Post by M.R. Hagerty on Mar 20, 2023 14:08:48 GMT -7
Mark 1:21-38
21 They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22 They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 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!" 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" 26 Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
28 Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. 29 And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. 31 And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.
32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city had gathered at the door. 34 And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.
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. 36 Simon and his companions searched for Him; 37 they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." 38 He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." (Mark 1:21-38)
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Commentary
Mark 1:21-22
21 They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22 They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
We must remember that the only places of worship were Jewish, and since Jesus would challenge the Judaism that prevailed it seems strange that He had a welcome in the synagogue. But this is Jesus’ year of favor. He is appreciated for His wisdom. He also has yet to confront the Pharisees of Jerusalem.
But what is important is that Jesus did not begin a competitive movement outside Judaism. He began by working within its structure, honoring the essential goodness of its provisions in Scripture but enlarging the originally intended meaning which at this point had been distorted by the ever-increasing architecture of the priesthood and leading authorities. We will see an example of this wisdom as to the original intent of God later in His teaching about divorce. To the technicality of the Law He adds wisdom - ”But from the beginning it was not so.” - and proceeds to explain the heart of God in giving the Law as it was.
“not as the scribes”
Two things are to be observed. First, the scribes did not teach like Jesus was teaching. Second, the people knew its nature well enough that all John had to say was not as the scribes. What is puzzling at first is that there is set up here a supposed contrast - Jesus with authority, the scribes without authority.
But this seems contradictory because the scribes were in fact the recognized authority in the Scriptures. It was the scribes who knew the passage in Micah to inform Herod that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. But this comparison is more about the kind of authority perceived between the two, not a case of one
having it and the others not having it. The scribes accrued to themselves authority by virtue of the rather wooden memorization of the Bible and their role as walking concordances of Scripture. They knew the Scripture by rote, and this made for an authority without much heart or real understanding. The scribes could get you to a passage that addressed a certain subject, but they could not expound to an appreciable depth on its meaning.
This was more the role of the rabbi. But even here, rabbis would often take on the more academic posture of quoting other notable rabbis rather than interpreting the scriptures from their own inner knowledge and wisdom. (Not that this was non-existent, but the pattern was as above.) The film Yentl (Barwood Films, 1984) provides an excellent portrayal of scriptural study among students being trained for rabbinical service. They don’t argue with their opponents by citing supporting scriptures for their views. They spend all their time citing Rabbis Ben Yosef, or Hillel, which their opponent counters by citing Rabbis Ben Ioudah, or Shimmai.
Jesus taught differently. He not only “explained” the Scripture but what was behind the Scripture. He proved his interpretations using Scripture to interpret Scripture. But the key was His insight into the meaning. And this lent to His audience sensing that He knew what He was talking about. The scribes seldom went out on limbs to claim they knew the true meaning of anything.
Mark 1:23-27
23 . . there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; . . .24 "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!"
The verse doesn’t mention more than one spirit, which seems contradictory to the use of the third person plural. But this coincides with the idea that demonic spirits are in league with each other and often speak as a collective. We see this again in Mark 5 where we hear the unclean spirit reply “my name is Legion, for we are many.” What is interesting here is that these spirits know who Jesus is. The people could not ignore the vindication of authority this conveyed to Jesus Himself. Full-fledged demons were acknowledging His ability to destroy them. If there were some who still entertained doubts, this bizarre interjection from the realm of evil had to have made every person present a believer.
There is little to be found in messianic prophesies that deals with Messiah’s command over demons. So the demons’ fear of destruction alone would not necessarily have bolstered the people’s faith in Him as Messiah, per se. But they say more.
They continue by saying that they know who He is – ”the Holy One of God.” This is by no means a simple generic phrase for someone blessed of God. It is a clear messianic title, known in Judaism to apply to Messiah. What is ironic here is that demons had no problem acknowledging this, but the people of God would, to the extent that they “crucified the Lord of Glory.”
25 "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
Notice the lack of long-winded incantations. These are simple, straightforward words. The demons were in the man. The command was simply that they come out. These are not magic words that man must now take as a formula to speak precisely as Jesus spoke. The words only had power because of the One speaking them, not the other way ‘round. For those in ministry today, gifted with the ability to cast out demons, it is the authority imbued from God, not the words spoken. We are to be agents of God, not magicians.
Notice the following reaction from the people. The focus was on His authority not His power.
27 . . "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
We’re bound to pay attention to the words of a man who can command this kind of power because it requires real authority over such things and that authority then extends to all other things. What is important here for all believers is that we are not in precarious dread of some day coming up against demons with whom we must fend for ourselves. With faith in Christ we gain the protection of His authority over the demonic world, such that they must obey His authority and power.
Mark 1:28-31
28 And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her.
The house of Simon and Andrew was near the synagogue. That Simon’s mother-in-law was in his home was almost un-noteworthy to John’s readers. It is less likely that the mother was there merely because she was sick. But more likely she had come to live with them in her senior years, which was customary and without the sense of inconvenience we perceive today in the disconnected families of modern times.
That Simon was married, being the future progenitor of the Church’s celibate popes, is not really a major problem for Catholics, in that the administration of the Church is viewed as a living thing that continues to be informed by revelation. Hence, Peter can have been married, but the Lord can also later make the priesthood and the Papacy a celibate office. Protestants have no need to explain the above because they reject the normative Tradition of the Catholic Church beyond the Bible. And in Scripture they see no call to celibacy for priests and popes.
What is compassionate about this event is that Jesus did not exclude his disciples from the working of His grace and power. The disciples were caught up in ministering to others. But when the needs became personal, Jesus’ love and grace were just as readily available to bless them also.
31 And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.
In the cases of Jesus healing and casting out demons, the cures were whole and complete, with nothing lacking. People did not receive partial or temporary cures but were wholly delivered. There are some faith healers today who cover their inadequacies by encouraging a sort of ”follow-up” period in which the sufferer is to diligently “claim” their healing despite what are termed “tricks of the devil.” The fault for not being completely healed is therefore now with the believer not the healer. (Even in the gift of medicine, which is wonderful and praiseworthy, everyone has experienced that recovery is a slow process. We often need rest to recover fully from medical treatments and sometimes repeated treatments.)
But this is not what we find in the work of Jesus. We see here that not only was the mother made well, but no resting period was needed to recover from her ordeal. She was ready to get up and serve in the amenities of drink and food, so much so that it was hard to imagine that just moments ago she was incapacitated in her sufferings.
Mark 1:32-38
32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. 34 . . and [He] cast out many demons; and . . was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.
As earlier stated, a high percentage of activity in any town or village routinely dealt with various states of ill health. Doctors and crude hospital settings left much to be desired and sometimes left the patient worse than before. Understandably, this aspect of Jesus’ healing power became the most significant reason for people flocking to Him. We see scenes today of food relief trucks being swamped by people waiting for hours or even days to get food. What has riveted their attention on a certain location is the prospect of food, nothing more. So in many of these scenes, the crowds are there predominantly to get healed.
Interestingly, here is it said that Jesus prevents them from making Him known. Yet in the synagogue this was permitted. The key factor is the degree in which a scene is private or public. The more public and mixed a crowd is, the more cautious Jesus is about tripping the wire that will turn on the authorities prematurely.
35 In the early morning, . . Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, . . . 37 they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." 38 He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else . . that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for."
The need for Jesus to set Himself apart is, in fact, a window into His humanity and the giving up of His immediate intimacy within the Trinity. He was made to endure the limitations of being human. This did not mean that He was deficient in the knowledge He could receive, but only that the mode of receiving it would need to change. The Son must now pray and listen with the faculties of human kind. Setting Himself apart was a necessary part of that seeking and hearing.
It was necessary to be undistracted, even from the comments and talk from his disciples. Concentration was needed to hear the voice of His Father, not because the mechanism for doing so in Him was defective or unreliable, but because as a human being He could now be distracted by so many earthly and human sources. This is also something we must take as an example to follow. Quick and efficient is the popular mode today, but it won’t really do in this realm. Every believer needs some place where they can spend time alone, without distractions, to seek and listen for God’s guidance and instruction. We often talk about the joy of “alone time” at a retreat, but then leave it in the mountains when we return to the scurry of normal life.
In this verse we can safely surmise that Jesus had become aware that the time had come to move on in the unfolding plan of the Father. He separated Himself to solidify His understanding of what He was sensing and to get a clear view of where He was to be next. He comes from this prayer time fully purposed. He immediately announces their need to go further into other towns, and rather abruptly so, despite the words of His disciples that there remained still more seeking Him where they presently were.
“for that is what I came for”
Knowledge is to precede judgment. The world was genuinely guilty and worthy of judgment. There were untold crimes that had long awaited final justice against their perpetrators. But Jesus came to first shed light in this darkness, that those who might would repent. So Grace in the work of the Son preceded the due penalty of divine judgment and it must have its course of mercy among men.