Have you ever heard someone speak or teach and realized that what they had to say was specifically for you? Have you ever realized that God was using someone to speak his word to your heart? I honestly have to say that it has been a while since I’ve had that happen to me. Now, part of the problem for me is that on Sunday mornings I am the one speaking and not the one being spoken to. At the same time, I do have to admit that God often speaks quite clearly to me as I am preparing a message and I find myself changed by what it is that he has to say to me.
But the real problem I have is that I often don’t go into a lesson or a message that I am about to hear with a listening heart. Instead, I take the tools I learned in seminary with me and my own biases and thoughts about how someone should speak, and I find myself critiquing how they say something instead of listening to what it is that they have to say.
This is a real loss for me, something that I believe holds me back. Because I am not going in with a teachable heart, God isn’t as able to teach me. And unfortunately, this is a common problem among pastors. We see preaching in terms of competition instead of trying to hear what God has to say to us. Now, it is funny, because when I go to a conference like the one I am going to this week in Chicago, I am usually able to turn that critical mind off. Maybe it is because they get big-name speakers who I know I am not in the same league as. Maybe it is because I am able to see myself in a different context, as a learner instead of as a fellow teacher. Either way, I do find that I am able to grow when I turn off the negative expectation. Maybe it’s just that the speakers we have at Midwinter Conference don’t manipulate their audiences in the same way that many pastors I hear seem to do.
But, in spite of the reason, I wonder if we truly prepare ourselves to hear God speak through each other. Or do we all make the mistake of letting our thoughts about the one who is speaking get in the way of the message that we need to hear? So, this morning, let us ask God to make all of our hearts teachable. Let us ask God to speak to us through his word and with authority.
I. Mark’s first Miracle
Jesus began his ministry in a surprisingly normal way. He had been baptized by John, he had spent forty days in the wilderness and he had been tempted by the devil. He then called his first disciples to follow him. After all this, Jesus went to synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.
It is always interesting to look at the structure of the gospels. You know, that in the gospel of John we are told that Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. But Mark doesn’t mention that miracle. Mark, instead chooses to focus on a different aspect of Jesus’ life. The first miracle that Mark records, after having been baptized, having been tempted, having chosen the first of his disciples, was a miracle that happened on the Sabbath in the midst of Jesus’ teaching.
So Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, in the place of worship, and we are told that there was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit. Now it has been common in modern times to dismiss evil spirits as superstition and say that the people of Jesus’ day blamed real, physical problems on evil spirits. Those who hold this view argue that many psychological problems were misunderstood as demon possession. The argument isn’t that Jesus didn’t heal these people. They will say that he did. But they will also say that evil spirits had nothing really to do with the situation. It is an interesting argument, but one that in the end I find to come up lacking, particularly in this case.
You see, this man possessed by an evil spirit doesn’t show some mental disorder, rather what we see is a man who seems to know a bit more about Jesus than the others around him. Instead, what we see is someone who has inside information that there is something special about Jesus. The evil spirit that possessed this man recognized Jesus for who and what he was; and this is obviously not some mental disease that Jesus healed, this is obviously something else. And so, if we truly accept that the Bible is telling us the truth in this story, then we need to accept that Jesus caste an evil spirit out of a man while he was teaching at the synagogue.
But again, I wonder why it is that Mark chooses to talk about this exorcism as the first miracle he mentions that Jesus does. We know that Jesus had probably done a few miracles before this, he had at least done the water to wine bit, but Mark chooses to set this one apart and make a big deal about it by mentioning it first.
I think there is actually a fairly simple explanation as to why Mark starts with this miracle. He is showing that Jesus’ miracles in and of themselves aren’t what is important. Instead he is tying Jesus’ first miracle to what is really important in Jesus’ life: his teaching.
II. Teaching with Authority
This miracle does show something about Jesus. It is something that is very clear to those who are present. It is so clear that they comment on it among themselves. They realize that there is authority in Jesus’ words. They realize that Jesus’ teachings mean something. They see that Jesus can even command evil spirits and they must obey. This miracle forces the people around Jesus to pay attention to his words because his words so obviously have power.
Do we acknowledge the power that is in the words and teachings of Jesus? I’m afraid we don’t always give them the authority they’re due. We focus on the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead and sometimes tend to ignore his life up to that point. This is somewhat understandable. After all, what Jesus did on the cross for us is huge. But Mark wants to make it clear to us here that Jesus was more than just a sacrifice. Jesus spoke with an authority that was unlike the authority of those around him. Jesus performed miracles to show that he had power and authority over the things of this earth. And Mark, as well as the other gospel writers, spends a lot of space telling us what it is that Jesus had to say.
So, if we, like those who saw Jesus caste out an evil spirit on that Sabbath morning, accept that Jesus spoke and taught with authority, then we need to take the teachings of Jesus quite seriously. This is honestly something that is quite hard to do. You see, Jesus’ teachings are often hard. When someone looks at the Sermon on the Mount, one thinks that Jesus is calling for something that is impossible. Many Bible scholars believe that through Jesus’ teachings on righteousness, he is showing that it is impossible for us to be righteous on our own, so that we will understand the need for salvation.
Unfortunately, I find this to be the easy way out. This belief allows us to ignore Jesus’ commandments. It allows us to be comfortable with the fact that we aren’t able to stand up to the measure that Jesus has put before us. It’s true that we cannot stand up to that measure, but we should never be comfortable with this. When Jesus tells us that when we are lusting after someone who we are not married to, we are in our heart committing adultery against them, we need to take this seriously. When Jesus tells us that when we are angry with our brother, we are as good as killing them in our mind, we need to take this seriously. When Jesus tells us that we are to follow the Old Testament practice of tithing 10% of our income, we need to take this seriously. When Jesus tells us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, we need to take this seriously. When Jesus tells us that we need to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, instead of seeking after the things of this world, we need to take this seriously.
Jesus’ teaching, his word has power to it. When Jesus commands the evil spirits, they find that they must obey him. And yet, Jesus has given us commands that we feel fine disobeying. When this happens, are we being less faithful than demons? Now that is a scary thought.
So we need to allow Jesus’ authority to speak to us. We need to read and hear Jesus’ words and act on them. We need to be faithful to the teachings that Jesus has given us. God spoke through Jesus. God taught his people about what he wanted his followers to live like in Jesus’ words. We cannot turn our backs on Jesus’ teachings, on his words. We need to acknowledge Jesus’ authority. We talk about having Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If we really want Jesus to have this role in our lives, we need to follow his teachings, and the only way to follow his teachings is to spend time with them, getting to know them. Learn the words of Jesus. Make yourself intimately familiar with his teachings. Then you will see that he speaks with a true authority that even you can follow.
III. In the Synagogue
There is something disturbing and jarring about this scripture, though. It is something that isn’t readily noticeable, but it is worth noting. Here we have Jesus in a synagogue preaching and an evil spirit shows itself. The question that disturbs me about this is what is a possessed man doing going to synagogue. You would think that in a place of worship, people would be protected from the influence of the devil. And yet, here in scripture, we see that there was a man under the influence of the devil, gathering with the faithful to worship God.
Now I’m not about to talk about demon possession today, for I believe that the devil has learned to be much more subtle in his approach, especially in a society that is so scientifically minded. But at the same time, I do believe that we allow Satan into our lives more than we realize.
When we do not accept the authority of Jesus’ teachings, when we choose to do our own thing and follow our own path, we are opening a door to the devil. When we allow addictions into our lives, we are opening a door to the devil. When we give into hate, pornography, violence, deceit, we are opening a door to the devil. And unfortunately, we have all opened those doors, or doors like them. It is a part of our sinful nature that we choose the things we think we want rather than the things that are good for us, the things God wants for us.
But we cannot let our sinful nature become an excuse for us to live in sin. No, we need to allow Jesus to speak to us with authority and caste the evil out of us. We need to allow Jesus’ teachings to dwell in our lives so that we can move past our own sinfulness. We need to be faithful to our Lord and Savior.
So let Jesus speak to you. Listen closely to his words. Find the power and authority that only he has. And follow his commands faithfully. This is our call as followers of Christ. This is the life we have chosen as Christians. It is not an easy life, and we often fail. The good news is that God loves us no matter what and will be with us no matter what. But we are still called to be faithful and live under the authority that Jesus’ words hold. Even the evil spirit in today’s scripture obeyed Jesus. And because of this, the people in that synagogue, who heard Jesus teach, realized that there was power in Jesus and his teaching. May we see this same thing and respond with faithfulness to what Jesus teaches us. Amen.
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