The Author of Authority

Mark 1:21–28 (ESV)

21And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.

22And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

23And 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.”

25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

27And 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.”

28And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

INTRODUCTION

So far we have seen in Mark how John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus,

we have seen the baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus and the calling of the first disciples to follow Jesus.

Now we get to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.

This is where he begins to prove that He really is the Messiah, the King of Kings, the lamb of God who has came to establish a kingdom that is not of this world and to rule with power over the forces of darkness.

Now in our text we see the first time that Jesus does an exorcism as he casts out an unclean spirit which is a Demon.

Now today we don’t hear too much of exorcisms except in the movies but, they still do happen.

They are more prevalent with the Catholic Church, who has reported that in the past twenty years there has been a huge increase in requests for exorcisms.

Most exorcists ask to remain unknown so they don’t get flooded with requests.

In the United States there are only 125 Catholic Priests who are exorcists according to the Church.

In my research I came across one named Father Lampert. So I listened to some of his stuff and like most people, he gives an introduction of who he is, what he does and where he is located at.

He gave his name and what Church he was at but then he says something that shocks me.

He said he is located at a Diocese aka Catholic Church that is in Indiana near the Ohio border and im like wait a minute we are in Ohio near the Indiana border!

There are things that can open doors to demons to come into our life.

Such as Oh-we-g boards, tarot readings, horoscopes, being a part of secret societies, and mind-altaring drugs

He then explained that Demonic possession doesn’t happen all at once but there are stages and it’s a progression.

There are four steps....

Demonic infestations- presence of evil in a location

Demonic vexation- physical attacks

Demonic obsession- mental attacks

Demonic possession- demon takes control of a persons body

There is a universal and timeless truth. It doesn’t matter what phase of life you are in. You can be a child, a teenager, a young adult, in your thirties or forties and beyond.

The truth is that we will always have an authority over our lives. This is something that our flesh doesn’t like because it’s in our nature to try to control things, the decide the outcome, to decide when, where and what is.

As a teen we want to control what our curfew is and when or if we do our homework.

As a young adult we want to control those we work with.

We want to control what our kids do and how they talk to us.

When we get older we then want to control how often we see our kids and grand kids.

Now the Bible speaks a lot on authority. It speaks on the authority that Jesus has.

Jesus demonstrates authority over everything John 1:3 “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

First of all we see the Authority of God’s Word.

The Authority of Gods Word v21-22

21And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.

22And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes

Now our text says that Jesus went into a city called Capernaum. This is a city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.

It is where the base of operations was for Jesus. In those days teachers would be invited to speak at the different synagogues.

No synagogue had a permanent teacher every week. They would invite different scribes and teachers there.

Now Synagogues served both as places of worship and schools. During the week boys were taught the Jewish religion and Old Testament law.

They would hear prayers, scriptures read, and an interpretation from a scribe.

The scribes that came and taught would always quote other Rabbi’s in their interpretation of the law. Rabbi so and so says this and Rabbi so and so says that...

This is what the people became used to hearing. Can you imagine going to school and every day having a new teacher that would just quote other teachers all day long?

Then we have Jesus who shows up. verse 22 says...

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

The teaching style of Jesus amazed them because it was something they never heard or experienced before!

Jesus came and when he taught he need need to cite and quote anyone because He is the source of it all.

Everything came for him, by Him and through Him. He is the center of it all.

He is all they have prophecied about.

He is the one they have been praying for to come.

He is God in the flesh.

He taught with authority because He is the author of it all!

The Authority of Gods Judgment v23-27

v24.“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?

Now we see the Authority of God’s Judgment. Just imagine in a Sunday school class where someone is teaching and someone starts screaming and crying out!? Saying what’s your issue with me! Do you want to destroy me?!

This is what happened to Jesus but, he basically tells them to shut up and whatever is in them causing them to act this way, can come out.

But we have to ask, what was it that caused this unclean spirit or demon to scream and cry out at Jesus? What was it about Jesus that terrified it so much?

It doesn’t mention what the content of what Jesus was teaching but what we do know of what scriptures teach about Jesus is that when he spoke, he spoke the truth because He is truth.

Satan and his demons hate truth.

The devil is called the father of lies for a reason. He is a slanderer, an accuser of the brethen, the master manipulator.

Satan will change the name of the sin to make it more acceptable.

Instead of adultery we call it open marriages

instead of lust we call it love

instead of calling it getting drunk we say its just getting the edge of

Instead of murdering of babies we call it my body and my choice

We might wonder why don’t we see things like the demonic, exorcisms, and unclean spirits foaming at the mouth?

Well it does. It’s still prevalent. Satan is just good at putting costumes and masks on it now.

He has literally made sin a transgender in calling what is good, evil and what is evil, good.

We are in the days of when everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

Satan and his demons like to hide because if he can convince us that he doesn’t exist then we won’t fight him.

Just as there were demons present in the synagogue of the Jewish religious system there can be demons present in today’s churches.

We can be religious without having that relationship with God. Religion can be one of best ways to hide from God.

Religion is us working our way to God but a relationship with God is him coming down to us.

God came down to us by Jesus Christ. It was through the cross that the powers of hell were destroyed.

We see Gods authority in His Word , in his judgement but also we see his authority in His purity.

The Authority of Gods Purity v24

I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

Even the demons knew that Jesus was the Son of God. The Holy one. As believers we can lack the power of God in our lives because we lack the purity of God in our lifestyles.

God calls us to be Holy as He is Holy. Sin is the kryptonite in a Christians life as it drains our spiritual battery and zaps us of our strength.

The Holiness of God cannot stand in the presence of sin.

APPLICATION

The good news is that the powers of Hell and darkness have been disarmed by Jesus as he was crucified and rose victoriously from the Grave! That same power is in us!

As Christians we have nothing to fear. Not even death!

What if we lived as if all authority and power belongs to God?

What habits, thoughts, and fears enslave and control us?

Are there any demonic doors that we have opened in our lives that we need to close?

Whatever it is, and whatever we face cannot withstand the authority and power of Jesus!