A New Teaching With Authority
Introduction: The Difference Between a Librarian and a Lion
We live in an age that is allergic to authority. We are taught from our youth that the highest good is to be "authentic," to follow our own heart, to define our own truth. The modern man wants to be the captain of his own soul, accountable to no one. But a man who is his own captain is the captain of a leaky raft in the middle of a hurricane, and he is a fool. The question is not whether you will live under authority, but rather which authority you will live under. You will either submit to the authority of the living God, or you will be crushed under the authority of sin and death.
In our text today, Jesus walks into the synagogue in Capernaum, His new base of operations, and the people there are immediately confronted with an authority they had never before witnessed. They were used to the scribes. The scribes were the religious academics of their day. Their teaching was a labyrinth of footnotes. They would say, "Rabbi Hillel says this, but Rabbi Shammai says that..." Their authority was entirely derivative. They were librarians, cataloging and commenting on what others had said about God. They could give you a detailed description of a lion, its habitat, its diet, its roar. But then Jesus of Nazareth walked in, and for the first time in their lives, they heard the lion roar.
This passage is a frontal assault on the idea that Jesus was merely a good moral teacher. Good moral teachers do not command unclean spirits to flee, and have them obey. This is not a new philosophy being offered for their consideration. This is a declaration of war. A new kingdom is invading, and its King has come to church. And when the King shows up, the squatters and the rebels are exposed. This confrontation reveals the nature of Christ's authority, the reality of the spiritual war we are in, and the critical difference between a demonic confession and a saving faith.
The Text
And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. And they were astonished at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with You, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they were arguing among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” And immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
(Mark 1:21-28 LSB)
The Authoritative Word (v. 21-22)
We begin with Jesus going to church on Sunday, or in this case, on Saturday.
"And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. And they were astonished at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Mark 1:21-22)
Jesus is not a rogue operator. He honors the created order, including the institutions God had established for His people. He goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath. His ministry begins with the public proclamation of the Word in the assembly of the saints. This is God's designated pattern. Reformation and revival always begin with the recovery of authoritative preaching.
The reaction of the people is astonishment. The Greek word here means to be struck out of your senses. This was not the usual, dry, academic discourse they were accustomed to. The scribes taught like men standing at a distance from the text, pointing at it. Jesus taught as one who stood within the text, as the very subject of the text. The scribes were commentators; Jesus was the Author. The scribes cited authorities; Jesus was the authority. When He taught, it was not, "The tradition says..." but rather, "Truly, truly, I say to you..." This is an implicit claim to deity. He is not just another link in the chain of tradition; He is the God who forged the chain.
This is the kind of preaching the church desperately needs today. Not the timid suggestions of therapeutic deism, not the scholarly mumblings of men who are more concerned with the approval of the academy than the approval of God. We need preaching that comes with the authority of a "thus saith the Lord." This authority does not come from the preacher's personality or his rhetorical skill. It comes from the Word of God itself, faithfully proclaimed. When the Bible is preached, it is God who is speaking. And when God speaks, things happen.
The Demonic Interruption (v. 23-24)
The first thing that happens is that the enemy is flushed out of his hiding place.
"And immediately there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, 'What do we have to do with You, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God!'" (Mark 1:23-24)
Take careful note of where this happens. This is not in a pagan temple or a dark alley. This is in the synagogue. In church. During the sermon. An unclean spirit was sitting there, perfectly comfortable with the teaching of the scribes. The dry, lifeless, derivative religion of the establishment did not bother him in the least. He could sit through that all day long. But the moment the authoritative Word of Christ is proclaimed, he cannot stand it. The light has come on, and the cockroach has to scurry.
The demon speaks, and his theology is impeccable. First, he recognizes the absolute antithesis between his kingdom and Christ's. "What do we have to do with You?" This is the language of separation. What business do we have in common? None. There is an unbridgeable gulf fixed between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Light has no fellowship with darkness.
Second, he recognizes Christ's ultimate purpose. "Have You come to destroy us?" Yes. That is precisely why He has come. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). The demons know the end of the story. They know that their final doom is settled and that Jesus is the executioner. They live in terror of that final judgment.
Third, he makes the first great Christological confession in Mark's gospel. "I know who You are, the Holy One of God!" This is a Messianic title. The demon is no atheist. He is not an agnostic. He is a theologian, and his doctrine of Christ is, on this point, entirely orthodox. This should be a sobering warning to all of us. It is possible to have a perfectly orthodox Christology and still be damned. It is possible to affirm all the points of the creed and be on your way to Hell. James tells us that the demons believe that God is one, and they shudder (James 2:19). Theirs is the faith of sheer terror, not the faith of loving submission.
The Authoritative Command (v. 25-26)
Jesus does not commend the demon for his theological acuity. He shuts him down.
"And Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him!' And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him." (Mark 1:25-26)
Jesus says, "Be quiet," which is literally "be muzzled." He will not accept testimony from an unclean source. He is in complete control of His own public relations. He will reveal His identity on His own terms and in His own time, which will culminate not in a demon's shout, but in a centurion's confession at the foot of the cross.
Then comes the command: "Come out of him!" This is not a negotiation. It is not a suggestion. It is a sovereign, royal command. This is the same power that said, "Let there be light." The Word of Christ is performative. It accomplishes what it says. He speaks, and reality reconfigures itself to obey.
But the demon does not go quietly. He throws the man into convulsions and cries out with a loud voice. This is a temper tantrum. The enemy does not relinquish his ground without a fight. The exorcism is a violent, messy affair. This shows us two things. First, it reveals the true nature of demonic bondage. It is a violent, degrading, dehumanizing slavery. Second, it is a small picture of the cross. The ultimate victory over the powers of darkness would be won through a violent, convulsive struggle, where the Son of God would be thrown down in order to cast out the prince of this world.
The Only Logical Conclusion (v. 27-28)
The crowd, having been astonished by His teaching, is now driven to utter amazement by His power.
"And they were all amazed, so that they were arguing among themselves, saying, 'What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.' And immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee." (Mark 1:27-28)
They finally connect the dots. His teaching has authority because it is backed by this kind of absolute power. The scribes could talk about God's power, but Jesus demonstrated it. The scribes had words; Jesus had the Word. This is the essence of the "new teaching." It is not new in the sense of contradicting the Old Testament; it is new in the sense that the reality to which the Old Testament pointed had now arrived in person.
They grasp the central point: "He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." This is the test of true authority. Does reality obey you when you speak? The scribes could command their disciples, but Jesus commands demons. This is authority of a different kind altogether. This is the authority of the Creator over His creation, even the fallen parts of it.
And the natural result is that the news spreads like wildfire. True evangelism is not the result of a clever marketing campaign. It is the result of the people of God being so amazed by the authority and power of Jesus Christ that they cannot help but talk about it. When the lion roars in the church, the whole jungle hears about it.
Conclusion: Your Personal Demonic Confession
So what does this scene in a Capernaum synagogue have to do with us today? Everything.
First, the authority of Jesus has not diminished. He still speaks with absolute authority through His written Word, the Bible. The question for us is whether we hear it as the scribes did, as a text to be analyzed and debated, or whether we hear it as the voice of the living God, which demands our unconditional surrender.
Second, the church is still the central battlefield of the spiritual war. Do not be naive. The enemy is in the synagogue. Unclean spirits of bitterness, lust, pride, and theological compromise are quite comfortable in many of our churches because the authoritative Word of Christ is no longer preached. But when it is, they begin to convulse.
Finally, and most pointedly, you must examine your own confession. It is not enough to say, "I know who You are, Jesus, the Holy One of God." The demons say that. You can have a statement of faith that is doctrinally sound, you can affirm His deity, you can know all about the Trinity, and still be in the same position as that unclean spirit. The ultimate question is not what you know, but who you obey. Does He command you? When His Word says, "Be quiet," do you muzzle your gossip, your slander, your pride? When His Word says, "Come out," do you obey? Come out of your sin, come out of your idolatry, come out of your self-righteousness?
The same power that cast out that demon is the power of the gospel. It is an exorcism. God speaks His authoritative Word into the chaos of our sinful hearts and says, "Come out of him!" He liberates us from our bondage. If you have never submitted to that authority, if you have only ever given Jesus your intellectual assent, then your confession is no better than a demon's. But if you will bow the knee, if you will surrender to His Lordship, then you will find that this King who commands demons with a word is also the Savior who welcomes sinners with open arms.