February 2, 2003 Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet and come out of him!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching - and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
This past Tuesday the President of the United States gave a speech to the entire country. Did you watch it? Were you impressed? Many Americans listened to what he had to say, expecting he would mainly talk about reasons why we should invade Iraq. But surprisingly he brought up different issues, like AIDS in Africa and hydrogen cars - issues that many people weren’t expecting him to talk about. Finally at the end he brought up the issue with Iraq. Then afterwards the critics came on to give their evaluation of his speech. The conservatives liked it, while the liberals ridiculed it. My one critique - without getting political - is that I wish they’d stop clapping every two seconds - boy that’s irritating.
Writing and giving a speech or performing for an audience is a difficult thing to do. When you go to a concert or a speech - there’s a whole different atmosphere to it when it’s live. Some entertainers have produced very good music but couldn’t perform it in front of an audience very well. There’s a big difference between writing a sermon and giving a sermon. Sometimes I am very excited about what I have written, but then when I give it - many aren’t as enthused. The last thing I like to see is someone’s eyes starting to go half shut - to have them slowly slink into their pew and become one with the cushion. But it’s hard to prevent sometimes.
There was something about Jesus that made Him stand out from anyone else. People would go without food - travel long distances - all to see Him. He was simply an amazing Person - which shouldn’t surprise us - since He was God. Today we’re going to look at what set Him apart from other people - what made Him simply Amazing!
Jesus is Simply Amazing
I. His words are amazing
Mark gives us the first thing that made Jesus stand apart. They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. One thing that made Jesus stand apart was his teaching.
When I looked up the word “amazed” in the Bible- I was amazed at how many times Jesus amazed the crowds. For instance, When Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, God’s Word says - the crowds were amazed at his teaching (Matthew 7:28.) When Jesus went home to Nazareth to teach, Matthew 13:54 says they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. Even when he said nothing, people were amazed - as Pilate was when Jesus would not answer the Jews’ accusations.
It wasn’t the WAY that Jesus taught that was amazing - but WHAT Jesus said - that amazed the people. He would expound on God’s Word in such vivid and concrete ways - that most people had a hard time swallowing what he was saying. For instance, he told Nicodemus - an old man - that he needed to be born again if he wanted to enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus thought, “what! I can’t go back into my mothers’ womb and be born again?” It was this amazing statement of Jesus that made him think and ask questions however.
Another example is when Jesus very plainly told the disciples that he would be crucified in Jerusalem. But instead of running away from Jerusalem - he went straight there. Mark 10 says that the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Jesus was talking about life and death situations - and it amazed them that Jesus would walk into such a situation.
One of my favorite examples is when Jesus told the disciples in Mark 10 - “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” And how did Jesus answer? With man this is impossible!
If you stop and think about what Jesus said - it is simply amazing, is it not? He gave vivid pictures about a rich man burning in hell and begging for a drink of water. He told the people that they had to be perfect if they wanted to inherit the kingdom of God. (Matthew 5:48) But the most amazing things he said pertained to himself. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”. (John 8:58) With that one statement, Jesus was saying that He was God Almighty - the same God that filled and created the universe was contained in His flesh. That is an amazing thing to say. Late on he told everyone - “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME.” In very clear terms Jesus said that He is the only person that determines the difference between whether someone burns eternally in hell or lives forever in paradise. Our life and death revolves around HIS life and death, according to Jesus. Even though it is IMPOSSIBLE for man to save Himself - God accomplishes this through His own miraculous birth, death and resurrection.
When Mark compared the way Jesus taught to the teachers of the law, there was no comparison. I have no idea how exactly they taught - but I could envision them sitting there reading their Scriptures and telling the people, “remember not to eat your pork. You can only walk so many steps on the Sabbath.” Maybe they quoted some other scholars - but all in all - there was no comparison. Jesus was confident and convicted and knowledgaeble of what He said and the Scriptures said. It was authoritative and the people were amazed.
Is there any other way that you can respond? Sure. Some people called Jesus demon possessed. The people of his own home town took offense at him - because they remembered growing up with Jesus. Instead of being amazed at his TEACHING, they were more amazed that it was JESUS saying the things he was saying. They were treating him like a freak of nature - a circus side show act - instead of God Almighty. Mark 6 says that Jesus was “amazed at their lack of faith.”
When I was in Washington D.C. I went on a tour of the Library of Congress. We decided to go on a tour. Up walked a lady with a limp and a hunchback - her hair was disheveled and she spoke with almost a slur. She said to us, “I’m your tour guide.” Her tour reflected her appearance, as she stumbled through facts and actually quit the tour half way through - telling us to follow the tour in front of her. My friend and I stood there dumbfounded and just laughing. Here she had a wonderful building to show off - and she gave the worst tour I had ever had - making it boring. That tour guide makes me feel guilty when I think about myself. Here I have the most exciting message ever made - God becoming man and saving the world from an eternity in hell! Yet sometimes I give these tours with droopy eyes. I don’t always know my material as well as I could. I wonder what God thinks of my tours of His beautiful Word! Amazing!
And how about your tours? What kind of a message do you send to your family? To fellow members? Do you wake up on a Sunday morning and say to your children, “we are going to go and listen to God’s Word!” Or do you say, “come on! Hurry up! We’ve got to get to church!” do you come into worship with an eager attitude to listen, or a bedraggled look that says, “I hope I can make it through.” I wonder how amazed God is when he looks at us during a worship service. As he sees your eyes fall half asleep, I wonder what he is thinking. As he watches your eyes glance at your watch - to see how close to 11:30 it is, I wonder what he is thinking. As he listens to your brain think off to this afternoon’s activities - are you amazing him? When I was in high school I fell sound asleep during a sermon - and then I had the gall to tell the pastor after the service, “nice sermon.” He laughed. So did God. Here we have the greatest news in the world - that determines our eternal destiny - the Word of GOD HIMSELF - and we act like it is boring. Amazing.
It makes you wonder, “why does God put up with us? Why does he allow us to continue on as His tour guides? Why does he continue to even give us opportunities to listen to His Word?” If I were God - I would probably say - if this is so boring to you then forget it. Go listen to some other god. But the amazing thing about God is that He doesn’t give up. When a young man named Eutychus fell asleep and fell from a window while Paul was preaching - he plunged to his death. But God didn’t say, “you deserve it!” What happened? Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted. (Ac 20:10-12) God raised the young man back to life, and gave him more opportunity to listen to God’s Word. Isn’t that a great illustration as to what God does with us. We feel guilty about our lack of zeal - lack of attention - we want to pay better attention. But Jesus throws Himself on us and says - “here’s my blood. Here’s my righteousness. Take my forgiveness! Get up - and listen again to my wonderful words of forgiveness and love.” What a gracious God we have!
II. His actions are amazing
Nobody was falling asleep during Jesus’ sermon. He didn’t need any visual aids or power point projectors to keep anyone’s attention. But man oh man did God provide a visual aid for their learning pleasure. Mark says, Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!" I don’t know if this guy came running in or if he was waiting in the rear of the synagogue - but whoa - what a commotion this must have caused! Imagine if some demon possessed guy came running into the middle of the worship service here and started yelling at me! Whoa! I’d probably have an unwanted substance in my drawers.
Notice what he said to Jesus - “what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” It’s almost like he’s asking - what are YOU doing here! This demon had become used to having free reign on the earth - and he didn’t like the idea of Jesus infringing on his territory and destroying him - sending him down to hell. Then he decided to tell everyone there that he knew who Jesus was - the Holy One of God. Well, Jesus was doing fine on convincing them of this on his own. He didn’t need this demon to come in there with his “personal testimony.” That would be like having someone like Dennis Rodman tell people what a great guy you are - not exactly a good character witness. So Mark says that Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet and come out of him!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. Jesus didn’t put up with this demon for one second. No matter how hard the demon tried to hold on to this man - he couldn’t fight Jesus command. One of them had to go - and it wasn’t going to be Jesus. With his powerful Word Jesus set the man free from his demon possession.
This was the icing on the cake. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching - and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." The people were absolutely amazed. Do you know what’s even more amazing? After a wonderful display like this, some of them said, “By Beelzebub, a the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” (Luke 11) Even with a miracle - people still didn’t believe him - because they just didn’t want to.
Wednesday’s paper talked about a kid who was in a car accident - went flying 60 feet through the air - his legs got caught in a telephone wire - and he hung there until help came. He prayed the same prayer over and over - and he realized after that miraculous event - that God kept him save and alive. The young man didn’t miss this miracle - yet how many of us miss these kinds of miracles every day! The very fact that our earth exists - that we have air to breathe - is a miracle produced by Jesus. Whenever a child is baptized - how often do we let the miracle of this just go right past us. In water and the Word - the Holy Spirit just entered a baby and washed that child’s sins away. That, my friends is a miracle. The fact that we are sitting here today and listening to God’s Word - believing that Jesus died for us - is a miracle! We were born dead in sin. There is no way we should have ended up as believers! But we are! It’s a miracle that God’s Word is so powerful that it can fight off powerful demons from reclaiming possession of your soul. It’s a miracle that God could give us His body and blood to eat and drink in a Supper that looks just like bread and wine. If you find yourself falling asleep to God’s Word - open your eyes to the miracles around you - here in this church. When you really think about it - they will amaze you.
When President Bush gave his speech - many Americans ears perked up - because our future is somewhat dependant on what he - as the commander in chief - decides for our country to do. The last time he addressed the country like this - he talked about how we are in a battle versus an axis of evil. This time again, he didn’t just talk about whether our investments are going up - he talked about a possible war. It was these topics alone that kept most people’s attention throughout the speech. He has an awesome responsibility - and he needs our prayers.
When Jesus spoke, he didn’t just talk about stock markets and hydrogen cars and earthly wars. Peter once said to Jesus - “you have the words of eternal life.” Jesus talked about an eternal battle - of good vs. evil - heaven and hell. With great authority, Jesus told His disciples that He had come to fight a battle against sin and death and the devil. Not only did Jesus talk about, he fought it and he won the war. Not only did he chase out demons, he chased out sin and death as He went on to die and rise from the dead. Jesus told us that His life and His words and His death has eternal consequences for us. Our eternity depends on it. Simply through faith in Him we go to heaven. Isn’t that the most amazing thing of all ? Amen.
