Hidden glory in the synagogue

Mark 1:21-28 ²¹Then they went into Capernaum. On the next Sabbath day, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. ²²They were amazed at his teaching, because he was teaching them as one who has authority and not as the experts in the law. ²³Just then there was a man with an unclean spirit in their synagogue. It cried out, ²⁴“What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁵Jesus rebuked the spirit, saying, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” ²⁶The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions, and after crying out with a loud voice, it came out of him. ²⁷Everyone was so amazed that they began to discuss this with each other. They said, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” ²⁸News about him spread quickly through all the region of Galilee.

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, focus your attention on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. (Hebrews 3:1) Amen.

Maybe you remember the not-so-good days of sitting in the back of the family station wagon with your siblings. Three kids trapped without air conditioning in a hot back seat with only two roll-down windows. That meant one of the children was a human sacrifice – condemned to the hated, middle seat.

The misery was high and the tempers were short. Any type of jostling, bumping or touching began the backseat battle. “You hit me!” “Did not!” “Did so! You touched me!” “Not on purpose!” “You’d better get back to your side!” “I can’t go back to my side! I don’t have a side! I got a middle!”

“Then get back to the middle!” That last remark was emphasized was emphasized by the giving of a small, slight shove. That first shove led to a more forceful counter-shove.

You know how those backseat battles all ended. The same statements were made by every one of our fathers. It’s like when they became fathers, these phrases became embedded in their DNA.

“Are you crying? I’ll give you something to cry about.”

“You do not want me to pull this car over!”

“I don’t care who started it. I’m the one who is going to finish it.”

I think these men had something instilled in their DNA when God made them fathers. They had authority. They may have been quiet men, but when they spoke up, we listened. The backseat battles ended. Immediately. You learn quickly in the backseat of the station wagon not to mess around with authority.

The people in the Capernaum synagogue learned quickly not to mess around with Jesus. It was in Jesus’ divine DNA to speak with authority.  

Jesus is a 30-year-old rabbi. This is early in Jesus’ ministry. He is the invited preacher in the Capernaum synagogue this Sabbath. It doesn’t take long before the people are amazed. They are baffled that Jesus teaches with such authority. He doesn’t quote former rabbis like was the common practice. He isn’t wishy-washy in his interpretations or legalistic in his applications of Scripture. Jesus teaches the Scriptures as if he is the original writer of the Scriptures … which he is!

He is the Authority!

Mark doesn’t record what the Messiah’s message was that day in the synagogue, but we do have the reaction of those who listened to him. They are filled with awe, adoration and admiration at the words of repentance, forgiveness and salvation. Words they had never heard proclaimed with such clarity. With such authority.

Well, not everyone is in awe in the synagogue. Not everyone is comforted by the message of the Christ. Not everyone is blessed by his presence. There is one person in the crowd who hated what he was hearing. One person who is both frightened and furious. A man possessed by a demon cries out, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

Remember, Jesus has just recently come from the desert after his victorious battle against the devil. Jesus went mano a mano with Satan. And now, Jesus enters this ancient church to do battle against a demonic soldier.

It seems as if the devil and his demonic forces were putting in overtime during Jesus’ ministry. You can be sure that wherever the doctrine of Christ is being taught, the devil and his demons will be hard at work. There’s nothing the devil despises more than the preaching of Christ crucified for sinners. The devil and his demons love vague spiritualities, nebulous praise and cross-less, bloodless gospels that are really no gospel at all. But preach Christ and all hell lets loose.

Christ preaches about the Christ. And all hell breaks loose in the synagogue.  But with a single word, Jesus silences the disruptive demon and restores order to the worship service. “Be silent. Come out of him,” Jesus speaks with authority. And the demon obeys. He has no choice. He must obey the Word in the flesh.

Jesus certainly demonstrated his authority in the Capernaum synagogue 2,000 years ago in his teaching and healing, but is Jesus the authority in your life today? Is it possible Jesus is an authority, but not the authority? Perhaps, like Eve, the eye-pleasing pleasures of this world are your authority. Perhaps, like King David, lust has lured you away from your Lord and become your authority. Has fear paralyzed you, like King Saul and the Israelites hearing the taunts of Goliath? Is it possible that you, like Ananias and Sapphira, are looking to advance your life by making shady business deals; or like Achan, you find yourself caught up in a sin separating you from God’s grace or like Lot’s wife, you are looking longingly at the things of this world? Then fear, cheating and materialism are your authority.

Or does the devil make a claim on your life? No, you may not be demon-possessed (although there may be times when you want to walk up to your child, put your hand on her head and say, “Demon, be gone!”) But when you won’t allow Jesus to be the authority, then you are giving permission to the devil to fill the void. The demon-possessed man was afraid that Jesus was going to wreck all his fun. Do you ever get that way? You think that Jesus has no right to interfere with your lustful longings, with your unrestrained greed, your wicked wants and your desire to seek all that is sinful, sensual and immoral. You think that Jesus has no right to expect you to worship him every Sabbath, no right to tell you how to better your marriage or raise your children or spend your money or correct your music and TV habits. Satan still suggests that Jesus has no authority to interfere with our depravity, our dishonesty or our decadence.

If your authority is not Jesus Christ, it is a false authority, a demonic authority. It is an influence that is controlling you; that will rob you of joy in this world and remove your assurance of a home in the world to come. It leaves you uncomfortable, screaming because you know that the Messiah is coming to crush these things and end their party. These things have a stranglehold on your spirit – as this demon did with this poor man.

But when Jesus, by the Holy Spirit’s power, rules your head and heart; when Christ is the Authority above anything and everything else; when the Savior is allowed to save you from yourself, then your life is changed immensely for the better.

Satan does battle with you every day. He hates that you follow the truth. He wants to create disorder and dysfunction in your life. He wants to keep you in the chains of your sinful desires. He wants you to remain ignorant of God’s Word and will, so you lash out with your will and words. Satan needs you to stay dead in your sin, plagued by false pride and inflating your ego with independence.

But Jesus comes to release you. He sets the captives free. He breaks the chains of your sin. He busts open the prison of your guilt. We heard from Hebrews that Jesus builds you into his house along with other believers to form the Holy Christian Church (Hebrews 3:6). We prayed in the Prayer of the Day that Jesus strengthens your body and mind. He brings you safely through all temptations. He wants to take over the authority in your life. Allow Christ’s voice to be heard through your voice as you command all the voices clamoring for your attention to “shut up.” Let Jesus drive out the demons that plague you.

Jesus does all this. Not with amazing, fantastic or stupendous displays of power. But with words. “I forgive you.” “I baptize you.” “This is my body. This is my blood.” “Go in peace.” “The Lord bless you and keep you.”

There is hidden glory in our Racine synagogue this Sunday Sabbath. The water in the font looks like plain water, but when it is connected to the Word of God in Baptism, it becomes a gracious water of life and a washing of rebirth by the Holy Spirit. The bread and wine on the altar appear to be plain unleavened wafers and port wine, but when they are connected to the Word of God in the Sacrament, they become the very body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, new life and salvation. The words spoken by the pastor sound like regular words, but when they are the words of absolution, they are the very words of Christ to forgive sins so that our Father in heaven would not look upon them anymore.

There is authority in God’s words. Forgiveness in these words. Life, death and resurrection in these words.

The Bible prophecies about Jesus, the Son of Man, “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14). Jesus exudes authority. He bats an eyelash, and nature jumps. He spits, and sight is restored. His cloak is touched, and blood stops pouring. He draws in the dirt, and accusers drop their stones. He speaks, and the dead come back to life.

At the end of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is hanging dead on a criminal’s cross. Yet even a Gentile centurion can see through all the blood and gore, the curses and shame. He sees Jesus’ hidden glory and blurts out, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39)! Even dead, Jesus exudes authority.

So, no one argues when the crucified and resurrected Christ proclaims before his ascension, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

Jesus may not have looked like much when he walked into the Capernaum synagogue. He may not have looked like much as he hung from the Roman cross. He may not have looked like much as he was laid in Joseph’s tomb. But those are the places where Jesus demonstrated his victory over death, the devil and his demons. It was with authority that he healed, taught and commanded demons. It was with authority that he preached sermons, calmed storms and raised the dead. It also was with authority that he allowed himself to die, with all hell breaking loose in jubilation, thinking they had silenced the Son of God. Yet it was with authority that Jesus powerfully took his life back up again and then descended into hell to ruin Satan’s victory parade. Jesus’ death and resurrection meant their destruction. And our salvation.

This is Jesus’ authority. That’s the truth. That’s doctrine.

Fellow saints, this is your Capernaum synagogue. There is hidden glory here. This is a synagogue of the baptized, gathered in the pews and online to hear the Word spoken every Sunday Sabbath. The words of the Christ speak into the darkness of your sins, reclaiming your life, silencing your demons, bringing salvation, healing and life to your soul. Come to the synagogue. Listen to Jesus’ teaching. Believe his doctrine. Receive his healing.

There is hidden glory as you accept Jesus’ authority. Authority in the world. Authority in his words. Authority over your life. Amen.

Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. We are his house, if we hold on firmly to our confidence and the hope about which we boast until the end. (Hebrews 3:6) Amen.