Epiphany 4 - Mark 1:21-28

It seems that Jesus was creating quite a stir.

Upon his initiation into his earthly ministry, he began taking on the work that God the Father had appointed for him to do. He was baptized, he was tempted in the wilderness, he began to assemble his disciples, he was healing, and as we see here in our text, Jesus began to teach.

And it was this teaching of Jesus that set him apart, that especially attracted attention, that stirred things up and that caused such a commotion. Words by themselves can great have power. Words have meaning. And when those words are God’s Words, those words can be unsettling.

After calling the first of his disciples, Jesus went in to Capernaum and began entering synagogues to teach. Jesus was like a guest preacher who travelled to different towns and to different churches so that he could preach and teach. And on those days that Jesus showed up, the usual preacher surrendered his pulpit to Jesus.

And Jesus was an amazing preacher. Our text tells us so. So amazing in fact that everyone there hung on every word. They could not look away. They could not stop listening.

You have all heard preachers before. At this point in your life you have heard hundreds, probably thousands or tens of thousands of sermons. Some sermons are better than others. Some preachers are better than others. Some are more skilled or more compelling than others. Some are fiery and passionate, some are comfortable, some are easy to understand and some are even entertaining. Our text makes no mention what-so-ever of Jesus’ style. What stood out about Jesus was His authority.

Jesus was not a teacher like other teachers. Jesus did not depend on what other teachers said or thought. Jesus didn’t get his sermons off the internet, Jesus didn’t borrow his material from popular talk shows, He didn’t check public opinion polls or cultural trends to help decide what to preach. Jesus taught with authority. Jesus was the authority. Jesus was the Word of God. So Jesus just taught. He just preached. He simply took the Word of God, without passing it through any filters, without worrying about whether or not it was politically correct or whether or not he would step on any toes. Jesus simply preached. Jesus just climbed into the pulpit and delivered the Word of God. Jesus preached the law so that it hit you right between your eyes and made you shake and tremble. Jesus preached the Gospel so that it made you weep.

We could use more of that today.

These days we hear lots of sermons, and not just on Sunday morning. Unless you lock yourself away in a box and don’t open a magazine, or turn on the radio or television, unless you stay away from movies and the internet, every day, you hear a different sermon. It doesn’t matter who, whether it be Limbaugh, or Beck, or O’Reily, the View or Oprah, or Leno or Letterman, whether it be the dispatch or the Tribune, Newsweek or Time, or even the President of the United States, every day you hear sermons from people telling you how to live your life, how to live a better life, who to listen to, who not to listen to, and what your life will look like after you have done everything they have told you to do.

For all the face time and all the air time granted to all these different preachers, there is only one preacher that matters. There is only preacher who truly preaches and teaches with authority, there is only one who speaks with the authority of heaven, there is only one who delivers the truth that matters for your salvation. There is only one Jesus.

When Jesus came to preach and to teach his message was about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus came carrying the message that the Kingdom of heaven had come near.

Mark tells us that when Jesus began his preaching and teaching that was the sum and substance of his message. He preached about the kingdom of Heaven. “"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Last week, in the Old Testament lesson, we saw Jonah who came to a sinful generation preaching a similar sort of message – calling for repentance. Jonah’s preaching also created quite a stir. And his message was also very simple. “Yet 40 days and Nineveh is about to be changed.”

Here Jesus preaches that the time was ripe for the kingdom of God, repent and believe.

Jesus’ sermon was the Gospel. It was the good news. Because the preaching of Jesus was the preaching about Jesus.

Every other sermon from every other preacher from every other pulpit is basically the same. They all tell you what you want to hear. They all cheer you on, tell you that you can do it, tell you that you are okay, tell you that all you have to do is believe in yourself and things will get better.

Jesus is different. He doesn’t tell us to believe in ourselves because that is not the gospel – that is the law. Jesus doesn’t tell us that we can do it - because that also is not the gospel – it is the law. Both of these messages preach to you a gospel of self fulfillment. You have to do it and you can do it. The law that Jesus preaches doesn't water it down. Jesus tells it like it is: perhaps God has given you the brains to earn a living and feed your family and live a satisfied life - but that won't get you into heaven. That won't save you from your wickedness and sin. Your wickedness will kill you. And since we can’t make it on our own into the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of heaven has come near to us. Jesus himself, the King of Heaven has brought his kingdom with him. And through his preaching and teaching that Kingdom comes to rest.

Now that is good news.

The best thing about the teaching and the preaching of Jesus was that it was not just empty words. Jesus words were not just pie in the sky philosophy or feel good rhetoric – the words of Jesus were tied to the actions of Jesus. Jesus preached that the kingdom of heaven would come and then he brought that kingdom down to earth.

When Jesus made his way into the synagogue, one of the people who happened to be there that day was a man enslaved to Satan, a man who had been taken over by a devil. This man was drawn to the preaching of Jesus because the devil inside him was drawn to Jesus. The devils know Jesus, they know him by his words and by his preaching. They were created by him and they need him and depend on him as much as they hate him. And in terror this devil came to Jesus and demanded to know what Jesus had come to do.

And Jesus wasted no time with this demon. “Be silent” Jesus commanded. Don’t talk. You have nothing to say. Keep your mouth shut. Even though the demon spoke the truth, his words were not allowed. The demon confessed Jesus to be the Christ. The demon understood who Jesus was better than anyone there, yet Jesus did not allow him to talk. Jesus silenced him and forced him to release the man he held captive.

Because that is what the Kingdom of Heaven does.

The Kingdom of Heaven releases us and sets us free from Satan. The Kingdom of Heaven releases us and sets us free from ourselves, from our sin and our shame. The Kingdom of Heaven sets us free from those things that condemn us because of the mercy of the King.

The Kingdom of Heaven has come near because the King of Heaven has come near. The Kingdom is where the King can be found. The King was there in that synagogue on that day and the King extended his reign over the heart of that man who had been ruled by Satan. The King has come here today as well. The King has come to you in his word to reign in your heart and be King in your life.

And to see this King, to know this King is to see him on his throne. When this King was most clearly pictured in all of his glory and power was not while he was teaching, not while he was commanding, not while he was feeding, it was while he was dying. This king came to die. For you. On the cross.

This King is your crucified Lord who has come to die for your sins on the cross and who has come to reign in your heart with his love and forgiveness.

Amen.