesus, in the very first verse of his gospel as the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus explodes into the world with ‘good news,’ gospel. And in our gospel passage this morning, Jesus is introduced as none other than the ‘holy one from God.’ Who knew the truth about Jesus’ identity and authority? A demon! All the sane, balanced, law abiding faithful in the synagogue that day were left confused and perhaps a little unsettled. Only the demon knew Jesus’. Though the demon’s proclamation of Jesus’ identity is true, Jesus commands the demon to shut up. Perhaps Jesus wanted more time to unpack the true meaning of the ‘holy one from God.’
Our gospel passages this morning is a brief story in two parts. Jesus preaching in the synagogue and Jesus as exorcist. What amazes the crowd most is not the spectacular exorcism, rather the authority of Jesus’ teaching and preaching. Mark describes Jesus’ teaching but doesn’t give us any of the actual content of his words. Not one word of Jesus’ teaching is reported. It appears that what interests Mark the most is not the words of Jesus, but the strange, awe-inspiring work of Jesus and the effect of his teaching. The person and work of Jesus, not the content of his message.
Which is quite a paradox for those of us who stand up in the pulpit. Because we want you to be moved, even transformed, perhaps awed by the word craftsmanship we display each and every week. We love to hear your words of ‘great sermon Pastor,’ or ‘you really hit the nail on the head today, Preacher,’ or ‘you made me think,’ which is what I want to do each week – make you think.
Of course, preachers have always faced to problem of authority. That is why we quote others from Barth to Craddock to Barbara Brown Taylor. The same was true of the rabbis in Jesus’ day. The rabbis would quote the experts to bolster their argument. Jesus, it would seem, didn’t do that, the broke the mold. He didn’t quote Barth or John Calvin, or Charles Wesley or even Pope Francis. He simply taught the people from the scriptures, and the people were astounded by what they heard. Perhaps he reframed stories they had heard time and time again. Perhaps he turned a phrase or offered a contextual understanding. But whatever he did, he upset the apple cart, overturning, it would seem, their understanding of the things of God.
In this particular story, Jesus goes down to Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee. Since it’s the Sabbath day, Jesus and his disciples decided to go to synagogue for worship. It would appear that Jesus didn’t sit on the back pew like most Baptists, he went right up front to the pulpit and began teaching. How dare he do such a thing? Surely the synagogue leaders were shocked and unhappy with this itinerant street preacher coming in and pushing the normal preacher aside and taking over the whole ‘holy word of God’ thing. So, what do we make of this event? As I noted earlier, we don’t have a clue what Jesus said, but what is important to note is that the people were amazed, shocked, dumbfounded, jolted and jostled, awed by the holy words from the ‘holy one from God.’
I’m not sure how well it would sit if some straggly, barefooted, long haired, un-showered and unshaven person came waltzing into church and walked right up to the pulpit and started preaching. It’s quite likely that someone would call the police or at least try to escort him right out of the pulpit. I mean we are a church that is decent and in order and there are protocols and rules to be followed. I mean what seminary did Jesus graduate from; does he have a DMin or at least a MDiv; or is he just some whacko that God supposedly called as so many of the religious leaders believed that day. I suppose as a church we are discerning about who comes into our pulpits, trying to make sure they have the right credentials and degrees. We might not be comfortable with Jesus getting up and preaching especially if we didn’t have a sense of who he was (or is) beforehand. If I know Jesus is coming to visit us here, I’d gladly and graciously step aside and let him have his say. But if someone just walks in off the street, I’m not so sure about them. And again, what was amazing in Mark’s eyes was that when Jesus started preaching, the people in the synagogue recognized that he taught with ‘true authority.’
While Jesus was speaking with true authority his sermon was interrupted. “I know who you are Jesus! You can’t fool me!” shouts a possessed man. “You are from God, come to destroy us.” Wow! Don’t you find it interesting that the nice, settled folks sitting in the pews didn’t know who Jesus was? They may have been dumbfounded by Jesus’ teaching, but it was the demon possessed man who knew exactly who and what Jesus was. It was the unsettling, disturbed and disturbing demon who recognized Jesus’ authority.
Why is it that a man who shouldn’t even be in the synagogue recognize Jesus for who he is? The himself, being unclean, should never have been in that sacred space. The unclean spirit dwelling with the man knows Jesus’ purpose – to overcome the evil that convulses human experience. Perhaps the spirit believes that by naming Jesus for who he is, the spirit has control.
Jesus answers the spirit by telling it to be silent. It’s not that Jesus was upset that his sermon was interrupted – that happens to every preacher occasionally. We just pause and wait for things to calm down. But Jesus takes immediate action. He tells the spirit ‘shush.’ Remember that in Mark’s gospel Jesus is seeking to keep his identity quiet. It’s a need to know basis. The synagogue crowd didn’t need to know, yet. Timing is everything. At this, the spirit releases the man and the people are once again amazed. They wonder – who is this man Jesus? What is this new teaching that leaves us in awe? Despite Jesus, best efforts to keep things silent, the word goes out across the land – leaving people both amazed and frightened.
Mark says Jesus spoke as ‘one with authority,’ that is, speaking under the sense of external authorization. That same Spirit that had descended upon Jesus at his baptism, that had driven him into the wilderness with the devil, had now driven him to speak in a way that caused demons to stir and perhaps even all hell break loose. Jesus shows us, Jesus preaches in the power of the Holy Spirit, and at least as some of the faithful saw it, amazing things happened.
This takes us back to the whole question of authority. We live in an age that questions most forms of authority. I am a firm believer in asking questions, of questioning authority, just ask my mother, my seminary professors and maybe even yourselves. Governments come and go and seem to focus more on keeping power than touching lives. People have lost faith in the institutional church – I read a Pew research article this week that the “none’s – meaning those who don’t identify with a particular faith or denomination” now make up a larger percentage of people than any particular denomination. Too many scandals have rocked the institutional church and quite frankly many people today question how the church truly lives out being a follower of the risen Christ. For far too many churches survival mode has taken ahold. We wonder what the future holds. We who are clergy get a little nervous about job security and pensions. Yes, we and our families are just like everybody else in these turbulent times. We get nervous when new voices start to speak – whether it is Jesus or some unclean spirit. We want to build fortresses; we want to draw lines. But Jesus time and time again is about tearing down walls and erasing lines of exclusion. So, where do we stand? Are we ready to follow this teacher on a journey that in Mark, in fact every gospel, leads to the cross?
Please don’t think – ‘well, those ancient Jews at the synagogue in Capernaum didn’t know who Jesus really is so of course they were amazed and maybe even disturbed by his words. We know better.’ No, there is a deep sense in which the demon-crazed man was right, Jesus is indeed the one sent by the Holy One, is God with us and we should be amazed and even shaken up by him. In fact, if you are never jostled, jolted and shook up at church, then perhaps I’m not doing a good job of connecting with the true, living, present Christ, and we are left content with just a pale, inoffensive, nonthreatening imitation.
From the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus didn’t mind striding in and turning things upside down. That’s what he does – his words, his actions, his choices surprise us time and time again. We may come to church murmuring, “I’m here to be more spiritual,” or “I’m looking for more peace and quiet, time out from my busy life.” As we gather around an ancient and sacred text, let’s look carefully for a word that we cannot speak ourselves. Let’s invite Jesus in all his free, sovereign, and sometimes prickly glory to come be among us and give us a word that will leave us amazed – may it happen – thanks be to God – amen.