:: By Andrew Moore
1. “We Won”
Thought I’d begin with an entry from the diaries of Bob Carr (just for fun!- doesn’t have much to do with today’s talk- except that he was a leader)
Read p 123.
(pause)
Jesus was a leader.
With authority.
He wasn’t elected by the people.
He didn’t care about opinion polls…
-> He had the authority of God.
(pause)
2. (Larger section: 1:14- 4:34: “Calls to enter the kingdom”)
Last week, we looked at the preparation or what Mark, in chapter 1:1 calls “the beginning” of the gospel.
Over the next 3 weeks we will look at chapter 1:14-4:34.
-> A section I’ve called – “Callings to enter the kingdom”
This section is held together by “CALLS” to enter the kingdom.
It is begun in verse 16 with the calling of the first disciples Peter and Andrew.
There is the calling of Levi in chapter 2:13.
There is the calling and listing of the 12 disciples in chapter 3:13.
WITHIN this bigger section, there are 3 subsections
Come under 3 headings-
i. authority
ii. life
iii. and conflict.
And today, chapter 1:14- 2:12- “authority”.
The authority of JESUS.
(pause)
3. (Authority to Rock)
And it begins with-
i. A Word of authority
For this is why Jesus came… to preach the word or the gospel of GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Read Ch 1:14….
It’s got authority stamped all over it.
Just a few words, but BANG….Jesus comes and immediately, subjugate all other talk of God !
It’s THE gospel. – not “a” gospel.
There are lots of gospels (or good news stories) in our world… Morris Iemma had his own little gospel the other day… no more vendor tax.
We had a birthday party yesterday downstairs, when the emperor had a birthday, it was gospel- it was good news!… that’s where the word “gospel” was probably first used.
But this is THE gospel.
(pause)
Related of course to this, is that it’s the gospel OF GOD.
There is no authority higher than God.
There are all those “omni” words that theologians use of God… “omni- present”/ “omni-potent”/ “omniscient”.
Job says to God- “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?”
God was there at the foundation of the world.
He loosed the cords of Orion.
He commands the morning and causes the dawn to know it’s place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth.
-> He is the awesome!!!
Well, this is HIS gospel.
> It’s not MAN’s gospel. Paul says in Galatians about the gospel> “I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel”.
It is God’s GOSPEL!!!
(pause)
The content of this gospel, is the kingdom of God and it’s arrival.
And Jesus will go on to explain this through his ministry.
And it’s arrived because the KING has arrived- Jesus Christ, the Son of God! And what he DOES is essential to its coming too, and so it’s NEAR.
The Old Testament, in fact right up until John the Baptist, right up until THIS MOMENT, had been looking forward. They were futuriSTIC.
But now the focus turns to the PRESENT…
And it’s because the time has come for Kingdom of God.
All these expectations.
All this anticipation
Watching and waiting…. The kingdom of God is at hand… the king has arrived.
And because of this, there is an urgency.
A word that keeps being repeated is the word “immediately”
So v16-18
V 20
V 21.
V 23.
V 29
V 30
V 42
…. And so on.
What’s his hurry?
What’s God’s hurry?
It’s because the time has come. It is about to be fulfilled.
There is an urgency.
There is time to repent, but there is no time to delay.
And so we have A WORD OF AUTHORITY…. Rather THE WORD of AUTHORITY.
(pause)
Jesus’s area of ministry when he came to earth, was in Galilee. And mostly in the city of Capernaum up on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee.
It is a Jewish area… part or Israel.
There were lots of people living there… it was a small city.
This is where we find ourselves in Mark 1 and 2.
We don’t have time to look in detail at every section.
But if we did, what you’d notice come through is the authority of Jesus.
ii. Authority Over
a. Non- religious people
Jesus calls Simon and Andrew.
They are fishermen.
And then James and John, also brothers.
And one of the very obvious observations you will notice, is that Jesus calls people and they follow, immediately…
They “immediately” follow him.
And in that little section there (vv 17-20), you see that Jesus’ call is more important than anything else.
They leave their jobs.
They leave their father.
His call is for absolute, total committment.
And Jesus does that to people.
For me that was a gradual thing over many years. My parents were Christian, and I went to Sunday school,… but there was a time, when I was in year 11 when I realized “this is it… it’s total commitment”.
Jesus calls people to give up their lives and follow him.
Everything else, and everyone else, is subordinate to him just like every other word is subordinate to his word (which is the Bible!), so that if he says something is true, it’s true, if he says something is wrong it’s wrong!
It’s worth thinking for a minute… “who is my authority?”
“who is the one I follow? Who is the one I am committed to?”
Sometimes we need to do a bit of adjusting.
Sometimes we need to do more than a bit!.
-> One thing I find very helpful, is every day to start with the Lord. To read the Scriptures.
He sets the path I am to tread, and I can only do that, if I’m familiar with the Scriptures.
Joining a Bible study group. Another very important way.
(pause)
Jesus has authority over…
b. Religious people.
Jesus often went to the synagogue, the Jewish church, and we read in … v 21-22.
We aren’t told what Jesus said, that’s not the point Mark wants to make yet,… but we are told he taught as one who had AUTHORITY.
He captivated people.
Irene told me she saw Peter Garrett this week, and she said he had a real presence about him.
(he’s bald, he’s tall… he’s got eyes that can see through brick walls. ???)
But it was Jesus’ teaching that got people.
He taught with authority.
(pause)
He also taught with authority, because of his actions and his teaching went together… his actions back up the message.
And this is the purpose of the miracles.
Miracles aren’t in the Bible to prove that God exists, the Jews believed in God.
They aren’t to attract the crowds, …for Jesus withdraws when the people crowd in on him, to pray and preach- for to preach is why he came.
The miracles ACCOMPANY the teaching, to back it up.
(pause)
Which leads us to point 3 ii.
For in this first miracle (vv21-28), we see Jesus’ authority over …
c. Spiritual beings
Read v 23- 24.
I don’t know if you believe in this sort of stuff.
Demons and Spirits.
But it’s big in the gospels.
It may be that the coming of Jesus stirred up the spirits and evil forces.
Or it may be that us we’re unusual, and what’s happening here is more typical of history…. There is evidence that demon possession is definitely a real phenomena in non-western countries- non-materialistic countries… In our culture, the devil doesn’t need to manifest himself like this. He doesn’t need scare people into submission of him by possessing them… He doesn’t care how people go to hell.
If they believe in him, or don’t believe in him,… doesn’t matter to him. He just cares about the outcome.
(pause)
But what we see here is an attempt by an evil spirit to control Jesus.
He knows who Jesus is…
He knows exactly who Jesus is!
And so, in calling out to Jesus, and revealing his identity is an attempt to rule over Jesus.(pause)
But Jesus’ authority is decisive.
In ever so few words (no great exorcism, which as Christians should never be necessary!!!)
Read v 25- 28.
(pause)
Jesus continues to heal.
He heals many ….
d. Diseases
And news spreads.
He heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever.
By the way, the word for “fever” in ancient times was not a symptom of many different types of diseases.
It’s used much more specifically.
And usually you would die if you had a fever… as there were no antibiotics.
Jesus heals Simon’s mother in law.
(pause)
Jesus goes to other towns.
He heals a leper.
And this is really shocking…not that he healed him…. We’re not shocked by that now….
What’s REALLY shocking is that Jesus TOUCHED him.
Read v 41-43.
Jesus loves people.
And he loves people who are off limits with God, for this is why he came (he came to seek and save the lost).
People who don’t fit in… particularly with God.
And I want to say to you today too… If that’s you, you are welcome here because God welcomes you.
You are exactly the person for whom the Lord Jesus came!!!!!!!!!
This man would not be able to go to the temple.
You could not touch him or you would be unclean as well, and then you couldn’t go to the templs.
Leviticus 13:45- 46 (read).
But Jesus had compassion for him.
The word in the original is “splanchizomai”. It’s a terrific word… and it means to have your bowels move… to turn over inside….Jesus has this compassion for people that makes his guts churn!!!…
Jesus cares, unlike many of our modern leaders, who are there because of the money, or power or the adulation.
Jesus is someone who cares.
Really cares
But another point to make from this is that…
Jesus has authority over….
e. Priestly rituals
For v 44…(read v 44).
Jesus can do what the priests can’t do!!! That’s the point!.
It’s a “testimony” to the failure of the Old Testament sacrificial system and the priests, which Jesus will replace.
(pause)
And so we come to the healing of the paralytic.
The climax of this first subsection is chapter 2- the healing of the paralytic.
Let’s read it –
iii. (Climax: Authority on earth to forgive sins!)
Read v 1
We are full circle again, back to Capernaum, where Jesus’ first healing occurred; where in fact he had to leave because there were so many people trying to get to him.
Read v 2- 5.
A strange thing to say.
You’d expect him to say “ you are healed”…
Read to v 7.
They’re exactly right.
Our sin is primarily against God.
We’ve ignored him/ we haven’t thanked him/ we’ve broken his holy laws…
That is where our real problem lies… and only he can forgive us.
I could give you many Bible verses to prove it…
Psalm 103:3
Psalm 130:4
Isaiah 43:25; 44:22
Dan 9:9
It’s like this…
If I steal your wallet, and someone else comes along and says to me, “your forgiven”… that’s not right!
You would feel cheated.
Only you can forgive me!
Our sin is against God,… and so only he can forgive us!.
And so they accuse Jesus of blasphemy.
Of pretending to be God.
Of claiming to do what only God can do….
… of claiming to be equal with God.
WHEN he’s not God… AND THAT IS BLASPHEMY!!!.
Read vv 8-12
The really amazing thing about this story is not the miracle, amazing as that is. To be healed of paralysis would be really something.
But the truly incredible thing is what the healing proves…. that Jesus is able to forgive people for the wrongs they’ve committed against God.
And it’s the harder thing, because it will take Jesus to the cross. For on the cross Jesus will pay for the sins of the world.
Sometimes life can be very unforgiving.
Sometimes people hold grudges to their deathbed. Sometimes a simple mistake or an angry word can divide friends for years.
-> But with God, there is forgiveness for all who want it.
And Jesus is the one with the AUTHORITY to hand it out.
(pause)
Well, ….
4. Jesus and Us
Bob Carr is gone.
It’s anyone’s guess how Morris Iemma will go.
But there will be someone after Morris Iemma, just like there was someone before Bob Carr.
They’ll do some good… they’ll make mistakes.
“Their human”
And people will criticize… we love to tear down our leaders… favourite Australian past time.
(pause)
The person we’ve just read about here though, is the King of kings and lord of lords…Unbelievable!!!.
• In him all the fullness of God was please to dwell.
• Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- ALL THINGS were created through him and for him.
And his kingdom has come…
And he will not go away…. maybe you’ve been hoping he will, but you’ve been coming to church, maybe to Bible study… he’s not going away.
-> Will he be your king?
Will he be your AUTHORITY… above everything and everyone else? Above your employer, above your parents, above your teacher at school…
Jesus is the saviour.
But he can’t be your saviour, without being your Lord.
They go together.
He is the one with AUTHORITY “TO FORGIVE”…. And must have authority TO FORGIVE.
(pause)
There are all sorts of reactions in Mark.
There is amazement. Astonishment at his teaching… Amazement at his power to heal… everyone was amazed by that.
There are lots of people upset- the religious people…for they had something to lose!…
(I think we’ve just looked at a day and a half so far!.)
But there is only a few who Jesus will “make” to be his disciples.
Will you follow Jesus?
Totally. Absolutely.
Keep coming to find out ‘the content’ of his authority… next week – “life”.
Let’s pray.