Mark 1:21-28 - An (Un)common Service with Jesus - January 28, 2018

It was just your standard, ordinary, common service at the synagogue in Capernaum. At least, it started out that way. Your standard synagogue service would have been pretty familiar to us. They would hear lessons read from the Scriptures. They would sing Psalms. A teacher would provide a commentary – a sermon. They would pray. They would leave with God’s blessing. As liturgical Lutherans, we would have felt right at home – if we understood Hebrew. This account helps us realize that even though we may think of our worship service as ordinary and common – there’s nothing common about worshipping with Jesus, because we, like those 1st century Jews hear an authoritative Word and witness an amazing result.

First of all, why did Jesus go to church? Wasn’t he the all-knowing Son of God? As the author of Scripture, didn’t he have a pretty good handle on what it contained? Why did Jesus have to go to church? For you and for me. By faithfully attending worship, Jesus was stepping into our shoes, taking our place, doing what we haven’t always done. He was obeying the third commandment by keeping the Sabbath Day holy – that is, set apart for God and his Word. (Exodus 20:8) He had to do this for all the times our parents had to drag us kicking and screaming out of bed for church; for all of the times what happened on Saturday night took priority over what was happening on Sunday morning; for all of the times that we have come to worship grudgingly instead of cheerfully; for all of the pathetic excuses we’ve made to stay away. Because we have broken the third commandment by our reluctance, apathy – and downright disobedience, Jesus kept it so that his perfect record could be credited to our account.   

But on this particular Sabbath, Jesus did more than just show up and sit down. He went into the synagogue and began to teach. What did he teach? We don’t have the sermon. But we can piece together a little bit of the substance of Jesus’ teaching by contrasting it with what it wasn’t. It wasn’t what the people were used to. The people were used to the teachers of the law droning on and on and on about the rules and regulations of pious Jewish living. They would offer careful guidance on how to properly wash your hands for purification purposes, remind you to give ten percent of your garden herbs from your pantry, they would issue strong warnings against doing any work on the Sabbath, and they would hail the virtues of frequent fasting – even though God had only commanded his people to fast one day per year. (Leviticus 16:29-31) Week after week: rules and regulations, the traditions and teachings of men. Worst of all, the people knew full well that their teachers didn’t even practice what they preached. Later in his ministry, Jesus would rebuke this these very teachers for their manmade teaching and their hypocritical living: woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:23-24) In contrast to the teachers of the law, Jesus’ sermon had a shocking effect: the people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

One might think that going to church week after week to listen to nothing but rules and regulations is silly and would never fill the pews today – but you’d be wrong. If you were to go home and listen to a televangelist or stop by the largest, flashiest mega-churches in the area – you would have a good chance of hearing a message pretty similar to that preached in the 1st century synagogues. You’d hear about the 5 ways to salvage your broken New Year’s resolutions, 7 tips to being the best you you can be, 3 principles for career and personal success. These days you can again hear about the virtues of fasting – not just as a religious ritual but as a part of a healthy diet and you can find eager, energetic volunteers to help you calculate the 10% of your income you should be bringing to church. Very little has changed in 2000 years. Much of what passes for Christian preaching and teaching today is nothing more than moralism and legalism; rules and regulations; the traditions and teachings of men.

So what made Jesus’ teaching different and authoritative? It wasn’t just that he didn’t drone on about the number of steps you could take on the Sabbath or how long the tassels on your robe needed to be – it was that his message penetrated deeper than the hands and lips – right to the heart. We heard a summary of his message last week: the time has come…the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. (Mark 1:15) To those living in the darkness of sin and unbelief, Jesus came proclaiming a message of life and light. To those caught up in living for the moment, Jesus revealed the truth that where you spend eternity is more important than earthly luxury. To those burdened with guilt, Jesus offered relief through free forgiveness. To those doomed to death, Jesus revealed the path to life. To those who feared God’s wrath over their failure to properly wash their hands or that they had walked one too many steps on the Sabbath – or today, those who have failed in marriage or parenting or business – Jesus came with the good news that he had come to quench God’s wrath over sin. It was a simple, “common” service in that synagogue in Capernaum, but Jesus had touched the hearts of every person there with his authoritative Word. It’s no surprise that the people were amazed – literally “overwhelmed” – by what they had heard.

Or is it? Does it surprise us that people were actually amazed by what they heard at church? After all, we have our own routine, our own “common” service here too. Show up. Sit down. Stand up. Leave. The Gospel of Christ stands at the center of everything we do. Same old, same old week after week. If worship ever seems boring, irrelevant, or monotonous, whose fault is it? (Hint: it’s not Jesus’ fault!) If we fail to see our need for the absolution is it because we have forgotten the Law’s damning verdict: there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God? (Romans 3:23) If we are reluctant to come because we are burdened with guilt or shame, aren’t we forgetting that Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners? (Luke 5:32) If worship doesn’t seem relevant for our daily lives aren’t we forgetting that this life is preparation for eternity – which will be spent in only one of two places? If receiving the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins doesn’t amaze us any more, don’t we need to consider how faithful we are in preparing ourselves for it; so that we recognize what we are receiving and why we need it? What word better describes our attitude toward our ordinary, common service: amazed or apathetic? If it’s the latter, we need to repent.

There is good reason for us to be just as amazed at what happens here as those people in Capernaum. Because even though Jesus himself isn’t physically teaching and preaching – when his Word is taught and his Sacraments are practiced – amazing things happen here. Things that don’t happen anywhere else. You want proof? Ok. A few minutes ago you confessed that you were altogether sinful and don’t deserve to be called God’s child. And what did God tell you? I have forgiven all your sins and for Jesus’ sake you are my dear child. In our OT lesson we heard words spoken by Moses himself over 3500 years ago. And today, his words are fulfilled as Jesus continues to carry out his prophetic office by continuing to come to us in his Word. After the sermon, we will confess the words of the Apostles’ Creed – a creed written over 1500 years ago – an amazing fact in itself. But what’s even more amazing is that through the power of the Holy Spirit we actually believe the mysteries that confession contains: that God created this world; that Jesus suffered and died to save us; that the Holy Spirit calls and gathers the Holy Christian church through the message of forgiveness. Then we will pray, and our Father in heaven – the one who controls all things – hears and answers our prayers. Is that not amazing? Apathy has no place in Christian worship – not when Jesus is here offering us unimaginable blessings from heaven.

The crowd’s amazement was heightened even further when this “common” service took an uncommon turn. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook this man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.”

You might think that a worship service is a strange place to find one of Satan’s demons, but, in truth, it’s not. Satan does all he can to disrupt the worship of God’s people. And he has a huge arsenal at his disposal: distractions, doubts, boredom, and false teaching. Christian worship is not immune from Satan’s infiltration – in fact, he works his hardest among God’s people. In Capernaum, Satan threw his efforts into overdrive. A man who had been possessed by a demon disrupted the service and tried to cast doubt on Jesus’ identity and message. What the demon possessed man said was absolutely true – but what would everyone think if it seemed like Jesus was in league with the devil? The credibility of Jesus and his urgent message of salvation would have been tarnished. The devil and his demons know the truth – but their testimony can only hinder the message.

Modern, scientific, enlightened critics classify this as an example of primitive, unenlightened behavior. They arrogantly assume that Mark didn’t know the difference between mental illness and demon possession and so allege that this was simply a case of schizophrenia or some other mental disease. Playing devil’s advocate: let’s just say they’re right. Jesus spoke five words in Greek and this poor man was completely, immediately healed. I’d like to see a modern-day psychiatrist cure schizophrenia by speaking one sentence after a 30 second diagnosis. In any case, this wasn’t schizophrenia. Critics – in fact, we all – can believe it or not; but no one can deny that God’s inspired Word identifies this as a case of demon possession.

“Well, nothing that amazing or exciting ever happens here. If it did, then we’d really be excited to come to worship; then the people would really start storming through the doors!” That kind of thinking underestimates the devil’s cunning and overlooks his primary goal: to draw attention away from and lead people away from – or at least plant a seed of doubt – in Jesus and his Word. Here’s a question: does the devil need to physically possess someone today to lead people to doubt or mistrust Jesus and his Word? Not if he can possess us to doubt Jesus’ identity or Word through false teaching. Not if he can possess us to place our focus on material things instead of the spiritual riches God wants to give us. Not if he can possess church members to object to clear, Biblical doctrines and practices based on nothing more than their own experience or gut feeling. Not if he can convince us that we’re pretty good people who might need a divine therapist or a gift dispensing genie from time to time – but not a Savior from sin. Satan is happy whenever we doubt Jesus or his Word or turn away from him for any reason at all. It’s actually pretty alarming that Satan has so much success leading people away from Jesus through lesser means than bodily possession.

On the whole, this might scare us. “Satan and his demons can really possess us?” Yes. But there is good news: when Satan is at his fiercest, Jesus is still triumphant and his Word is still the cure. Come out of him was all it took in Capernaum. The demon was driven out and the man was freed from his prison. But this little victory in Capernaum was only a taste of what Jesus had come to this earth to accomplish. Knowing full well that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8), the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8) Short, authoritative sentences describe how Jesus crushed the Satan’s skull once and for all. It is finished (John 19:30) and he is risen. (Matthew 28:6) Because it is finished: our sin is forgiven, our guilt is paid for, our hell has been suffered, God’s wrath is satisfied. Because he is risen: we will live forever with the one who has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. When we hear that good news; when through the Spirit’s power we believe that good news – Satan’s power to harm us is destroyed. Is that not amazing? Is that not reason enough to make regular worship our highest priority?

Yes, today’s is a rather “common” service during the relatively “ordinary” time of the church year between the big festivals of Christmas and Easter. But there’s nothing common about worshipping with Jesus. He still comes to us in the Word that is more powerful, relevant, and authoritative than the words and wisdom of any man. He’s still accomplishing amazing results through that Word: cleansing us from sin, strengthening our faith, and increasing our hope of heaven – all of which send Satan scurrying back to hell with his tail between his legs. May we never fail to recognize the truly uncommon blessings Jesus pours out through the “common” means of grace week after week. Amen.