Mark 1:23-28 (Part 2)

Last week we talked about how these first century Galileans were having their minds blown by what Jesus was saying. He spoke with unprecedented and unparalleled authority. He showed up and announced that the long awaited, highly anticipated Kingdom of God, the reign of God had arrived because He had arrived. He started saying things, and saying things in ways, that hadn’t been done before. It was hard to fathom His message.

What what His message?

Jesus message was: Repent. Believe in my Good News, and follow me. I am giving you a chance of a lifetime so follow me, which means “be like me,” “be pressed into my mold” so to speak. Don’t doubt and call into question the character and commands of God. Don’t spurn His benevolence by rebelling against Him like Adam and Eve did long ago. Be like me and always willingly obeyed the Father’s commands like me! I obeyed despite my feelings and even when it would lead to my own death. Be like me. Follow after me...

and then to those who actually follow after Him, He utters this unchanging promise, “I will make you fishers of men.” I will make you into competent vessels to bring about the amazingly Good News that forgiveness of sins is availble in my Gospel. I have come to seek and save that which was lost. If you are to follow me, you must do the same.

Jesus taught with authority and it blew peoples minds and today in our text we are going to notice that Jesus doesn’t just have a big mouth with big boasts, but that He can back it up with power!

The reign of God demonstrates its power when we obey what the Teacher has taught.

The wild thing about what we will see today is that the demons in the counterfeit “lowercase k” kingdom of Satan demonstrate the “power of Jesus words” as they obey what He said. They were commanded to “be silent” and to “come out” and they recognized who Jesus was and they obeyed. And when they did, it brought about restoration and healing and amazement.

So that begs the question: Will you and I obey the words of Jesus in order to have similar results happen?

Who doesn’t want restoration? Who doesn’t want freedom from oppression? Who wouldn’t want healing? We all probably realize that these are categorical good realities to have in our lives.

So how do we get there? Well we “obey” what the “teacher has taught” and when we obey we will see the power of God, the reign of God on display in our lives and others will be able to see it as well.

And when they see it, it will look like a very attractive baited hook that they might also latch onto, in order to be plucked out of the dark, watery chaos that they have been accustomed to living in for so long. They too, can look to the One who is offering them the freedom of forgiveness instead of letting them swim in a sea of judgement for all of eternity.

Let’s get into the text.

Mark 1:21–22 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.

Mark 1:23–24 ESV

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.”

Mark 1:25–26 ESV

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.

Mark 1:27–28 ESV

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.

Pray: then walk through the text to make observations, interpretations and applications.

Mark 1:23 (ESV)

23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.

Please don’t fail to notice something here. The location is important. Remember the three Golden Rules of Real Estate. Location. Location. Location.

There is a man, “in their synagogue,” with an unclean spirit.

Where was the man with the unclean spirit? In the synagogue. What is a man with an “unclean spirit” doing in synagogue in the first place? Well, as we mentioned last week, the synagogue was both the social and religious centers of town in Judaism. People with pressing religious and social needs could assemble there in hopes of having those needs met.

Here we have a man with and “unclean spirit” but we are not told how that “unclean spirit” was evidencing itself in the man’s life. It is just generic. Mark says, “a man with an unclean spirit.”

Sometimes in the Gospels, as strange as it may sound to us 21st century people like us, unclean and demonic spirits had such control over the people they were possessing or influencing that people couldn’t speak, one was physically blinded. Another man we read about gave evidence to demonic oppression by his madness to the degree that he was “self-injuring.” He took sharp objects like stones and dug into his own flesh probably in the vain hope of trying to cope with the pain of his strong emotions, and intense pressure from unrelenting and upsetting relational problems in his life. His feelings were too difficult to bear, and so he would bear down on his body and cut himself in a vain attempt to feel something and watch the pent up rage and sorrow and rejection and emptiness of his life, flow away in a crimson river.

We aren’t preaching on that occurence today, but I want to let you know, those attempts for relief didn’t work, but what did work was the freedom that was offered to that man by Jesus Christ.

But here in our text today, we don’t know how this evil spirit evidenced itself. Mark doesn’t tell us. Now in my opinion, that is even scarier.

When something is so subtle that it escapes our notice, when it flies under the radar so to speak and the depth of deception is so undetectable that we are able to enter into solemn assembles of corporate worship and do religious duties alongside everyone else, we are in a world of trouble.

That is a very dangerous place to be and destruction is just around the corner.

So track this…Mark tells us that there was a man “in the synagogue on the Sabbath day.” He was where he was supposed to be on the Sabbath. He was doing his religious obligation. He was in the gathering, but he didn’t come alone, he brought with him an unclean companion.

And that make me wonder, “What are the chances that the same thing plays out in this structure week after week after week?

There is no doubt in my mind that there are some people here in our attendance today who this very moment are under the oppressive dominion of evil unclean spirits. Who? Don’t look to your left and your right. If I could have handed out mirrors to everyone in attendance today, now would be the time that I would ask you to pull them out and ask you to notice who you see in their reflection.

Do you know that every time you and I fail to take God at His word and obey what He has clearly said, we are falling for the same trick Adam and Eve fell for in the beginning. This should be humbling for all of us.

Every time we sin, we fail to “believe what God has said” and we take matters into our own hands and our old Adam nature has been stimulated into action by our deception.

We might be this solemn assembly today and our uncleaness might be undetectable us and to others, but the King of the Kingdom knows.

Or even worse yet, maybe you have grown comfortable with your uncleaness. Or maybe your uncleaness has been tolerated by the masses here for a long time and we have all turned a nonchalant eye to known areas of sin in each others lives.

We might be tempted to think, “Oh well that is just “so and so,” that is just “who they are.”

That is a very sad state of affairs and we should never grow comfortable with any area of our lives, or other peoples lives that are sticking out of the mold that we are to be pressed into so that we look more like Jesus. If we have areas of our lives that are sticking out of the mold, when the mold comes down, they should be cut off, but sadly, sometimes we are deceived by demonic hordes into thinking that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can’t actually penetrate hardened hearts to change them.

We think that the power of Jesus is limited and cannot change those that actually need to be changed and so we just think, well that’s just who they are, or who I am. I haven’t changed so far, so what hope is there to change now.

Salt that looses its saltiness is only good for being cast out and trampled on. That’s not good.

If you know of areas of uncleaness in your life and you are here in this gathering of the King of all Kings, you better come to grips with the very hard and yet freeing truth that you need to change. You might be here, but your life is in direct violation of who you are called to be as a Christ follower.

So maybe there is an uneasiness in the room or an unsettled nature in your soul right now and you might be wondering if, I as the preacher, am thinking about you. Maybe I am singling someone out. You might even feel like all eyes are on you right now. You might have your fingers crossed hoping that I don’t start naming names. That would get really awkward, real quick. Well, get ready for an awkward moment. I am not going to name names, but I am going to name one name so as to set an example that hopefully will wake us all up from our casual slumber.

Now I got your attention! Now every eye is pealed, but every eye is attempting to not make eye contact.

Good…we are all ready. The individual that I want to call out today has the first name: Olive and their last name is: Us. Olive Us needs to be called out here today. I know it is awkward, but I am compelled to embrace the awkwardness for the sake of honoring God in this solemn assemble.

Olive Us you need to hear and heed the words that are coming out of my mouth right now. I am preaching to you the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ who has come to seek and to save you from your lostness and give you new life and life in abundance. But you must listen. You must internalize. You must grasp these truth by faith and live them out in order to find the freedom that your soul is longing and yearning for.

Your soul has been pleading to be set from the decaying matter of your old nature. Now is the time to let it experience the freedom that is being freely offered to you in Jesus Christ. This won’t just happen by means of your weekly attendance in this religious assembly.

You must have a real, personal encounter with the Risen Lord as He authoritatively speak to you through this preaching time and you must respond to what He is saying to you in your heart of hearts.

Yes you can come here with your old nature. Yes you can even come to this religious assembly under demonic influence, but please don’t leave here with it or under it. Submit yourself to the One who has the highest authority. Olive Us, submit yourself to the One in whose Name we are all gathered here.

Let’s move on in the text...

Mark 1:23–24 (ESV)

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.”

What we have here are two declarations and two questions.

Ok, look what happens here. The unclean spirit recognizes a few things about Jesus.

First, there was a recognition that Jesus was a human. Jesus was a man from Nazareth of all places, but the demon also identified “Jesus of Nazareth” was also, “the Holy One of God.” This was a title used in the OT for God Himself.

The demon understood some massively deep theology. The demon declared what theologians call the hypostatic union! The demons recognized the two distinct and complete natures of Jesus: the Son of God, incarnate. Pretty impressive. The demon recognized the two natures of the Messiah before anyone else does. Jesus was a man from Nazareth and simultaneously “the Holy One of God.” Last week we talked about the mind blowing teaching of Jesus, this week see the mind blowing declaration of demons.

Wow!

But that’s not all, look what the demon knows of what this God/Man has the capacity to do…this God man has the ability to destroy them.

Wow!

Look at what the demons say. They formulate a question and then follow it up with another question.

“What have you to do with us?” and “Have you come to destroy us?”

Might I suggest that these are the same questions we need to be asking the God/man as well.

“What have you to do with us?” We actually see this exact phrase appear twice in the OT and the thrust of that expression is this… “Why are you violently interfering with us?” One time is was used when the attacking army of the Ammonites was threatening the safety of the Israelites, (Judges 11:12) and one time it was used when the life of a widows only son was being threatened. (1 Kings 17:18).

The people who said this phrase were saying, “Why are you interfering with us?”

This is what the demons are saying to Jesus. We know who you are, and you pose a threat to us and we fear being destroyed by you. Stop interfering with what we got going with this guy in the synagogue. Look isn’t it enough to you that he is here in this religious gathering? Isn’t that enough for you? Do you really need to interfere with our work?

It’s been a while since I have referenced football so now is as good of a time as any!

The demons are calling foul on Jesus. They are saying you are “interfering” with us and what we are seeking to accomplish.

In football there is a penalty that is called “pass interference” and it happens when there is a ball flying through the air on a pass play. When the ball is in the air both the receiver and defensive back have the right to attempt to catch that ball. As it is spiraling through the air, either team can attempt to catch it and possess the ball, however, if either the offensive player or the defensive player pulls on the opponents jersey or, puts a hand on their opponents back or shoulders and makes physical contact with their opponent while the ball is in the air, it is called pass interference. In the NFL it is “spot of the ball foul.” So it can be very very costly. It’s not just a 5, 10 or 15 yard penalty. The penalty is enforced at the spot the foul occured. So if you interfere with the with the pass attempt 40 yards down the field, it is a 40 yard penalty and an automatic first down.

You don’t want interference calls. They are very costly. And that is what the demons say here. We don’t want to be interfered with…it will cost us to much. If people hear you out and start obeying your “volitional exhortations” to repent and believe in the Kingdom of God thing you are bringing about, it will have a very costly impact on our ability to keep people in the dark. In fact it will destroy our efforts.

So, they ask, “are you here to interfere with us?” and then say: “Have you come to destroy us?”

Yes.

1 John 3:8 (ESV)

8 ...The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

And get this, how will the work of demons be destroyed? It would be by the means of the words coming out of Jesus mouth. His words, if heard, recieved, believed, and apprehended by faith, and then acted upon regardless of how people feel, will bring liberation and shine a great light that the kingdom of darkness cannot cover up.

The dark deceptive deeds of the demons will be exposed for what they are; dark and deceptive. And if Jesus shows up and sheds light on those kept in the darkness, the demons will have the unpleasant experience of knowing the look people get in their eyes when the veil of darkness is removed and they are transferred over into the Kingdom of Light and Life.

The demons were threatened, because they knew that if Jesus words were heard and acted upon, everything that they were formerly successful at, keeping people in deceit, will be eradicated and overthrown.

The means of this interference was the WORD OF GOD. This word will mess with your life. It is sharp. It will cut. It will be like a sword that pierces. It will be a mirror that reveals things to you. It will be like milk that can help nourish you and help you grow. It is a seed that can grow, a light that shines, a fire that consumes and a hammer that shatters.

The word of God comes into your life to interfere with you, but it won’t destroy you…it will destroy the works of the devil in your life and allow the real you to walk in complete and total freedom!

Man…that sounds good. But in order for us to have this as our reality, we must know what the demons knew, and as ironic as this sounds, we must do as the demons did.

Let’s finish this passage.

Mark 1:25–27 (ESV)

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.”

The demons knew that Jesus was the God/Man and they responded by obeying what He commanded them. It was a response of obedience.

Jesus rebuked the evil demonic spirit and commanded it to, “Be silent, and to come out of him!”

“Be silent…cease from talking. Quiet down you…put a muzzle on your mouth, stop that aggravation that is coming out of your mouth. Silence!

The same word that Jesus will speak to the wind and the waves in chapter four as they were threatening the safety of the disciples in the boat, are the same words that Jesus says to this demon in chapter 1. Be quite…stop your tongue from forming words and accusations that are trapping people in bondage. Essentially he says, “Lay limp...” “Be still.”

Now the moment anyone in a Jewish synagogue said something along the lines of “Be still and...” the next thought that would occur in a Jewish persons mind would be the text of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and what? … “know that I am God.”

These demons, by their own admission knew that Jesus was God and so they obeyed His command by “coming out of the man.”

Indeed, one “mightier than John” was among them.

Jesus commanded the demons to come out, and they did and when they did, an amazing display ofJesus power and authority was palpably evident to the degree that all those who witness this display of teaching and power collectively said,

Mark 1:27 (ESV)

27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority (ἐξουσία) He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

A new teaching with “ruling authority.” This is “kingdom talk.” This is rulership language. This is dominion. This is subjugation. This is stuff we talked about a few weeks ago when we talked about Adam and Eve given dominion over the creation to establish and create order and to be fruitful and to multiply and spread the reign of the King in the creation.

This word, ἐξουσία, is Kingdom language. It is to have authority over a domain or sphere of influence.

Can you imagine being in the synagogue that day?The people in the synagogue that day, heard a demon testify that it felt threatened by Jesus interfering with its dominion and expressed concern for being destroyed.

Then they heard Jesus, the God/man commanded with Kingdom authority for the demon to come out and then they saw the responsiveness obedience of the demon that resulted in a man experiencing freedom from oppression to the absolute amazement of everyone there.

Not your average Sabbath day experience…but maybe it should be. Every week, the word is preached here and this word is being planted in your hearts and it can grow and yield amazing results in your life that will amaze you and others, but it must fall on good soil.

They said the teaching we just heard, had “authority.” It, wasn’t like the religious scribes that would offer their take on religious matters and various interpretations. They said, the guy we just heard speak, spoke like a King! He spoke as if He had authority over both a physical and spiritual domain.

And we the readers of Mark’s gospel say, yup…that is exactly what you heard.

and then Mark ends this section with a summary verses saying,

Mark 1:28 (ESV)

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

Here is the ironic kicker in this narrative: the reason Jesus fame spread everywhere throughout the region was because of the obedience of demons. If this is the case, what will happen if we actually as His obedient disciples decided to actually be obedient to what He is calling us to become, “Fishers of men?”

If you and I want the “fame of Jesus to spread everywhere in our lives and in the surrounding region of Lynden, or Everson, or Blaine, or Custer, or Nooksack, or Bellingham, or the Great White North, then don’t just be amazed with the teaching and commands of Jesus, actually obey them.

Benediction

One point of application that you never thought an evangelical, ordained minister of the Gospel would never ever, in a million years say is this: as disciples, I think we all could learn something from the demons here. Perhaps, in our discipleship, we need to actually be more like demons. We need to know what the demons knew and then do what they demons did.

They knew Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God. That being the case, they also knew that He possessed divine, kingly authority in human from that they needed to submit to and obey. And when they did a man experienced freedom!

The reign of God happens in our lives when we obey what is taught from this book. If you want Satan and self to be dethroned from your life sit under the faithful teaching of this book and apply everything that you are taught.

The man in our text today found freedom and healing when the demons obeyed Jesus. How much more will our freedom and healing be if we, as his disciples obey what He has taught. The reign of God demonstrates its power in our lives when we obey what the Teacher has taught.

Why is good teaching/preaching so important for a healthy Christian life?

What teaching of Jesus has been hard for you to obey? If you started obeying that command, how would you experience healing and freedom?

What area of your life do you think Jesus needs to “interfere with” first?