1. Jesus launches His ministry

A ministry of word and deed

1 February 2009

Mark 1:21-28

We are beginning to sense a new year as the summer holidays draw to a close and, over the coming weeks, we shall sharpen the lens of our spiritual minds upon Mark’s account of the ministry of Jesus – and seek to apply the lessons we learn to our own mission and ministry today. The contexts are distinctive and, therefore, naturally different – but we can gain insight from the shortest (yet most to the point) of the gospels of our New Testament, which is:-

Fast-moving and full of action.
Crowded with human interest stories.
Peppered with straight and searching questions.

Throughout the gospel, there are the underlying themes of the way of the cross and the cost of discipleship … focusing upon the Person that Jesus is and how disciples then, and disciples in our day, may respond to him. It will provide an appropriate context for some of the key dedication services in which we share at this time of the year.

As we look at Mark, we find that some people believe and respond and others do not … and even become opposers to the extent of joining with those who will be part of his rejection and death.

John the Baptist is imprisoned and Jesus makes the decision to call a band of disciples to join with him in his ministry (Mark 1:16-20).

The call of the disciples is recorded with the minimum of words and unnecessary details are dispensed with. The clear point is that Jesus called and they followed. His calling is an indicator of his authority, which will be variously demonstrated throughout the whole gospel.

As Jesus preached, taught and healed, he displayed an amazing authority which was his own and not someone else’s. Later we will find Jesus giving the disciples his authority to carry out his mandate for mission.

All that Jesus did … conveyed a sense of authority. He presented truths with a freshness that touched people’s lives. My overall theme is familiar to us at Wesley Mission – Word and Deed – and we see it originating in the ministry of Jesus where his words of authority are backed up by authoritative actions.

Jesus starts where people are and this is, for us, a great lesson if we are serious about mission today. Too often we build our strength around ourselves and invite people into our setting, thus creating unnecessary obstacles which make it difficult for others to respond to the simplicity of the gospel.

After the call to discipleship and partnership in the work of Jesus, we meet Jesus and his newly-found disciples in Capernaum and the incident in the synagogue is succinctly introduced with the words:-
“They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.”
(Mark 1:21)

Mark compresses a day in the life of Jesus into a section in Chapter 1. The day begins as they go to Capernaum – which will become the northern centre of Jesus’ ministry. It is situated on the north-west bank of the Galilee and was a significant bustling community. Capernaum, like Nazareth, is relatively unknown and an unlikely place for the new works of God – a message in itself!

As Jesus launches his ministry, it is with a sense in which we discover something which will be true throughout his time – that events and happenings will demonstrate his nature and character. The healing of the demon-possessed man bears all the marks of an original reminiscence and eye witness account.

If Peter, as confidently can be assumed, is an eye witness to the events which happened at his home town of Capernaum, they would carry a very unique significance and agreed accuracy.

This incident opens up our overarching theme for the coming weeks – and tonight we see Jesus launching his ministry and mission.

The Lord attends the synagogue service and is invited to teach in that context. His reputation must have gone before him and it seems natural both that he is invited and that he takes up the invitation to teach.

The quietness and dignity of the synagogue is broken by the sudden cry of a person who is in the grip of a power outside of himself. English comments that it “may refer to some demon possession making him ritually unclean, or it may be a way of describing the source of a particular form of illness, mental or otherwise.” Cranfield reminds us that the New Testament, by contrast with contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish material at the time, shows little interest in demons, except in relation to exorcisms.

The man recognises who Jesus is and what he has come to do (1 John 3:8). Jesus cuts the man short and one who has probably been judged to be incurable is set free. It should not surprise us that there is amazement amongst the people. They must wonder what is happening in their midst!

There is a sense of irony in the account because the evil spirit recognises and identifies him with accuracy – and yet the crowds do not grasp the testimony that is before them.

Let us then look at this early event in the ministry of Jesus.

The initiative was with Jesus – v. 21

So often in our lives, we measure our effectiveness at handling life by how we cope with what life throws at us. Although we see Jesus met by people in need and in differing circumstances, a great theme of the gospel is that Jesus was on the front foot, stepping down the track to meet need and to actively engage in his work and calling.

Jesus takes the initiative in both teaching and healing

In the early part of Mark’s gospel, we are not told the content of Jesus’ teaching, but we are given various insights into his healing work. The point is that these belong together.

It is true that Mark does not include so much of the teaching of Jesus. However, he uses the verb ‘to teach’ sixteen times in reference to Jesus’ activities and the noun ‘teacher’ eleven times. The kernel of the message could be said to be found in 1:15.

The venue is of significance

It was in the synagogue (v.21) that he both taught and cast out an evil spirit (v.v. 23-27). Jesus took his ministry of word and deed into the heart of all that the Jewish religion meant in daily life by exercising his power in the synagogue … this carries significance to all who looked on.

Jesus did not have to ask the question as to whether he would go to the synagogue. It was his custom to be at the place of spiritual nurture. Jesus had a mission which centred on the kingdom of God … he had no time to lose. The logical starting point was with the religious community.

The timing carries its own powerful communication

The event occurs on ‘a sabbath’. This will become a major issue with the religious authorities (Mark 2:23-27). It will become a factor on his journey to the cross. God’s gift of Sabbath had developed into a means of legalistic rigour and, instead of a day of rest, it became a day of constant legalism!

The point I want to emphasise is that the initiative was with Jesus and this was a feature of his ministry. When I think of him, I do not see him as someone to whom things happened, but One who took the initiative.

God is always taking the initiative … from creation on. Some aspects of religious thought suggest God is passive but, as one writer put it, ‘God is barging into our world’.

The wider application is explained by John Stott, who writes: “Christianity declares that God has taken the initiative in Jesus Christ to deliver us from our sin. This is the main theme of the Bible.”

H B London and Neil B Wiseman wrote about Pastors at Risk in 1993 and, on the theme of leadership, wrote, “From the world of business, Robert J Kriegel offers an observation about being proactive that applies to churches, ‘Research shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans (85 percent) are reactive and static, not action- or dynamic- or instinct-oriented. They wait and meet, meet and wait. With a ready arsenal of conservative, conventional wisdom at their disposal, they try to control outcomes in an out-of-control world.’”

The comparison with others was unavoidable
- v. 22

The ministry of Jesus is seen to be in comparison to the religious authorities of the day. One of the purposes of the gospel writer appears to be to underline the God-given authority of Jesus Christ. It is in this context that we best understand the issues when compared to the religious authorities at the time of Jesus. Both his works and words evoked attitudes and responses which suggested the immediate sense of God’s presence.

One writer asked the question, “What are the components of authority such as Jesus displayed?” There were three aspects to it:-

Speaking and acting in a way that leaves no-one in any doubt that he knew his subject matter.
Actions and life corroborate the words spoken.
There was an immediacy about his leadership.

Jesus speaks the people’s language

The attraction of ordinary people to the teaching of Jesus is a feature of the gospel narrative. For it to be so, Jesus needed to be able to communicate with such people. He had called disciples to himself.

The fishermen were probably in their late teens or early twenties at the most and he called them from their active business as fishermen. Clearly, this has become a strong biblical tradition … eg Moses keeping sheep, Elisha ploughing, Amos as a herdsman. But for Jesus to do this, and for them to make a response to him, they needed to feel he spoke their language … the same would be true in the synagogue.

His was not a language couched in religious terminology or spoken with a sense of superiority, but one which could be understood by the gathering of people in the synagogue.

Jesus commands authority

Jesus’ ministry was not only refreshing and new, it carried with it challenge and disturbance. Synagogue worship was essentially simple and did not have music or singing. The three essential elements were prayer, the reading of scripture and its explanation or what we might call exposition. We see in these verses that Jesus displayed his authority by both what he said and what he did (v.v. 22 and 27).

Shining through the Marcan account is an undeniable authority. His authority in exorcism involved no elaborate ritual, but a single word of command … literally “Be muzzled”. J B Phillips confesses that in his paraphrase he was tempted to translate it “Belt up!”

This authority will again be demonstrated as his ministry develops (5:1-20). Jesus will use everyday language but, more significantly, he will employ everyday images, symbols and stories to make God’s truth come alive for his hearers.

Mark’s emphasis upon Jesus’ teaching (1:21-22, 27) is not to downplay other aspects. For Mark, they are two facets of the same ministry and are entirely complementary.

Jesus displays his distinctiveness

The words and actions of Jesus are so different from that of the religious leaders of the day. In the passage that follows, we see how Jesus turns his back on public acclaim. He will not be controlled by the demands of people; rather by a kingdom which is not a natural ideal, but a personal rule in the heart. His understanding of the kingdom of God was not a territorial power, but God’s rule in our lives. It was also not a future dream, but a present reality.

Whenever we use the words of the Lord’ Prayer, we pray for his kingdom to come. Ruskin challenged people when he wrote, “If you do not wish for His kingdom, don’t pray for it. But if you do, you must more than pray for it; you must work for it.”

It would have been obvious to all who heard him that Jesus was so markedly different from other religious leaders. Time and time again, Mark reminds us that the people were astonished. This response often occurs in the context of teaching, healing, exorcisms and predictions of the passion.

Robert H Stein writes, “That this emphasis is found so often in Mark’s editorial work indicates that he is not in the least embarrassed that Jesus’ ministry had a miraculous or ‘wonderworking’ dimension to it.”

The outcome was an expanded impact – v.28

What the prophets had pointed to was now present among people. The kingdom was here in the Person of Jesus Christ. This does not deny a future aspect of kingdom, but it was a sign of immediacy among people now!

What Mark has done in this early section is to give us a cameo day in the life of Jesus: v.v. 21-28 – the morning; v.v. 29-31 – the afternoon; and v.v. 32-34 the evening … and the three distinctive settings – a congregation, an individual and the crowds. How the news spread about him.

The amazement of the people is an indication of his power

One could argue that the people were easily amazed, but that would assume predictability and this is certainly not what the people felt. They came to listen to his teaching.

So often the focus in Mark is not upon the actual healing or the exorcism, but upon the Person of Jesus. As he taught and when he healed or cast out demons, he did not quote authorities or cite experts. There was a ring of authority which was fresh and it evoked a response from the people.

The man who entered the synagogue was probably seeking wholeness, but he was not supposed to enter such a place. His whole life had been splintered and damaged. In the presence of Jesus, the spirits that dominated his life felt threatened. They ask, “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!” This feels like a demonstration of his power in the presence of so many in a public place!

The amazement of the people leads them to question who he is

It is interesting that the question the people were left with was not ‘What can he do?’ but “Who is he?” So often teaching was the oral recollection of other people’s utterances or writing … and miracles within the context of normal religious life were not everyday events.

The fact that he was asked to speak tells you of their acceptance of him in their minds. His authority to call, to teach, to heal and to confront evil is a sign of the Messiahship of Jesus.

The amazement of the people was the catalyst for the news to spread

The events of the gospel account are a powerful reminder of the way people responded to him. The gospel story was played out over a relatively small area of land: in the Galilee and, in a concentrated way, further south in Jerusalem. However, as we have seen in recent weeks, so many of the sad and significant events of this world continue to happen in this relatively small land we call ‘the Holy Land’.

The truth that Jesus presented touched the lives of the people and yet the response went far further. This incident in the synagogue on a regular Sabbath would be the onset of a ministry that would spread throughout the whole world.

There is one final thought here – that when Jesus came to people:-

He met them where they were.
His words and deeds impacted upon people
The effect was immediate and enormous.

Of course we shall always mount significant times of mission, but the overall impact of simply ‘being’ is as important as all the ‘doing’ in the world. The world does not need so much a definition of Christianity … it longs for a demonstration.

There was an urgency about the mission of Jesus. C S Lewis picked up this theme of urgency and reflected: “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

Christian Life