“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.” Mark 1:21-22 ESV
Reflection: how can we know if the teaching we hear is truly representing Jesus?
Coming to a new city, either moving or just to visit, many followers of Jesus seek out a fellowship of believers. But if you have tried this, you know that this is not a simple pursuit. Where do you start? Just driving through most cities in the United States, you will find many church buildings, all who claim they are Christian. In fact some estimate there are well over 300,000 church buildings in the United States alone. And what should we even be looking for when “church shopping”?
The people, and the synagogue leaders of Capernaum were in for a surprise the day Jesus came there. We read today’s focus verse that this might have been the first time Jesus was teaching in the Synagogue. And it was custom to allow a traveling or popular Rabbi to give the teaching on a Sabbath. While Mark doesn’t even mention what Jesus talked about, we only learn about it in the reaction of the people. It says the people “were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” The choice word for how they described his teaching is very interesting, saying that He taught
with authority.
Why authority? When we describe a sermon we have heard, we might say that it was something like great, uplifting, insightful, thought provoking. But what would cause them to say that Jesus taught with authority? And, specifically, they compared His teaching to the legalistic teaching of the scribes, the Pharisees and the religious leaders. If you listen to an author speak on something he has written, as opposed to someone who has just read his writing, we get a sense for the difference between Jesus and the scribes. The people were listening to the author Himself, as opposed to those who had just read His work. Every word He spoke was in alignment with creation. There was no misalignment, no confusion, every word expressed the truth in all. His words were the most pure truth ever spoken in the world. In fact by His words He has spoken all of creation into existence.
He is the Author of all.
And, this pure truth had an enormous effect, not only on the people, but also on the evil that existed, even inside the synagogue. We read “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.” Mark 1:23-26 ESV. Jesus has the
Authority and Power.
His pure truth in word, just His presence evil tremble. Notice after a while, but immediately. They could not be there, in His presence. And, we see Jesus complete authority and power over them as He commands them what to do. Notice that these evil spirits had existed within someone who was part of the synagogue. We might wonder how they had been so comfortable there before they met Jesus? Can you image being one of the people going there on a regular Sabbath, not knowing what was about to happen? Hearing and seeing the authority and power of Jesus. The words being so pure and powerful that they could create.
And, it leads us to think about our own churches, or perhaps the church we long to attend. We should expect our churches to teach the purity of the word, as close as we can to what Jesus taught, with authority. And, perhaps the one test we have is whether any form of evil is allowed to exist in the church. If evil is called out and must flee, we can be pretty sure Jesus is there.
