A Day in the Synagogue

Sermon Notes, Sunday, Jan 31, 2021,Epiphany 4 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority. Packed into this verse is the central zeitgeist of the entire Gospel of Mark. We have amazed hearers. We have questioning doubters. We have new teaching. And we have authority such as had not been seen for 400 years, since the days of the prophets. Out of that milieu will emerge one who will be acclaimed as the Son-of-God. But getting there will not be easy. I invite you to take a little time this week, two hours will likely be enough, to read through the Gospel of Mark. We've been doing just that during Lunch N Learn for the past several months. It is so helpful to be able to see the big picture in each of the individual lessons we examine each week. Mark tells a compelling story of discovery that has many ups and downs along the way. But central to everything is the person of Jesus who cuts across the political and religious landscape like a Midwest tornado. Sometimes healing, sometimes restoring, sometimes condemning, sometimes proclaiming the Kingdom of God and sometimes standing mute before his accusers. Mark's story is largely told from the point of view of the people Jesus encountered. So there is a lot of astonishment and amazement in Mark. Because that is what Jesus did to people. He amazed them. They didn't quite know what to make of him but they could not ignore him nor could they forget him. You will also find a lot of "immediately, and suddenly, and at that moment" in Mark. Fr. Thom could guide you through the immediacy of Mark's Gospel better than I. But for now understand that these phrases have less to do with actual time than with the jarring intrusion of the supernatural into the natural world. We will have more to say about that when we examine today's lesson. Finally, it is helpful to have a sense of the world view Mark speaks to. In Mark's Gospel we find a culture that is looking for a savior, that knows it is in desperate need of a savior, and knows that God has promised a savior. But for over 400 years that promise has not been realized. And now, under the iron arm of Rome, it seems more distant than ever. Jesus comes into that world knowing that He is that savior. But the world does not know that. Just as John the Baptist proclaimed at the start of Mark, that he was to prepare the way for the Lord, so Jesus must also spend much of his ministry preparing the way for what he is about to do. A tension running through Mark is this: Jesus must prepare the world for himself. The world is in desperate need of him, but not yet ready for him. That's why we see him telling people he heals not to talk about it. A question to ask while reading Mark is who or what needs to change before Jesus breaks through? It's also a question we may need to ask of ourselves if we seek a closer walk with Jesus. Now, today's Gospel reading. Jesus comes to the town of Capernaum with his newly minted disciples. On the Sabbath he goes to the synagogue as is customary for a Rabbi to do. But that's where the customary ends. We find the first usage of the adverb "immediately." That could be taken to mean it was the first thing he did on entering Capernaeum. But other translations express time as "when the Sabbath came, he went to the synagogue." So we should rather see this "immediately" as a flag heralding something supernatural that is about to collide with the natural. This visit by this Rabbi to this synagogue will be unlike any other one. That assumption is born out by what follows. "And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes." It wasn't just that he preached a good sermon. Good illustrations. Good use of the Torah. It wasn't just that he had a firm grasp of Judaic history and his lessons were thought provoking. He taught with authority. He taught differently than the scribes. We will see that same authority described again by the disciples on the walk to Emmaus when they exclaim, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scripture to us?" Lk. 24:32. Or again in the upper room when he met with his disciples and Luke reports, "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures." Lk. 24:45. His authority came from beyond the text. For indeed his authority came not from the text but from the one who wrote the text. Here at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus offers the world a glimpse into who he is. But understanding and acceptance is still a long way off. For now, the reaction is astonishment. Something beyond human knowledge, the knowledge of the scribes, was heard in that synagogue. And then, something else beyond human knowledge was heard. "And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, "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." Here's our second "Immediately." This time it is not an intervention of the godly supernatural but of the ungodly. The devil, it seems, also can intercept the natural world with jarring effect. Mark's account of the temptation of Jesus is bare in details. But from the other Gospel writers we hear Satan engaging Jesus directly after his baptism and trying to corrupt his ministry. Luke tells us that failing, "He (the devil) left him until an opportune time." Lk. 4:13. Here is the first opportune time. Jesus having astonished his listeners is accosted by a man with an unclean spirit. If he succeeds in his disruption, the ministry of Jesus is wounded before it begins. This is a tense and very real threat. Every bit the match of the temptation in the desert. Now, in the synagogue, the house of God, impurity bursts in. That is what it means to have an unclean spirit. Underneath the protective eyes of the scribes, impurity breaks into God's house and rears up in Jesus' face. It has no place being there. It does not belong there. The man, unlike the sabbath worshippers, knows exactly who Jesus is and calls him out by name as the Holy One of God. That is to say, the pure One of God, as pure as the man with the unclean spirit is impure. But if the world is not yet ready to know who Jesus is from his own lips, neither is it ready to know him from the lips of Satan. All he succeeds in doing is add to the mystery of who Jesus is. "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." Mk 1:27 Jesus commands the unclean spirit to be quiet. The revelation must wait. The world isn't ready yet to know that Jesus is the Holy One of God. But Jesus doesn't stop with stopping up Satan. He heals the man who bore the affliction of carrying the devil on his back. "But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" Mk 1:25. And so he does, screaming and shrieking but obeying as he must. The last word belongs to the people, as it so often does in Mark. Jesus becomes famous. Throughout the countryside. Word of him spreads far and wide. Who is he? A prophet? The first real prophet in over 400 years? Or a magician, or a charlatan? Or the Holy One-of God? Few if any would go that far at this point in Jesus ministry. But he has begun to tell them, or show them, that he is indeed the Son-of-God and they will hear it and see it when they have eyes to see and ears to hear. Jesus presents us with the same dilemma. Who is he? We have all the evidence he gave in his lifetime and more. The proof of Jesus being the Son-of-God didn't end with the resurrection, but new evidence is being added every day, every hour, by the working of the Holy Spirit. Everyday, ordinary lives become touched by Jesus and are resurrected into Kingdom lives. We have so much more evidence than did those people in that synagogue. The Holy Spirit continues to be alive and pointing to Jesus for all the world to see. Yet in one respect they are more ready to hear than we are today. They expected God to act. They waited for Him to act. We, in our day, no longer wait for God to act. Our expectations are lowered to the point that we have given up on God. We haven't given up on our salvation. We expect to reach goodness and perfection. Utopia still beckons. But we'll get there ourselves, by our own hands. It's almost in our grasp. This generation, or the next, or the one after that, ad infinitum. Meanwhile Jesus will astound and amaze anyone and everyone who looks to him. His salvation isn't some distant goal. It is immediate. Now. At this moment. Breaking and breaking in. "What is this? A new teaching with authority. The Holy One-of-God. Amen.