Mark 1:21-28
Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
This scene that Mark is describing is hard to imagine because there is nothing in my life that ever looks like this. Its hard for all of us to imagine. I’ve never seen anyone demon possessed. I’ve never seen anyone rebuke a demon out of anyone. I’ve never seen people amazed at church. I remember watching Benny Hinn, who claimed to heal people,(and made a lot of money doing it) and wondered why, if he really had the power to heal people, did he not go to hospitals? Why did people have to pay to come to him. I remember looking at the crowd and sensing an intense desperation residing in their hearts and thought they seem possessed for sure and desperate to be cured. They are hoping for a miracle out of desperation, not faith.
The people at the synagogue don’t seem to be desperate for a miracle. I think it was just a normal sabbath for them. But this service would be one they would remember. They seem to be amazed at two things, His teaching and his command of demons. About His teaching it says that they were astounded and amazed.
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1-2
John refers to Jesus as the Word. I had been taught that the Bible was the word. But now I see that Jesus is the Word and the Bible is just writing about the Word. So Jesus, being the word, fully understands how the scriptures speak of all that God is. I would have to imagine that what may have amazed them is that Jesus opened their eyes to see God. Perhaps He showed them truth and love and justice whereas the Scribes just showed them the law and obedience to it.
They were amazed! They were astounded! And they exclaimed “with authority!” and “A new teaching” So he wasn’t teaching like anyone else and He wasn’t saying the same things that the scribes taught and the people, “kept on asking one another” “What is this?”
Its a hard scene to picture because I’ve grown up with the teachings of Jesus. So I have to imagine what it must have been like to hear His teachings for the first time. Teachings that seemed contradictory but they weren’t. Things like, “love your enemies”, and “turn the other cheek,” and “blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the earth and see God”. This is not what the scribes were teaching. It was amazing because it was teaching like they never heard before yet he was pulling it from the scriptures they had all grown up with. It was truth that had always been there yet no one had ever seen it or shown it to them. Jesus could do that because He was the Word.
We are in the season of Epiphany. Jesus is revealing to them a truth, a truth they had never seen yet it had always been there. I can see where that would be amazing and astounding. And Jesus is also revealed. Not by himself or by God but by a demon!
Things are often written as they are for a reason. I think that is what makes reading scripture so magical and enchanting. There are hidden messages to find that contain keys to open other passages of scripture. We will never fully put together the entire picture that scripture paints of God but finding truths that help us understand the rest of what we’re reading is what enlivens our spirits. I say all that to say that I think that Mark is saying something about how amazing and astounding Jesus teaching is and how amazed they were that he was commanding unclean spirits to leave people. Or, His teaching and the casting out of the demon(s) are told in the same passage for a reason.
So it might be fun to think about how Mark is telling us one complete idea in those two ideas. Perhaps we can understand it that Jesus, the incarnation of God, commands unclean spirits to come out of His people and they obey Him. And Jesus, the Word of God, has that same effect.
What are “unclean spirits”? We can maybe see them as our sins. Maybe they are our addictions. Maybe they are what is inside us that desires what is not of God. Maybe they are mental health issues. Maybe they are our weaknesses. Maybe they are our infirmities. That term is undefined and can mean a lot of different things.
So it seems fun to explore the idea that as we read scripture, hear scripture, meditate on scripture or any of the ways that we expose ourselves to the Word, we are then in that moment, encountering Jesus. And perhaps allowing our faith to recognize that it is not just scripture we are reading but we are standing face to face with Jesus, and asking, “What do you want with me?” “What about me or my life or my relationships or my job or my speech or my marriage or my heart….needs to be cast out and destroyed? Perhaps Jesus will expose it. Perhaps he will remove it. Perhaps our consciences will be stricken and we will no longer be able to engage in our sinful behavior. Perhaps it will be cast out of us that quickly.
It is also a fun road to go down to consider how the Bible is not just a bunch of stories, and laws and sayings. We make kids versions of these stories to introduce them to Jesus. Often the kids versions take the authority out of the Word and leave us with just a fairytale. In doing so, I wonder if we are telling versions of bible stories that do not cast out the demons! We tell myths that have no authority. They are just nice stories about how nice God is.
I also like to wonder if the connection of the demon(s) and his teaching also represents Jesus destroying oppressive systems. Perhaps the demon(s) are speaking for the scribes. The oppressive religious systems and those that held the power were screaming and convulsing as they were losing that power and they can only utter, “are you here to destroy us?”. Jesus ministry brings in the reign of God and consequently topples traditions and systems that oppress the afflicted and sets them free. What does the Spirit and the Word call out of me that I scream and resist and fight because it feels like I will be destroyed if I let go of it? What addictions or secret sins or behaviors am I fiercely protecting?
Perhaps all of our encounter with scripture should end with us asking again and again, “What is this?” As scripture manifests Christ in myself and the world, am I resisting what is being cast out of me? Or do I welcome each encounter, understanding that it is transforming my heart in a way that I can’t seem to explain it I can only be amazed and astounded by it.