JESUS PREACHED WITH AUTHORITY - MARK 1:21-28

 

JESUS SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY

21And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

23And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,

24“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.”

25But Jesus rebuked him, saying,

“BE SILENT AND COME OUT OF HIM!”

26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

27And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

28And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

MARK 1:21-28

COMMENTARY

This event took place after our Lord returned from Judea to Galilee, after John the Baptist’s arrest (Mt 4:12) and after He was expelled from Nazareth (Lk 4:16, 31).

He assisted to the synagogue to worship God and to preach his Message to the Jews, but Jesus preached in a different manner that the people never heard before. He preached of his own authority, as Son of God.

Very much like it happens today, a religious teacher remitted himself to the Scriptures, and also to the Talmud, or Traditions, in a similar way Christian leaders do today. Its God’s inspired Scriptures and the traditional interpretations what gave support to whatever they taught, and without it, their preaching was empty speech, without godly warrant.

Jesus spoke differently. Jesus used the Scriptures to proof his ministry (Lk 4:21; 24:27; Jn 5:39); but He also interpreted the Scriptures Himself, without referring to the Elder’s interpretation or any other human authority above Himself.

He explained the Scriptures, like if He had written them, proclaiming correct interpretations (Lk 11:42), different views (Mt 12:3-7), and even abrogating some of them (Mt 19:7-9), all on his own authority. With this, Lord Jesus was also revealing his condition of being the Messiah, the Son of God, and even God Himself (Mk 2:7).

Immediately after, a demoniac reacted to our Lord’s presence by panicking and complaining, he proclaimed to know Jesus. He called Him the ‘Holy One of God’, meaning the promised Messiah.

Demons did not know of the divinity of Jesus.

Satan knew the Second Person of the Trinity (Gn 1:26-27; 3:22) but he did not know the Logos was Jesus of Nazareth.

He ignored his virginal conception, and that is why Satan tempted Jesus with worshipping him (Mt 4:9) and decided to kill Him (Lk 22:53). He thought Jesus could fall into satanism, and that by killing Him, he would defeat Him. He thought he could make the Messiah fail. He ignored he was speaking to GOD.

Immediately, Lord Jesus told the demon to shut up and without any magical formula or prayer, He ordered the demons to leave the man, and immediately he left the man, not being able to resists Jesus’s authority (v.26).

The Jews were amazed, for the manner in which our Lord spoke, and how He had power even over demons.

They had finally met the promised Messiah.

Omar Flores.

  

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