A Day In The Life: Jesus Edition (1)

[0:00] The following sermon is made available by Lakeside Bible Church in Cornelius, North Carolina.

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[0:39] Verses 21 all the way to verse 39 in Mark chapter 1 chronicles the life of Jesus in a specific 48-hour period.

[0:49] And what takes place in these moments is what we might expect was the typical routine for Christ. As he went about his ministry and about his life, what we see Mark encapsulating in this 48-hour period is probably what Jesus' life was like about every day, especially once his public ministry had begun.

[1:13] We're also reminded here in these verses that Mark's unique style as compared to the other gospel writers. His goal was not to construct a timeline of Jesus' movements, and we've said that a lot in this study, but his purpose was really to paint kind of a mosaic of the life and the ministry and the purpose and identity of Christ.

[1:39] And so in typical Mark and fashion, he keeps the story moving along quickly. He uses this word immediately some 18 different times in chapter 1 alone.

[1:50] He's constantly moving the story along. He's usually fairly brief and fast-paced in the way that he describes these events. But he endeavors in doing that to keep our attention and our focus on the identity of Jesus specifically.

[2:08] Now, as Mark writes these things and we learn about these events that took place around Jesus' life and ministry, he doesn't write them to fill us with information about Jesus, but he is making his case, he is encouraging us to make a definitive choice to follow Jesus.

[2:30] So when we study about Jesus coming into a synagogue and teaching in this way, or we study a unique event where Jesus cast out a demon in such a powerful way as this, it's not just to give us information about him.

[2:43] It's not just to increase our intellectual knowledge of who Jesus is. Mark is writing this in order that he might persuade the reader to make a definitive choice to follow Christ.

[2:55] To follow Christ in what way? Well, in the way that he stated his purpose of the entire writing was in verse 1, to follow him as the Messiah and the Son of God. And so that's really what's taking place here as we continue on through the story.

[3:08] And I know we'll probably say that a hundred more times as we go through this gospel, but it's important for us to remember that's what Mark is doing. He wants us to follow Christ, not simply know about Christ.

[3:20] Our text constitutes the first part of this 48-hour period. This is the first scene that Mark chooses to tell us about. And the setting is in the town of Capernaum, which is where Jesus set up his headquarters for his Galilean ministry.

[3:38] Capernaum was, and as I understand still is to this day, a picturesque town. It's on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. Even still today, you can go and visit the ancient ruins of the town of Capernaum.

[3:52] And my brother and my dad and their wives went, which would be my mom, they spent some time in Capernaum, I guess earlier this year. Was it earlier this year? I can't remember.

[4:03] It was maybe February or January or something like that. And every time they go on one of those trips, I haven't been able to go yet myself. Hopefully one day we'll take a church trip. We'll all go to Israel one day.

[4:14] And they always come back and they start showing me these pictures. And it's always amazing to me to see these places that we read about. They've read about my whole life and I've heard about my whole life.

[4:26] And they've shown pictures of Capernaum and how it's situated right there on the Sea of Galilee and where they believe Peter's house was in Capernaum and how beautiful it is. It really was and still is today a picturesque place.

[4:39] A beautiful place on the Sea of Galilee. And at the time, it was a relatively busy and heavily populated area of Galilee.

[4:51] Now, its importance was due really primarily to its location to a major trade route known as the Via Maris that many people would use in going back and forth from north to south in order to carry out their business.

[5:06] And so this made it a strategic place for the fishing industry. We mentioned last week when we were studying about Jesus calling Peter and Andrew and James and John to follow him.

[5:19] They were fishermen by trade. This was the major industry in that particular area. And it's being located on this particular trade route made it advantageous for the fishing community.

[5:33] In fact, archaeologists have even uncovered a promenade that's about half a mile long situated on the sea bank of the Sea of Galilee right at Capernaum.

[5:44] Half a mile where you could stroll and look at the sea on one end and look at the town on the other end. But it would have been a busy marketplace for these fishermen. On this half mile stretch of promenade were multiple piers stretching about 100 feet out into the lake.

[5:59] So Capernaum is not a fishing village. Capernaum is the center of everything that's happening in the fishing industry here on the Sea of Galilee. So it's a busy place. It's a heavily populated place.

[6:11] There's lots of things going on in this particular area. It had grown so much at the time of Christ that we understand through the scripture that there was a Roman garrison who was stationed there.

[6:24] You'll remember the story of the centurion who had a servant who was deathly ill. And he comes to Jesus and he demonstrates such great faith in knowing that Jesus could heal the man without even being present in his house.

[6:38] You remember that story? That was in Capernaum. That centurion, this leader of this Roman garrison was stationed there. The only reason they would put a station, a Roman garrison there was because it was so busy.

[6:50] There was so much happening in the market. There were so many people there. They felt like that needed to be controlled. It was also the place of an official Roman tax office, which made that significant to the Galilean region.

[7:04] And again, we see this come up a couple other times in the Gospels. As Jesus is ministering, you'll remember him stopping by the tax office in Capernaum one day, and he calls out to a man named Matthew or Levi to follow him.

[7:20] And Matthew, this hated publican, this traitor of the Jews, gets saved and begins to follow Jesus Christ on that time. All of that is happening in this region of Capernaum, where Jesus and his disciples in verse 21 have now entered into on this particular day.

[7:38] Now, as he continues building his case for proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, Mark draws our attention here in these verses specifically to the authoritative power of Christ's word, his authoritative word.

[7:59] Jesus was no ordinary teacher. His words possessed a power that was able to pierce the hearts of men and cause demons to flee.

[8:13] That's exactly what's happening in these verses. Jesus isn't touching anyone. Jesus isn't doing a physical act in this moment. Simply by the power of his word, the hearts of the people are pierced, and they sit there in astonishment at the authority with which he teaches.

[8:30] And even of their own words say, he does not teach us like the other teachers teach us. There is something unique about him. That's the authoritative power of Christ's word. And then we see this demonic man, as he comes into the synagogue and Jesus cast out the demon, Jesus does it through the power of his word.

[8:51] So Mark is drawing our attention to that here. And it's a reminder for us, perhaps of what God said through Isaiah. God said, For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bare and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.

[9:15] In other words, the rain comes down, and it does what it's supposed to do. It feeds the earth, and things grow from it. God says, In the same way that the rain does that, so will my word be which goes out of my mouth.

[9:27] It will not return unto me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. That's Isaiah 55.

[9:38] So God says, In the same way that the rain does its work on the earth, so does my word do its work. There is a purpose in it. There is a power in it. There is an authority in it.

[9:48] And every time God sends out his word, it always accomplishes the thing that he desires for it to accomplish. It's a promise of God. It has an authority that cannot be stopped.

[10:00] It always does what God has determined for it to do. That's an encouragement for us in our evangelism, isn't it? That it's not up to us in our words. It's not up to us in the things that we can contrive to try to persuade someone to believe, but it is actually the power of God's word.

[10:17] As we send it out, as we cast that net, like we talked about last week, we trust that God's word as it goes out will accomplish the thing that he desires for it to accomplish in drawing men to salvation.

[10:29] Mark highlights this divine characteristic as existing in this man, Jesus of Nazareth. And he does so in this passage by noting these two demonstrations of Jesus's power.

[10:45] In this text, we see Jesus has power over two things, power over systems of religion. And then we see that he has power over satanic forces.

[10:56] And the two episodes here are knit together in that authority. In that the same authority with which Jesus cast out this demon is the same authority with which he preaches the gospel, which means for us, there must be a response.

[11:17] We cannot take it lightly. We cannot merely be amazed at his power. We must heed his word. And so let's look at these two events together. First, let's see his power over systems of religion, Christ power over systems of religion.

[11:35] Look with me again at verse 21. And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine for he taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes.

[11:54] We're told here that Jesus and his newly called disciples, these four fishermen, and perhaps there were others there as well, but we know at least these four fishermen are there present on this day, had found their place in the local synagogue in Capernaum.

[12:12] It was the Sabbath day. And it was always Jesus's custom to attend synagogue on the Sabbath. Now I'm going to give you just kind of a quick side note on this. This is important, I think.

[12:23] It's an example that we see in Christ that we need to actually follow ourselves. Now Jesus was vehemently opposed to those who would preach that religious forms were capable of providing salvation.

[12:37] His gospel was the opposite of that. The gospel is a salvation by grace alone through faith alone, not through the works of righteousness that men may perform on their own.

[12:48] But he does set an example for believers to be faithful to the corporate gathering where the Bible is taught and God is praised.

[13:00] We're faithful to the Lord's Day worship as New Testament Christians. We're faithful to the church and the corporate gathering on Sunday mornings to worship the Lord and to hear the Bible teach.

[13:10] We are not doing so because we just feel like doing it. We're not doing it because the pastor said this is what we have to do. We're doing it because we're following the example of Christ.

[13:22] Now as we study through this particular passage, we're going to see that Jesus was opposed to these systematic forms of religion, that what the Jews were preaching and teaching was not the gospel, and he was coming and bringing the gospel of grace.

[13:35] But even in the midst of that, he was faithful toward the corporate gathering, the corporate worship of God's people. And so should we be. And when we come together on Sundays, we do so following the example of our Lord and of our Savior.

[13:50] And we ought to think of it that way. On those Sunday mornings when we wake up and we just don't feel like going, which happens with all of us, I know. We remember this is the example Christ gave us.

[14:03] This was his custom. And it didn't matter if he was traveling. Every place that Jesus went, he found a synagogue, and he worshiped the Lord on the Sabbath day.

[14:14] He worshiped the Father. Let's talk about these examples of religion that are listed here. Visiting rabbis were often invited to speak at Sabbath gatherings, and it should come as no surprise to us that Jesus is invited to do just that here in Capernaum.

[14:31] Now, verse 22 tells us that the people were astonished by his teaching. And their reaction clearly sets Jesus apart from the Judaism that they were accustomed to.

[14:47] He possessed, again, the authority like they had never experienced before. And we immediately see his power, his authority over systems of religion.

[14:59] And there's two elements here that I think are at least worth noting in a historical way, and that is synagogues and scribes. Synagogues and scribes. Let's first talk about synagogues. These gathering places seem to have found their roots in the Babylonian captivity.

[15:15] Now, you'll remember in the Old Testament, the temple was the center of worship. That was the focus of everything in corporate worship in the Old Testament.

[15:26] Now, there were priests that were scattered throughout the entire nation of Israel, and they would help the people. But really, the primary place for the transmission of God's truth was the home.

[15:37] Which, by the way, that's still true today. The primary place for passing down the truth of God is supposed to be on the home. God intended it that way from the beginning of creation, and he intends for it to be that way now.

[15:50] But that's really how truth was passed on in the Old Testament and in the New Testament alike. But the center of worship was the temple. When King Nebuchadnezzar comes in around 600 BC, and he decimates the city of Jerusalem, he destroys the temple, and the people then are carried away into captivity.

[16:11] As they're in captivity, we understand that they began to meet in these local communities, and this concept of synagogues is born, and that's how they would gather together for teaching and for worship, and other community events.

[16:27] Whenever, after 70 years, they were allowed to come back to Jerusalem, the people rebuilt the temple, but they continued on in this tradition that had been started with these local synagogues.

[16:38] They were really similar to local churches are now. There were various synagogues throughout larger communities, and that's where they would live out their lives in corporate gatherings as God's people.

[16:51] Now, as time went on, these synagogues became very important to Jewish life. On the Sabbath day, they were used for worship and teaching of the law.

[17:02] During the week, they functioned as schools. They functioned as courthouses. They were even event centers in some cases. Each synagogue had a ruler who was responsible for organizing events, but they also had elders who taught the Bible.

[17:20] They taught the scriptures, and they taught the people, and they governed the people. All of this taking place in the synagogues. Now, it took 10 Jewish men to constitute a synagogue, and over time, many of these places developed.

[17:37] History suggests that at the time of Jesus, there were nearly 500 synagogues in Jerusalem alone. Now, the historian, ancient historian Josephus, says that in Galilee, there were some 240 towns and villages, and all of them had synagogues.

[17:55] A place like Capernaum would have had multiple synagogues. Now, I want you to think about this for a second. Perhaps this system of synagogue worship, this system of communities being built around these synagogues, perhaps the whole reason for their existence in God's plan was specifically to build up to the ministry of Jesus Christ, because that's what he did.

[18:18] He went from town to town and village to village in Galilee, and the first stop that he made was the synagogue, and the synagogue is where he would teach the people, and he would preach the gospel, and it immediately reminds me of Galatians chapter four, that when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son to do what?

[18:38] To be born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. When the fullness of time had come, you say, why did Jesus come when he did?

[18:53] Look at all of these things that God had set in place, God the Father, it's all building up, all rushing towards this moment when Jesus would come, and just a simple nod to that gesture reminds us that, yeah, Jesus truly is the Messiah, look at how his ministry was formatted.

[19:10] This was all being built up for him. Well, then we see the scribes mentioned in this verse as well. In fact, in verse 22, the people actually compared the teaching of Jesus to the teaching of the scribes.

[19:25] This is another nod to Jewish religion, and how Jesus was clearly separate from that, had authority over that, and was bringing a gospel that was different.

[19:36] Now, in the times of the kings, scribes were recorders of the law, and of history, and various decrees, but eventually, they became known as experts in the Old Testament scriptures.

[19:52] At the time of Jesus, they were very highly esteemed people, and they grew to love that recognition. In fact, it was their love and their pride and that recognition that they received from the people that drove them to be so antagonistic against Christ.

[20:08] They were threatened by his popularity. It's interesting, actually, as you study through the gospels, you'll see that these people that should have been recognizing Christ and his ministry before even the people did, completely rejected it, even though they knew he had to be the son of God.

[20:26] They rejected it. Why? Because he was a threat to their own pride. He was a threat to their own positions that they held. They didn't want to give up their own place in order to submit to Jesus.

[20:41] And over time, their teaching devolved into these enigmatic expressions where they would share all of these various interpretations of the law from all of these various rabbis, and that somehow gave them some kind of credibility.

[21:00] They possessed a measure of authority in this way. It was the Old Testament law that governed Jewish life, but the people didn't have copies of the scripture.

[21:11] They mostly were illiterate in these days. So it was up to the scribes to actually read and teach the Bible. So the people would come together on the Sabbath day.

[21:21] They would gather in the synagogue in order that a scribe would read the Old Testament and then explain it to them. Well, as you might expect, these scribes took advantage of that. They realized that they actually had great power because the people didn't know whether or not they were giving them truth or not.

[21:37] So over time, their teaching devolved into personal gain. We see that this is who the people are comparing Jesus' teaching to. They were astonished at Jesus because what he was teaching in the Old Testament was not his interpretation of the law.

[21:57] It was his very word. Can you imagine? It's one thing to come to church on a Sunday and hear me get the best explanation that I can of what we read of in the scriptures, but can you imagine sitting in church on a Sunday morning and the Lord himself is speaking this word?

[22:15] Of course there's gonna be an authority with that. They were used to the scribes quoting all of these different people. Jesus didn't have to quote anybody. It was his word. It had power.

[22:28] Now I want you to think about this for a moment. Just this scenario. Throughout history, we've seen this play out. Satan often uses scenarios like this in order to corrupt the church and spread his lies.

[22:45] Think about the Roman Catholic Church through history, refusing to allow people to have a copy of the scriptures in the common language. Why? Because they could manipulate the people.

[22:59] They could teach them that through the buying of indulgences, they could inherit eternal life or that they could earn salvation for themselves or for another. And they did it all for personal gain.

[23:10] It was a controlling thing. And how did they do it? They kept the word of God out of the people's hands. But this isn't absent in evangelical Christianity either.

[23:22] People may have a copy of God's word, but they've been taught that the sole authority is not in the word of God, but it's in the man that leads their church. So whether or not what they read in the scripture agrees with what they hear from the pulpit, they always lean into what's being told from the pulpit because their authority in their mind has been given over to the pastor, not to the word of God.

[23:44] Now look, we've been blessed, maybe more than any other Christians in the history of Christianity, to be able to have copies of God's word, to be able to study for ourselves what the Bible says.

[23:54] And we need to do that. I am not the sole authority of your life. The church is not the sole authority of your life. Christ is the head.

[24:07] And his word is what we study. It is what we use as the foundation for every matter of faith and practice in our lives. So study the word.

[24:18] Study the word. You're sensible, people. I want to help you. I want to help you understand on Sundays. I want to preach the word faithfully as the Lord has called me to do it. But you can study the Bible.

[24:29] You can learn these things. Study faithfully. In Mark's gospel, synagogues and scribes play oppositional roles to Jesus.

[24:41] James Edwards said it this way, synagogues will appear another half dozen times in Mark as places where demons are present, where there is antagonism from religious leaders, where there is hardness of heart, and where there is persecution.

[24:57] Every time in Mark's gospel, the synagogue is always a place of these things. And likewise, he says, there is but one positive reference to a scribe in the gospel of Mark.

[25:09] The remaining 18 references portray scribes as antagonists of Jesus and his mission. And the general antagonism of synagogues and scribes thus foreshadows the coming rejection of Jesus from both temple and religious leaders in Jerusalem.

[25:29] Why do we bring all this up? Why are the people astonished? Because Jesus didn't come to teach Judaism. Jesus didn't come to conform to this system that the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees had contrived in their own minds and in their own corruption.

[25:48] That's not what he had come to do. He had more authority than that. He came with the authority of the word, with the authority of the gospel, which meant that Judaism, what the people had grown into, what they believed was true and what was right, was actually set in opposition against the truth.

[26:04] And Jesus is the truth. Well, Mark doesn't tell us exactly what it was that Jesus preached this day, what exactly he taught. And I think that's for a reason. He only says that the people were astonished by it.

[26:18] And again, Edwards is helpful here. He said, in the gospel of Mark, the person of Jesus is more important than the subject of his teaching. If we want to know what the gospel or teaching of Jesus consists of, in Mark's gospel, we are directed to its embodiment in Jesus, the teacher.

[26:41] That's what Mark keeps doing. Now then we're going to have a couple of chapters where we look specifically at the teaching that Mark tells us about. But in this passage, Mark's not showing us what Jesus taught because he wants us to see Jesus.

[26:52] He wants us to see Jesus's power, his authoritative word. His purpose was not to expound on how Jesus's teaching was good news, but he was proclaiming that Jesus himself is the good news.

[27:07] And he constantly directs us to set our gaze on the person of Christ. The truth is it does us no good to be familiar with the content of Jesus's message if we're not intimately acquainted with the person of Jesus himself.

[27:26] Many a people have become students of Jesus's teaching, but they don't know Jesus. So Mark is getting us to look at Jesus so that we see he has power over systems of religion.

[27:39] Secondly, and there's only two points today, fortunately. Secondly, we see that he has power over satanic forces. The interesting thing takes place on this Sabbath day.

[27:50] Look at verse 23. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out, saying, let us alone.

[28:01] What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Are you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Jesus rebuked him, saying, hold thy peace and come out of him.

[28:16] And when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. Have you ever been around somebody that was just completely out of their mind and completely out of control?

[28:30] It's a terrifying experience, isn't it? I don't think that I've ever been in a situation where I've encountered someone who was clearly possessed by a demon. But I have been in a few situations where people have been out of control and it scared me.

[28:46] During Jesus' sermon in Capernaum, the people experienced something that I think was more terrifying than anything I've ever encountered. A man possessed with a demon confronted the Lord in a dramatic fashion.

[29:02] Now look at it with me again. Verse 23. There was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out. He explodes out of nowhere.

[29:16] Now Mark's already told us about Jesus' temptation against Satan. We know that there are spiritual powers that are in opposition to Christ because Mark has already told us about that in chapter 1.

[29:28] But this is where he introduces us to the spiritual opponents that we have difficulty understanding and we don't really like to think about much at all.

[29:41] In fact, most of us probably when the topic of demons come up probably try to change the subject as quickly as we can. The truth is there really does exist a spiritual army of demons that are tirelessly working in opposition against God's work and against God's word.

[30:09] And it may seem silly to you but these beings, they're not characters in a fairy tale. They're as real as you and I are and they're as active today as they have ever been active.

[30:23] But the point of Mark telling us this is not to frighten us, it's not to scare us about these evil beings that we can't see and that we don't really even quite understand.

[30:34] His purpose in writing this is to show that Jesus has power over them. That these evil forces that are working against you and working against your family and working against our church and working against the gospel and God's word.

[30:49] Christ has power over them. And Mark records this event as proof. Let me make note of three things before we wrap it up. Number one, let's look at the demon exposed.

[31:02] The demon exposed. Look at verse 23 again. And there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out. So Jesus is teaching on this day.

[31:15] Maybe this happened in the middle of his sermon. Maybe it happened at the end. We really have no idea when this took place and as far as the service is concerned. But Jesus is teaching. And all of a sudden, someone who, just a moment before, was calmly sitting there enjoying the service, explodes in a tirade and cries out, what have you to do with us?

[31:41] Why are you here? Are you here to destroy us? He's exposed in this moment. Can you imagine that? I text Andy yesterday or maybe it was Friday and I said, maybe we should do an object illustration.

[31:53] Maybe you should just stand up and go nuts right in the middle of our service. That's exactly what happens in the synagogue. The demons expose. It's interesting.

[32:06] There's something worth noting here. Prior to Jesus' teaching, no one in the synagogue seemed to be aware of the fact that this man was under the control of a demon.

[32:19] Did you think about that as we read through? This doesn't happen at the beginning of the service. Jesus has already taught and the people have already been astonished before this demon exposes himself.

[32:32] Before that, nobody knew probably. He's just sitting there like everybody else. That's not really how we think about demonic work, is it? We often have this idea that demonic control is always manifested in psychotic behavior and often it is.

[32:49] But we think of the demon-possessed man that was naked and cutting himself and living in the tombs that Jesus confronted. We always think of him as kind of the standard for demon possession, but really I think he's probably more the exception of demon possession.

[33:06] Demonic forces do not desire to be exposed as such. It wouldn't work for them. They're more destructive when no one is aware of who they are and what they're up to and they often do their work under the guise of religion.

[33:24] Perhaps this man was a scribe. Maybe he was the ruler of the synagogue. Maybe he was one of the elders. We have no idea who he was.

[33:35] But demons often work in the realm of religion. The episode of the demon-possessed man is something of an illustration even to the connection between systematic forms of religion and satanic forces.

[33:50] History itself teaches us that people often think that their religious systems are just fine until they're exposed by the truth. And when they are exposed by the truth, quite literally, all hell will break loose in those moments.

[34:03] And that's exactly what took place on this day. When Jesus comes into the synagogue, a man that maybe had been a member of that synagogue for years and years and years is all of a sudden exposed as a demon.

[34:15] Demon-controlled man. Well, what exactly exposed the demon? It was truth. More specifically, it was the embodiment of truth in the person of Christ.

[34:31] Now think about it. In all of the Old Testament, we never see an example of demon possession, at least not like this. Never. We know that demons are active. We know that they've always been active and that they always will be active until Christ cast them into the lake of fire for all of eternity.

[34:47] But we never see an example like this. In the New Testament, outside of the Gospels, there's only a couple of examples that are of similar occurrence to this with the apostles specifically.

[35:00] It was during the ministry of Jesus that these forces of evil were constantly exposed. All of these examples we see in the Scripture, they're all in the Gospel books.

[35:11] They're all where Jesus was. They're all in the movements of Jesus throughout His ministry and connected to the power of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus Himself is the truth.

[35:22] They could not help but expose themselves. They're not worried about me and you. They're not worried about, there's nothing that you and I can do to make a demon expose itself and do anything that we bid.

[35:36] But they know who Christ is. They cannot help but expose themselves to Him. So the demon is exposed. Secondly, the demon explained. Look at verse 24. The demon explained.

[35:46] This is what He said. Let us alone. Plural there. One demon speaking on behalf of all the demons. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?

[36:01] Art thou come to destroy us? I know who you are. You're the Holy One of God. This verse gives us a little bit of insight into the relationship between Jesus and these fallen angels.

[36:18] John MacArthur said that the most striking thing to him in this particular passage is the difference between the reaction of the people and the reaction of the demons.

[36:29] The people sat in astonishment because they didn't know who Jesus was. The demon trembled in fear and cried out because he knew exactly who Jesus was.

[36:42] It was Jesus who created him. It was Jesus whom he had served in heaven before his fall. It was Jesus who had cast him out and expelled him from heaven.

[36:55] And it is Jesus that this demon knows as well as all the other demons. It is Jesus whom he knows will one day cast him into the eternal lake of fire. That's why he says have you come to destroy us?

[37:08] He's in fear. He's exposing himself because he knows exactly who Jesus is. The demon knew who he was and he exposed himself out of fear. And this is always the response of demons when they're confronted by Jesus in the scripture.

[37:23] I noted just a moment ago the episode where Jesus is in the country of the Gadarenes. And you remember the demonic possessed men that were there running in the tombs.

[37:35] Here's what that legion of demons said to Jesus. Matthew 8 29. And they cried out saying what business do we have with each other son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?

[37:49] They knew what was awaiting them. When they saw Jesus they knew who he was and they trembled in fear. And James reminds us of that. James chapter 2 in verse 19.

[37:59] You believe that there is one God or that God is one? Great James says even the devils believe that but they tremble before the Lord. If unbelievers knew Jesus the way that demons know Jesus they would tremble too.

[38:22] Their fate's exactly the same. And the difference for you as an unbeliever is that you can escape that judgment if you will but believe and follow Christ.

[38:34] again MacArthur helps us here. He said the demons recognized who Jesus was but have no possibility of salvation. The crowds were offered divine forgiveness but they refused to recognize the one who alone can provide it.

[38:52] Put another way the demons were terrified and could not be saved. The people were amazed and would not be saved.

[39:02] consequently the amazed people and the terrified demons will ultimately end up in the same lake of fire. Why is it that he cries out?

[39:14] Why is he exposed? Because he knows who Jesus is and he knows as a worker of evil what his fate is. Oh if unbelievers would just see as workers of evil what their fate is they wouldn't be amazed at Jesus they would be terrified but they can run to him for salvation.

[39:39] Thirdly we see the demon expelled the demon expelled look with me at verse 25 and Jesus rebuked him saying hold thy peace come out of him be quiet Jesus says and when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice he came out of it.

[40:00] This was the astonishing display of power. Jesus's authority reigned so supreme that even the demons have no way to escape his commanding word.

[40:13] What power is this? Jesus rebuked the evil spirit by commanding his silence and departure out of the man and immediately the demon made the man to convulse in like a seizure type fashion and then fled the synagogue.

[40:28] There was no fight. There's no fight in this demon when it comes to Christ. Why? He knows his power. He has power over these forces of evil and this is the emphasis of Mark's writing I believe.

[40:43] There's only one being that can command demons in this way and that is God. So what does that say about Jesus? That he really is the Messiah and son of God.

[40:55] Why is Mark writing and telling us about this? Not just so that we would be amazed by the event but so that we would see Christ for who he really is and his identity is the son of God, the Messiah, the only one who can provide salvation.

[41:10] But what about the man? Man that was possessed. We don't know anything about him and the scripture doesn't tell us what happens next but I think we can be certain that he was met by the comforting affection of his compassionate savior.

[41:33] Jesus was not only proving his power over demons he was acting in compassion for the man that was possessed. Do you see the heart of Jesus in that?

[41:46] this is not just about displaying power. This was much deeper than that for Jesus. If he was only concerned about power over the demon he could have just made him be quiet and been done with it.

[42:03] That wasn't what he was trying to do. Jesus saw that man. He saw a person in captivity and only Jesus could set him free. Get compassion on him.

[42:16] ultimately he would do this by laying down his life for the sins of man. That's what he came to earth to do. He came to set right everything that sin and Satan has corrupted and destroyed.

[42:35] Again Edwards writes this the initial report about Jesus from the synagogue in Capernaum is not simply a victory for the Holy One of God over evil forces as though two chess players were manipulating pawns on the board for their own advantage.

[42:51] Jesus' defeat of the demon is not at the expense of Satan's victims but on their behalf. Not only are unclean spirits expelled but broken people are restored to health and wholeness and to the possibility of restoration with their creator in whose image they were made.

[43:11] The authority of Jesus is astonishing not as a display of Jesus' grandeur but as a power of redemption for captives.

[43:21] That's why this passage matters. It's not about knowing that Jesus can do that. It's about knowing that Jesus can free us as well. He has power over evil.

[43:36] So what kind of evil is controlling your life? might not be possessed in the way that this man was but if you're an unbeliever I can assure you that you're under the same influence and bondage but the same Jesus that freed this man from the demon has power over the wickedness in your life too and you don't have to stay in bondage to sin and Satan Jesus will free you today if you will just believe and follow him Jesus said this in John chapter 8 he was speaking to some Jews who had not quite fully believed in him and he said if you continue in my word then you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free and here's how they answered him but we are Abraham's descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone how is it that you say you will become free and here's what

[44:38] Jesus said truly truly I say to you everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin they were in bondage and didn't even know it everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin and the slave does not remain in the house forever but the son does remain in the house forever what's he saying that your religion doesn't have the power to free you from sin and death but the son has the power to give you life and the son has the power to free you from evil and to free you from death and if you will but follow Christ he will set you free because he is the truth let's finish with verses 27 and 28 after all of this takes place they were all amazed in so much that they questioned among themselves they debated saying what thing is this what did we just see what new doctrine is this for with authority he commands even the demons and they obey him who would ever thought that demons would obey anybody but they obey this man and immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region of

[45:50] Galilee now I told you a few weeks ago that Mark seems to always be trying to answer the question of Jesus identity but this is the first time that we see the question actually expressed by the people and it's going to be expressed!

[46:07] by a lot of people throughout this gospel this is the first time we see it specifically after this Sabbath morning Jesus quite literally became the talk of the town everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with this guy who is this everyone was interested in seeing him everyone was interested in hearing him but relatively few would actually believe and follow them why is Mark writing this he's trying to answer that question for us who is this he's the Christ the son of God it's not enough to be amazed by Jesus his teaching and intrigued by his power every person must make a definitive choice about Jesus of Nazareth and what Mark leads us to do and ask ourselves today is what is your choice this is who

[47:13] Jesus is will you merely be intrigued by what he says and hope to see a demonstration of his power or will you really believe him will you really abandon all to follow him and we're all confronted with that choice today what will you choose Christ as Lord and Savior or Jesus as a historical figure in good teacher miracle work thank you for listening to this sermon made available by Lakeside Bible Church feel free to share it wherever you'd like please do not charge for it or alter it in any way without express written consent from Lakeside Bible Church don't forget to visit us online at lakeside Bible church or find us on Facebook and Instagram by searching for Lakeside Bible NC if you live in the Charlotte or Lake Norman area we'd love for you to attend one of our worship services we meet every Sunday morning at 10 a.m.

[48:10] we'd love to meet you