WHAT IS THIS

A sermon by George R. Pasley

Mark 1:21-28; Deuteronomy 18:15-20

What is THIS? A new teaching!

Authority.

A few weeks ago I had a problem with one of my mail order prescriptions because of some problems with the company’s website. In effect, it had cancelled my order, but when I called the company the operator on the line couldn’t give me any help other than to tell me to place my order all over again. All she could tell me was, “I’m sorry,” because she had no authority or power to do anything else.

“They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

I was at the school the other day and I saw a sight to behold. It was a classroom full of teenagers, some surly, some shy, some ready to burst into giggles, some preoccupied with love. But every one of them was in their seat, books open, trying to pay attention to their teacher. No matter how much pent up energy was in the room, waiting to spend itself in something unproductive, the teacher was the authority in that classroom, and the students obeyed.

"What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands…and they obey him."

Authority.

We know about authority- we know what is to be without it, we know how nice it would be to have some! 

Jesus’ authority ASTOUNDED the people of Capernaum.

Astounding can be a good word or a bad word, and I’m not sure which applies here.

Agnes Royer told me that once upon a time long ago in this congregation, one preacher was preaching and a second preacher was listening. The next week, it was the second preacher’s turn to preach while the first was on vacation.

The second stood up in the pulpit and said, “If I had preached that sermon last week I would have left town too.”

The congregation was astounded, and I wonder if they laughed in agreement, or were angry in disagreement.

Luke’s gospel says that when Jesus preached in Nazareth, his sermon made the people so mad they were ready to stone him. Then it says he came to Capernaum the next Sabbath and preached, and they were astounded.

Was it a good astounded, or an angry astounded?

That’s what Luke says about Jesus’ teaching in Nazareth and Capernaum, but Mark says Jesus preached in a synagogue at Capernaum, and Mark says they were astounded because he preached with authority and NOT like the scribes.

Mark went to great pains to point out that the astounding teaching of Jesus was in a worship context, and that it was different than the teaching of the scribes.

Technically, scribes were men who copied what someone else had written. That meant they knew what was on the scrolls of scripture, because they had copied them many, many times. That should have made them an authority on scripture.

Maybe they thought so, too. A few chapters later in Mark the scribes were part of a group of religious leaders who came to Jesus and challenged him on his authority.

“Where does it come from,” they asked.

After all, he had been making himself busy, clearing out the Temple, teaching judgment and just making trouble in general. So they wanted to see his credentials.

But Jesus turned the tables on them. “Where does John’s baptism come from,” he asked. “Tell me, and I’ll tell you.”

In response they whispered, and calculated, they looked at the question several ways, they got frustrated, they argued among themselves, and finally they said, “We don’t know.”

They refused to answer, because they were afraid of what the people might think. Not much authority in that, is there?

So Jesus would not tell them WHERE his authority came from. But he had it, it was plain to see, no matter where he went.

It was plain to see in Capernaum, when he taught in the synagogue.

We might ask what it was he was teaching that Sabbath, but the only evidence we have is circumstantial.

A few verses earlier, Mark tells us that Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

That sounds authoritative, that sounds like he knew what he was talking about, and it certainly was a command: REPENT, and BELIEVE.

But it wasn’t teaching, it was proclamation, and Mark was very clear about that.

Back in Nazareth, over in Luke’s gospel, Jesus taught from the prophet Isaiah. He read the scripture, the one that told about preaching good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed.

If you think that sounds like a commission to your church, you’re right.

If you think there are some people who will be astounded to see us doing those things, you’re right again.

And if you think that would make some people mad, I’m afraid you’re right as well.

But that was another gospel, and another town, and there’s no reason at all to think he taught the same lesson every week.

But there was something compelling about his message.

When he saw Simon and Andrew casting their fishing nets, he called to them to follow, and they dropped their nets right then and there and followed.

I tried that a few times, but it didn’t work for me.

A little later he saw James and John working on their nets, and he called to them to follow, and they did exactly that.

That was authority and that was obedience, even though those were invitations, not commands. Maybe the price of fish was low that year, but I think something more significant was going on.

When they followed, they saw a lot of amazing things. The sick were healed, the lepers were cleansed, and the lame walked. But that was all after he taught at the synagogue in Capernaum.

“What is this?”

What was it he taught and what made it so authoritative? We don’t know, not for sure, but it was different than the scribes. It was different enough that hard working outdoor loving fishermen left their nets to go to church. It was different enough that the whole congregation got bug-eyed and speechless except for one word- ASTOUNDING!

I’m a preacher. I preach every week, and I put my heart into it.

Sometimes I leave people speechless.

Sometimes I leave them dumfounded.

Sometimes I leave them laughing

Sometimes I leave them mad.

Sometimes, more frequently than I like, I leave them indifferent.

Sometimes, more times than I deserve, my sermon has an effect beyond what I hoped or planned.

So I’ve learned something that every honest preacher learns sooner or later.

When something great happens in church- when something astounding happens during a sermon- something is happening that is not the preacher’s doing.

It is God’s doing.

Many a preacher has stepped out of the pulpit, walked out of the sanctuary, entered the church office and collapsed in a chair and whispered, “To God be the glory.” 

Whatever happened when Jesus preached in Capernaum, it was an encounter with God.

Israel met God once before, when they were wandering in the wilderness with Moses. It was an encounter with fire and smoke and lightning, and it terrified them. They begged not to see it again.

God knew they were right, and God didn’t make them go through the fire and smoke and lightning again.

But thank God, God knew we needed something more substantial than fire and smoke and lightning. So God promised to raise up from among our own a prophet, to present God to us, face to face.

God knew we would need a word, a word that was life and hope and love and peace, from God’s mouth to our ears.

God knew we would need the wisdom of God even if we could not withstand the glory of God.

So here’s what I think. I think the authority that people found astounding in Capernaum was the very presence of God.

That same presence is with us wherever we gather to worship in his name. That same presence is here at this table, inviting us to receive his grace and to live lives of faith, leaving our old allegiances behind.

I think that’s what Simon and Andrew and James and John found so compelling, I think that’s what made him different from the scribes, and I KNOW that’s the secret that the unclean spirits understood.

Speaking of those unclean spirits…

There are all sorts of unclean spirits that whisper sweet words to us, tempting us to go where we ought not to go and to do what we ought not to do.

We should be listening to God, and not to them. That’s why Jesus told them to be silent. But just for a moment, let’s think about what they asked and about what they did.

They asked "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”

We ought to ask the same.

Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet like Moses, why have you come?

Is it to destroy us? Perhaps, but in a beneficial way.

Hearkening back to Jesus proclamation, Jesus has come to help us put to death an old, non-productive, detrimental way of life.

Jesus has come to lead us into a way of life that is Kingdom living.

Jesus has come that we might repent.

Jesus has come that we might encounter the glory of God as a fire in our hearts, and live.

That’s the answer to the ultimate question we might ask. But there’s one question that is being asked of us- are you listening?

The question is the same implied by Moses- will you HEED the words of the prophet?

Will you listen, and obey?

The unclean spirits obeyed, and it was death to them.

But James and John, Simon and Andrew- they all obeyed, and it was astounding.

It was not easy.

It was costly.

It was frustrating for Jesus and dangerous for them.

But it was life, and they witnessed the glory of God.

Are you listening?

Will you obey?

The Kingdom of God is hushed, waiting to hear your answer.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.