Unclean

TITLE: UNCLEAN

SCRIPTURE: ST. MARK 1:21-28 / LEVITICUS 13:45

We don’t know what Jesus was preaching in the Synagogue in Capernaum. History didn’t record what he said, but people were astounded by it. This makes me think of the people – the men – who witnessed this. I can imagine them saying “Did you hear what happened?”

• What happened?

• This new guy, Jesus, was talking

• What did he say?

• He was just talking, it was different than what we usually hear. But then this guy started yelling at him. He called Jesus the Holy One of God

• What did Jesus do?

• He just said, ‘BE SILENT, AND COME OUT OF HIM!

• And then the guy yelled, and an evil spirit came out of him

• Next time Jesus is in town, you should Come and see him. Come and see

We are told through the text the man had an “Unclean Spirit.” Tradition describes it as an evil spirit. Nearly two dozen times in the Gospels, people are said to have unclean or evil spirits in them. The unclean spirit identified Jesus by name, and then called him the HOLY ONE OF GOD. Jesus says, “Be silent.”

Throughout the first chapters of Mark, Jesus tells people to be quiet, not just those possessed by an unclean spirit. He heals people and then tells them to keep it a secret, but they can’t. Jesus can control the unclean spirit, but he can’t control people talking about him.

• Jesus heals, and people want to tell others about it

• Jesus heals the broken-hearted and unclean, and people want to talk about it

• Jesus changes lives, and people want to proclaim it

• If every voice was still, the rocks and stones themselves would sing God’s praises

Jesus came into Capernaum to begin His ministry in Galilee, and we are told on the Sabbath, He entered the synagogue, and He taught. The significance of this is that Mark wants us to understand the character of Jesus’ teaching ministry early in his Gospel.

• Jesus’ ministry was marked by - Teaching - Healing - Casting out of demons

• Those were the three elements that distinguished Him in His first-century ministry

So, Mark begins by calling attention to Jesus’ teaching and, most importantly, the people’s response to His teaching. Mark says, “they”— that is, the people of Capernaum who were in the synagogue — “WERE ASTONISHED AT HIS TEACHING, FOR HE TAUGHT THEM AS ONE HAVING AUTHORITY, AND NOT AS THE SCRIBES.”

Jesus’ speech was reminiscent of the Old Testament prophets, who would preface their statements and oracles not by saying, “in my studied opinion,” but by saying, “THUS SAITH THE LORD.” Here was the Lord Himself, the word of God incarnate, rising to speak in the synagogue on theological matters. When He opened His holy mouth, everyone present was stopped in their tracks, filled with amazement, and pierced by a sense of dread to hear the truth proclaimed with transcendent finality.

• That is how we should respond every time we hear the Word of God

• We are not listening to scribes, we are not listening to preachers

• We are not listening to theologians

• Our hearts should be filled with holy dread and awe before the Word of God

Immediately, the text transitions to the event that followed Jesus’ teaching. Still in the context of the synagogue, Mark tells us there was a man with an unclean spirit, “AND HE CRIED OUT, SAYING: ‘LET US ALONE! WHAT HAVE WE TO DO WITH YOU, JESUS OF NAZARETH? DID YOU COME TO DESTROY US? I KNOW WHO YOU ARE—THE HOLY ONE OF GOD!’”

Have you ever noticed - in the OT, the idea of demonic possession is extremely rare. Have you ever noticed there are very few references to the demonic world throughout the Old Testament. In later church history, there is also limited reference to it. But while Jesus was on the earth, all hell broke loose, and the demonic representatives and ambassadors of Satan himself were everywhere oppressing people. Later we will see Jesus announces the significance of His work of demon exorcism by saying to His hearers, “IF YOU SEE ME CASTING OUT DEMONS BY THE FINGER OF GOD”—which is a metaphor for the HOLY GHOST—“THEN YOU KNOW THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME UPON YOU.” We find that text in ST. LUKE 11:20.

I have always found it fascinating to note that if you look in Mark’s Gospel and the other Gospels, it seems like the first ones to fully recognize the identity of Christ in the hiddenness of his incarnation are the demons. Before the people recognized Him in His fullness, the ambassadors of hell instantly recognized Him. The possessed man was in the synagogue, and when Jesus turned His attention to him, this man with the unclean spirit began to scream, saying - “LET US ALONE! GET AWAY FROM US.” I question, why the plural?