Today we are going to Capernaum. Capernaum is a little village on the north part of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, and it has a famous synagogue. And behind me, you can see the ancient ruins of this synagogue where Jesus said something, and he did something that has made this place famous. Many tourists from all over the world come to Capernaum, and in fact, some of us have been there together. And I want to take you there right now by inviting you to open your Bible and turn with me to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, verses 21 to 28. So now, we're getting into a day in the life of Jesus that takes place in this village of Capernaum. It's right on the water there on the north part of the Sea of Galilee. It's kind of the home base for Jesus and his disciples. It's where Peter lived. And something happens in this city that immediately makes Jesus famous. And I want to read it for you right now and we can study it together. This is Mark 1:21-28. And out of respect for God's Word, I invite everyone to stand for the public reading of Scripture. I encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention, because this is the Word of God. Mark 1:21.
And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And 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!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. There is a handout there in your bulletin if you want to take some notes on what we're going to learn from this passage of Scripture together. And we've already learned, if you've been here for the previous sermons in Mark, we've learned that the key word of Mark is this Greek word, euthus, and you can translate it “immediately, at once, straight away.” It brings a sense of urgency to this gospel. The Lord is coming. Is the way prepared? Have you made your paths straight away? And so, if you do have the handout, circle “immediately,” right there in verse 21. It's like Jesus comes into this little village there, and it's Sabbath, right? The Sabbath is for the Jewish people. Their days begin in the evening. So, the Sabbath begins on Friday evening, and then it goes through the day on Saturday. And so that's when they would gather in the synagogue. Synagogue is a meeting place. Someone would read from the Law and the Prophets. If there was a rabbi coming through, they might take time to explain the text. And so immediately, with like a sense of urgency, Jesus is there in the Sabbath, and he is the guest rabbi who is teaching. So, they read a portion of Scripture, and Jesus begins to teach. Now you'll notice, verse 23 is another “immediately.” So, you want to circle that. This is number six, and number seven now, “immediately,” just in the first chapter of Mark the word euthus, this is already the seventh time that it's used.
You'll see that Jesus’ teaching provokes a response from a man with an unclean spirit, a man who is possessed by a demon. In the Gospel of Mark, unclean spirit, demon, they are used synonymously, and then, circle “at once” in verse 28. All the way down in the last verse, there's an “immediate, straight away” response that, after this happens in the synagogue, the word spreads all over Galilee. And we're going to see that before this day is even done, crowds are going to come from everywhere, wanting to come and see who is this man who teaches with such authority. If you heard Jesus teach, you would react in in a very specific way. This is, this is something you need to think. And I don't know if you've ever thought this before, or if this is a thought that we need to remind you of here today. But what do you think it would be like if you heard Jesus teach? Well, we see it here, and this pattern that we see in this text is repeated throughout the Gospel accounts. Look what it says in verse 22, “they were astonished at his teaching.” The Greek word here is ekplesso. It's this idea like my mind just got blown away. It would be very similar to the way someone would say, oh, that that blew my mind. Well, that's the idea. Here I am in awe. I am overwhelmed. How could this all even be the way that it is a little later in Mark, chapter 6, when Jesus goes to the hometown of Nazareth, when he teaches in the synagogue there, they are also astonished, and they say, where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Who is this guy? How did he get so wise to know all of this? How is he able to do these miracles and mighty works of God? People are astonished at Jesus. And there is a specific thing about Jesus that leaves them in awe. If you look at verse 22 it says, “they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority.” People don't come away feeling the warm fuzzies after the teaching of Jesus. People aren't like, oh, that was so positive. No. People are like, wow, I have never heard anyone speak with the level of authority with which Jesus just taught. They're astonished at his authority.
Authority. Is that a word that you associate with Jesus. If somebody says the name Jesus, do you think, oh, he's got the authority? Because I'm not asking you, do you know Jesus has authority? I'm asking you, how much does that actually come across your mind, that Jesus is the one with all authority? Because if you ever heard Jesus teach, you would be like, wow, I can't even really comprehend everything he just said, because I've never heard anyone speak with that authority. See, when the prophets write, when the prophets speak, they say, “Thus says the Lord.” When Jesus speaks, he just walks up. He doesn't need to quote any sources. He doesn't need to refer to any passages. Jesus, he speaks authority.
This Greek word, exousia. Exousia is like out of your own being. That's the idea when Jesus speaks, he speaks out of who he really is, because he is the one with authority. Now I want you to understand that this is a common response to the teaching of Jesus. And one of the questions you might have is, well, what did he say that gave them this astonishing response, and what made him them think of his authority? Well, Mark's not really emphasizing the content of the teaching. Mark is emphasizing the tone of the teaching. If you want the content of Jesus’ teaching, then Matthew is the gospel for you. Go to Matthew, chapter 7, verses 28 and 29 where we'll see the exact same response to the teaching of Jesus. And if you've ever studied the Gospel of Matthew, he emphasizes the discourses. He actually records for us the teachings of Jesus. In fact, Matthew 5, 6 and 7 is the most famous sermon of Jesus, referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, because of where it was preached, not far from Capernaum there, to the north of the Sea of Galilee. So many people were coming to hear Jesus teach. They couldn't fit in a synagogue. He had to get up on a little mountain there. Such was the crowd gathering around. And at the end of three chapters, Matthew 5, 6 and 7, that are the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus, this is the response in Matthew 7:28-29. “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” Do you see? This is how it goes. If you heard Jesus teach, you would be like, wow, that's hard for me to even fully grasp what he is saying, because I've never heard anyone speak with that authority. It's not like the scribes. It's not like the other people I've heard teach before. It's not like the guys who are studying the law and trying to explain the law, or the guys who are giving stories of their own. Opinions, or the guys who are even doing their best to try to explain God's Word. No, he's just speaking out of his own authority. I'm astonished. It's not like anything I've heard before. Okay, so now, if you want to really go this week and read some of the teaching of Jesus, that phrase in verse 28 of Matthew 7, “When Jesus finished these sayings,” you can find that phrase five times in the Gospel of Matthew, because Matthew gives you five discourses of Jesus, and after every one of the teachings of Jesus, he uses that phrase. So, if you want to go read the teaching of Jesus and find out what it was he was saying with such authority, then you can go look those things up there in Matthew. Let me just give you a little taste of what he said at the end of the sermon. Go back to verse 21; this is Matthew 7:21. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” So, he's talking about some future day here. “On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” What future day is Jesus talking about
“Here on that day, Many will say to me,” he's talking about a day of judgment. And who is doing the judging in Jesus's own sermon? Here he is. People are coming to him. They're calling him Lord. They're saying, Jesus, didn't we do this for you and this for you and this for you? And Jesus, in his authority, he is deciding what happens to this person. He is either going to welcome them in as a good and faithful servant to the joy of their master, or he might say to them, I don't know you, depart from me. You're still in your sins, you worker of lawlessness. Wow. So, in his own teaching, he's putting himself as the Judge of all mankind. And then this is the analogy that he ends with. Maybe you've heard this before, verse 24. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a man who built his house on the rock.” Have you heard this one before? “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.” But verse 26 other option, “Everyone who hears these words of mine,” what “and does not do them?” Do you see what the difference is? It's not whether you hear it or not. Everybody in his analogy here, hears it. He's coming to the end of his sermon. Everybody heard the sermon. You either go and do what I say, and your house is like on a rock, and you can stand firm, or you don't go do what I say, those are the two options. Do what I say, or don't do what I say. This is how Jesus teaches. In fact, “if you don't go and do what I say,” here's what you're going to be like. “You will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it.” Drop the mic, walk off. That's an interesting way to end a sermon.
Clearly, Jesus needs to go to like a How to Preach 10, class, because they would tell Jesus, in that class, Jesus, you can't just end a sermon with, if you don't do what I tell you, your house is going to fall, and great will be the fall of your house. Jesus, you have to land the plane. Jesus, you’ve got to make everybody feel better at the end of the sermon. Don't you need to let everybody know at the end of your sermon, there's grace for that, and they're all going to be fine in the end, Jesus? Jesus is not very good at preaching, or Jesus is actually preaching in a way that most people don't preach. He's preaching in an astonishing way, because he's saying it all depends on what you do with me and my words. Are you ready to do them or not? Because if you don't do what I say, you will fall, and great will be your fall. And everybody's astonished. I've never heard anything like that. He spoke with such authority. And the word about Jesus spreads everywhere.
Let's get this down for point number one: “Everyone sits under his teaching.” Everyone sits under his teaching, whether they're here at church or not, whether they take good notes or not, whether they pay attention and listen or not. Everyone will be judged by what Jesus says by him. He has the authority, and he gets to decide what happens to you. Jesus calls the shots in your life. He decides if you live, he decides if you die, and he decides your eternal destiny. So, this teaching claims an authority over your life, and people were astonished when they heard it.
Now go back to Mark 1, because Mark's not emphasizing the content. He's just emphasizing the tone, the authoritative tone. And Mark's going to keep this theme building throughout his gospel. If you look at chapter 2, just go over to chapter 2, verse 10, where Jesus says something here that gives us more of an idea of what this means that he has authority. And in verse 10, it says, “but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth.” And then, here's what He has authority to do, “to forgive sins.” So that's mark 2:10. He wants everybody there to know in this house where he is in, Mark 2, “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” If you heard Jesus teach, you would come away with the impression that you're going to stand before Jesus someday, and Jesus will decide whether all of your sins are forgiven or whether you are judged according to what you have done. Jesus is the one who has authority over you, and here he can say to this man, this man that he's going to say, “Rise up and walk.” But he doesn't want us to know he can just heal the man. He wants us to know he has more authority than just over the man's physical body. He has authority over the man's very eternal soul. Why? Because he is the one who created all things. He is the one whose sovereignly sustains all things. And Jesus, I can forgive your sins. That's what Jesus wants you to know. What a claim of authority.
Here are some other things Jesus said, I'll just put them up here on the screen. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Think of any authority you can think of. Think of husbands. Think of fathers. Think of business owners and bosses. Think of pastors or teachers. Think of even presidents, governors, kings, you name it. They are all just middle management. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. Here's what he says in Luke, chapter 12, verse 5, “I warn you, you should be afraid. You should fear. Don't fear him who can just kill your body. Fear Him, who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.” Yes, I tell you, fear him. You're afraid of what's going to happen to you in this life? How about the one who has authority about what happens to your soul after this life, where you go after you die? Have you thought about fearing him? Because there's one who has authority. In John, chapter 5, verse 27, Jesus is referring to his Father, and he says he has given him authority. He has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. In chapter 17, verse 2, he says to the Father, “Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him, so he can execute judgment, or he can give eternal life.” He can forgive you for your sins, or you can be judged according to what you have done. You sit under the authority of Jesus, and it doesn't matter whether you believe in it or not. It doesn't matter whether you agree with it or not. Jesus is saying it as a matter of fact. This is how the universe works. This is the story of your life, that I have authority over you. Do you agree with that.
Do you acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord of your life? Have you submitted yourself underneath the authority, all authority in heaven and on earth? Are you walking around thinking, I don't get to control my own life anymore? Jesus is now Lord. He's always been Lord, but now I can see who he really is. I wonder how many people in this room, if, before you came in here today, we said, Jesus, and what's a word associated with Jesus? I wonder where authority would have ranked on that list, if it would have even been on the list. But if you ever heard Jesus teach, you would be astonished and you would be blown away by his authority, because he's not like the scribes. He's saying that you're going to stand before him, and you should listen to his words, because he's got the words of eternal life. And if you listen to him, you will live. And if you don't listen to him, well you're still going to meet him and he's still going to judge you. So, the authority of Jesus is something I'm really hoping we'll have a great conversation about today, this week at our church. I'm hoping that the authority of Jesus is something that would regularly come to your mind, that he is the Lord, and he can forgive sins, he can judge. He has all the power, all the dominion. Jesus has jurisdiction over you, and he decides what happens with your eternity. And the people are like, wow, this is not like the scribes.
Now, that's very interesting that they contrast the teaching of Jesus with the scribes. Now, the scribes, this kind of introduces a main character. It's a group of people, but it's kind of a main character. These scribes are going to be throughout the gospel of Mark. And these scribes, they're supposed to be real teachers of the law. So, I don't know what comes to your mind when you hear scribes, but the idea behind the word is they know the Writings, they know the Law and the Prophets, and they're able to spread that to the people. Now we're going to find these scribes at the time that Jesus comes, these religious leaders to be like many religious leaders have been throughout history. We're going to find them to be very corrupt and very much false teachers who are in it for their own selfish gain. And so, the people notice right away, this teaching from Jesus is different than the teaching we get from the scribes. And that conflict, that contrast, is going to be a major theme in the story of the life of Jesus.
In fact, go over to chapter 2 with me, and look what was happening there in that house where they, maybe you remember this story, they made a hole in the roof of the house, and they lowered this man in because they had faith that Jesus would heal him. And while that's happening, these scribes are sitting there. So, as soon as the word begins to spread about Jesus, you can imagine how the word goes, oh, you’ve got to come see this guy, Jesus. Why? Why should I come see Jesus? Oh, he teaches in a way I've never heard before. He's a way better teacher than any of the scribes. You can imagine as that word starts to spread, the scribes don't like that very much. And the scribes are like, well, what's going on? So, here are some scribes, now coming to listen to Jesus. “And some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins, but God alone? And immediately, Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves.” So, they're not even saying this out loud, but Jesus knows what they're thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” That's why he says, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” So, Jesus knows they're questioning his authority. The scribes want to establish their own authority. They want people listening to them, following them. So, there's going to be this big conflict between the authority and the teaching of Jesus and the scribes. In fact, go to chapter 11. We'll see that this conflict is going to build throughout the gospel, and this will ultimately be the reason that the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, these religious leaders of the Jews, the reason they want to kill Jesus is because they understood what Jesus was saying. Jesus is claiming to be God.
A lot of people these days, they'll quote Jesus like a great teacher, but they leave out his authority. They leave out his claim to be God. And they understood. Look at Mark 11. Look at what happens here in verse 18. It says, “And the chief priests and the scribes, when they heard what Jesus is doing, cleansing the temple here, they were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was” what at his teaching, everybody? They were “astonished,” right? So, this is the reaction throughout the gospel. You hear Jesus teach, your mind is blown, and specifically look at the issue that they're going to bring up. Go down to verse 27 when Jesus and the disciples came again to Jerusalem. He's walking in the temple that he had just cleansed, “The chief priests, the scribes, the elders, they came to him, and they said to him, ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’” Or who gave you this authority to do them? This is the issue. The teaching of Jesus leads to an astonishing response, and he speaks with such authority, and it creates a conflict with the scribes. And they are afraid of the people, because the people are astonished, and they're trying to question Jesus. They're challenging his authority. They represent people who want to control.
A lot of religion is just people wanting to control other people, and that's what they want to do, and they don't want to acknowledge that Jesus is the one with all authority. And so, we're going to feel this tension as we go through Mark. There are going to be people questioning Jesus, rejecting Jesus. People do not want to submit to the authority of Jesus. People want to be in control of their own lives. People want other people listening to them. They don't want to submit themselves to listening to the words of Jesus. So, the question comes to you, what have you done with the authority of Jesus? Have you bowed the knee? Have you confessed with your tongue that Jesus is Lord? Do you ignore and I'm not asking, do you know that Jesus has authority? Are you thinking about this? Are you talking about this as you're making decisions every day on whether you're going to do this or not do this? Are you hearing the words of Jesus telling you what to do and telling you what not to do? Is it like, well, what would Jesus want me to do right now? What would the boss say to me? What if he's my lord? Am I ready to obey him today? Is that a way you're learning to think? Because that's what the teaching of Jesus would lead you to think.
Now go back to Mark, chapter 1, because this authoritative teaching provokes a demonic response, and it says immediately, okay, so he's teaching astonishment, authority. But then here comes this unclean spirit. And let's think this through together. In verse 23, “Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.” We’ve got a demon-possessed person at the synagogue on the Sabbath, and he cried out. And then it gets to in verse 24, what this unclean spirit cries out from this man. Now, when it says, “and he cried out,” that's the kind of thing we can easily just skip through. But if we were at this nine o'clock service and someone cried out, we wouldn't just keep going. That would get everybody's attention, and we'd all look at each other like, did you hear that? What did they say? I don't know. What just happened, right? If you were at your house sleeping tonight, when it's all dark and the lights are all out, and you're sleeping there, and then, all of a sudden, you hear one of your family members cry out. You won't just roll over and go back to sleep and keep sawing some logs. You know what I mean? You'd be like, hey, why are they crying out? What's going on? If somebody screams, if somebody shouts, you're like, whoa, what's going on here? Usually, people scream because they are what? They are afraid. They are freaked out. In fact, the only other time this compound word is used in the Gospel of Mark is chapter 6, verse 49. Go over to Mark 6:49, so we can get an idea of what it means to cry out. And if you go to Mark 6, verse 49, you'll see that Jesus is walking on the water. He's walking on top of the lake. He's walking on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples have gone ahead of him. They're in a storm. They're in a boat. They're not moving very quickly, and Jesus is almost like he's just going to walk by them, and he's walking on the water, and it says in verse 49, “But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out for they all saw him and were terrified.” Have you ever seen something that freaked you out and you screamed, you shrieked, you were afraid, and you cried out? Do you realize that's what this demon is doing? The demon is terrified of Jesus. The demon hears this man teaching with this authority, the demon knows who he is, and the demon screams in terror. That's what's happening here. You might have things that make you afraid that you would cry out. Well, what makes the demon afraid? Is Jesus speaking with his authority to judge? And so, look what the demon says after it gives this cry, this scream. Here it says, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth, have you come to” what does the demon ask? Have you come to destroy us? Are you here to judge us? Is this the final judgment right now? “I know who you are. You're the Holy One of God.” Do you realize that this moment in the Gospel of Mark, the demon has a clear understanding of who Jesus is than anybody else in the whole story besides Jesus? Demons are like, I know who you are. You're the Holy One. Is this the moment? Have you come to judge me right now? That's what the demon is wondering. And this is what all the demons are wondering.
There are going to be a lot of accounts of interactions with demons in the Gospel of Mark. Go over to chapter 3. Look at it here in chapter 3, verse 11, it says, “Whenever the unclean spirits saw him,” when the unclean spirits, these demons, when they see Jesus, “they fell down before him, and they raised this cry, ‘You are the Son of God.’” They immediately acknowledge who he is. They're falling down. They're crying out. Go over to chapter 5. Chapter 5 is kind of the ultimate encounter. Like, in fact, Mark 5 really gets into this idea of a demon-possessed person, and they make this guy like the scariest person imaginable. If you've ever had stranger-danger before, this is stranger-danger to the maximum right here. Okay? There's a guy who lives in the tombs. He's always, like, just crying out stuff. He's just yelling stuff out there in the cemetery. And a few of the guys, they went one night, and they tried to bind him with chains, and he broke the chains. You can't even bind this guy with chains. He's so strong. Like, this is the kind of guy that's freaking the little kids in the village out right here. Mommy, what is that guy doing over there, you know? And so, you're supposed to be scared of this guy. And then in verse 6 of Mark 5, plot twist, “When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him and crying out with a loud voice, he said, ‘What have you to do with me? Jesus, Son of the Most High God, I adjure you,” I beg you, I plead with you, by God,” do not torment me.” Immediately, the scariest person you've ever heard described, just upon seeing Jesus is on their face, begging, I know who you are, Son of the Most High, please don't torment me. Please don't judge me. Will you please send me into these pigs over here instead of just destroying me as I deserve right now.
Do you realize how afraid the demons are of Jesus? Have you really thought about this? Have you realized that demons have a clear perception of who Jesus is than most people do, maybe even most people who go to church, demon sees Jesus word association. First thing that comes to his mind, authority, ultimately, what is Jesus going to do to the demon? He's going to destroy them. He's going to torment them. He's going to cast them into a lake of fire. And they know that about Jesus right away.
Now see, that thought that the demons are scared of Jesus? Let's get that down for number two: “Even the demons tremble at his name.” Even the demons tremble at his name. They're all crying out with a loud voice. It says here, they're all falling down. They're all overwhelmed with some kind of terror, some kind of fear. And what do they all say? Oh, you're the Most High, you're the Son of God. You're the Son of the Most High God. They all know who he is, and they all know he has authority over them. That's what they know about him. And they tremble. They know his name, they know who he is, and they're terrified. Even the demons believe. And they tremble at who Jesus is. In fact, they tremble a whole lot more than a lot of people do. And people think, well, I'm not a demon. Demons are evil, demons are fallen, demons are unclean. They're the bad guys. I'm not like them. Then what are you? You're one of the good guys? You're a good person before the God who's going to judge you, the God with all authority? You just assume that you're on the good side. I'm pretty sure that we may not be unclean spirits, but we are unclean before a holy God. Everybody here has fallen. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. All of us have sinned. Yeah, there's a big difference between demons and sinful human beings. But if you were born in sin and Jesus is your judge, if you've never gotten right with Jesus, you should be scared of Jesus.
So, we have this domesticated suburban Orange County Jesus in our mind, Jesus is going to come riding on the clouds, and the whole world is going to start mourning and weeping and freaking out like these demons, because when Jesus comes, he's coming to judge everybody. And so, we need to see Jesus high and lifted up like that. We need to see Jesus in all of his authority. And there's this fear, and this fear is meant to turn you from evil, and that you would put all your trust in Jesus. I mean, let's take a moment here today, as we take communion later, to thank God so much that the one with all authority is also known for his humility, that he would become one of us, that he would sacrifice himself, giving his body to die in our place, that he would shed his righteous blood as a payment for our sins, and he takes all of our sin and we receive his righteousness. If you're not believing in the Gospel of Jesus, so that Jesus will forgive you for your sin, then you're going to stand before Jesus in your sin. And there is nothing more terrifying to a sinner than being before the judge, still in your sin, and the demons know it, and the demons cry out.
It's sad to see that to this very day, the demons understand Jesus better than most people do, because if you're in sin and you're going to be before Jesus, the demons understand that's something to be scared of. Do you have that understanding? Was there a time where you were convicted of your sins before a holy and righteous judge, and you realized, if I meet Jesus in these sins, I would be in torment, I would be destroyed, I would have to be judged for what I have done. And see, that understanding of who Jesus is, that was so helpful in my life, that caused me to see Jesus and his love for me dying on the cross. And I knew I needed that. I needed him to pay for my sins, because I couldn't do it myself. And so have you seen Jesus ready to judge you for your sin, and then you can turn to him in repentance, and you can believe that he died and rose again, and you can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ? See, the demons that were there is actually, he doesn't want the demons telling everybody who he is. He's not trying to spread his reputation. Jesus isn't trying to ride this hype. He rebukes the demon.
Go back to Mark, chapter 1. You'll see it there. He rebukes the demon, and he wants the demon to be silent. We're going to see that throughout Mark. We'll get more into it. He's always telling people to be silent. He's always saying, Don't go tell anybody that this happened. Jesus isn't trying to get everybody to have this hype or this popularity or this fame; that's not his purpose. In fact, this fame that happens here in verse 28, if you come back next week, just at the end there, the fame will look at this day in the life of Jesus in Capernaum, and this fame is not really what Jesus wants. It's just people can't believe what they're hearing, and they go, and they spread the word about Jesus. But here's my concern as I'm preparing for this sermon and I'm ready to now come and preach it to you, what I'm concerned will happen is you'll leave here today, or you'll go to your fellowship group this week, and you'll be like, wasn't that demon part so fascinating about that sermon. What do you think about demons? And then somebody will be like, Oh, I think demons are possessing people all over the place. And then somebody else in the fellowship group is like, I was once possessed by a demon. And then, bam, we're off to the demon rabbit trail. Has anybody ever gone down that path before? Completely derails the entire fellowship group. Right?
Okay, I just want everybody to not miss the point of this text. The people that were there that day in the synagogue in Capernaum, they see what happens. They see Jesus tell this demon to come out of him, and the demon comes out of him. And look at what the people there say in verse 27, “They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority?’ He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” Who has the attention of the people in the synagogue of Capernaum, who is the one, who is the he that they go fill in everybody's ears all around Galilee, with? The teacher, with the authority. Even the evil forces in the heavenly places are obeying him. Their eyes are on Jesus, and they are like, who is this? Everybody needs to hear about this authority that he has. Wow, this is like a new teaching I'm not familiar with. So, make sure you don't miss the point. The point of this is not to go say to your brother in Christ, what's your secret theory about demons? The point of this is, wow, am I really thinking about the authority of Jesus in the right way in my life? Am I really seeing that Jesus is over me and that what I do or what I don't do should be based on what he teaches me, what he says, that I should hear his words and do them, because if I don't do them, I will fall. But if I do what Jesus says, I will stand firm. Wow, right there. You could summarize life right down to that.
Who's ready to listen to the authority? If you listen to Jesus and do what he says, you will live. If you don't listen to Jesus and don't do what he says, you will die. And what is Jesus saying? Well, we already studied a couple weeks ago his basic message. If you're in Mark 1, go back to verse 15, where his message was summarized by Mark like this. “When he came proclaiming the gospel of God, he brought the good news of heaven here to Earth. The time is fulfilled.” Now is the time. Don't put it off. Don't delay. “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” Have you heard the good news that God sent his Son to die for your sins, and on the third day he rose again? Well then, turn from your sins and trust in what Jesus did to save you. Repent and believe. That's if you hear what Jesus says and you repent and believe, you will be saved. But if you hear what Jesus says and you don't repent and believe, then you won't be saved. So, nobody puts it on their calendar, oh, yeah, May 4, 2025. Yeah, that's the day. That's the day I'd like to repent and believe. That's not how it works. It works like, oh, today I heard something, and I was astonished with what I heard. And it helped me realize that someday I'm going to stand before Jesus. And I started to think, if I stood before Jesus today, on May 4, what would it be like to stand before Jesus, and I realized that it would not go well for me if I stood before Jesus today. And so, I heard what he said, and I repented of my sins, and I said, I'm going to stop trying to be a good person myself, and I'm going to trust in Jesus that he died for me and rose again. That's the idea here. So, make sure we leave here today thinking about the authority of Jesus and what he told us to do, and that he even does have authority over evil spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Focus on his authority. Don't go down the demon rabbit trail. Make sure you don't think less of Jesus than the demons do in the Gospel of Mark.
Turn with me to Ephesians, chapter 1. If everybody could go to Ephesians, chapter 1. Something we learned a while ago. And I just want to remind everybody what it says here in Ephesians 1. Paul is praying for “the eyes of their hearts to be opened,” and he wants them to see something okay ? And this is my concern for you. You can hear this sermon and you can leave, but can you really see what it's saying about Jesus? And that's what Paul's praying here. Pick it up with me in verse 15 of Ephesians. He says, “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and I know you have love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Now, Paul's going to tell us what he's praying for them. Verse 17, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” I want God, the Father of Jesus, by the power of His Spirit to reveal Himself to you. I want you to know who God is through his Son, Jesus. And so, here's what he prays. Verse 18, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according.” So, he gives you some encouraging things. Do you know hope? Do you know for sure that he's called you? Do you know the riches you're going to have with him in your inheritance in the kingdom? Do you know the power, the resurrection power of Jesus, that can work in your life this very day? Can you see these things? Are they real to you? But then this is where he gets into it. Verse 20, “All this power that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet, and he gave him Jesus as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
Now, if you're taking notes, you want to write down rule, authority, power, and dominion. That includes the demons. The demons, there's some kind of hierarchy there of authority. And princes and powers. And Jesus has been when he was raised from the dead and he was seated, he ascended into heaven. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. And God exalted Jesus so that his name is above every other name. Whatever authority you can think of Satan and the demons, all the nations of the earth, people that are authorities in your personal life, Jesus is above all of that. Everything is under the feet of Jesus. Is that how you walk around, seeing the world, when you hear the news, when your boss says something that seems burdensome, when there's a conflict in your household, are you encouraged? Are you strengthened? Jesus is over all of this. Jesus is in charge. He's above all these problems that I can see right now. I know that my King, Jesus, he's been exalted to the name that is above every name, and when I see Jesus, there will be no doubt in anyone's mind he has the authority. Is that a regular thought that you're thinking? I think that this thought could unlock new levels of hope and power and peace in your life. If Jesus is really over all things, and everything is under his feet, notice this language here in Ephesians, it's all. “He's above all and all things are under his feet.” And he's head over all things. And then who was he given to us? Jesus is our head here in the church.
So, the one who has authority over all things is the one who's now with us, filling us. I mean, there's nowhere you can go this week that Jesus will not be there. There's nothing that can happen to you this week that Jesus is not over. He has all authority. You think you want to go have a conversation about these side character demons, and we'll have time to talk about demons as we continue to go through Mark, but make sure you don't miss the point. Make sure, I mean, there's a real possibility that we could talk about this, and you could hear that Jesus is going to be over you on a day of judgment. You could hear that even the demons are terrified, crying out of who Jesus is. And you could still leave here today and not really have it be a thought in your head this week that Jesus is above all, and I'm willing to place myself under his feet, I submit to the Lord Jesus. I see who he really is. Do you see? Have the eyes of your heart really seen who Jesus is? Because a lot of people think they've seen it, but they really haven't.
Go back to Mark, and let's just review this spiritual battle that we've begun to see in Mark, chapter 1, verses 12 and 13. We talked about this on Good Friday. And just in case you weren't here, this kicked off the spiritual battle that takes place in the Gospel of Mark, because the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism. And it says in Mark 1:12, “The spirit immediately,” there's that sense of urgency. “The Spirit drove him” or cast him out “into the wilderness, and in the wilderness forty days being tempted by” who everybody? Satan, the adversary, the accuser. Remember, Satan's a Hebrew word that means adversary or to accuse, and so Satan. Never put Satan in your mind, don't put Satan like he's the arch rival of Jesus. Don't ever put Satan on the level with God the Father or Jesus the Son or the Spirit. You're giving Satan way too much credit if you think he's like the arch rival of Jesus. Satan is a fallen angel. Satan's down here with Michael and the other angels. That's who he's a rival of. He's on a lower level than Jesus. Satan can't, he doesn't have the authority to step to Jesus. Don't ever give Satan that credit.
See, Satan's just the most famous out of all the demons, is what he is. He's just one of the demons. And so, there's a ranking among the demons, and there's a ranking among the angels. And we don't maybe fully understand how Angels and Demons work. There are some things that are revealed to us, but notice it even says that the angels were ministering to him there. So, something's happening out in the wilderness, the spirits leading Jesus out there. The angels are ministering to him out there, and here comes Satan to try to tempt him, to test him, to battle with him. And now we're going to see as he goes through the gospel. There are all these demons, but these demons, they are afraid of him, and he has authority over them.
Go to chapter three, where the plot of this really develops, this spiritual battle. We get a glimpse into how Jesus is thinking about this here in Mark, chapter 3, verse 22. And so, this is the conflict we're going to see in the Gospel of Mark. There's going to be this interpersonal conflict with the scribes that are against Jesus. There's going to be a spiritual conflict with Satan and the demons against Jesus. And you see that all come together here in Mark 3:22, “And the scribes…” Now, these aren't just your normal scribes. These are some of the head honcho scribes who came down from Jerusalem. “They were saying he is possessed by Beelzebub. By the prince of demons, he casts out the demons.” We figured this guy, Jesus, we know how he's casting out these unclean spirits. He's casting them out because he's one of them. He's a higher ranking demon than the other demons, and so that's how he's able to cast them out. So, here are the scribes slandering Jesus to everyone who will listen to them. “And he called them to him and said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan?” Is that really what you guys think is happening? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand, and if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, he'll come to an end. You really think there's a civil war going on on Satan's side? Then Jesus says this, verse 27, “But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Now usually there, we keep reading, and Jesus says that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit has come upon Jesus. Jesus is casting out these demons by the power of God through his Spirit, and they're attributing the work of God's spirit to the work of Satan. And so, he says, you guys are blaspheming the Holy Spirit. And usually, people then get caught up on that. But look at what Jesus just revealed to us in verse 27, that Satan's not fighting within himself. Satan has a house, and the strong man Satan, Satan does have some power, some authority. Well, that strong man in his house, you have to go and bind the strong man. Then you can plunder his house. Here's Jesus telling you, yeah, I came to bind Satan. I came to destroy the works of the devil. I came by the power of God's Spirit, because “greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.” I came to defeat what Satan accomplished when he deceived Eve. The curse of sin, the punishment of death are the dominion of Satan. I came to bind him, and then I'm going to go plunder his house and all the people that are blinded, all the people that are deceived. Then I can bring them into my marvelous light, all the people that are under the domain of his kingdom, I can deliver them and bring them into my kingdom. Is what Jesus is saying, Jesus came so that he could bear your sin, that he could die in your place, and he could defeat your enemy? And after he defeated Satan on the cross, see now he can bring you out of Satan's dominion, and he can bring you into his everlasting kingdom. Here's Jesus giving us his game plan. I'm going to go bind the strong man, and then I'm going to take from his and I'm going to make it mine. And that's what happens every time Jesus saves one of us. We are brought out of living in our sin. We are brought out of a fear of death. We are brought out from being under Satan's authority, and we now get to enter the kingdom of the one who has all authority, Jesus Christ.
And so, this is the battle that's taking place, and the scribes and these demons and Satan. They're just all pawns in Jesus's hands so he can accomplish his purpose, because he is the one who has the authority and your life needs to exist under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This is something you have to see. And I can't say this with enough urgency. I can't say this like, immediately. You need to see this today. Today you need like, if you're not thinking this way, if you are thinking this way, let's learn how to think this way. Let's learn how to talk about the authority of Jesus together. In fact, look at the back of your handout. Look at the application questions this week, and just jump right to number five. Here's the thing I want to challenge everybody with here as a part of our church family. Hey, are your thoughts worthy? How are you going to think thoughts that are worthy of Jesus this week? How is every day this week Jesus going to be the authority over your life? How are you going to learn to make daily decisions on what to do and what not to do, based on the fact that Jesus has given you his teaching? That is, how can we go and talk to one another? This is sometimes a harder conversation. It's easy to just go share how you feel. It's easy to talk about your problems. I mean, sometimes you might want to keep them to yourself, but if you're open and you're honest, it's great to share how you're really doing with people. Sometimes in our fellowship groups, we're talking about what we should do or what we should not do, but this conversation isn't about me, it's not about you, it's not about us and what we're doing or how we're feeling. This is really a conversation about him. He's the one who's teaching. He's the one we should be astonished by. He has the authority. What do we have to say about him? I think so many Christians love what Jesus has done for us, but what do we have to say about him, especially things about him that may not seem like they're immediately to our benefit. Do we still love those things about Jesus? Do we still worship him as Lord, as king, as the one with all authority? You can know this, but sometimes you can completely miss the point.
In fact, turn with me to Matthew 11. I want to tell you what happened to Capernaum, I want to tell you what really happened. Even though it seems like they're like this one he's got teaching, they're astonished. They're spreading the word. It seems like a positive response. It seems like a good day in the synagogue there in Capernaum. But that's not really how the story goes. In fact, Capernaum is one of three cities that are right there on the northern part of the Sea of Galilee. In these three cities, Jesus did most of his teaching, most of his healing, most of his mighty works, casting out demons. Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida. Maybe you've heard of these cities before. I've had the blessing to go to these cities. Some of us have been there together. And this image that we've had here on the screen the whole service, this beautiful looking synagogue, that's not what the synagogue looked like at the time of Jesus. That's what it looks like today. They've kind of recreated it. It's a great archeological discovery, and they have it looking really nice with these stones here. But see, these stones were put, I think, centuries later than the time of Jesus. The synagogue didn't look like that I would imagine. After Mark writes this, the synagogue of Capernaum has become a famous synagogue, and so somebody rebuilt it in this kind of really nice way later on. But if you go to this place, it's just a place for tourists. Nobody really lives in Capernaum anymore. People just visit the ruins. And underneath these beautiful looking ruins, there's a layer. You can see it there. If you ever go there, you can see a black rock layer under these beautiful stones, because at the time of Jesus, everything was constructed there with this black rock.
And so, if you go to these cities, like let's just show you what Chorazin looks like, because they haven't made Chorazin this nice place for tourists to come. Chorazin looks like a pile of black rocks, and nobody lives there. Nobody, to this very day, lives in this city. Nobody lives in Bethsaida, nobody lives in Capernaum, just people coming to visit because Jesus was there. But look what Jesus says to these cities. This is Matthew 11 verse 20. I need everybody to pay attention to this with me. In Matthew 11:20 “Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done.” Okay, so these three cities, that's where most of the ministry of Jesus happened. Why did he denounce them? Because they did not what everybody? They didn't repent. They didn't really turn from their sins to him. They didn't really change their mind based on his authoritative teaching. “Woe to you, Chorazin, Woe to you, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,” some of us just read about the judgment of Tyre and Sidon in the book of Ezekiel this week, this proud, wealthy place that got brought down in judgment. Hey, if the mighty works that I did in you, Chorazin and Bethsaida, if they had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. “But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre” inside, and then “For you, and you Capernaum, Capernaum will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” Do you know the city of Sodom? People still talk about it right now, the city where fire came from heaven to consume it, because it was so evil. And God rescued Lot out of the city right before the fire fell. He compares Capernaum to Sodom, and he says in verse 24, “I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for the land of Sodom than for you Capernaum,” because I taught you. I cast out demons in front of you. I did healings and many mighty works right there in Capernaum. And guess what? You told all your friends about it. You were avid, you said that was an amazing day at synagogue. And then you went home and stayed in your sins. You did not repent. “Woe to Chorazin, woe to Bethsaida, woe to Capernaum.” And they are a pile of rocks to this very day, because when the one with all authority says, “Woe to you” judgment upon you, no one ever comes back from Jesus pronouncing judgment upon them, because he has all authority.
And so, as we study this story where Jesus reveals his authority in that synagogue, the people in the synagogue didn't really see it, because if you really see that Jesus has authority, you want to change your mind that you're not in control of your life and you can't live life any way you want. You have to turn to the way Jesus is calling you. You have to transfer your trust from you being a good person to trusting in the way of Jesus Christ. And so, there's a white tent out there in the courtyard. And if today you realize that Jesus is over you and you're not ready to stand before him, I want to encourage you go talk to somebody after this service. And also, you should have communion there with you. If you could pull that out, we want to give you a moment now to respond to Jesus. And so, this is a chance for you to submit yourself to his authority. This is a chance for you to pray to Jesus. The worship team's coming out right now. They're going to sing a song about the name of Jesus and the power and authority that is in his name. You can sing the song, but I would encourage you to really pray to who Jesus is right now, to acknowledge him as Lord, to submit yourself to his way. And then, to think that the one with all authority, the one who's high and lifted up, that's a representative that he gave his body to die for you, and he gave his blood to make you righteous. So how could the one who has all authority care about a sinner like you and offer his life in your place? This is a time for us to really remember Jesus. Now, I just want to say where after this song, I'll come out. We'll take communion to close the service. But if you know that you're not right with Jesus, if you know that you have sinned, you have not repented of I would encourage you, don't take the communion. It says in 1 Corinthians 11, don't take communion in an unworthy manner. How could we say, let's remember how Jesus died for our sins while we're still okay with these sins in our life? And so I would encourage you to really come before Jesus, talk to him. He is your Lord. He has authority over you. Let's pray to him right now.
Father in heaven, I thank you for bringing us all together today in the name of Jesus and father. My concern is if a demon was here, everybody would leave talking about, oh, did you hear what happened in the service? But God, I pray that we would all leave here saying Jesus was here in this service, and that's what we would want to leave here talking about. And I pray for every person here that right now we could take a moment to come before you in the name of Jesus, that we could confess any sin we may have, that we could acknowledge he is the Lord, and that we could thank you Jesus, for dying in my place. Thank you Jesus for paying with your blood so I could be righteous. Thank you Jesus that when I come before you, I don't have to be afraid like the demons. I don't have to be scared about being judged because you were judged in my place. So, thank you, Jesus, that I can come and that fear of judgment can be cast out, and that I can come before you, knowing you by faith, with perfect peace. So, let this be a moment of pure worship to Jesus. We pray in his name, amen. Amen.