Pastor Slaughter
January 31, 2021
Epiphany 4
Text: Mark 1:21-28
Theme: Words of Authority
Words are very powerful, aren’t they? I think some people try to deny the power of words by saying that expression, “Stick and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” They want to deny the pain that some words can cause us, right? But words also have the power to do good. I mean words can build a person up or tear them down. They comfort or hurt. They can teach and encourage! This is true for every common ordinary person.
But think about those people who are in a place of power or authority. Words of people in authority contain great power, don’t they? They have the authority to issue commands and orders. One says do this and it gets done. They can use their words to inspire obedience giving motivation to serve. They have powerful words because they are in a position of authority. What about Christ? If leaders, those people in authority, have powerful words, How much more with Christ? He came here as the Word of God, He came with Words of authority to chasten and to build up, to save and forgive, all done by the power of his Word. Our sermon for today is taken from the Gospel of Mark and we see that the power of Christ’s word shows the authority he had to teach and forgive! Our theme for today is Words of Authority.
It’s Saturday, a day devoted to rest and worship. You roll out of bed and step outside and you get fresh breeze that blows through you air and as you take a deep breath you get that refreshing smell from Sea of Galilee. As you look around you see people heading over to the synagogue. You see all kinds of different people, people that you have never seen before. But it was not that uncommon to run into people you did not know. After all you are living in Capernaum, a city that was the intersection of several important trade routes.
You figure it is time to make your way over to the synagogue to worship. As you make your way over to the synagogue you think about some of the rumors you heard the other day at the market. Did you hear about this guy named Jesus? Yeah, someone told me that he has been preaching and proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is near. Someone else told me that he said Repent and believe the good news!
A bit puzzled at this rumor you heard and this new teaching, you continue your journey to the Synagogue thinking to yourself, I wonder who this Jesus is. I hope to hear what he has to say sometime. You made it to the synagogue a little early today and as you sit there, you people watch. You see a lot of people that you don’t know. But you see some that your recognize like Simon and Andrew and the Sons of Zebedee, James and John. However, you notice that they are following someone that you do not quite recognize.
As the time was drawing near for the worship to start you wonder to yourself who would be teaching today. It seems that there is never a set teacher to explain the Scriptures to us. You wonder if it is going to be some scribe or another rabbi or maybe a visitor from another synagogue. As you sit there you see that stranger who was with Simon, Andrew, James and John going forward to teach. He introduces himself as Jesus of Nazareth, your ears perk up. You wanted to hear him speak and now you have the chance.
As you listen, you are captivated by every word that comes from his mouth. Something is different about this teacher. Jesus taught in a way that you never heard before. It is vastly different from what you have grown accustomed to when the Rabbi’s would teach. It seemed like the Rabbi or the Scribes would appeal to interpretations of the past Rabbi. They were excellent at taking God’s Word into any number of legalistic regulations. The more you heard those regulations, the more guilty you felt because no matter how hard you tried you could never keep it perfectly. They always left you with the question, “Am I really saved?” But this Jesus, he did not have quote experts in the law, but simply proclaimed the good news on his own authority. The good news about the forgiveness of sins. You look around you and see people amazed hanging on every word he had to say.
As you are soaking in all that Jesus had to say, you see a man start to stand up. You think to yourself, not him, not again! He has an unclean spirit! You have heard him before, raising a ruckus whenever the gospel is proclaimed. You hear him cry out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” With this demon’s accusation, you begin to question Jesus. Is he the Holy One of God? He can’t be. Those are the words of the father of lies. How can we believe them? Is what Jesus teaching us the truth?
But you have seen this before in your own life. You have seen how the devil’s only power is the power to destroy and corrupt, to give pain and misery—in spite of the promise to give the opposite. It has been Satan’s trick from the very beginning! Adam and Eve if only you would eat this fruit you would be like God. If you eat this fruit, you will be happy. If you eat this fruit then you would be better off. With these little questions, he plants the seeds of doubt, doubting God’s Word.
You realize that Satan is trying to get us to doubt the authority of Jesus so that we doubt his teaching. But this is nothing new to you. You have heard his questions before. As your friend tries to get you to sin by saying, “Would God really tell you not to do something that will make you happy?” Thus, trying to make us doubt God’s commands found in his word. If there is a God would he really allow you to suffer? Trying to make us doubt God’s goodness found in his word. Can God really forgive my sin? trying to make us doubt his love found in his Word.
Did God really say? Would God really forbid it, Is God really a good God? Are questions that Satan whispers in our ears trying to get us to doubt God’s authority in our lives, so we doubt his Word and then doubt our salvation.
Just as doubts begin to cross your mind, doubts about Jesus and his teachings because of the demon, Jesus does the unexpected. You hear him rebuking the demon saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” Then you hear a loud shirking sound and the man convulsed and the unclean spirit came out of the man. You look around and all were amazed saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” Without a moment’s hesitation you realize that Jesus is different than all of the other teachers. His teachings are taught with authority and Jesus proves he has authority because his very Word drives out the demon.
As time goes by you learn more and more about Christ. You see him make that journey to the cross where he conquered our sin on the cross. Forgiving every doubt, we may have had…forgiving every sin we committed. Just like Christ drove out the demon, he conquered our sins and doubts. He conquered Satan himself on the cross. Then you hear reports of Christ’s resurrection showing that he and the authority and the power over death itself. As we witness Christ’s death and resurrection, we realize that he had the authority to speak, to teach, to save, and to forgive.
When those times of doubt come, when we don’t feel Christ’s forgiveness, when we don’t understand the circumstances or times around us, when we begin to question God’s promises, we can remember back to that day when Jesus taught with words of authority and showed that his words had power by driving out that demon. He has the authority to say your sins are forgiven and has the power to keep the promises he made.
God’s Word has a whole new meaning for us. We see the power of the Word to conquer the doubts the devil brings with God’s precious promises. We see that God’s commands are for our good. We see in times of suffering God’s love and goodness in saving us. In times of doubting our forgiveness, he shows he has already forgiven it on the cross. The only reason why God’s Word has the power is because of Christ’s authority. When the devil whispers in your ear trying to fill you will all kinds of doubts about God, turn to his Word. Because God’s word has the power to defeat Satan (whose goal in life is you to turn away from). The reason why God’s Word has the power is because it is the Word of Christ.