Authorized Teaching GPPC 2-1-15 Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Mark 1:21-28 1 The gospel reading this morning is kind of strange, isn t it? Something amazing happens. But then the description of what has happened doesn t seem to fit what has happened. And in some ways, in our own lives we have never encountered what happens. But in other ways we encounter it every day and every moment. Look at the story again. We see Jesus and his disciples going to Capernaum. It s a little town situated on the Sea of Galilee. Probably a pretty spot for a lake house, though storms occasionally come blasting through unexpectedly, as you may recall. Saturday, the Sabbath comes, and Jesus comes into the synagogue, a place for worship and study. Jesus walks in and starts teaching. Do people stand and listen, or do they sit at desks and take notes? I don t know. Maybe somebody leans over and whispers, Psst! Hey, Andrew. I missed that last point. Did you get it? Could I copy off you? Somebody else says, Jesus, is this going to be on the final? Jesus is teaching.
And Mark says the people are astounded at his teaching. The 2 Greek word carries the sense of being shocked and overwhelmed. The people are astounded because he teaches as one with authority, and not as the scribes. What does this mean? Well we know that the scribes are Bible experts. As one scholar puts it, The scribes were the doctors of the law, the authorized biblical scholars of their time. (Lamar Williamson, Jr., Mark, 50.) And you know how it is. Contestants would be playing Jeopardy with Alex Trebek, (Alex acting like he knows the answer to every question that comes up, even without the cue cards). And whenever the Bible category would come up on the screen, the other contestants would groan and roll their eyes, because the scribe contestant would sweep the category every time. Scribes know the Bible content cold. Hate that. So if scribes know the Bible content, why does Mark say Jesus teaches with authority, and not as the scribes? Well, the short answer is, we don t know for sure. Mark does not spell it out for us. Instead, he simply says Jesus teaches with authority.
The Greek word for authority means a state of control over 3 something. It means capability, might, power, the ability to get something done. Jesus teaches with authority, but the scribes, the biblical scholars, do not. And instead of just explaining the difference with an eight-point lecture, Mark shows us the difference with what happens next. Jesus is apparently right in the middle of his sermon when a man who is possessed by some sort of unclean spirit, some sort of evil, just starts yelling. What are you going to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. It kind of reminds you of one of those horror movie scenes, doesn t it? You can imagine this guy with a gravelly voice, looking sort of like a zombie, staggering around. Even his grammar is off-kilter. What have you to do with us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. Okay, unclean spirit. Make up your mind. Are you plural or singular? Are you the spokesdemon for all the demons or just for yourself? And you can imagine Jesus, calm as an afternoon nap, stares at him and says, Why yes, now that you mention it, I am here to destroy you.
Mark says Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, commands it, Oh, 4 hush up, and come out of him! And then notice how the unclean spirit leaves. It does not leave quietly. Mark says it leaves convulsing the man and crying out with a loud voice. You see when it comes to challenging evil, we should not be deceived. When confronted by good, evil does not normally say, Why thank you for suggesting another path. I m so grateful for your insights and correction. Evil does not say, Now that you have revealed God s light to me, I will gladly give up the darkness. No. Evil fights back. Evil evades. Evil distorts, lies, and threatens. Sometimes it does it with a smile. Sometimes with a snarl. Sometimes with a weapon. Sometimes with a word. But we should not kid ourselves. Evil does not go away easily, gently, quietly. You may have noticed in the newspaper that today, February 1, 2015, is the 55 th anniversary of the Greensboro Four s sit-in protest at the Woolworth s downtown. You remember what happened. On February 1, 1960 four African-American male students from North
5 Jeff Paschal Carolina A&T went to the Woolworth s, bought a few items in the store, then sat at the whites only section of the lunch counter and attempted to order food. They were refused service, and asked to leave. But they sat there until the store closed. As the days went on, more African- American students, male and female, joined the protests. The protests spread to other cities. Did the evil of racism leave quietly? Of course not. Over time, students were heckled. In some places, fights broke out. The civil rights movement grew. Did evil say, Ah, yes, thank you for showing us the error of our ways? No. It wasn t that easy. First, people had to be cursed, spat upon, beaten, bitten by dogs, sprayed with fire hoses, jailed, and murdered. And finally when enough hatred and violence and blood had spattered across this country, then and only then, was evil cast out. And even now it claws for a new foothold in our hearts and a return to pollute the waters of our soul. Can you believe we ever denied people equal rights simply because they looked different than the majority of folks? It s hard to fathom we would go to the Bible and find a few passages to justify enslaving other people, and then after the abolishment of slavery
continue to deny them fundamental human rights because of an evil 6 reading of the Bible. It s hard to imagine we would ever say to a group of people, We ve found a few select passages in the Bible to justify keeping you in your place, lower than the rest of us. These passages are not consistent with the Bible s overall message of love for all God s children. But you may not have the same rights as the rest of us do, because we ve discovered Bible passages that allow us to treat you as lesser. It s hard to believe we would do such a thing, isn t it? Isn t it? Evil does not leave tenderly and peacefully. Evil leaves with a fight. And a fight s what we re in, all right. Mark s gospel says the whole world is in a fight between evil and good, the demonic and God. But it s not really a fair fight, not an even fight you d pay money to sit and watch to see who might come out on top. No. God is going to win this fight, and, in fact, has already won this fight in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. One pastor puts it this way, Mark calls his audience not to amazement over the wonder-working deeds of Jesus, but
to faith in the One who has already won the [end of time] battle over 7 Satan. (Gary W. Charles in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark, 37.) Do we see what s really at stake here? As the demon points out before it is cast out, Jesus is the Holy One of God. Jesus is not just one teacher among several fine teachers. Jesus is the Son of God, the One to whom we owe our lives, the One to whom we pledge our ultimate allegiance, the One whose authorized teaching, whose God-powered teaching casts out evil and ushers in the wholeness of God s end of time reign. That s what s at stake here. Presbyterian writer Kathleen Norris talks about her time with Dominican monks. She says, It s always good to meet people who understand that religion is about saving lives. (Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk, 208.) That s what s at stake here, saving lives. Do we understand? A personal injury attorney s TV commercial intones, You ll know when you need us. Do we know we need this Christ? Do we know we need to worship this Christ and learn about this Christ and serve this Christ? Do our
children know this? Or do we think someone or something is more 8 important? Jesus comes not merely as an expert on biblical content but as the One who is the authorized, empowered Holy One of God whose teaching saves lives as evil is cast out and God s wholeness is cast in. Jesus comes with his authorized, Spirit-powered teaching. And a person filled with prejudice learns to love. An alcoholic stops drinking. A child finds strength against a bully and a bully stops being a bully. An aimless person finds direction and meaning for her life. A grieving person receives hope. A dying person discovers peace. Even now Christ comes into your life and mine. What is it that you and I ask of the Teacher? What are our worries, our hurts, our anger, our needs? What are the needs of the world? In the silence of these moments bring those needs now Through Christ, God s authorized Teacher we pray. Amen. Jeff Paschal