The authority of the gospel, Mark 1:21-45

Mark writes in the opening verse of this book, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Gospel comes from the Greek word euaggelion, which means good news.  And so thus far in this book, Mark has been showing us various aspects of the gospel.  Last time we looked at the message of the gospel, which is repentance of your sins and faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  Then we looked at the ministry of the gospel, which is to make disciples.  Today, we are looking another aspect of the gospel, which is the authority of the gospel.  Authority speaks of power, or control, or supremacy.  Mark shows us in some very vivid ways that the gospel of Christ was one of authority.  And to start with we are going to see that it has authority in two realms, both the physical and the spiritual.  And that’s important to understand, because the gospel must have power in both realms in order to be what it claims to be.  It cannot be merely physical, for then it would fall short of the spiritual, eternal realm, and it would have no lasting power to save.  And it must not be merely spiritual, without any immediate benefit, because if it is ineffective on the temporal, then we should believe no claim of it’s benefit in the spiritual.  So Mark shows that it is powerful in both realms.  Thus we can agree with Paul in Romans 1:16; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

This principle of the authority of the gospel in the physical and spiritual realm is going to be emphasized again and again in Mark’s book, especially in our passage for next week in chapter 2 when we look at the healing of the paralytic.  In that example, you will remember that Jesus was criticized for saying to the sick man, “your sins are forgiven.”  The scribes said, “Who can forgive sins but God?”  And so Jesus said to them, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” Thus it is clear that Christ’s power over the physical realm which can be seen is evidence of His authority in the spiritual realm which is unseen.

Now that principle is illustrated in this passage by a series of events stretching over a 24 hour period of Jesus’s life.  And in the process of studying these events, I hope to show you not only the authority of the gospel in the physical and spiritual realm, but the source of it’s authority, and an illustration of the power of the gospel to cleanse from sin, the power to save both now and forever.

First let’s start then in vs 21, as Jesus and His disciples go to Capernaum.  There we see that Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.  And it says that He taught with authority, and the people were amazed at His teaching, because it was not as the scribes were used to doing, but He taught with authority.  Twice in retelling this story, Mark uses the word authority to describe the teaching of Jesus. The gospel has authority because it is the truth of God.  It has power because it is the truth of God.  Jesus said in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

If the gospel is to be authoritative, if it is to have power, it must be the truth of God.  And we cannot cherry pick truth.  We can’t emphasize one aspect of God’s truth, and neglect others which we don’t necessarily favor, or which are not politically correct.  Truth is composed of the whole counsel of God, and when certain parts are left out, then you end up with a half truth.  And no one is saved with a half truth.  They might like the way it tastes, but it has no power to save unless it is the undiluted, full truth of the gospel.

And what was He teaching?  Well, we don’t know the particulars of His message, but we know the principles.  There were two principles of His preaching as stated in vs 14, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  So the two basic tenets of the gospel are repentance and faith.  That was the message of Jesus, and we can assume that is what He was teaching in Capernaum.

Now notice that as He was teaching, a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit cried out, saying, ““What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”  Now I don’t want to focus our attention completely on demons this morning.  Our focus is on the authority and power of the gospel.  But there are some things which we can learn from this regarding the authority of the gospel over the spiritual realm.

First though, I would point out that this man was in the synagogue on a Sabbath morning, presumably to worship God.  I want you to know something folks, Paul said in 2 Cor.11:14 that Satan loves to disguise himself as an angel of light.  Satan and his demons are fallen angels.  They are called the dominion of darkness.   In Ephesians 6:12 it says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  That’s the demonic realm, the spiritual realm, which is the dominion of darkness.  And I want you to know  that these fallen angels often hide out in the church, they operate under the cover of religion, they disguise themselves as angels of light.

I think Satan has deceived the world by the popular depictions of demons as portrayed by movies and media. And as a consequence we fail to recognize them. I would bet that prior to this outburst, no one in the church would have thought that this man was under demonic control. I’m sure he seemed perfectly normal, even religious.  And I would also assure you that this is not just a first century phenomenon.  Satan is alive and well in the church today.  His unclean spirits are among us this morning.  Contrary to popular doctrine, our singing of Jesus, our mention of Jesus or God, does not drive him away.  He love to hide in the church.

In fact, Jesus gave a parable elsewhere in which He says that the Kingdom God (which is the church universal) is like a mustard seed, which grew into a very large tree, so that the birds nested in it’s branches.  And I would suggest that many people have misinterpreted that parable.  The fact that this mustard seed has not produced a normal mustard bush, but a very large tree, shows an abnormality that is not good.  And furthermore, in the parable of the soils, Jesus made it clear that the birds of the air were the demons who plucked the gospel from the soil by the road, so that those who heard it were not given the opportunity for it to take root.  In other words, the birds are demons who are working in the church,  taking refuge in the church, to pluck up the seed, which is the word of God and prevent it from taking root.  So we know that Satan and his angels are at work in the church.  Not everything that happens in a church is sanctioned by God.  In fact, Paul warns Timothy that the Spirit explicitly says in the last days some will fall away from the faith by listening to doctrines of demons. He isn’t talking about witchcraft there, but he is talking about false teachers in the church perverting or subverting the gospel.

Well, it’s unlikely that anyone would have suspected this man of being under the dominion of an unclean spirit.  But as we see, he recognized Jesus, and he yells out at Him, “what have we to do with you Jesus of Nazareth?” You know at first glance, what the demon says doesn’t seem to bad.  He says Jesus is the Holy One of God.  But James tells us that the demons believe in God and shudder.  They do not doubt God’s existence.  They recognize Jesus, because they being a spirit recognize the Spirit of God in Christ.  But they are terrified of Him because they know He has the authority to cast them into the pit of hell. And they know that He is going to do it.  But I believe the unclean spirit cried out, because he knew that Christ recognized him, and knew that He had come to destroy the works of the devil.  1 John 3:8 says, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

Now let me expand upon this for a moment.  Because I only quoted part of 1John 3:8.  The whole verse tells us what the works of the devil are; “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”  So from that we can understand that demonic influence or control stems from sin, especially harboring unrepentant sin. I believe everyone who gives himself to sin, to some degree or another, perhaps unknowingly, opens himself up to demonic influence.  The degree to which that influence is pervasive depends upon how much the person submits himself to that sin.  And whether or not it is noticeable to himself or to others, he is under the influence of an unclean spirit, because he is bound by sin.

In the case of this man in Capernaum, as I said, I doubt that it was evident how much he was under the influence or control of a demon.  But when he met Christ, it became apparent.  I know I have encounter similar experiences on a number of occasions.  A person seemed normal, even expressing perhaps a degree of spiritual knowledge, and then for some unexplained reason they seem to explode.  They start yelling, cursing, and sometimes blaspheming God.  And it can be a bizarre experience to see someone start acting like that. A lot of the time it’s not that apparent, maybe it’s just an outburst of anger and you don’t know where it comes from.  I would suggest that it comes from a resentment towards the gospel, especially when you call out sin.  But that’s when we have to realize that we are not fighting a person, we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but we need to see the unclean spirit which is behind that person, pulling their strings.

Well, Jesus shows His authority over the spiritual realm, defeating it with His word.  He commands the unclean spirit to be quiet, and to come out of him, and it throws the man in convulsions, and with a loud scream comes out of him.  And Mark tells us the people are amazed, and declare that His teaching is with such authority, that even the unclean spirits obey Him.

Next we see Jesus’s authority over the physical realm.  Mark says after visiting the synagogue, Jesus goes to Peter’s house, and his mother in law is sick.  This indicates by the way that Peter was married, or at least had been married.  One cannot have a mother in law unless you have been married. So those that teach that Peter was the first pope, (of which doctrine I disagree) need to reevaluate their policy of celibacy for priests based on the precedence of Peter.

Peter’s mother in law had a fever.  Not much is known about the severity of her illness, but it was a hindrance to her hospitality at the very least.  Jesus shows His compassion on her and upon Simon Peter and takes her by the hand and raises her up.  And the scripture says her fever left her and she began to wait on them.

I would just point out the simplicity of this miracle of healing as a contrast to what we often see today portrayed as a healing ministry.  Jesus in all of the healings that He performs, and in all the demons that He casts out, makes a point to tell the beneficiaries not to broadcast what He has done.  But of course they can’t help it.  And so as we see in the healing mentioned in vs45, the news about Him becomes spread throughout the region and great crowds start coming to Him so that He cannot even come into a city.

Now most modern day, so called faith healers would  not see that kind of popularity as a bad thing. In fact they seek to take advantage of the sensational claims of healing to attract a crowd.  But Jesus was not interested in drawing crowds to be healed, or drawing great crowds to witness miracles.  He wasn’t interested in sensationalism.  But He was interested in teaching and preaching the word of God.

I don’t believe the Bible teaches us, nor does this passage teach us, that God decrees that all physical ills will be healed.  I believe that God does heal, and that Jesus healed many people, but He did not heal everyone.  At the Pool of Bethesda, for instance.  The porch area was filled with sick people, and yet Jesus healed just one.  At the tomb of Lazarus, there were undoubtedly many dead people in the cemetery, but Jesus only raised Lazarus.  I am not sure why God choses to heal some and not all.  But I do know that the Bible teaches in Hebrews 9:27 that it is appointed unto all men once to die.  Everyone is going to die once.  And usually death comes through sickness of some sort.  But what Christ came to save us from is the second death.  The second death is eternal separation from God and torment for eternity.

But as Paul said, whether I live or die is not important to me, but if the Lord let’s me live, then that will mean fruitful labor for me, but if I die so much the better, I will be with the Lord.  So perhaps that’s God’s motivation for healing physically.  So that it might result in fruitful labor for the kingdom of God.  Peter’s mother in law was healed of her illness, and as a result, she began to serve the Lord and His disciples.  And that is a good picture of how we should respond to the grace of God in our lives.  Our health, our physical blessings should make our hearts grateful to God so that we would serve God and not just ourselves.  God’s gifts of health are not just for our own benefit.  I know from experience, and I am sure some of you do as well, how fragile human health is, and how fleeting it is.  Our life and health is a stewardship from God that we might use it in service of the Kingdom in the time that is allotted to us.

Now in vs32-34, Mark tells us that as the Sabbath ended, and travel was again enabled, people began to come to Capernaum where Jesus was to be healed and delivered from unclean spirits. And while that illustrates even further the two realms that Jesus had authority over, the spiritual and the physical, I would also point out that there is made a distinction between being afflicted by illness and being afflicted by demons.  They are not necessarily the same.  Sometimes we are going to see in scripture that someone suffered a physical infirmity because of a demon.  But that in no way means that all illnesses are a result of demons.  All illness is the result of the curse upon creation as a result of sin entering the world.  But those that suffer illness do not necessarily suffer as a result of their individual sin.  If that were the case, then none of us would escape.  But ultimately, sin does cause all to die.  The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23.  And all have sinned.  But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Well, we have to hurry if we want to finish this section.  There is much more I could say, but not enough time this morning.  Let’s look at the third aspect of authority, and that is the source of authority.  Or the source of power.  As we fight the spiritual battle and deal with the physical realm in which we live, the source of Jesus’s power and authority is the same source that we have, which is fellowship and communion with the Father.  And we see that explained in vs.35: “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”  I’ve said it before in defense of our early meeting times, that good things happen early in the morning.  Jesus got up to pray while it was still dark.

You know, I love to surf.  And yet I hate crowds.  I like surfing with one or two guys max, but around here that just doesn’t happen.  So I look forward to low tide when it comes early in the morning.  I love paddling out while it is still dark.  And when the light is just starting to glow on the horizon, I manage to get some good waves all to myself.  But I also love to pray early in the morning.  And I’ve found if I don’t pray in the morning, then the quality of my prayer life goes downhill.  Surfers call those early morning sessions a dawn patrol.  And perhaps that is a good name for our early prayer time.  Get up early in the morning and walk and talk with the Lord and I assure you that it will provide power and authority in your spiritual walk.

Jesus of all people didn’t need to get up early and pray.  And yet Jesus did it the most.  Many times He prayed spent the night in prayer.  I would suggest that the reason most of us do not have authority or power in our walk, or authority over sin, or see results in our evangelism, is because we do not avail ourselves of planned, purposeful, strategic prayer.  If Jesus needed to pray all night or all morning, then how much more do we?

I would encourage you, pray purposefully. Jesus talked in the Sermon on the Mount about praying in your closet.  Have a special place of prayer.  Daniel prayed three times a day in his upper room facing Jerusalem. Pray strategically.  There are a lot of things I could say about prayer.  But just notice what Jesus illustrates in this example.  He got up early, and He went to a secluded place.  Get alone with God where you can really open up and talk to Him.  I suggest praying out loud.  That’s why it’s good to go to a secluded place.  That way people don’t think you are crazy when they hear you talking out loud.  I like those early surf sessions alone because I pray out loud.  And sometimes I catch myself doing it when others come out. I was in California last week and I surfed Malibu Friday before I left.  And I was having a great time, catching a lot of waves, and I was praying sporadically out loud.  I thought no one was near by.  But I happened to turn around and saw this guy had paddled up behind me and I didn’t know he was there.  But California is full of crazy people.  I saw more people talking to themselves out there than I’ve seen in my entire life.  So I probably just fit in with everyone else.  They figured I was as crazy as they were.  But around here you might draw attention to yourself if you’re praying out loud.

However, I will say, that it is a benefit not only to you to pray out loud, I think it’s a benefit to God, and I think praying out loud defeats the devil as well.  When he hears your prayers, when he hears your faith, then I think the devil knows that the source of your power is God.  The source of Jesus’s authority was the communion and fellowship He had with the Father.  And that is the source of our power as well.  When we commune with God, when we fellowship with God, when we pray and read His word, then we have power with God, because we are united with God.

Mark ends this section with the story of the leper who was cleansed.  I’ve said it before many times, that every miracle that Jesus did is a spiritual parable meant to teach us a spiritual principle.  And I think that this miracle illustrates the power of the gospel over sin which is the root of all illness and all affliction.  And I would point out that among the Jews during those days the rabbis taught that leprosy was the direct result of God’s visible judgment of sin in a person’s life.  As a result, they taught that you were to avoid such people, not even to speak to them.  They were outcasts from society.  They were looked upon as the worst of sinners upon whom God had judged in the flesh for all to see.  And so the leper had to announce his presence as he walked through the community by calling out “Unclean! Unclean!”

This leper that comes to Jesus is a picture of a repentant sinner who comes to Jesus for salvation.  Notice first of all that he knows he is a leper.  He knows he is unclean.  He comes before Jesus and bows down on his knees.  He has a repentant attitude.  He doesn’t have any hope of healing outside of Jesus.  There was no cure for leprosy.  It was a horrible illness that rotted your fingers and then all your extremities away and totally destroyed you little by little.  What a picture of the nature of sin.  Satan loves to tell you that a little sin won’t hurt you.  A little peccadillo won’t really matter.  But he knows that sin is like leprosy.  It starts with a little spot on your skin, and then it spreads to your hair, and then starts to rot your fingers and toes, your ears and your nose until it one day totally destroys you.  Listen, there is no sanctified sin.  Sin is death and sin brings death.  Sin is an invitation to demonic affliction.  Sin results in separation from the source of life, the Creator God.

But this leper illustrates how to be cleansed from sin.  He comes on his knees.  He comes as a beggar.  He comes confessing his need to be clean.  And then we see salvation.  Jesus moved with compassion.  Did you know that Jesus came to save the lost?  He came to save those that were like this leper.  Jesus says in chapter 2 vs 17, “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Listen, don’t be deceived.  You cannot be saved unless you first realize that you are lost, that you are diseased, that you are hopeless and helpless.  Come to Jesus like that, and He will have compassion on you.  And I want you to note something.  Jesus touched the untouchable.  You were not supposed to touch the leper.  Jesus could have healed him with a word.  But he touched him.

Folks, compassion for the lost means sometimes that you have to get your hands dirty.  It’s not enough to just say you will pray for someone.  Jesus gave a parable about the good shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep and goes to look for the one who is lost.  He gives another parable about the good Samaritan, who gets off his horse and gets down in the dirt to tend to a stranger’s wounds.  Let me tell you that ministry is a messy business.  We are not called to sit in ivory towers and condemn sinners, but to go into all the world and compel them to come in. To go into the highways and the byways and tell them the good news.  And sometimes in order to do that you have to help them to become well enough that they might hear it.

I tell you, California has a lot of problems.  But the worst problem that it has is it’s homeless situation.  I’ve never seen a greater homeless population in my life.  I went to a church last Wednesday night and across the street from the entrance to their church was a empty lot that was a homeless camp.  Santa Barbara is where all the movie stars have homes.  You can sit in a upscale coffee shop with Maseratis and Lambourghinis parked out front, beautiful homes and all the beautiful people sipping coffee, and on the sidewalk homeless people are lying there covered in filth.  Many of them are drug addicts who are helpless to get out of their situation.  I don’t know how to reach them.  It’s not as simple as giving them money because it just goes to fuel their addiction.  But I can tell you that it’s a problem that is not going away on it’s own.  It’s growing and it’s an epidemic.  I do know the answer; it’s the gospel.  Its the truth of God.  But how to tell them when the devil has them so firmly under his control, I don’t have the answer for. But I do believe that Jesus is the only hope.  So we have to do what we can, even if it means we get dirty doing it, to tell the lost that Jesus can deliver them.  I believe that.

Jesus told the leper, a hopeless case if there ever was one; ““I am willing; be cleansed.”  Jesus was willing to die in our place that we might have life.  Jesus was willing to become our servant, so that we might become a child of God.  Jesus was willing to die, so that we might be given eternal life.

Listen, that kind of humility and willingness to suffer and serve that was illustrated by Jesus is yet another source to power and authority in the gospel.  Satan may tempt us with pride, he will attempt to control and oppress people through sin, but Romans 12:21 tells us that we overcome evil with good.  We overcome pride with humility.  We overcome sin with compassion.  We overcome selfishness with service.  Jesus said we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  We overcome evil with good.  The gospel is good news.  It is powerful.  It is authoritative.  And that power is available for those who abide in Christ, who are in fellowship with God and trust in God to provide all that is needful for service to Him.  I pray that you will not be ashamed of the gospel of God, for it is the power of salvation to all who believe.