A Man with Authority, Part 2 - Mark 1:29-34

Authority. We all have a mixed relationship with authority, do we not?

On one hand, we are rebels when it comes to certain authorities. We bristle at the authority. Don’t tell me what to do. Rules are meant to be broken.

And yet, at the same time, we all live under authority every single day. When a bill comes due, you pay it. Why? There are potential legal consequences. When boss gives you a job to do, you do it. Why? You don’t want to get fired. When the light turns red, you stop. And you probably get mad at someone who doesn’t.

Suddenly not only are we happy to live under authority, but we are also expecting others to live under that same authority as well.

But what about the ultimate authority? We’ve been going through apologetics in our Sunday School hour. We’ve talked through some basic foundation principles for apologetic methodology, what a worldview is and how everyone has one.

On its most basic level, a worldview is comprised of one’s understanding or belief about reality itself. Who are we, why are we here, where are we going, what’s the purpose of life, etc.

One crucial aspect of a worldview is the issue of ultimate authority. How do you make decisions? To what are you accountable?

Some rely on Reason. They live according to their own rational processes. Philosophy.

Some rely on Experience. They live according to what they have personally observed or the experience of others

Some rely on Emotion. They live according to what they feel is right.

Some rely on tradition. They live according to how they’ve always done it.

Some rely on Faith. They live according to what God says is right.

No matter what, even if it something that is not consciously considered, we all intuitively live according to some ultimate authority. The questions that faces us all is this:

Can your authority stand under the weight of that responsibility? Do the things you look to for answers to life’s questions provide the necessary answers?

If you are looking to anything other than Jesus Christ and the God of the Bible, the answer to that question is going to be no. Someone might be self-deceived into thinking that they are okay with whatever it is they are looking to, but when the examination comes those things will crumble.

Here at Pillar Fellowship we have a standard of truth that is unshakable. We stand upon the very Words of God and His self-revelation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is no other surer foundation than what God has said, amen?

The Jews of Jesus’ day held the Scriptures in very high regard. They, too, considered the first testament to be the very words of God Himself.

So what would you do if someone came along claiming to have the same level of authority as the word of God?

You would be surprised, would you?

But that’s exactly what Jesus came on the scene doing. He not only came with a message about the Kingdom, he not only came with a mission to the lost, he came with a statement about who he was in his very essence. He was the Christ, the Messiah. And He has come with authority.

These next several sections serve to demonstrate the authority of Christ over various spheres. Jesus demonstrates Himself to be the authoritative Holy One of God.

How do we know that Jesus is worth listening to? how do we know that we ought to heed and follow this Jesus of Nazareth? How do we know that He has the authority to which we should submit ourselves?

Today we will see him demonstrate His authority in two spheres:

He demonstrates His authority by His teaching

He demonstrates His authority over the demonic realm

Let’s read our text:

Mark 1:21–28 ESV

21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “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.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

I. He demonstrates His authority by His teaching

After Jesus calls his first disciples, demonstrating how he is interested in people and bringing them into the Kingdom, on the Sabbath day he enters the synagogue.

The Synagogue was a gather place for the Jews for worshiping Yahweh. Often they would organize for prayer, reading from their Scriptures, and if a Rabbi was present, they might ask him to speak.

Jesus has begun his public ministry and so it was likely that he was already recognized as a Rabbi. That He would be invited to speak after the reading of the Law or Prophets would not have been a surprise.

What was a surprise was the manner of his teaching.

This is one of the unique features of the book of Mark. Mark will often make mention of the fact of Jesus’ preaching and teaching, but spends less time on the content of that teaching than the other Gospels.

The reason for this is simple: Mark wants us to focus on the reality of Christ and the appropriate response to him. So Mark will often summarize the teaching, and then record the reactions or responses to the teaching as if to say, this is how they responded for good or ill.....how will you respond?

Such is the case here. Nothing is recorded of Jesus’ teaching, only the impact that his teaching had on the hearers.

They are astonished. They had never heard anything like this. Look at why it says they are astonished:

For he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the Scribes.

First of all, who are these Scribes?

A Scribe was someone who was considered an expert in the Law of Moses and the tradition of previous Rabbi’s. Their full time Job was to study the Law of Moses and how Rabbi’s have taught about the Law, and then they would regurgitate that to others.

They did not simply read the Scriptures and then explain what it meant, but instead, they would read the Scriptures, and then tell you what other religious leaders in the past thought the passage meant. They didn’t actually teach the Scriptures, but rather they taught what other men said about the Scriptures. They would read the passage and then say Rabbi so-an-so from 100 years ago had this to say about this passage, and Rabbi such-and-such from 50 years ago taught this, and then there’s Rabbi so-and-so who says something else…and so on. They were failing to actually teach the Scriptures because they were so caught up in what others had written in times gone by.

So now Jesus gets up. He reads the passage. But he doesn’t quote Rabbi so-and-so. He doesn’t explain what some other teacher had to say on the topic. He doesn’t lean on the authority of other men in history.

No, he begins to teach and he teaches as though he is someone with inherent authority in Himself. He isn’t reliant upon commentators of the past, but teaches them according His own word, on the basis of His own authority.

We might wonder....where does this authority come from?

It isn’t in his social status or wealth. He was born into a poor family and worked as a carpenter all his life.

His authority isn’t based on being some kind of elected leader. No one voted for Jesus.

He wasn’t hired to be the leader of the synagogue, like a hired pastor or anything.

He wasn’t employed by the government and given a position of rulership.

What, then, is the basis of His authority?

Think about a parent’s role in relation to their children. They brought the children into the world and are responsible for them. Parents have inherent authority over their children until they are grown simply by virtue of who they are in relation to them. No human institution gives parents authority. It is inherent authority by virtue of who they are. They are the parents. The mom. the dad. We carry out that authority imperfectly, but it the authority is there.

It is similar, but so much greater with Jesus Christ.

Jesus authority is bound up in who He is in relation to all creation. He is the creator, the one who made everything. Colossians One says that all things were created by Him and for Him and everything holds together by His shear will. He is divine, he is God. His very being is what gives Him inherent authority over all creation.

So when he speaks from authority, it is because he has authority as the creator and sustainer of the world. It is the reality of His identity that gives him his authority.

Interestingly enough, there is a testimony to his identity in this very passage, albeit from what might seem like an unlikely source. And Jesus is going to demonstrate his authority over that source as well.

II. He demonstrates His authority over the demonic realm

In walks a man who is demon possessed.

It seems that in Jesus’ day demon possession was a more outwardly recognizable thing than it might be today. I have no doubts of demonic activity in our current day, but it seems to be veiled differently than in those days. Jesus had already encountered Jesus in the wilderness and was unsuccessful in his attempt to trap Jesus. It seems now that his henchmen are sent to seek to interrupt and derail Jesus ministry before it really get started.

In the ESV, the translation is “a man with an unclean spirit”

We think of this an synonomous with demonic possession, and to a degree that’s correct. Mark is going to use the language of demon possession and unclean spirit seemingly interchangably throughout his gospel. But there is something to be said for the language of unclean spirit. Being ritually clean was such an important aspect of lives of the Jewish believers.

The fact of demonic possession was troubling enough on its own. But it also made the person unclean. That individual would have been a walking terror to all Jews who sought to honor the Lord.

And here he is, strolling into the synagogue and interrupting Jesus’ powerful teaching.

The man, or rather the demons within him, cries out “What have you to do with us?”

This is an emphatic idiomatic question. Some have tried to capture the essence of the idiom in different ways. “What do we have in common?” “Why do you meddle with us” or even “Mind your own business”

It is as if they are challenging Jesus’ right to act in their realm. This is our place. Leave us be.

Jesus’ presence, message, and actions are in the interest of calling people into His Kingdom. Colossians says he has delivered us out of the domain of darkness and into the Kingdom of His beloved Son.

Every sinner that enters the Kingdom is a sinner that is no longer in the domain of darkness.

So he challenges the Christ. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. the Holy One of God.

Though the people did not know who Jesus was, the demons knew well enough, and they were fearful of Him and His power.

But Jesus does not allow this demon to continue. The text says he rebukes the spirit. The Word for rebuke can mean “to command with the implication of a threat” Jesus speaks like a commanding officer to disorderly ensign. Be silent and come out of him!

And he does. This unclean spirit who was challening Jesus immediately has no choice but to do as Jesus commands. Jesus has demonstrated authority over the demonic realm.

This week I was reading about beliefs and practices of exorcisms. It’s always very elaborate and showy. There were beliefs around the time of Christ that have continued to some degree today that in order to get control of a demon, you have to get it to tell you its name, and when you command it according to its name it has to listen. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that a very famous preacher who used to be viewed as largely orthodox would teach that sort of stuff at his church about how to perform exorcisms.

Others believed you had to utter certain incantations or spells to get the demon to relinquish control of someone.

Some time ago I was listening to a podcast about church planting. The host had many helpful things to share, but one day his podcast was about how to perform an exorcism of someones house.

There was this whole elaborate process of an incense ball, reciting certain prayers, reading certain scriptures out loud, etc. In the podcast he openly admitted that he borrowed much of those instructions from Roman Catholic resources.

It’s all very strange. But in each case, its very elaborate. There is a multi-step process.

Jesus doesn’t do any of that. He issues the command, and the demon must obey.

Yes. Jesus is indeed the holy one of God. He is indeed the one who must be followed.

Notice the response of the people. They were astonished before at the manner of his teaching. They are all the more amazed now.

What is this? A New teaching with authority! He command even the unclean spirits and they obey Him!”

And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region.

It fascinating to me that they attach the significance of casting out the demon to his teachings. They say “What a new teaching with authority” and the proof of that authority is casting out the demon.