Text: Mark 1:21-28
Introduction
You’ll have to tell me, I’m not sure which is the common understanding anymore. Not so long ago I would have said that the biggest question – often unaddressed – by texts such as today was: what happened? Why in the gospels, everywhere Jesus goes, are there these demons or unclean spirits or evil supernatural entities, but we never truly experience these entities in the same way today? When the question was phrased in that way, there were two good answers, but they also were often unsatisfying. The first was to contextualize the New Testament. If after thousands of years, something new was here. Not just something new, but these unclean spirits recognized this new thing as “the Holy One of God”. If the great enemy, the Holy One of God was now on the field of battle, would you not rally all the troops you had? Why is Jesus always running across demons? Because this is the eschatological battle. The other answer I’d always puzzled out was to contextualize our time. We don’t believe in unclean spirits. We are modern scientific people after all. Demons are not part of our conceptual framework. We wouldn’t recognize one if it was standing in front of us. Because at some level believing is seeing. You have to have the conceptual category to actually see something.
If you don’t follow me on that, google language and color perception. It was not that the color blue did not exist to the Greeks, but the language doesn’t have a color blue. Homer called it the wine dark sea. The bible calls the color hyacinth-like. Or google umami. In English we know sweet and salty, sour and bitter, but how do we describe the taste of meat? Meaty, maybe savory, but that is a much larger category. The Japanese call it umami. Chefs have stolen the word. Our kids or grandkids will have a perception category I didn’t grow up with. Anything that brings a full deep satisfying taste is umami. Evil Spirits to WEIRD westerners might just be the same thing. That is what several missionaries to non-western places would say.
But today, given that the Drudge Report has a running headline category on exorcism and exorcists. I might be out of touch. The question might not be why is it so different, but why were they able to do something, but we ignore it?
Trouble in the World
NPR reported this last week that there were 11 school shooting incidents in the first 23 days of 2018. Now not all of these resulted in deaths, and especially not the mass deaths that we’ve come to expect, but if NPR’s reporting is to be believed, American children have become open to shooting each other. This doesn’t happen in some famous “hell”-holes. It is an American thing. And we’ve become used to it to the point that we have a life script for such happenings. And they are no longer national news unless the body count gets high enough. Branching beyond just schools, we still have no explanation for why the guy in Las Vegas killed 58 and injured 581 people. The only label we ever put on these things is “mental illness”.
In large parts of the world, all across Asia, the strongest opioids are available without a prescription. You wouldn’t have to break the law to get an overdose. Yet according to Vox, the US leads the world in overdose deaths by a lot. We have 4 percent of world population, yet 27 percent of overdose deaths. And those stats are from 2015. We have 246 overdose deaths per a million people. Europe has roughly 24. 1/10th the number. Why?
The bible describes this world as being under the powers and principalities. When Satan tempted Jesus with all the Kingdoms of this world, it wasn’t a complete lie is what we are lead to believe. When we are reproved and corrected and called to repent, and we don’t, we are handed over. We get to live with the effects of the sin. The fact that we are learning to live with such extreme powers, should tell us something. The principalities of this dark realm are standing right in front of us, and we can’t see them, let alone respond in any meaningful way.
Gospel in the Text
This is the central point of the good news of our text. Jesus has come to do two things.
Not of ultimate importance, but still very good news, is that Jesus came to teach. And this teaching was not like the scribes, but it was with authority. That is a funny phrase. What does it mean exactly? “He went up the mountain and began to teach them. You have heard it said…but I say…”. That is the start and repeated phrase of the sermon on the mount. Or in John’s terminology, “Amen, Amen…truly, truly I say to you I am…”. When the scribes taught the wording might be something like “as Rabbi Akiba and ben Joseph wrote…” The most authoritative they might get would be “as Moses wrote…”. Not much different that me or any preacher worth listening to. “Luther once said….or Aquinas wrote….”. Or if I’m really serious, “As Paul and Peter wrote” or “As Jesus said.”
There is nothing wrong with how the scribes taught. It is completely appropriate for them. Jesus, as part of the great commission would say, “Go…teach them all the things I have commanded you.” The scribes had been commanded by Moses to, “teach these things to your children and your children’s children.” And If I, or any one who might take this pulpit, is going to stand here and teach without showing you their footnotes, don’t listen to them. They are frauds. But Jesus taught with authority.
He came to reveal to us God, which was to reveal to us himself. “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen (Jn. 3:11 ESV).” “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (Jn. 5:24 ESV)” “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. (Jn. 13:20 ESV)” In this Jesus of Nazareth, the Father, the Eternal Son – the Word who was with the Father in the beginning, and the Holy Spirit have worked and continue to work for your eternal good. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (Jn. 3:5 ESV)” “Go and make disciples of all nation baptizing them…”. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. (Jn. 6:53 ESV)” “Take and eat, this is my body given for you.” When Jesus taught, he taught as one who knew. And not just as one who knew, but as The One. Very God of Very God, who for us men and for our salvation was incarnate.
That teaching is very important. But Jesus didn’t come primarily for teaching. He came to bind the strong man. He came to tell the unclean spirits to shut up. He came to make Satan’s lying cease. He came to cast out our accuser from before the throne of heaven. “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” Hell yeah.
I like to hear those words of the unclean spirit in a taunting tone. They didn’t believe. You, you stupid little bag of flesh. You puny little man from Nazareth. Can anything good come from there? You teach with authority? Hah, I can waltz right in front of you. Holding one of your precious little children hostage right here in the holy place. What are you going to do about it? And Jesus showed him, and us. He rebuked him. “Shut up, and come out.” And immediately that haughty unclean Spirit who didn’t believe it was possible came out shrieking at what was happening. A new teaching with authority. And even the unclean spirits obey him.
Gospel in the World
Satan is still trying to deceive. He is still roaming around looking for who he can devour. Those principalities and powers can still put up a brave front. But that is all it is. One little word can fell them.
Christ has triumphed. Alleluia. A seven nation army of hell tried to hold him back. And he fought them all, and won. Even death, that most feared. Even death that still scares the crap out of us. Even death couldn’t hold him. In vain it forbid his rise. In vain it will forbid ours.
And now we have the words, The Word.We have the concepts for this. We have the gospel.
The world out there has forgotten some of it. Recently, we have not been good at teaching all nations to obey all that he has commanded us. We have often been scared of what the teaching might mean. We have often attempted to teach on our own authority. We have often gone astray, such that even in our holy places – our Synagogues, our churches – Satan can be found blasphemously yapping his lies.
We might have been turned over for a little time. But we have never been abandoned. We might have found ourselves eating the slop of pigs living with legion, but we can remember our Father’s house. Jesus has revealed that to us. And the Word remains forever. We might be fearful and ignorant on those first steps home, but that Word lights our way, and binds those powers. They can take nothing of everlasting value from us. We might be full of shame at how far we went astray. But the Father has the robe and ring and feast ready.
Jesus taught with authority and filled in our language. We know what torments this world. This World that is now passing away. We also know that it has been judged. Take courage, and tell Satan to shut up. Because Jesus has this. The power of Christ compels him. Amen.