Introduction
Our action-movie director Mark is ready to show Jesus in action. Jesus has proclaimed the good news, called his disciples, and now we are going to see just what this man can do.
The Teacher
The scene begins tamely enough. 21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. Typically such preaching, or teaching, was done by a rabbi from the synagogue, but it was not unusual to “give the chair” to a visiting rabbi or dignitary. The speaker read the Scripture standing up, but taught sitting down in the seat known as the Seat of Moses. This same routine is probably taking place in our scene. We don’t know the Scripture read or what he said. All we know is the effect his teaching had on his hearers: 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
The people were amazed. It’s a little difficult to understand exactly what the people were feeling. Were they excited? “Wow! This guy is a great teacher!” Or were they taken aback? “Whoa! What’s going on here? Who is he to teach like this?” Positively or negatively, they were shaken up.
Note what it is that shakes them up: because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. It’s the way he teaches, specifically that he teaches with authority. What does teaching with authority mean?
What it doesn’t mean is teaching with dynamism. Jesus may have been a dynamic speaker, though it is doubtful he would have spoken with a lot of flair in a synagogue setting. Sitting in a chair allows only so much animation.
What the crowd notes is that Jesus spoke not as the teachers of the law. The phrase, teachers of the law is really one word. The King James translates the word as scribes. Scribes were not what we generally associate with the term. They were not mere clerks who copied Scripture and other writings. Scribes were teachers of the Law of God, the rabbis. Scribes were the theological scholars of their day. They were the seminary professors, the interpreters of biblical law who judged court cases. They were the preachers and teachers in the synagogues. My Bible encyclopedia refers to them as “authoritative expositors of the Torah.” Did you catch that word “authoritative”? They were men of authority.
This makes it all the more puzzling as to what is meant by Jesus speaking with authority unlike the teachers of the Law. How did his authority differ from that of the scribes? Matthew’s record of the “Sermon on the Mount” gives us our clue.
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that…27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that…31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife… 32 But I tell you that…33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath… 34 But I tell you… 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you…43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you…”
Did you pick up that recurring phrase – but I tell you? Jesus referred to what was accepted as traditional authoritative teaching and either challenged it or added to it with the only justification that he said so: no quoting other rabbis or even quoting Scripture, which he does other times.
To help you understand better, let me contrast Jesus’ teaching with my own. I teach as a scribe would teach. I possess a measure of authority. I am ordained as a minister to teach and preach Scripture with authority. You are not to regard my preaching as just another opinion being expressed. Rather, you are to receive it as a faithful exposition of God’s Word. That’s authority to a degree. My authority goes only so far as I faithfully interpret God’s revealed Word. If I teach falsely, I can be stripped of my authority. Therefore, I am careful to assert only what I know Scripture to say, and, if I give a questionable interpretation, I quote other “scribes” or other Scripture.
Jesus, on the other hand, if he were standing in this pulpit, would not bother to quote anyone, at least not other scribes. He regarded himself as needing only the authority of God. As he told the people in John 7:16,17: “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
The Exorcist
So, Jesus teaches and causes a little stir over the sense of authority he possesses about himself. Suddenly, a man possessed by a demon appears! That, you can be sure, caused quite a stir. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out…
I say the man appears. The impression Mark gives is that he was sitting in the synagogue service all along. It is when Jesus teaches that the demon in him becomes agitated. Is it the authority which emanates from Jesus that stirs him up? Whatever it is, this is one upset demon.
We come to a moment when we are allowed a glimpse of the spiritual world that is very real. Hamlet, after he sees and converses with the ghost of his father, says to this friend, Horatio,
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
So we must come to the same conclusion. There is an unseen world that we mere humans know but little, only as much as God chooses to give us.
Here we are given a glimpse of the relationship between demons and Jesus. Again, clearly the demon is agitated. Something about Jesus rouses tremendous fear. Look at what he shouts out.
24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? The demon sees Jesus as an enemy, and a deadly one at that: Have you come to destroy us? Notice the plural? The demon speaks on behalf of all the demons. He sees Jesus as the enemy of all the demons who has come to destroy them.
This is a curious conclusion of the demon. Why does he attribute so much power to Jesus? Why show so much fear? What is it that he knows? He tells what he knows: I know who you are—the Holy One of God! This Jesus, whom everyone else knows only as Jesus who comes from Nazareth, is the One Set Apart by God. That is what “holy” means – set apart, specifically set apart for God. Jesus is not simply one who is holy; he is the Holy One, whose coming God’s people longed for and God’s enemies dreaded.
This is what has unnerved the demon. The coming of the Messiah meant the coming of deliverance for God’s people, but destruction for his enemies. Has that day come? Has Jesus come too early? Weren’t the demons supposed to be protected for a longer period of time? Maybe that’s the reason for the question? Whatever exactly the demon thought, it is evident that he is expecting a time when he and his fellow demons will be destroyed by this very person.
Observe now Jesus’ response. There is no conversation, only a sharp command: 25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” It is just as clear that Jesus sees this demon as an enemy. There certainly is no sense of compassion coming from him. The demon is an oppressor with whom Jesus has no interest in sparring. “Shut up and get out” is his only response.
Now, here is the odd thing; the demon does just that. 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. It is evident in the manner in which he leaves that the demon does not want to give up his victim. That he shook the man violently, could mean he gave a parting blow, though I can’t imagine Jesus allowing that. I think, rather, it indicates the inner conflict of the demon who wants to stay, maybe is trying to stay, but is compelled to go forth. Certainly the observation that he came out of the man with a shriek would indicate the agony the demon is under.
Authority
Mark then takes us back to the people. 27 The people were all so amazed. I bet they were! We are told that 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. I’m sure news did spread quickly and widely.
But here is what has always confused me in this story. This dramatic event of an exorcism takes place and the crowd expresses astonishment over Jesus’ teaching. What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! Teaching? Jesus casts out a demon with nothing more than a rebuke, and the crowd is wowed by his teaching? I’ve wondered if the translators translated the Greek word correctly. But no, it is the word which always means teaching - didaché. Was the crowd, then, meaning that Jesus taught the demon? No, they refer to Jesus’ words to the demon as giving orders. What is it about this teaching?
It’s the authority. We are back to our discussion earlier. The crowd was already “amazed” by the authority in which Jesus was teaching. But the appearance and casting out of a demon gives further insight and astonishment regarding Jesus’ authority. Before, Jesus’ authority was something which he himself indicated. Now, the very forces of evil display it.
By the way, the Greek text is ambiguous on where the term “authority” should be applied. If you are reading the King James Version, you will note the crowd’s comments translated this way: What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits. It is unsure if authority is intended to go with teaching or with the giving orders. It doesn’t matter. That Jesus gives orders with authority makes the crowd more amazed at the new teaching. And how is the teaching new? Because it comes with a new authority unlike that of anyone else.
It is authority that Mark is bringing to our attention. Consider then what we are to understand about it. It is significant that the hearers of Jesus’ teaching and observers of his exorcism do not use the term “power.” “This guy sure is a powerful preacher!” “What power he must have to cast out a demon!” Jesus, to be sure, is powerful, and elsewhere that term will be used to describe his miracle work, but the point being made here is the authority he possesses. Jesus is able to teach what he teaches because of the unique authority he has. He is able to cast out demons by a mere command because of his authority over them. It’s his authority that compels obedience.
Let me illustrate what I mean. For five years I served as principal of a high school in center city Philadelphia. With my size and demeanor I have never struck fear in anyone, much less street-wise urban teenagers. Nevertheless, my students were fearful if I merely looked disapprovingly at them. Fearful of what? That I would throw them around? Hardly. They feared the authority invested in me. I possessed the authority to cast them out of the school. If I had given the same disapproving look to some of their friends in their neighborhood, I would be the one in trouble.
Authority is what Jesus possessed and what called for immediate obedience by even the forces that opposed him. Jesus came not just as a powerful warrior but as the supreme authority over his dominion.
Lesson
There is a saying, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Similarly, we might say fools rush in where demons fear to tread. Of course, demons still do not live in obedience to Jesus. If they did, they would quit working for Satan. But they understand with whom they have irretrievably cast their lots and the destiny that awaits them. They know also the Holy One they work against and yet must still obey whenever he commands. The demons know what so many do not – the Holy One of God. They know the destiny of those who refuse to bow before him. And they know the protection he gives to his people who do call on him.
Many today do not obey, not because they’ve consciously cast their lots with Satan, but because they act without true consciousness. They act according to how far their reason carries them, which in truth is not very far. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophies, and we would do well to humbly receive what is revealed to us.
The same applies to us Christians. We would do well to meditate upon what we confess easily with our lips. Surely we would act differently if we did. How would we truly regard our sin, if we fully understood Jesus as the Holy One as do the demons? How much better would we obey our Lord, understanding his authority as the demons understand it? Even we can learn from what the demons know.
