Pastor Tim Patoka
From the River to the Mountain
January 28, 2024
Spread the News of Jesus’ Authority Mark 1:21-28 We all answer to someone who exercises authority over us: children to their parents, students to their professors, residents to their elected leaders and law enforcement, employees to their bosses, and bosses to their shareholders or board of directors. Depending how they exercise their authority over us, we spread the news about them whether good or bad. When children find their parent’s weak spot, they quickly others so all can get what they want. When students find good professors, they tell others and sign up for their classes. Residents loudly protest and praise their leaders and law enforcement based on personal experience. Employees make or break a business on how they’re treated in the workplace. And bosses can be respected or hated based on their leadership. As Christians, we answer to God who exercises authority over us. But God does it wonderfully so that we’re more than happy to spread the news, the news of Jesus and his absolute authority. As we look at our verses this morning from Mark chapter 1, we get a glimpse of Jesus’ absolute authority when he teaches and casts out an unclean spirit. From this glimpse, we recognize Jesus for who he is – the Holy One of God – who uses his absolute authority for our benefit and blessing. Because of that, we cannot help spread the news of Jesus’ authority. As was Jesus’ custom, he went where God’s people gathered so he could meet, teach, and serve them. In Capernaum, that happened in the Jewish synagogue where they gathered every Sabbath Day around God’s Word. As usual, Jesus was teaching the people. But what they heard was unlike anything they typically heard. For Jesus “was teaching them as one who has authority and not as the experts in the law.” (Mark 1:22 EHV) Though this particular sermon wasn’t recorded for us, we have other sermons from Jesus to see what made his teaching so different. For one, Jesus relies on himself or the Old Testament to explain what Scripture teaches. When the experts in the law taught, they constantly referred to previous teachers and rabbis to understand what something said. Rabbi So-and-So and Teacher This-and-That were mentioned so often that God and his Word were lost in the shuffle or not even mentioned. Secondly, Jesus’ teaching was different because of where his emphasis was. The experts in the law talked about minute distinctions, man-made theories, traditions of the elders, and how best to keep the Old Testament many ceremonial laws. They lost sight of God’s promise of a Savior and our need for his forgiveness. Jesus 1
Pastor Tim Patoka
From the River to the Mountain
January 28, 2024
fixed that by reorienting the spotlight on what matters most: our sin and God’s grace. It’s because of these two differences that Jesus exuded authority when he taught. He taught God’s Word as if he were God himself. And what he taught was new to their ears, even though he just went back to the basics of the Bible. Not only did Jesus teach with authority, he exercised it as well by casting out an unclean spirit. This unclean spirit is better known to us as a demon, a fallen angel who served the will and whims of the chief demon, Satan himself. Evidently, this demon had some degree of control over this man. The demon also knew who was teaching in the synagogue that day: Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy One of God, the Son of God himself. He had absolute authority and could destroy this demon with no problem. In love, Jesus helps the man who had a demon by uttering a single command, “Come out of him!” (Mark 1:25 EHV). What followed was a scene you’d probably find in a horror movie: a man thrown into intense convulsions, the demon crying out in a loud voice, and then calm when the demon was cast out. That demon was something else! But Jesus’ authority was even more. For he has absolute authority, even over supernatural forces like demons. It’s no surprise that the people in Capernaum’s synagogue that day were amazed. They had never met someone like Jesus before: exuding authority with a new teaching; commanding demons to obey him. And they went viral with the news, telling everyone in the region of Galilee about Jesus and his absolute authority. However, does Jesus actually have such absolute authority? Is he actually that powerful? Picture yourself in Capernaum’s synagogue listening to Jesus teach. He’s speaking as if he’s God himself! He’s not referring to respected teachers, cherished traditions, or talking about the usual things. He tells it how it is and goes back to the basics of sin and grace. If you want to teach with authority, you can’t rely on just yourself; you need to bring in outside sources. In academia, you write research papers and journal articles summarizing others before proposing your ideas. In the court, lawyers and judges look to prior precedents and established patterns of behavior before deciding what’s just and fair. In politics, candidates conduct polls and community surveys before representing their constituents. Is Jesus truly greater than all these, greater than even Moses himself, that he just can speak on God’s Word and expect people to believe what he says is true? Or take Jesus’ authority in action, when he cast out the demon. Do demons even exist? Evidence-based science cannot prove the existence of angels and demons, 2
Pastor Tim Patoka
From the River to the Mountain
January 28, 2024
let alone their intentions or abilities. If the supernatural isn’t certain, then Jesus’ authority isn’t certain. Suppose they do exist. Who’s to say Mark recorded what actually happened? This account sounds too good to be true for it paints Jesus in an unrealistic way. Who’s to say that there wasn’t some deceit? Demons are scary and powerful. Could Jesus really cast him out with a single command? Or did Jesus strike some kind of deal so they would play act this charade? While skepticism and conspiracy theories will always abound, there is no doubt about Jesus’ absolute authority. These words before us today are God’s inspired Word and trustworthy down to the individual letter! What it says here is what actually happened. And what happened is that Jesus showed us a glimpse of his absolute authority as the Holy One of God. The demon called Jesus this truthful name. As the Holy One of God, Jesus is the embodiment of holiness. To be holy means two things: to be pure and set apart. Jesus is pure for he has no sins in any thought, word, or action. Jesus is also set apart as our Promised Savior who takes our sins away with his innocent death on the cross and bodily resurrection from the grave. It’s in this name for Jesus – the Holy One of God – that we see his divine nature highlighted as true God who has absolute authority. And he uses this authority for our benefit and blessing. As true God, we can trust everything Jesus says because, one, he wrote the Bible and knows best what it says and, two, will never lie to us. He doesn’t need to refer to any outside sources to teach God’s Word. There’s no one greater than him or better equipped to tell us what it says! As we listen to Jesus’ authoritative teaching, he directs us to what we most need to hear: the Bible’s basics of sin and grace. Our sins have separated us from God and made it impossible for us to have any chance of salvation or reconciliation. But God’s grace has done away with our sins by sending us Jesus, laying our sins upon him, and paying for them with his death and resurrection. We also look to Jesus and his absolute authority for he breaks and defeats the Devil’s plans. Satan has but one goal: take as many humans possible down with him to hell before the Last Day. Jesus disrupts that plan by sending us the Holy Spirit who makes us holy. We are pure from sin with the forgiveness we now have. In God’s sight, we are free from sin, as clean as the freshly fallen snow on top of Mt. Lemmon. We are set apart from this unbelieving world as children of God who love and serve him by loving and serving our neighbor. It’s because of Jesus who uses his absolute authority as the Holy One of God that we ourselves are holy through simple faith in Jesus as our Savior. 3
Pastor Tim Patoka
From the River to the Mountain
January 28, 2024
Like the demon who recognized Jesus, let’s see him for who he is: the Holy One of God who embodies holiness with his purity from sin and set apartness as our Promised Savior. But then, let’s do what the demon did not. Listen to Jesus and his new teaching with confidence that what he says is true. We don’t need outside sources to confirm the Bible. It is true in and of itself because this is where God speaks to us through the exact words he’s chosen. Focus your attention where Jesus directs you – the Bible’s basics of sin and grace – because that is what matters most. We may be intrigued by speculations, theories, and traditions, but they do little to nurture our faith. What will though, and what we need to regularly review, is the simple message of our sins that have separated us from God and his grace which makes things right through Jesus and his forgiveness. Rejoice in Jesus and how he exercises his absolute authority for your benefit and blessing. He has broken and defeated the Devil’s plan by sending you the Holy Spirit to make you holy. You are purified from your sins and as clean as snow. You are set apart for God as his child through faith. You are holy through simple faith in Jesus. And then, spread the news of Jesus’ authority throughout the regions around you, amongst your friends and family. Not everyone takes Jesus at his word, focuses on the basics of sin and grace, or recognizes his power over unseen powers. Sadly, there are some who are anything but holy in God’s sight. But that can be fixed by you spreading the news of Jesus’ authority as the Holy One of God. For Jesus tells us the truth, directs us to what’s most important, and disrupts the Devil’s plans with his absolute authority used for our benefit and blessing. Amen.
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