Authorized

Good Morning Church!

If you are new with us…welcome! (introduce yourself)

Very quickly Summer has come and gone…hope you are all getting ready to get back into the swing of a normal routine…

Open up your copy of God’s Word to Mark 1:21

Continuing this series in the gospel of Mark…

Got quit a bit to cover…

LETS DIVE RIGHT IN!!!

Last week we left off where Jesus is in Galilee…He has just come back from the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan…

He has come into the land preaching the Kingdom of God is at hand…

and He has picked 4 kingdom workers…4 fisherman from the area…and He calls them…and they will become fishers of men…

READ 1:21-2:12

As I read through this text this week…one word stood out…

AUTHORITY…

V22 and V27 (READ)

So Jesus was teaching as one who has authority…and doing works as one who has authority…

And not a worldly authority….its obvious here that this authority is un heard of…

What does it mean to have AUTHORITY…

AUTHORIZED= Warranted by right, supported by authority, derived from legal or proper authority, having power or authority.

This Websters dictionary definition…it really defines perfectly the authority the bible tells us that Jesus has and why He has it…

(break down the definition)

SO…

In this text today we see Jesus’s authority in 3 places over 3 things…

NOW THESE AREN’T THE ONLY 3 THINGS…THESE ARE JUST THE FIRST 3 WE ENCOUNTER IN THIS GOSPEL…

We will see later that He has authority over all things…bread and fish…the wind and the sea…EVERYTHING…

BUT today we are going to start with just 3 in our passage today…and we are going to break down these 3 instances that Jesus shows His authority…

Jesus has authority…

Over spiritual sickness (1:23-25,32-39)

Jesus called these 4 fisherman to follow Him…

Immediately after Jesus is in the synagogue in Capernaum teaching…

This was a fishing town on the north side of the sea of Galilee…

If you have never been to a fishing town…they can be rough and tough places…

Fishing being a high stress, high risk job…it attracted bold men who lived and died by the dollar of the catch…

Capernaum was no different…

There is a temple here…Jesus is preaching there…

Here comes a man with an unclean spirit…

Devils, demons…these are unclean spirits

Location of first unclean spirt: Synagogue (He is in the religious place!!)

Not in the bar, not in the club, not on a Hollywood movie set, not on the news, or in congress,… you can find him in the places he can do the most damage…in the “house of the Lord”

This unclean spirit is not solo…there is a team of unclean spirits working here…

Many in one- “Let us alone”

THEY ARE AFRAID!!!! This isn’t the only time we see this…

Mark 5:2-10 “And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with You, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, that You torment me not. For He said to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And He asked him, What is your name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought Him much that He would not send them away out of the country.”

These unclean spirits know the identity of Christ: virgin birth, deity of Jesus Christ

He knows His power and what He is capable of…

And begs Him not to destroy them!!!

Look what Jesus tells this unclean spirit back in our text in Mark…V25 (shut up and come out of him…)

NOTE: look how easy He casts these demons out!!!

Healed many from unclean spirits (v32)

News of this is drawing people to Jesus…Both Pharisee and common Jew…

People had never seen anything like this before…

But soon they would see it ALL OVER!!

Later Jesus would send out 70 disciples in groups of 2’s.... across the land to preach the kingdom of God and to heal…and to cast out

Luke 10:17-20 “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through Your name. And He said to them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus establishes His authority…and gives that authority to His followers…

There is a few things we need to see here about our enemy…Satan and all his devils…

They are prominent on the earth…this place is FULL OF THEM!

They are many…

They are present in the places you wouldn’t expect them…

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING…THEY KNOW AND THEY FEAR THE LORD!!!!

HE HAS AUTHORITY OVER THEM…HE IS GREATER THAN THEY!!!!

NOW, this man who was tormented…IS HEALED!!!!

And word of this authority over spiritual sickness…it spreads around the region…

And as it spreads people with more than spiritual sickness begin to come and seek healing from the Lord…

NEXT …

Jesus (also) has authority…

Over physical sickness (1:29-34, 1:40-2:12)

In the text we see Jesus heal 3 completely different types of ailments…(sickness, disease, disability)

Lets look at them…

SICKNESS- Peters mother in-law (v29-31)

This woman had a great fever…she was sick…

They tell Jesus…He goes into the room… grabs her by the hand and immediately THE FEVER LEFT HER!!!

And now she is up serving them…like nothing happened…

Jesus has authority of sickness…

DISEASE- The Leper

Leprosy was a skin disease people got in this region and in this time…itching scaly dry patches all over

This was an incurable disease…The Jews would say only God could cure it…

(BOY WERE THEY RIGHT!)

Now the disease was bad enough…but peoples reaction to it was what made a terrible sickness way worse…

The Jews thought leprosy was a punishment for sin…

So ANYONE who had leprosy was seen as utterly unclean…they wouldn’t touch them…

They were forced to move outside the cities…alone…couldn’t come into the market…

NOTICE: in v 25 Jesus is out side of the city and this is where this man comes to Him…

They were despised by all!!!

So here comes this man…covered in leprosy…cast out away from God’s people…

He comes begging and bowing to the Lord…

And He says to Him…

“If you will, you can make me clean”

NOTICE: He doesn’t ask Jesus if He can help him…he already knows he can…

INSTEAD he asks…”if you will”…If it is in your will Lord…will you help me…

When Jesus saw the man…covered in sin (leprosy)…cast out…He had compassion…

What an incredible savior we have!!!!

Jesus looked upon Him not as an unclean sinner…

BUT WITH COMPASSION….

AND WHAT DOES HE DO!?!?!

He reaches out and…touches Him…

He touches Him…

Who knows how long this man has gone without a touch an embrace from another…

Alone, in pain, cast out, unclean…He comes to the only hope He has…”if you will, you can make me clean!”

And with a touch and these words “I WILL” (what glorious words to hear from the Lord)

“Be clean”

Jesus has authority over disease…

DISABILITY- The Paralytic

Jesus back in Capernaum…back in a house…

Again people who are in need come flocking…

He is preaching the word to them…The word of God preaching the word of God!!!

4 men people are carrying a man who has palsy (a paralyzed man)

They cant get into the house .. so many people they cant get him to Jesus…

SO THE FOUR PEOPLE CARRYING HIM CLIMB TO THE ROOF…DIG A HOLE IN THIS ROOF AND LOWER HIM DOWN…

AND WHEN JESUS SEES THEIR FATIH….

Jesus says “your sins have been forgiven”

And He tells the man to walk!!!!

NOTICE: all of these have the same root issue…

SIN

What we are seeing is the weight of sin bearing down on mankind…

The crushing weight…spiritual, physical, thorns in the side of man…

A weight thats just to much for us to bear…

An enemy we cant defeat on our own…

BUT in 2:10…Jesus tells all…He has power over it!!! (READ)

Jesus has authority…

Over all SIN

He can heal spiritually….He can heal physically…

Because He has the authority to do so…

Matthew 28:18 “All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth.”

SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN…WHAT CAN WE SEE AND TAKE FROM THIS????

We saw the miracles….the casting…..the healing…

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS…

BUT I want you to move your eyes to the reaction of the people…

Look at how lost, sick, needy people react to word that there is one who preaches…who casts out...who heals…with ALL AUTHORITY!!!

THEY COME FLOCKING TO HIM!!!!

BIG IDEA: THE REVELATION OF CHRIST’S AUTHORITY OVER ALL SIN DRAWS ALL TO HIM.

Even the Pharisees, who refuse to believe, are drawn to Him…

They are hearing about his fame and coming to see…

They come to hear Him teach to see Him heal…

They keep saying…”under what authority does this man do these things??”

They question Him…they are puzzled….

In Matthew 9…Jesus is dining with tax collectors and sinners…

Pharisees saw this and are puzzled…they ask why He dines with these filthy sinners???

Matthew 9:12-13 “…They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go you and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”

SO what do we see here…

UNSAVED- COME RUNNING TO HIM!!! Jesus is calling you to come to Him!!

ARE YOU SICK??? (SIN

Are you crushed by the weight of sin???

Are you afraid???

Are you lost???

ARE YOU CAST OUT???

COME ALL WHO ARE SICK TO THE ONE WHO HEALS!!!!!

SAVED- We are still in need of Him daily…seeking His will in all of our sin…in times when we fall…come running to him…like a child who has fallen…hurt, crying…come running back to our father…

WE SHOULD ALSO BE LEADING THE SICK TO HIM!!!

ARE YOU CARRYING THE THE MAT???

ARE YOU DIGGING HOLES IN ROOFS??? (JUMPING HURDLES…NOTHING CAN STOP YOU GETTING THE SICK TO THE LORD)

ARE YOU DOING EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO SHOW THOSE WHO ARE DEAD IN THEIR SIN…THAT THEY CAN HAVE ETERNAL HEALING IN CHRIST!!!

THAT HE TAKES THE SIN FROM THEIR SHOULDERS…THAT HE SHOULDERED IT FOR US…

THE WEIGHT WE COULDN’T CARRY…HE PUT IT UPON HIS BLOODY TORN UP BACK…HE BORE ALL THE WAY UP TO CALVARY……HE WAS NAILED TO IT…AND IT WAS DEFEATED…

HE PROCLAIMED AUTHORITY OVER IT…NO LONGER DO WE FEAR DEATH…NO LONGER DOES SIN STING US…

We should be running toward Jesus always and picking up people along the way…(come this way! Come and see! Come be saved! Come be healed!)

Live your life talking openly about what Jesus has done for you…for others…

Speak always about the authority Jesus has over ALL THINGS… THE POWER HE HAS!!!!

And when people hear that authority…they will come flocking to Him…

And He will show Him through His word…what He has done…the finished work on the cross…that through faith in that work…they can be saved…

Through His body broken…His blood poured out…we are saved…

We must share it…Proclaim it…BUT in order to do that…

WE MUST FORST REMEMBER IT…DAILY…

We are going to do that now…

We are going to prepare for a week in obedience to Jesus…by remembering the sacrifice Jesus made…

AND TAKING COMMUNION TOGETHER…

COMMUNION

Together as a body of believers, we are going to take communion…

We are going to take a little bit more intentional quiet time as a church body to pray and remember Jesus’s death on the cross, the blood spilled that gave us eternal life!

Now, Communion is a time for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone.

If you have not trusted Jesus with your eternal salvation, I ask that you not partake, but instead take this time to reflect on the truth that Jesus died for your sins on the cross, and through His resurrection you can live eternally with Him!

SO…COME UP AND GRAB THE CUP AND THE BREAD…(TABLES UP FRONT AND IN BACK)

AND GO BACK AND TAKE SOME TIME TO REMEMBER…

SO, TAKE THIS TIME IN SILENCE …AND WE WILL COME BACK TOGETHER AND TAKE THE BREAD AND THE CUP TOGETHER AS A CHURCH BODY….

QUIET PRAYER!! 3-5 MIN

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11,

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for[f] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[g]

TAKE THE BREAD AND EAT

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

TAKE THE CUP AND DRINK

PRAY…AMEN