Mark 1:21-28 - Jesus, in his authority, brings healing

Drastic times call for drastic measures. Big problems require big solutions, and when the mess is large, it takes someone able to clean it up. When damage is great, it’s not enough to put a Band-Aid on the wound. Severe injuries sometimes require surgery, dramatic incisions to cut away the illness. Our sin, the depth of our misery, the evil that is in our hearts and our minds, that comes out of our mouths and is produced by our hands, that sin has to be stopped, and that’s not always easy.

But sometimes, all we’ll do is dab at the mess. We have our issues, but we’ve found a way to live with them. We lose our temper, and we know that we have a problem with anger. But everybody has their thing, and this is ours. We’ve come to be known as a grumpy person, other people have learned to live with it, and so have we. Maybe we’ll get around to dealing with it sometime, but not now.

We know we talk too much about other people. We know as we’re doing it. We hear the words going over our lips and we know that we didn’t really need to talk about it, there really wasn’t a point. But we’re doing it anyway. And really, what harms comes from it. It’s not really that bad.

We’re okay with where we’re at in our Christian life. We’ve reached a point where we can be comfortable. We’re not the best Christian in the world, but we’re not the worse either. In fact, we’re probably on the good end. We go to church. We don’t act immoral. We don’t read the Bible as much as we should, we’re not picking up new habits, we’re not being stretched in our walk with Jesus, but give me a break. We’re not fanatics. Don’t ask me to grow. Don’t ask me to stretch. Just leave me where I am.

We know our problems, and we really should do something about it. So we give it a little nudge here, and a push there, the sin doesn’t seem to go anywhere, the change doesn’t seem to happen, so we quit. We go back to life as normal. A substandard, less than acceptable life. But a normal life.

Well, Jesus is about to end all of that. He’s not satisfied with normal. He’s not going to allow substandard, and He’ll not stand for unacceptable. Jesus is going to step in and change things. He’s going to show up and point some things out. He’s going to speak, and we won’t be the same. That’s Him. That’s just what He’s like. That’s our Jesus.

We’re getting to know Jesus a little better this month. Last week, we saw His compassion, His kindness. We saw how He likes us and we like to be with Him. We were drawn to Him, we want to be with Him. Now, as we move into Mark 1, don’t let go of this. This is where we run into problem, when we get one glimpse of Jesus at a time, and we don’t put the pieces together. If all we see of Jesus is a kind, compassionate person, we’ll like Him for a time, but after a while He’ll appear weak. Like a great best friend, but not as the Lord of lords and the King of kings.

But if we forget His kindness, His joy, His compassion, then He’ll seem distant, unapproachable, someone to fear. Because, as we see here in Mark 1, while He is king, He is also a Man, a God of authority. Verse 21:

This is where Jesus liked to go, remember? To talk with people who had heard about God but who hadn’t met God yet. To talk with people who THOUGHT they knew about God, and show them who God really was. He came, preaching the good news about the kingdom of God, preaching freedom, restoration, recovery and the Lord’s favor.

And the people may have heard about all this before. I’m sure the pastors of the synagogues had at some time preached a sermon about all this stuff. The people had heard plenty of sermons by this time. But this one was different. There was no dozing off, daydreaming in this sermon. Jesus had their full attention. Verse 22:

Which really doesn’t say much about the teachers of the law.

But then again, who can compare with Jesus. Even the best preacher, even the best pastor, doesn’t have what Jesus has. Unfortunately, sometimes pastors and preachers stand in the way of Jesus. It’s too easy to see guy talking up hear, and miss the Person that we really want to see. We actually think that it’s the preacher who is doing all the talking on a Sunday morning, and we miss Jesus Himself speaking. I bring God’s word, but don’t hear me talking. Listen to Jesus. You’ll notice a big difference.

Because as sure as I am these truths, about who Jesus is, about what He came to do, I can’t speak with the same authority that Jesus does. It’s not a sermon that changes us, it’s Jesus. It’s not the preaching that makes us aware of our sin, it’s not the words that make us holy. It’s Jesus.

And He does this with authority. He knows what He’s doing. He speaks the truth. There’s no dancing around the issue. If there’s a problem, Jesus points it out. He doesn’t put a spin on it, and He doesn’t excuse it and He doesn’t give us an escape from the truth. He says it like it is. You have a problem with lust. You sin in your envy. You sin in your spending habits. You lie. You cheat. You avoid opportunities to grow in your faith and in service to Me. You dishonor your wife. You disrespect your husband. That’s a fact. Again, this is not me saying this, because Jesus is talking to me about my own sin. This is Jesus speaking.

But this isn’t just talk. Jesus just doesn’t say words. He backs up those words with action. Verse 23:

There’s a bit of a problem here. Up until this point, there has been a man, a member of the synagogue, coming every Saturday, morning and evening service, and he has been possessed with a demon. And no one has noticed. How did this get by the leaders of the synagogue? How did they miss this?

But then, how many sins do we have that others don’t know about. As long as we put our nice clothes on, and they’re relatively free of wrinkles and stain, as long as our hair is combed and in place, as long as we washed our face, and maybe brushed our teeth, we can get along pretty well here without anyone noticing our sins, the nastiness way down deep inside, the priorities that are all mixed up, the values that we’ve built our lives on, that aren’t really that valuable. No one notices. Probably because everyone else has their stuff that they’re hiding with the clothes and the hair and the teeth.

But in the presence of Jesus, all the pretending stops. The disguise ripped away. Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, exposes the truth, as ugly as it is. The demon knows who this is. The demon knows who has the authority, who’s in charge. And He doesn’t like it, not a bit. He tries to resist Jesus. Tries to get rid of Him, send Him away. Jesus, You don’t want to stick around here. There’s nothing to do here. Why don’t You just go away. Why don’t You just...

Be quiet, said Jesus sternly. Verse 25:

The NIV translates Jesus’ words really nicely. Be quiet is quite polite, but the Greek is much more harsh. It’s quick. It’s direct. It sounds like, Jesus sounds more like this:

Now, this is not a very nice thing to say to another person, but Jesus isn’t talking to another person here. He’s talking to the demon. He’s talking to the evil that’s inside this man, and He’s chasing away the evil. Jesus speaks with the authority and then He acts with authority.

Jesus isn’t just pointing His finger at us, accusing us of things that we haven’t fixed yet in our lives. He’s not passing judgment and condemnation down on our miserable lives. He knows us. He knows our problems, but He also knows that we can’t fix these problems ourselves. He knows that He can’t just tell us what to do and what not to do. He knows that He is the only one who can make those changes in us. So, He notices, He identifies, He points out the problem, and then He gets rid of the problem.

And the people who were watching all this happening in their church that day don’t really know how to take all this. Verse 27:

That word amazed isn’t a great word, here. The people are not happily amazed, thankfully amazed. They are shockingly amazed. They are alarmed. They’re not exactly sure what has happened here, but they don’t really like it. This was not the normal Saturday go to services synagogue meeting. This was not the kind of service they were used to. This was not the kind of worship they were raised with. This was a "new teaching", and they just weren’t so sure about this. They may not have rejected Jesus at this point, but they sure weren’t accepting Him yet, either. "What is this?" they were asking. "What is this?"

But a lot of other people ended up accepting this. Verse 28:

And in the next few verses we’ll see the people bringing their illnesses, their diseases, their demon-possessed family members to Jesus so that He would heal them, too. Because He had the authority, He had the power, He could do something about the problem, rather than just poking around at the mess.

Jesus hasn’t quit preaching. The message that Jesus spoke in Mark 1 is the same message He would like us to hear today. Don’t listen to me, listen to Him. Don’t let my limitations get in the way of His authority. Here Him speak to you, even if it’s difficult. Because, while Jesus is speaking words of comfort and kindness, He also has some things to point out in your life. I don’t know what they are, but He does. And I’m pretty sure you do to.

Can you hear what He’s saying? Can you see what He’s pointing at? Maybe it’s big and ugly, maybe it’s subtle and sneaky. Maybe it’s new, you’ve just picked it up. Maybe it’s been there a long, long time. Maybe it’s between you and another person. Maybe it’s inside you, your thoughts, your mind. But something is there, isn’t there? Unless you’re the one perfect person in this church, there’s some part that’s inside you, that’s inside me that needs pointing out and pulling out. And if you’re like me, there’s a lot of parts that need identifying and eliminating.

And that’s exactly the work that Jesus will do and is doing. He will do that here, in this building, between 9:30 and 10:30 and 6 and 7 o’clock. But He’ll do it a lot more than just that. He’ll be identifying the areas during the Bible study you belong to, the Caregroups, the Senior’s Group, the Men’s Group, young people’s, Cadets, Gems. He’ll be working as you’re talking to your friend. He’ll be working as your alone with Him, reading His word, talking to Him, closing the book and listening for Him. He’ll be pointing, but not accusing. He’ll be naming, but not condemning.

And He’ll be cleaning. He’ll eradicating the pest. He’ll be fighting the temptation. He’ll be cleaning us up. When the impure thoughts come, there Jesus will be, pointing and saying, "Shut up, lust." When that need to buy, to spend more than is healthy, to have more than is holy, when that need is gripping you standing there in the aisle, Jesus will be there, pointing and saying, "Muzzle it, greed." When we just don’t feel like praying, when we’ll get to reading our Bible at another time, some other day, next week, there Jesus is, pointing to the apathy and saying, "Shut your mouth."

We need help, just like the man possessed by the demon in the synagogue. And Jesus will be there, with authority and compassion, working to make us whole and healthy and clean. He does this through the work of the Holy Spirit, and He does this under the watchful direction of the Father.

If it looks like nothing’s happening, don’t worry, Jesus won’t quit. If it looks like that broken part is going to stay broken, that sin will always be there, don’t worry. Jesus has the authority to do something about it. Jesus has the power, the ability to do something about it. And Jesus has the determination to do something about it, to keep working, to keep restoring, until we make it home. Philippians 1:6: