4th Sunday After the Epiphany
January 29, 2006
The Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Mark 1:21-28
To the church of God at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center, saints by calling, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 1:2,3). “They were all amazed, saying …‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’”
Dear Christians, there is always a struggle for authority in this world, every minute of every day! Witness the current struggle for authority in Afghanistan and Iraq. There was a time when the Taliban had broad authority to sanction terrorist training camps. There was a time when Sadam Hussein had total authority to gas and torture people and set up rape rooms. The struggle for the shape of future authority in these countries is bloody and ongoing.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world! Witness the current struggle for authority in naming a justice to the Supreme Court. That struggle centers directly on other issues of authority such as a woman’s authority over her own body and that of the body of a baby in her womb and the extent of a president’s authority to empower spying in times such as these.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world! Witness the current struggle over the voucher program for education in Wisconsin. That controversy relates to who has authority to say where their children go to school. Witness the current struggle over judging doctrine in our synod. At our last convention a resolution was passed that says a Christian does not have authority to publicly rebuke errors of doctrine that are public without first obtaining the permission of a district president. This is not Scriptural. For the first time in the history of the LCMS that resolution also gives no authority to laity to participate in deciding cases of false doctrine at the synodical level.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world - in homes and families, between parents and children, in this and every city and state, in our country, between countries, in the church, even within our own hearts. There is no end to the misery in life caused by rebellion against good, God-given authority and by the exercise of bad self-claimed authority.
Webster defines authority as the right and the power to do something or to command others and be obeyed. The Greek word for God’s authority in Scripture expresses His absolute ability and freedom to act and control.
It was the use of that absolute authority that so amazed those present in the synagogue of Capernaum. They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. The scribes, you see, were constantly quoting popular rabbinic names to advocate endless duties of the Law. Beyond the Torah, they added rules and regulations for almost any situation of life. They had built a fence of hundreds of rules around the law by constantly referencing the authority of older rabbis.
Enter Jesus! Instead of quoting others Jesus spoke on His own authority. He simply told them how it was. Instead of preaching endless “how to(s)” for choosing right behavior, He preached sin and grace. His message wasn’t “What should I do?” but rather “What has God done for me because of what I’ve done and left undone?” Jesus preached the Gospel of God, saying “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (1:14, 15). There was no gap between message and messenger. What Jesus taught He personally brought into that synagogue in His flesh, the kingdom of God.
Dear Christians, the authoritative preaching of Christ is our life. It gives us hope in this dying world! It is our hiding place! It is a refreshing message of freedom and good news! But it is not always received with joy and amazement.
Consider the demon-possessed man in the synagogue. He had evidently been there before. Nothing indicates that his presence was out of the ordinary or that he had a history of crying out. As long as the scribes quoted religious human rules about how to live, all was peaceful.
But when Jesus came teaching with authority, the demons got all riled up! A verbal and convulsing battle ensued. Jesus simply spoke the Word of God as the God He is. That led to all manner of kicking and screaming in the synagogue. He cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy one of God.” But Jesus rebuked Him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
Notice his words, “What do you have do to with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” It’s like saying, “What are you doing here?” “Leave me alone Jesus.” Then Satan used the voice of this man to make an amazing accusation against Jesus. “Did you come to destroy us?” What a devilish question! It shows how slick Satan can be in twisting our view of authority. He makes good look evil and evil look good. What could be more satanic then leading others to think that the Savior of mankind is the enemy of mankind? “Let us alone, Jesus. What have we to do with you?”
Please note that in the gospels, the demons know who Jesus is before anyone else does (See also James 2:19). They always recognize Jesus as God (Mt 8:29/Mk 5:7/our text). When the wise ones and elite of this world deny that Jesus is the holy God, they show less insight than the demons do. When the wise and sophisticated ones of this world deny the reality of demons they claim to have more insight than Jesus does. Such knowledge Is puffed up.
Since we are born in this world where Satan is prince, we also are easily disturbed and riled up when the Word of God is spoken with authority. Our sinful nature cries out, what have you to do with me, Jesus?” “Do you want to destroy me?” “Do you want to make me suffer and rob me of happiness?”
Leave me alone Jesus with my own view of the truth. Leave me alone in my dorm room or on the internet or on a Friday evening. Leave me alone Jesus with my thoughts of lust or coveting or self-pity. You can hang around, Jesus just don’t start preaching with authority. Let what you say be culturally friendly and personally pleasing to me. What have you to do with me Jesus with your command to love my enemies and to turn the other cheek? What have you to do with me Jesus with your passionate concern for the witness I give to others in my daily life?
Consider the voice of Christ as heard through His Apostle Paul concerning the eating of meat sacrificed to idols. “Take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak...so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.” What a sweeping command! Not only is the Christian never supposed to sin against a brother by disobeying God’s Word, neither is the Christian supposed to sin against a weaker brother by doing something that is right. Even the appearance of sin may lead astray. As Paul said, “If food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat…” Doesn’t that holy Joe kind of talk from Christ’s apostle make you want to say, “leave me alone Jesus, don’t ask for such commitment and caring from me.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world, also In our hearts. Satan daily tempts us to treat the voice of Jesus as if it were just one voice among many. But that’s a lie! So is Satan’s accusation that Jesus came to destroy us. No matter how deep our suffering, no matter how contrary our feelings may be, just the opposite is always true! “Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself partook of the same that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…and might release us from death” (Heb 2:14).
Beloved, that’s why Satan was doing so much hollering and giving of orders in the synagogue at Capernaum! His princely position was under attack! Assembled to hear the Word, those present were confronted by the Word made flesh! The prophet supreme whom Moses foretold stood in their midst. As God said through Moses, “I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him”
With all the authority in heaven and earth, Jesus then gave an order of His own. “Be silent, and come out of him!” Literally, “Be muzzled and come out of him”. In the Greek, He spoke just three little words but they had wondrous effect. Satan had no choice! There was some crying and some convulsing. But to the amazement of the people he came out of the man! “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
That new teaching is that God has come so close to us as to be our brother. That new teaching is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. Joy of joy, Satan is now thrown down and bound by one stronger than he. Nearly the same Greek words describe how the evil spirit left the man, “crying out with a loud voice” (v. 26), and how Jesus cried out in a loud voice on the cross, “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46). In the synagogue Jesus achieved a tactical victory over Satan. On the cross, Jesus triumphantly shouted his final strategic victory over sin, death and the devil. +He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, including your sin, even your “leave me alone, Jesus” sin. One wonders what the screaming and convulsing was like in hell when His blood was shed? For sometime between His final cry on Calvary and the early morning light of the third day, Jesus descended into hell to announce His victory.
Then, He rose from the grave in new life! It was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him! Before His Ascension the risen Christ then said to His disciples, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Dear loved ones in Christ, do you hear it? What happened to baby Austin just moments ago carried with it all the authority in heaven and earth. Nothing that has occurred in the world this morning has more eternal weight behind it than that simple act. Jesus, in effect, said to Satan as Austin was baptized this morning, “Be muzzled, get out of him.” That same absolute authority was present as your washing of rebirth. What a weighty thing your baptism is. God’s steadfast love surrounds you.
While your sinful heart in weakness sometimes says “leave me alone, Jesus,” Jesus is strong to say, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” I have bought you, you are mine. While you and I keep on wanting to stand on our own authority, Jesus lovingly continues to use His authority to stand us up when we fall down. He does restore your soul. He does create a clean heart in you.
Just as He entered the synagogue on the day of our text, so Jesus has entered this house of worship today. The living Christ, God and man, is in our midst. That’s why the communion liturgy leads us to say “The Lord be with you.” He comes to teach us, not as a scribe, but as the God He is with God’s own Words. He comes to feed us not food sacrificed to idols, but His own body and blood sacrificed to make peace for us by the cross. He comes into our midst with all the authority of heaven and earth to forgive us and to heal us and to give us Himself.
Blessed are you whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! God’s steadfast love surrounds you. Surely in the rush of great waters they will not reach you for you have a hiding place in Christ. God’s steadfast love surrounds you.
How can you stand upright in this constant struggle for authority in your heart? By reason of your frailty you cannot. It is no accident that the last petition Jesus teaches us to pray each day is “deliver us from evil (or the evil one)”. What does this mean? We pray in the petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.
Jesus stands on this side of the grave and sits on the right hand of God to do just that. He fights for you! He is still speaking for you before the Father’s throne. He is still speaking to you this morning. At the Word of Jesus Satan must obey and flee away. He cannot take away your blessed end in Christ. For with all the authority in heaven and earth Jesus will say to you then, “Come up here. I will take you through the valley of the shadow of death, for I have gone that way before you”
In the Name of Jesus, AMEN.
The Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Mark 1:21-28
To the church of God at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center, saints by calling, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 1:2,3). “They were all amazed, saying …‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’”
Dear Christians, there is always a struggle for authority in this world, every minute of every day! Witness the current struggle for authority in Afghanistan and Iraq. There was a time when the Taliban had broad authority to sanction terrorist training camps. There was a time when Sadam Hussein had total authority to gas and torture people and set up rape rooms. The struggle for the shape of future authority in these countries is bloody and ongoing.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world! Witness the current struggle for authority in naming a justice to the Supreme Court. That struggle centers directly on other issues of authority such as a woman’s authority over her own body and that of the body of a baby in her womb and the extent of a president’s authority to empower spying in times such as these.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world! Witness the current struggle over the voucher program for education in Wisconsin. That controversy relates to who has authority to say where their children go to school. Witness the current struggle over judging doctrine in our synod. At our last convention a resolution was passed that says a Christian does not have authority to publicly rebuke errors of doctrine that are public without first obtaining the permission of a district president. This is not Scriptural. For the first time in the history of the LCMS that resolution also gives no authority to laity to participate in deciding cases of false doctrine at the synodical level.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world - in homes and families, between parents and children, in this and every city and state, in our country, between countries, in the church, even within our own hearts. There is no end to the misery in life caused by rebellion against good, God-given authority and by the exercise of bad self-claimed authority.
Webster defines authority as the right and the power to do something or to command others and be obeyed. The Greek word for God’s authority in Scripture expresses His absolute ability and freedom to act and control.
It was the use of that absolute authority that so amazed those present in the synagogue of Capernaum. They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. The scribes, you see, were constantly quoting popular rabbinic names to advocate endless duties of the Law. Beyond the Torah, they added rules and regulations for almost any situation of life. They had built a fence of hundreds of rules around the law by constantly referencing the authority of older rabbis.
Enter Jesus! Instead of quoting others Jesus spoke on His own authority. He simply told them how it was. Instead of preaching endless “how to(s)” for choosing right behavior, He preached sin and grace. His message wasn’t “What should I do?” but rather “What has God done for me because of what I’ve done and left undone?” Jesus preached the Gospel of God, saying “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (1:14, 15). There was no gap between message and messenger. What Jesus taught He personally brought into that synagogue in His flesh, the kingdom of God.
Dear Christians, the authoritative preaching of Christ is our life. It gives us hope in this dying world! It is our hiding place! It is a refreshing message of freedom and good news! But it is not always received with joy and amazement.
Consider the demon-possessed man in the synagogue. He had evidently been there before. Nothing indicates that his presence was out of the ordinary or that he had a history of crying out. As long as the scribes quoted religious human rules about how to live, all was peaceful.
But when Jesus came teaching with authority, the demons got all riled up! A verbal and convulsing battle ensued. Jesus simply spoke the Word of God as the God He is. That led to all manner of kicking and screaming in the synagogue. He cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy one of God.” But Jesus rebuked Him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
Notice his words, “What do you have do to with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” It’s like saying, “What are you doing here?” “Leave me alone Jesus.” Then Satan used the voice of this man to make an amazing accusation against Jesus. “Did you come to destroy us?” What a devilish question! It shows how slick Satan can be in twisting our view of authority. He makes good look evil and evil look good. What could be more satanic then leading others to think that the Savior of mankind is the enemy of mankind? “Let us alone, Jesus. What have we to do with you?”
Please note that in the gospels, the demons know who Jesus is before anyone else does (See also James 2:19). They always recognize Jesus as God (Mt 8:29/Mk 5:7/our text). When the wise ones and elite of this world deny that Jesus is the holy God, they show less insight than the demons do. When the wise and sophisticated ones of this world deny the reality of demons they claim to have more insight than Jesus does. Such knowledge Is puffed up.
Since we are born in this world where Satan is prince, we also are easily disturbed and riled up when the Word of God is spoken with authority. Our sinful nature cries out, what have you to do with me, Jesus?” “Do you want to destroy me?” “Do you want to make me suffer and rob me of happiness?”
Leave me alone Jesus with my own view of the truth. Leave me alone in my dorm room or on the internet or on a Friday evening. Leave me alone Jesus with my thoughts of lust or coveting or self-pity. You can hang around, Jesus just don’t start preaching with authority. Let what you say be culturally friendly and personally pleasing to me. What have you to do with me Jesus with your command to love my enemies and to turn the other cheek? What have you to do with me Jesus with your passionate concern for the witness I give to others in my daily life?
Consider the voice of Christ as heard through His Apostle Paul concerning the eating of meat sacrificed to idols. “Take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak...so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.” What a sweeping command! Not only is the Christian never supposed to sin against a brother by disobeying God’s Word, neither is the Christian supposed to sin against a weaker brother by doing something that is right. Even the appearance of sin may lead astray. As Paul said, “If food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat…” Doesn’t that holy Joe kind of talk from Christ’s apostle make you want to say, “leave me alone Jesus, don’t ask for such commitment and caring from me.
There is always a struggle for authority in this world, also In our hearts. Satan daily tempts us to treat the voice of Jesus as if it were just one voice among many. But that’s a lie! So is Satan’s accusation that Jesus came to destroy us. No matter how deep our suffering, no matter how contrary our feelings may be, just the opposite is always true! “Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself partook of the same that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…and might release us from death” (Heb 2:14).
Beloved, that’s why Satan was doing so much hollering and giving of orders in the synagogue at Capernaum! His princely position was under attack! Assembled to hear the Word, those present were confronted by the Word made flesh! The prophet supreme whom Moses foretold stood in their midst. As God said through Moses, “I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him”
With all the authority in heaven and earth, Jesus then gave an order of His own. “Be silent, and come out of him!” Literally, “Be muzzled and come out of him”. In the Greek, He spoke just three little words but they had wondrous effect. Satan had no choice! There was some crying and some convulsing. But to the amazement of the people he came out of the man! “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
That new teaching is that God has come so close to us as to be our brother. That new teaching is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. Joy of joy, Satan is now thrown down and bound by one stronger than he. Nearly the same Greek words describe how the evil spirit left the man, “crying out with a loud voice” (v. 26), and how Jesus cried out in a loud voice on the cross, “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46). In the synagogue Jesus achieved a tactical victory over Satan. On the cross, Jesus triumphantly shouted his final strategic victory over sin, death and the devil. +He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, including your sin, even your “leave me alone, Jesus” sin. One wonders what the screaming and convulsing was like in hell when His blood was shed? For sometime between His final cry on Calvary and the early morning light of the third day, Jesus descended into hell to announce His victory.
Then, He rose from the grave in new life! It was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him! Before His Ascension the risen Christ then said to His disciples, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Dear loved ones in Christ, do you hear it? What happened to baby Austin just moments ago carried with it all the authority in heaven and earth. Nothing that has occurred in the world this morning has more eternal weight behind it than that simple act. Jesus, in effect, said to Satan as Austin was baptized this morning, “Be muzzled, get out of him.” That same absolute authority was present as your washing of rebirth. What a weighty thing your baptism is. God’s steadfast love surrounds you.
While your sinful heart in weakness sometimes says “leave me alone, Jesus,” Jesus is strong to say, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” I have bought you, you are mine. While you and I keep on wanting to stand on our own authority, Jesus lovingly continues to use His authority to stand us up when we fall down. He does restore your soul. He does create a clean heart in you.
Just as He entered the synagogue on the day of our text, so Jesus has entered this house of worship today. The living Christ, God and man, is in our midst. That’s why the communion liturgy leads us to say “The Lord be with you.” He comes to teach us, not as a scribe, but as the God He is with God’s own Words. He comes to feed us not food sacrificed to idols, but His own body and blood sacrificed to make peace for us by the cross. He comes into our midst with all the authority of heaven and earth to forgive us and to heal us and to give us Himself.
Blessed are you whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! God’s steadfast love surrounds you. Surely in the rush of great waters they will not reach you for you have a hiding place in Christ. God’s steadfast love surrounds you.
How can you stand upright in this constant struggle for authority in your heart? By reason of your frailty you cannot. It is no accident that the last petition Jesus teaches us to pray each day is “deliver us from evil (or the evil one)”. What does this mean? We pray in the petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.
Jesus stands on this side of the grave and sits on the right hand of God to do just that. He fights for you! He is still speaking for you before the Father’s throne. He is still speaking to you this morning. At the Word of Jesus Satan must obey and flee away. He cannot take away your blessed end in Christ. For with all the authority in heaven and earth Jesus will say to you then, “Come up here. I will take you through the valley of the shadow of death, for I have gone that way before you”
In the Name of Jesus, AMEN.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
2/01/2006
