Mark 1:29-34 "Messianic Authority" pt.2

Introduction:

Last Sunday we saw that Jesus Christ exercised His sovereign authority over an evil spirit.

It was the specific example of a possessed man in the Synagogue who cried out questioning Jesus and revealing His identity.

Jesus exercised His cosmic authority by commanding the evil spirit to shut up and come out of the man.

But the authority of Jesus is not only over the cosmic order but it is over the natural order as well.

And this morning in our text we have a demonstration of Jesus’ authority being exercised over sickness in the natural world in verses 29-31. Look back at your text:

I. The Demonstration (29-31).

So the demonstration is regarding Peter’s mother-in-law. And it took place right on the heels of the evil spirit being cast out in the Synagogue.

Now Peter is likely the primary source of this account in Mark’s gospel. It was the Sabbath and once they left the Synagogue they went to the house of Peter and Andrew along with James and John. So there were four of the disciples and those in the household that were originally present.

Peter’s mother-in-law was in the house and she had a high fever. It was not uncommon in that day for such a fever to result in death so it was a cause for serious concern for her life.

And we see here that Jesus was told about her and He goes and takes her by the hand and lifts her up and she is made well. Now Luke’s gospel tells us He rebuked the fever and she got up. So don’t think that there were no words involved, it is only that Mark and Matthew don’t give us this information that Jesus issued a rebuke. They both just tell us that Jesus took her hand. But both happened and Peter’s mother-in-law was healed.

Now this text is not telling us how to get your mother-in-law off her sick bed so she can wait on you and fix you something to eat. No, this text is displaying the authoritative power of Jesus Christ over sickness.

And this demonstration along with what took place in the Synagogue led to the fame of Him being spread and in the evening the people began to congregate at the home of Peter and Andrew. Look back at your text to verses 32-34:

II. The Congregation (32-34).

The people probably congregated at the house in the evening due to the Sabbath requirements being over. So they brought the sick and the demon oppressed to the house and the text tells us that the whole city showed up to watch.

Nothing can get people out of the house on an evening after church like a demonstration of the super-natural. They had heard about the man being delivered in the Synagogue as we saw at the end of verse 28 that “at once His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.”

And there is little doubt that what took place in the house of Peter and Andrew had leaked out into the surrounding community.

So they brought to Him the sick and those oppressed by demons so that they could be delivered. We know where sickness comes from. It comes as an effect of the fall in Genesis 3 and people can be sick as an act of God’s divine judgement at times. But the demonic displays are a result of the encounters with demons that takes place in the worship of pagan gods.

This can be seen in the history of Israel in how God warned them in the O.T. to not worship pagan gods. Things like this are a violation of the first and second of the 10 commandments.

We also see in Leviticus 17:7 that the Lord tells Moses to give specific instruction to the priest “7 So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.”

See also Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:36-37

Some of you may be aware of the occultic symbolism that represents Satan in satanic worship as a dark angelic being with a goats head. Satanic temples around the country are erecting statues in public areas to protest to 10 Commandment displays and nativity displays at Christmas. Recently in Des Moines, Iowa the satanic statue was erected in the state capital. Along with the goat-headed statue was 7 fundamental tenets that include: “to act with compassion and empathy toward all.”

A former Navy Pilot, Michael Cassidy took the head off the statue and was arrested and charged with criminal mischief for the destruction of the satanic temple’s property.

Interesting that according to the article in the Guardian, the satanic temple insist: “that its members do not actually worship the devil nor do they believe in either Satan’s existence or the supernatural. Instead Satan is used as a symbol of free will, humanism and anti-authoritarianism.”

In other words they believe in the absolute autonomy of man. And that belief systems are only relevant to the degree that they serve the universal purpose of the well-being of humanity. For them it is absolute autonomy without any authority for man to be subject to as to challenge his freedom.

Religion’s purpose for them is to serve man in his autonomous state. It makes the divine being, whatever it is, the servant of human ambition instead of the true God, who rules with absolute autonomy and sovereignty. This is why a Christianity that is ultimately about you and your agenda that makes God to be who you want him to be is a false Christianity.

And it is powerless to save and transform anyone including you. False religions are demonic behind the scenes and can appear to be humanitarian in nature but they are traps that appeal to the fallen nature of man to make much of himself. This is just another reason why doctrine matters.

It is also why we don’t lock arms with false religions for the sake of humanitarianism. Christ is King and He rules with absolute autonomy and authority and no being in all the Universe has a legitimate claim on His throne.

The people had long practiced the worship of demons in the land and the Greco-Roman worship of pagan gods had made the practice mainstream in Jesus day. In 1 Corinthians 10:20 the Apostle Paul is speaking in the context of meat that has been sacrificed to pagan gods and he says: “20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.”

People opened themselves up to the demonic and were taken into spiritual bondage and people were suffering without hope from sickness. No wonder they came to Jesus.

And again the demons knew who He was but King Jesus wouldn’t permit them to speak. Understand the demons were subject to Him. And so were the bacteria and the viruses down to the micro level. The spiritual macro-cosmos down to the micro-cosom of the natural world.

Matthews gospel account of this tells us what is behind Jesus doing these miracles. Matthew says in Matthew 8:17: “17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.””

Of course Matthew is making reference to Isaiah 53:4-5. It is where we are told that the Messiah of God would be a suffering Messiah. But Isaiah is full of references also of the restoration that Messiah would bring in His Kingdom.

That is what we are seeing here at the beginning of the Messianic ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus the Messiah of God is showing Himself to be a refuge for the hopeless and the basis and source of the Kingdom restoration foretold by the prophets.

Conclusion:

And He calls us into this Kingdom restoration by grace through faith alone. He is the means of the restoration of the Kingdom of God. He came to save us from the bondage of sin and death and to reconcile us to God.

Unbeliever perhaps today is your day. Believe the gospel of Jesus Christ for your salvation.

Believer this table is set before us as a reminder of Christ death and payment to ransom us for God. But it is also a means of grace to us as we come to Christ and fellowship with Him at this table. Christ is spiritually present with us as His people today.

And in preparation for this table He commands us to examine ourselves. Confess your sin to Him and come to Him in the full confidence of the provisions of your King.

Let’s Pray!

No closed, Exceptions, everyone together. Continue to prepare your heart today.