Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

On July 20, 2012, a man entered a movie theater in Aurora Colorado with an assault rifle killing 12 people and injuring 70.

The 2012 Aurora shooting was all over the news during that time as one of the greatest mass murders in U.S. History.

The suspect, James Holmes, had no previous criminal history and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

This man was sentenced to 12 life sentences.

Before he committed murder, Holmes was a Ph.

D. student in Neuroscience.

Growing up, he described hearing things of what he described as “nail ghosts” that would hammer the wall at night.

He also claimed to see shadows and flickers at the corner of his eyes, which would fight each other with firearms and other weapons.

Before he committed this

He saw many social workers and psychiatrists concerning his disturbing behavior.

When on trial and asked the motive of the shooting, he responded,

“Terrorism isn’t the message.

The message is there is no message.”

While on trial, he looked “dazed” and “confused” causing people to further question his mental health.

His defense team tried to get him to avoid the death penalty on the grounds of mental illness.

On July 10, the defense showed two videos of Holmes' strange behavior in his jail cell.

One video showed him running and slamming his head against the wall before sitting down, while the other showed him tethered to a bed while naked, attempting to cover his head with a blanket and then a sheet.

Why bring up this story?

Because in our secular world, we try to psychologize the “senseless evil” we see in our world.

What would make a Ph.

D. student who had no previous criminal history kill 12 and injure 70?

Our world calls it mental illness, or a lack of gun control, or a education, or a lack of proper emotional support.

But the Bible is not afraid to address real evil in the world with real supernatural forces that tempt people to do really wicked and evil things in the world.

When this shooting occur, no one really had a answer because it just sounds complete insanity for someone to engage in senseless killing.

But like I said, the Bible presents to us a more coherent explanation by pointing to us to real evil in the world by wicked spiritual forces that oppose God and all that is good.

This does not diminish man’s responsibility in committing evil, but it also shows us that greater forces of darkness are often at work that are not seen to to the visible eye.

The title of today’s message is Jesus’ dominion over demons and diseases.

The Bible does not shy away from the evil we see in the world, but confronts this reality head on.

And what we see in the person of Jesus Christ is his power over the demonic world and the physical world as he heals in his ministry.

As believers, we are not to fear demons more than God because God is in complete control and sovereign over demons.

But at the same time, we are not to ignore them as well because there is a real spiritual war going on in which Satan and his armies try to cause great evil and destruction in the world.

One of Satan’s titles is “father of lies” and “murderer from the very beginning.”

So we are going to look at a day in the life of Jesus today.

We’re going to see how Jesus confronts the demonic world with his power and his authority to confirm his true identity.

We will see how the works of Jesus confirm to the identity and person of Jesus.

Background/Recap

We have seen John the Baptist prepare the way for Jesus.

We have seen Jesus baptized in the Jordan to show his approval from heaven as heaven’s champion and the one who identifies himself with sinners.

We have seen Jesus’ temptation in the the wilderness where he passes the test where Adam and Israel failed.

And we have seen his proclamation of Good News as he calls and commissions his first followers.

Now Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee through his teaching and healings to show that the Kingdom of God has come in his person.

And as Jesus’ begins his public ministry, we see his authority exercised in three ways:

Teaching (vv.

21-22)

Power (vv.

23-28)

Healing (vv.

29-34)

Scripture Reading:

Mark 1:

How does Jesus display his authority and therefore confirms his identity as the Son of God? First, notice his authority in his teaching....

I. Authority in Teaching (vv.

21-22)

And they went into Capernaum.

Capernaum, located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, took its name from Heb. Kephar Nahum (“village of Nahum”).

Archaeological evidence indicates that in the first century a harbor extended along a 2,500-foot promenade that was supported by an eight-foot-wide seawall.

Piers extended from the promenade a hundred feet into the lake.

It was a significant lakeside settlement, sufficiently important to have a detachment of Roman troops (Mt.

8:5–13), a customs post (2:14), and a resident official described as βασιλικός (Jn.

4:46).

Its population at the time may have been as high as 10,000

Capernaum was economically prosperous as a trade and fishing town.

Jesus would do much of his ministry here and would have probably stayed with his disciples Andrew and Peter who had a fishing business.

Teaching is therefore clearly for Mark an essential part of Jesus’ messianic mission, and one which is uniquely appropriate to him (though, like other aspects of his mission, it can be shared by his disciples, 6:30).

And immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching (v.

21)

As a good Jew, Jewish would attend synagogues every Sabbath with his parents.

The Sabbath began every Friday evening to Saturday evening.

The Temple used to be the centralized place of worship for the Jew, but once it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., people had to worship in synagogues because there was no centralized place of worship.

There was but one temple (in Jerusalem), whereas synagogues, the Greek derivation of which simply means “gathering places,” could be found throughout the Mediterranean world wherever ten or more Jewish males, thirteen years of age or older, were present.

In postexilic Judaism the word “scribe” came to designate an expert in the Torah, of whom Ezra was the first in an illustrious line (Ezra 7:6, 11).

The service consisted of prayer, praise, reading of scripture, and exposition by any rabbi or other competent person.

Jewish Synagogues would be similar to a church service.

There would be a lay leader who would often oversee the services of the Synagogue.

They would protect and organize the scrolls.

They would organize the songs.

It was very similar to what we do in church services today for Christians were taking the practice of synagogues into their services.

The service consisted of prayer, praise, reading of scripture, and exposition by any rabbi or other competent person.

And often, guest teachers or rabbis were invited to give an exposition of the Scripture.

Jesus may have already been known in the community and Jesus began teaching.

Fifteen times Mark indicated that Jesus taught (also v. 22; 2:13; 4:1–2; 6:2, 6, 34; 8:31; 9:31; 10:1; 11:17; 12:14, 35; 14:49), and twelve times he referred to him as a teacher (see references in comments on 4:38).

Teaching was a priority in the ministry of Jesus as we will see.

It does not give us the content of Jesus’ teaching, but the important point Mark is trying to make is result of Jesus’ teaching.

They are signs of the advent of the kingdom of God.

Especially do the exorcisms denote the breaking down of the reign of Satan and the establishing of the reign of God.

They were amazed at his teaching.

They were astonished at his teaching.

I like to watch America’s Got Talent sometimes.

Sometimes, people do some incredible acts.

Whether it is putting an apple on a judge, and shooting an arrow through the apple on his head.

Or whether it is doing a magic trick that leaves the judges speechless, the judges are amazed at what they see.

Well, in the same way, when Jesus taught, the people were amazed.

They were saying, “wow!”, where did this guy come from?

How did he do that?

Every word was perfectly crafted and illustrated.

Jesus was a master teacher.

Minds were blown away as Jesus taught.

Why was his teaching so amazing?

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

In postexilic Judaism the word “scribe” came to designate an expert in the Torah, of whom Ezra was the first in an illustrious line (Ezra 7:6, 11).

Scribes were revered, for they had the title of “Rabbi” which means “my great one.”

They were scholars, professors, lawyers.

They were the erudite and elite of society because of their learning and study.

The scribes derive their authority from the “tradition of the elders” (7:8–13)—the fathers of Judaism, we might say; whereas Jesus receives his authority directly from the Father in heaven (1:11)

“Unclean” indicates that which is polluted or contaminated, which in a Jewish perspective is tantamount to ungodly