Father, we give you thanks and praise that we can gather together here in the Ottawa Little Theatre to come into your presence.
We give you thanks and praise, Father, that our brothers and sisters, our friends, can join in to worship through YouTube and electronic means.
Father, we ask in the name of Jesus that if there is anyone present, or if there is anyone watching this right now, or who will be watching it in the days to come.
Father, if there are any here who are harassed, or bound, or oppressed, or even demonized by unclean spirits, by demons.
Father, not in our own power or in our own righteousness, but Father, in the name of Jesus, washed in his shed blood, made yours by adoption and grace.
In the name, the strong name of our Lord Jesus, we ask, Father, for any demon that is speaking that would be silenced by you.
Any demon interfering in our lives, that it would be bound by you.
And that those silenced and bound demons would be taken far from this place and far from any person that the demon is harassing.
That the demon would be taken to the abyss, prepared for it before its final doom.
And we ask, Father, for those of us who are Christians, that you would make us more trusting of Jesus, more secure in the gospel.
And if there are any here, Father, who have been harassed by demons, that you do not leave them empty, but that you bring them to a saving faith in Jesus.
That they would have that true and final protection from all demonic presence and power.
And we ask, Father, so that we will be in your presence, where Jesus is Lord.
And that you would tune our hearts and move our hearts, that we might receive grace from you this morning and respond to you in a worthy manner.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Amen. Please be seated.
Some of you might be a little bit surprised by that prayer.
You know, one of the problems...
Actually, it's going to fit into it, because those of you who are paying attention to the reading, the demons are mentioned a lot.
One of the problems is that in our world, people seem to alternate between two poles.
They either act like atheists, as if all of reality is just swept of any type of angelic or demonic presence.
Or we act like pagans who see spirits everywhere.
And you see that reflected in Christian congregations.
There's a lot of Christian churches that basically just act like they're atheists when it comes to stuff like this.
And then on the other hand, you see some that act more like pagans.
They see spirits everywhere.
And we need to come to have some type of a godly balance about all of that type of stuff.
But that's a bit of a...
Anyway, there you go.
That's a bit of a...
I wasn't expecting to say that.
I have to always be careful when I say things I wasn't expecting to say.
I can get into trouble.
Some of you have heard this story before.
Maybe many of you have heard it before.
But for many years, I was part of the Anglican Church of Canada.
And I was an Orthodox pastor in the Anglican Church of Canada.
And one of the things that meant was that whenever Anglican-y type things going on,
or even like ecumenical or political type things going on,
guys like me would never get invited.
Just the way it worked used to bother me.
But after a while, it didn't bother me.
That was just the way it was.
That people like me wouldn't get invited to speak.
But occasionally, people like me would get invited to speak to some of these things.
And I would observe what would happen.
What would happen is that people like me would...
I don't really like this analogy, but I can't think of a better one.
They'd pull their punches.
They'd try to act really like they were like all of the others.
And not really bring out that Orthodox distinctiveness and that Gospel distinctiveness.
And they'd often just talk about, you know, basically just be nice type sermon.
And I know that they did it because they hoped that if they could sort of prove
that they weren't knuckle-dragging mouth breathers,
that maybe they'd get invited back.
But what always happened is they never got invited back.
Like, never.
So, you know, fast forward a few years.
I get invited to this thing that I'd never heard of
before I get invited to the Parliament Hill Christian Fellowship.
I probably got invited because of a person who's here in the room today.
But I didn't really know her that well back then.
And anyway, I get invited to the Parliament Hill Christian Fellowship.
So I just sort of assume, I don't know,
that it's going to be a liberally type of thing.
And so I'm praying about what to do.
I was honored.
I said yes to the invitation.
I thought, I'm not going to be like all of those other people who pull their punch.
But what will I speak about?
So I decided that if I'm going to get a chance to speak to staffers on Parliament Hill,
I'm going to talk to them about the fear of God,
the last judgment in the gospel.
Because I'm never going to get invited back.
So why should I try to do something to get invited back?
I might as well give them this one shot.
And you know, the fact of the matter is,
I'm not picking on Parliament Hill staffers, by the way.
The fact of the matter is, is that, you know, my favorite line,
it came from John Maxwell.
Well, people don't think they have a problem with money,
but they spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need
to impress people they don't like.
Doesn't that describe a lot of society?
Yeah, there we go.
And amen.
Money we don't have, buy things we don't need to impress people we don't like.
Anyway, that's just, you know, we're taught, you know.
But, you know, so I know on Parliament Hill, they're looking at polls,
they're looking at how to vote,
they're looking at, they care about what the CBC or CTV or Global News,
like, they care about all of those things.
And I just want to say, if you're Christians,
what you need to remember is that one day you're going to appear
before the judgment seat of God.
And that, therefore, you need to take that into account
when you make your decisions and rules.
Anyway, they invited me back for, like, 20 years.
I'm not saying that's a good policy,
although, you know, if you do that, you'll get invited back.
Most of the time, you probably won't.
But, you know, if you're just going to have that one shot,
like, give it to them, but as it turned out, that's what they wanted.
They wanted somebody who would talk about hard type of things.
And I was speaking on Parliament Hill up until the COVID thing,
and I don't know if they've met again,
and I'm off their speaker list, or they'll reboot.
You should pray that it gets rebooted.
And it's in God's hands whether I get invited to speak or not.
But anyway, there you go.
So all of this fits in, actually, believe it or not,
both my weird prayer, my little aside about demons,
and this whole thing about people in government
with the text that we have before us today.
In fact, it touches upon very, very profound human issues.
So if you get out your Bibles,
we're looking at Mark chapter 1,
and we're going to begin at verse 21.
I just want to continue to encourage you,
whether it's here or online,
we will put the words to the Scripture up on the screen,
and most of the time I stick with it.
But there is something about having your own Bible
and being able to follow along.
And, you know, in fact, it's a very, very good thing
if afterwards you say,
George, you didn't connect this verse to that verse or whatever,
or you told me I voted.
I never want to, quote, take anything out of context.
So it's good to have your own Bibles,
to be Bereans, where you search the Scriptures yourself
to see if what I'm saying is true.
That's a bit of an in-house Bible analogy.
Anyway, here's the text.
And they have already explained to you, though,
about how that's the Jesus and four of his disciples.
They went into Capernaum,
and immediately on the Sabbath,
he entered the synagogue and was teaching.
Now, just a bit of an aside,
Capernaum is going to come across a lot.
Actually, this is a thing for some of, you know,
two weeks in a row now,
I've talked a little bit about differences in the Gospel.
And this is a third way to understand
some of the differences that happen in the Gospel.
The thing that's interesting about Galilee
is that Galilee was a mixed area.
It was an area where Jewish,
the majority of people were Jewish,
but there was a significant non-Jewish population.
And the non-Jewish population
wouldn't have spoken Hebrew.
They might have spoken Aramaic,
but most likely they spoke Greek,
which was sort of like the lingua franca of the world.
And Capernaum's an important town, actually,
relatively important town in those days,
because on one hand, it's on the Sea of Galilee,
and in those days,
there's lots of fish in the Sea of Galilee.
In the ancient world at that time,
the main protein source for people other than beans was fish.
Not meat, not goat or chicken or beef.
It was fish.
And there's, in fact, archaeological records
to show that the fish from the Sea of Galilee
were exported as far away as to Alexandria and Egypt
and as far away as Damascus in Syria.
And, in fact, Capernaum is on the main trade route
that goes from the Mediterranean Basin up to Damascus.
So this was, in a sense, on one level,
it's a bit of like a backwater type of place,
but it's an important regional commercial centre.
And because it would have had traders going back and forward,
it would be a place where you would expect
many people to know many languages,
not just Hebrew or just Aramaic.
When you go to Montreal, for instance,
most people that you would meet in Montreal
speak French and English,
as well as if they're new Canadians,
whatever other languages from their country of origin.
It's not unusual.
In areas like that,
where there's lots of people from many nations coming around.
When I was in Namibia,
I'd ask, I had to take a cab twice,
once to get, both to come to,
to get to and from the airport.
And I'd made, I'd just ask the cab drivers,
how many languages do you speak?
And the first one spoke seven.
The second said he spoke ten.
Now, I have no idea whether they were just giving me,
you know, blowing smoke at me to impress me.
I didn't know any languages to test them.
But they spoke lots of languages.
Now, I mention this.
This is a Bible difficulty thing.
Because one of the things that people don't often think about
is that Jesus definitely knew Aramaic and Hebrew.
We know that.
But because of the fact that where he was based,
he probably knew Greek.
And because there was a significant Roman garrison there,
he also probably, he might have known Latin.
And so what people often say,
they'll look at a Bible thing
where they seem to have three,
like slightly different wording,
and some people get really bent out of shape.
And scholars write things that kill lots of trees
to try to figure out these problems.
But sometimes it could be very simple.
When I had the privilege to be in Angola,
on the edge of the Kalahari,
I got to be able to speak,
you've heard this before,
I got to share,
to preach to a group of semi-nomadic tribespeople
who had only had the gospel come to them very recently.
And when I spoke,
I spoke in English,
and beside me was a man who spoke Portuguese,
which was the colonial language,
and he would translate my words into Portuguese.
And beside him was another man
who also spoke not only English and Portuguese,
but he spoke the tribal language.
So I would say,
da-da-da-da-da-da,
and then you would hear,
da-da-da-da-da-da in Portuguese,
and then you would hear,
da-da-da-da-da-da
in the tribal language.
And for people who were listening
who spoke all three,
it would be very interesting.
In fact,
some of the missionaries told me a little bit
about how they had,
you know,
whether they didn't always agree necessarily
with how the Portuguese guy
translated me into Portuguese.
But the point is,
what we don't often think about
is if you went back in a time machine,
you might see Jesus speak in Jerusalem
and say,
A, B, C, D.
And then he says A, B, C, D in,
he says it in Hebrew,
he says A, B, C, D in Aramaic,
and he says A, B, C, D in Greek.
And then maybe even,
this is a fourth time in Latin.
And people who are recording it,
the wording's going to be
a little bit different, right?
I mean,
this is just the third thing.
There's lots of reasons
why you should trust
the historical reliability
of the New Testament.
But minor changes in wording,
especially when they,
there's lots of ways to explain it,
but even something as simple as that,
that Jesus could have been saying
the same thing
in two or three times,
maybe even four times
in different languages
so that all of his hearers could hear,
is in fact a very reasonable way
to understand the dynamics
of what was going on
in his ministry.
Anyway, that's a long aside
just on Capernaum,
but hopefully it helps you
when you read the Bible
to have confidence
in the New Testament
and have confidence
in the Gospel.
But let's get to
the real existential point
using a big word,
existential.
Verse 22,
Now, this touches on what I did
with the Parliament Hill
Christian Fellowship.
There's no real way
to translate into English
this word authority
in the original language.
In English,
when we use the word authority,
it's basically a completely
secular idea or concept.
I have authority
to perform weddings
in the province of Ontario.
That was given to me
by the state.
I have a marriage license
with a number.
I'm registered with the state.
I can do wedding ceremonies.
You know,
people get authority
from acts of Parliament.
They get from
professional associations,
but they're all completely
and utterly secular.
And that's just how
we understand the word.
But if we understand
the word that way,
we're misunderstanding
the word in the original language.
Because in this word,
there is a very,
very clear connection
to the supernatural,
to God,
to the transcendent.
It's not merely
that there's some
human authority.
It's not,
there's not saying
that he has
an authoritative manner,
that he has a deep,
booming voice,
or whatever.
Maybe back then
they thought,
hi, squeaky voices
are authoritative.
Like, we don't know.
But it's not as if
he was able to have
the right type of voice,
to wear the right type of dress,
to look the right way,
to somehow or another
act authoritative.
They have this sense
that there's something
about him
which is authoritative.
And for them,
that word authority,
and all the times
you see the word authority
in the New Testament,
it always includes
that divine,
supernatural,
transcendent dimension.
Interestingly enough,
even in our secular world,
and Canada is,
in some ways,
a rabidly secular society.
Parts of the elite culture
is rabidly secular.
secular.
But even in our
rabidly secular culture,
people with authority
like to try to invest
themselves with
something transcendent.
We're not just
the prime minister.
I'm saving the planet
from climate change.
I'm not just
the prime minister.
I'm saving us
from having horrendous
COVID things.
I'm not just
the prime minister.
I'm part of a progressive,
political way.
The whole culture
is moving.
Something bigger than me
that's transcendent,
that's planet big,
that's history big,
history transformative.
And it's a regular feature
of authority
that they want to try
to sneak in,
that they're connected
to something divine,
something moral,
something transcendent,
something big.
And while Canadians,
and it actually sort of shows
for a second,
if you think about it,
why is it that it's
very, very hard
for secular people
to just purely say,
well, this is just human?
Like, why is that hard?
Like, why is it
that they don't want
to just say,
well, it's just that way
because I decided it?
No, they want to say
that somehow or another
that there's something more.
But the ancients
didn't hide around that.
They directly come up
with a word that says
there's something supernatural.
There's something of God.
There's something of the heavens
involved in this type
of human authority.
And that's the word
that's going on here.
They're recognizing
something more than human
in Jesus
when they say
he has authority.
Now, how on earth
would you ever
possibly know that?
And why on earth
should any of you
who aren't,
if you're here
as a seeker
or a skeptic
or a scoffer,
if you're watching this
as a seeker,
a skeptic,
a scoffer,
you know,
hopefully this isn't the case,
watching to see
if there's some reason
you can cancel me
or something like that,
which has happened
to some churches lately
in the Ottawa area,
at least one that I know of.
Somebody watching
their services
to try to get something naughty
to see if they can
get them canceled.
Sorry,
I have to watch
what I'm going to say.
So why should we believe that?
Just because it's in the text.
Well, it's very interesting
what happens in the text next.
Look what happens
in verse 23.
And immediately
there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit
and he cried out.
Now, an unclean spirit
is in Mark's gospel
there's going to be
two different ways
they refer to demons.
One is just the word demon
and the other one
is the word unclean spirit.
And they're going to show up
at different times.
The devil has already showed up
earlier than this
and there's going to be demons.
And immediately
there was in their synagogue
verse 23
a man with an unclean spirit
and he cried out
this is the man
who's
who has an unclean spirit
connected to him.
Basically, he's possessed.
He's demonized.
And he cried out
what have you to do with us
Jesus of Nazareth?
Notice how he says what?
What have you to do with us?
The man and the demon
have become so intertwined
that it's a plural.
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.
But Jesus rebuked him
saying be silent
and come out of him.
And the unclean spirit
convulsing the man
and crying out with a loud voice
came out of the man.
And they were all amazed
so that they questioned
among themselves
saying what is this?
A new teaching with authority.
Remember what I said
about authority.
He commands
even the unclean spirits
and they obey him.
And at once his fame
spread everywhere
throughout all the surrounding
region of Galilee.
Now, at the earlier service
there's a semi-retired
professor here
who, or there's a person
here who used to do
lots of social research.
So, in social research
and I had a bit of a discussion
with him between the services
and there's various ways
to talk about it
but very simply put
often in social research
whether it's political science
or psychology
or sociology
they know that there's
things going on.
There's variables
about, you know,
things with intelligence
things with, you know,
emotional investment.
There's things going on
in the culture
and in the society
and they try to measure it
and the things
that they're trying to measure
can't be measured directly.
And so what the
social scientists do
is they have a theory
they have hypothesis
they have an understanding
of what's going on
and what they try to do
is they try to develop
an indicator of the reality
and the indicator
is something
that they can measure.
So they don't say necessarily
that if this is the reality
and this is the indicator
they don't say necessarily
that the indicator
is the whole thing
of the reality.
They're trying to get
at this real thing
and they can't get
at this real thing
because it can't be
measured
and they want to be
social scientists.
They want to be able
to do path analysis
and cosine analysis
and they want to be able
to measure it in some way
and show what's going on
but they come up
with this way
of thinking about
that there's these indicators
that can be measured
and that if you get
at the indicators
you're getting at this
you're taking a step
at getting at this
underlying reality.
In an interesting way
that's what's going on
here in the gospel.
You get an indicator
so there's no way
of proving
whether or not
Jesus has that type
of supernatural authority
not directly
but what you can have
are indicators of it
and one particular
indicator of it
it's going to show up
more than once
in this series
of stories
that we're looking at today
we'll see if I read
all of them
a second time
but one indicator
of that type
of authority
is whether Jesus
can cast out a demon
and it's very interesting
of how he does it.
He doesn't perform
an exorcism.
He doesn't do
like the pagans
would do
in a case like that
which they would
try to invoke
different gods.
He doesn't use anything
that he doesn't try
to cast a different
type of spell
using so-called
white magic
against black magic.
He doesn't do
what a devout Jew
would do
which might use
not only
what we would call
maybe liturgical things
like holy water
and stuff like that
but that they would
have a period of prayer
asking God
to do something.
What he does
is he just merely says
what does he say
just merely says
be silent
and come out of them.
He doesn't appeal
to a higher authority
doesn't appeal
to any other types
of authorities.
He
as
authority
merely speaks
and the demon flees.
He doesn't pray
he doesn't do anything
he just speaks
and the demon's gone.
In fact actually
at a level
that you can't tell
at from here
but scholars will say
that one of the things
which is very interesting
about all of the stories
like this
that take place
in Mark's gospel
is that if you go back
to the ancient literature
of the same time
in the same language
there's many apparent
miracle type stories
like this
but in fact
at a literary level
the miracle stories
that Mark writes
and Luke
and Matthew
and John
are qualitatively different
than the same stories
written by the pagan literature.
That in fact
all of the cases
but Mark's a very
very clear example
of us
they use fact language.
They use dispassionate
we would almost say
scientific language
descriptive language
whereas the other type
of language
is couched
with seems like
and other types
of flowery types
of things
that shows
that the writers
are trying to blur
the whole realm
between poetry
and imagination
and myth making
and what actually happened
but none of that
is here
it's a very type
of factoid
language
which is used
and so in this story
which is just sort of
very matter of fact
Jesus just merely expresses
he just merely says
and this is what happens
and so the implication is
if Jesus can do that
he is authority
and so therefore
these other things
that he says
are
it's authority itself
in fact not authority itself
it's authority
himself
speaking
authority
himself
present amongst us
now
let's just be very frank
if this is true
if it really happened
the world is very different
I've said this before
but we can't say it enough
if this actually happened
the world is very different
than the world
presented by CBC
CTV
Global News
the Supreme Court of Canada
the Prime Minister's office
the office of the official opposition
and the NDP
and the Green Party
and the Bloc Québécois
the official view
of the academy
if this is actually
if this actually happened
the world is very different
than the way we're being told it is
and if you think about it
for a second
we have all of these clues
even within literature
and even within those realms
of discourse
we have all of these clues
that what they talk about
isn't actually
you know it's a little bit like
it's a little bit like
if you go to some sources
that are a bit skeptical
about mass mandates
and stuff
one of the things
they love doing
is taking
like there's a little while ago
the Democratic Caucus
was about to make
some announcement
they didn't realize
there was somebody
taking a picture
and they took a picture of it
one minute before the announcement
and the minute before the announcement
none of them were wearing masks
but in the official picture
they're all wearing masks
right
like it's a bit of a sign
that they don't really believe
what they say about masks
right
just as
sorry I have to stop
okay
just stop George
by the way
this is a human problem
okay
it's not a political problem
it's a human problem
we all talk one thing
and do different things
it's a human problem
right
human problem
not political
but what I'm saying as
is that
even in the world
that talks about
at rapidly secular
that there is no higher meaning
and just as I said
it's hard for politicians
to not want to try to add
as if there's a higher meaning
same it is actually with us
like the fact of the matter is
is that the idea
that the world
is completely and utterly
devoid of meaning
that in fact
all that happens
is that
you know
we just sort of pretend
that there's some meaning
because if you pretend
there's some meaning
then it's easier to live life
that you don't really think
that there's some type
of a meaning
which is greater than you
and separate from you
that there's actually
what happens
if you notice
if you look
at a very very elderly woman
smiling with all their wrinkles
and you think
that there's something
beautiful about that
and something wonderful
about that
it's not just something
you've put on her
but that you're actually
recognizing something
that's real
that if you hear
a spectacularly beautiful
piece of music
that just deeply moves you
it's not just
that you've created
some type of emotion
to put on that
but you have a sense
that you're recognizing
something which is real
that if you see
a beautiful sunset
you know
if you're off in the Rockies
and you see a sunset
you see the Rockies
you see the ocean
and you just
your heart is just filled
that there's something there
which is just wonderful
and if somebody says
no you're just putting that
on that
but hard of you know
that there's a clue
that you're not just
putting that on that
you recognize something
which is there
which is separate from you
that you say
it doesn't matter
if you're a Muslim
a Buddhist
an atheist
it doesn't matter
if you're gay
or straight
you should think
that that is beautiful
and so we see
these clues
that there is a
there's a beauty
that there's a
a meaning
that there's a
a type of glory
that we don't
impose on the world
but that we recognize
on the world
and that if you do that
if you recognize that
that there's a bit
of a clue
it's a clue
that the Christian
side of the conversation
is the right side
of the conversation
to be on
Jesus has authority
if you have a sense
that there must be
meaning to life
that there must be
well if you have a sense
that gosh
it really is the case
it must be the case
it has to be the case
that love is stronger
and deeper
and more pure
and that which we should
choose over hatred
if you have this sense
that they're not just
two equal and opposed
things
you know
you can flip a coin
I'm going to choose
hatred
well I'm going to choose
love
I'm going to choose
hatred
I'm going to choose
love
but then no
no no no no no
you have to choose
love
there's something
deeper and truer
and realer
about love
than hatred
if you have this
sense that love
has to be
that life has to
be stronger
than death
that there's
something offensive
of death
that life and death
aren't equally
just merely natural
biological processes
that make no difference
except the fact
that we invest
some difference
and meaning to it
but that when we
recognize that life
has to be stronger
than death
that there's something
offensive with death
that we're not
creating that
imposing that
but we're recognizing
that that is a clue
that you should be
on the Christian side
of the conversation
on this issue
though what we see
in the person
of Jesus
who has authority
which is something
of the supernatural
and what he's doing
he's revealing
what that supernatural
reality is
that he's revealing
that in fact
health is what
we were made for
not sickness
clarity of mind
and heart
not being demonized
is what we were made for
that life is what
we were made for
not for death
that love is what
we were made for
not hatred
that justice is what
we were made for
not injustice
that compassion
is what we were made for
not oppression
and if you have a sense
that those things are true
then you are on the
Christian side
of the playing field
whether you recognize
it or not
in fact
you know even
you know
secular scholars
mainly English
and European scholars
have been doing work
over the last
decade
to try to reveal
these are secular thinkers
coming to an understanding
that a lot of the stuff
that we think
is just reason
and is just
secular reason
in fact
comes from Christianity
because you see
you think about it
for a second
here we have
authority itself
in the room
and authority
in itself
in a room
is confronted
by a demonized man
and when authority
itself is in the room
confronted with
a demonized man
authority
uses
its authority
to heal
the man
and don't we all
have a sense
I mean
go back to that
mask thing
and you know
you can catch
all the parties
do it
okay
I'm not making
any political
I really am not
making a political
point about this
I really am not
it's a human
problem
right
but where does
that inclination
and that insight
that moral insight
come from
in secular society
that people in
positions of power
and authority
that they should
use it for good
not for bad
they should act
with some type
of sympathy
for the weak
and not oppress
the weak
like where does
that insight
come from
in the Hindu
and Buddhist
mythology
there's caste
you deserve
that caste
that's why
people like
Mother Teresa
were so radical
like they deserve
that
they earned
that status
no for Christians
they don't earn
that status
human beings
have dignity
and worth
and don't you
have that sense
that authority
real authority
real power
should have some
degree of love
and compassion
in it
that that's what
it's really designed
for
you look at
atheistic states
that's not
necessarily there
it comes from
the Bible
it comes from
being formed
by stories
like this
that we have
this sense
it's not something
that emerged
just from purely
secular
like read Nietzsche
Nietzsche doesn't
say that
Nietzsche would
scoff at people
who say that
they'd just say
he'd say you're
Christians
and for him
to say that
it means you're
stupid
and so even
so much
of the secular
world
that rejects
the Christian
faith
is in fact
living off
of the fumes
the residue
of this
formation
that's come
from stories
like this
about the
proper exercise
of authority
but there's
more to this
story than that
and if I don't
get to the other
stories that's
fine
this is sort
of woven
all the way
through the rest
of them
actually you know
what a cute
thing let's
just jump ahead
this is really
really key
in terms of
how power works
and everything
like that
because that's
one of the
things which is
so important
to this story
just keep
reading
verse 29
and immediately
he left the
synagogue
and entered
the house
of Simon
and Andrew
with James
and John
now verse 30
Simon's mother-in-law
lay ill with a fever
and immediately
they told him
about her
and he came
and took her
by the hand
and lifted her
up and the fever
left her
and she began
to serve him
notice that
he doesn't pray
he doesn't give her
medicine
he just takes her
hand and she's
healed
who's Jesus
it's been revealed
that he's not
like what is
this supernatural
authority
what is this
divine authority
the divine authority
is the one
that frees you
from the demonic
what is the
divine authority
is properly
to restore
human beings
to a proper
freedom and
control of their
faculties
it's to deliver
you from
sickness
that you may
be whole
but look
it gets really
cool
it's something
it's only in
the original
language
you can't see
it in the
English
that evening
at sundown
they brought
to him
all who
were sick
or oppressed
by demons
and the whole
city
was gathered
together
at the door
and he healed
the many
okay
in a literally
way
and he healed
the many
who were sick
with various
diseases
and cast out
many demons
and he would
not permit
the demons
to speak
because they
knew him
but that verse
34
and he healed
the many
in the original
language
you know
what that word
is
some of you
don't know
this word
because it's
but it's
hoi polloi
you know
how in elite
circles
it'll talk about
the hoi polloi
are people
who work
at Tim Hortons
it's
the
working
it's the
it's the common
people
who don't
really know
or understand
anything
and who does
Jesus heal
the hoi polloi
the many
but you see
here's
a couple
of things
which are so
important
about this
particular story
you see
what is it
that's being
revealed
in this
type of
story
and the
story
is shaping
us to
understand
that
true
authority
real
authority
which is
connected
to the
divine
should be
an authority
which works
for healing
for freedom
for deliverance
for justice
that that's
in fact
what real
authority
that's what
God is
ultimately
really like
and it's
even
it's
shown in
the fact
that
the beginning
of the
whole thing
it says
remember
that all
of the
gospel of
Mark
can be
understood
as the
time is
fulfilled
the kingdom
of God
is at
hand
repent
and believe
the gospel
and so
that actually
there's a
riddle
in there
like what
is the
kingdom
who is
the kingdom
how do
you get
in
and what
this entire
story
from these
texts
on
in terms
of how
Jesus
deals
with the
sick
how he
deals
with the
hoi
polloi
how he
deals
with the
demonized
I'm not
going to
maybe have
time to
look at
it
but how
does he
deal
with the
leper
the
social
outcast
how does
he deal
with them
the kings
of the
earth
send people
out to
die
so they
will receive
glory
but what
we see
here is
that Jesus
loves
people
and dies
for people
for their
glory
it's a
complete
reversal
of the
general
pagan
and religious
understanding
of how
authority
is to
work
you see
the fact
is
that when
Jesus
says
the time
is fulfilled
the kingdom
of God
is at
hand
repent
and believe
the gospel
there are
in a sense
on one
level
there's
nobody
in that
kingdom
right now
on one
level
you don't
want to
get into
old
testament
saints
and all
that
but on
one
level
the new
kingdom
hasn't been
inaugurated
yet
it's not
inaugurated
until he
dies
upon the
cross
and rises
from the
dead
and in
the kingdoms
of the
world
the king
sends
soldiers
out to
die
for their
glory
in
Jesus'
case
he will
die
for people
so that
they will
be free
and be
part of
his
kingdom
he dies
to create
citizens
who are
freed up
by his
grace
to be
part of
his
kingdom
we also
see something
else which
is really
important in
this particular
story
one of the
things that
Mark does
at a
literary
level
which is
very
interesting
in the
first
couple
of
chapters
and he
does it
in different
places
he doesn't
only do it
but people
will ask
a question
where does
his authority
come from
how can
he do
something
like that
and the
answer is
given by
the
demons
you think
about this
particular
story
you know
they're
astonished
at his
authority
and at
the end
they're
astonished
that he
could do
it
but the
answer is
given by
the demon
that he's
the holy
one of
God
now this
is profoundly
important for
us as
Christians
and for
those who
are outside
the Christian
faith
who might
be considering
becoming a
Christian
there's a
world
a universe
of difference
between saying
Jesus is
God
or saying
Jesus is a
savior
and saying
Jesus is
my savior
there is a
universe of
difference
it is as
different as
the east is
from the west
the north is
from the south
to say
that Jesus
is a savior
and say
that he is
my savior
that Jesus
is an
authority
and saying
he is
my
authority
see the
demons
can say
the first
but they're
still doomed
if you read
the book of
revelation
they will
eventually
be cast
into the
lake of
fire
for a
final
annihilation
but God
desires so
much more
for you
and me
the bad
things in
our lives
are not
the final
word that
God wants
to have
about you
and me
the times
in our
lives that
we have
been demonized
is not
the final
word that
the Lord
wants to
have about
you and
me
the ways
that we
are unclean
the ways
that we
are like
a leper
the ways
that we
are sick
the ways
that we
are ostracized
the ways
that we
are broken
the ways
that we
are shamed
the ways
that we
are belittled
are not
the final
word that
the Lord
wants to
have about
you and
me
see he
wants us
to sow
and look
and say
here is the
man who
will touch
a leper
here is a
man who
will address
the demonized
here is a
man who
identifies with
sinners
here is a
man who
knows all
of this
does not
have to
die
you come
to the
conclusion
as you
read through
the gospel
of Mark
that that
old Christian
saying is
that it
wasn't the
nails that
held Jesus
to the cross
but his
love for
you and
me that
held him
to the
cross
Jesus could
cast out
a demon
how on earth
could he ever
be hung to
a cross
we're going
to see him
fill the storm
and feed
the 5000
he could
only do
that if
when he
dies upon
the cross
he's dying
out of love
for you
and me
he does
it willingly
he is not
a king
who sends
his pawns
out so
that he
will triumph
and live
he is the
king who
comes amongst
his pawns
and dies
for the
pawns
that the
pawns
might become
kings
and queens
now some
of our
response
just as
we close
is that
I remember
many years
ago talking
to a person
who was
struggling
with alcoholism
and he
came to
the realization
that he
was probably
an alcoholic
and had to
do something
about him
and one
of the
things he
said to
me is he
said George
if I stop
being an
alcoholic
my life
will be
ruined
I don't
have a
single
friend who's
not an
alcoholic
I'll have
nothing to
do any
night
I'll have
nothing to
do on
the weekend
I won't
have any
friends
see one of
the things
which is so
interesting is
we hear about
this and
instantly there's
part of us
who says no
no no
if Jesus
comes into
my life
even though
he died
for me
if he
comes into
my life
see one
of the
things which
is the
final thing
which is so
remarkable
about that
story is
that when
the demonized
man says
what have you
to do with
us
Jesus
Nazareth
have you
come to
destroy
us
the demonized
man is
expressing how
every person
is in regard
to key sins
in their
lives
the person
who's completely
and utterly
consumed
without recognizing
that they're
consumed with
money
the person
who's completely
and utterly
consumed
without realizing
that they're
consumed
with power
or with
their appearance
or with
having
sex
or with
envy
or just
with food
or like
with whatever
it is
and it can
be more
than one
thing
there is
this sense
that if
Jesus
comes into
your life
he's going
to destroy
us
because I've
become so
consumed
and so
identified
with my
search for
money
even though
my search
for money
is messing
up my
life
like if
you become
consumed
with making
money
you will
actually
rarely
be happy
because
you're
going to
be worried
about
every
downturn
in the
stock
market
you're
going
to be
worried
about
the
people
who have
more
money
than
you
you're
going
to feel
insecure
I remember
the man
who was
very
wealthy
he was
worth
a lot
of
millions
of
dollars
and he
said
he didn't
know
if he
had
enough
money
yet
to
retire
he said
I can't
figure out
when I have
enough
money
and I
thought
to myself
you have
like a
hundred
times
more
a thousand
times
more
money
if I
had
your
money
I'd
but you
see
when money
comes to
take upon
you
your
identity
is
insecure
and you
don't
realize
that your
identity
is being
formed
by gripping
onto this
type of
thing
and so
it is
when Jesus
says
if I
come to
you
I will
come to
save
you
I will
come to
free
you
and part
of you
says
no
I might
have
to give
some
of that
money
away
I might
have
to
tithe
I'm
going to
have
to give
to the
poor
and so
we say
to Jesus
if you
come to
destroy
us
if you
come to
destroy
us
see
the
demonized
man
is
expressing
how we
relate
to sin
to our
pride
our autonomy
our ability
to control
ourselves
even though
all these
things
just make
us
more
and more
fragile
not
anti-fragile
but fragile
more
and more
dependent
upon
what other
people
think
about
us
more
independent
about
having
the
money
having
the
car
having
the
clothes
having
the
sex
having
the
relationships
having
the
profile
having
the
reputation
having
the
position
all
of
these
things
and
they
just
make
us
at a
fundamental
level
anxious
and
insecure
and so
we
say
to
Jesus
yes
I
know
that
you
come
and you
will
make
the
leper
clean
I
know
that
you
come
and you
will
make
the
sick
whole
I
know
that
you
come
and you
will
take
the
demon
eyes
free
but I
think
you're
coming
to
destroy
me
and all
I can
say to
you
is look
at what
the
Bible
says
he
really
does
come
to
free
you
he
really
does
come
to
free
you
he
really
comes
to bring
to open
your eyes
to the
meaning
of life
to the
beauty
of life
to the
goodness
of life
to choosing
generosity
over greed
choosing
forgiveness
over
recrimination
choosing
love
over
hatred
choosing
freedom
over
being
bound
he
has
died
for you
to know
that freedom
to know
him
who is
authoritative
freedom
please
stand
for those
of us
who are
Christians
one of the
things
every
Sunday
is
to
recommit
to
him
not
to
become
saved
again
to
recommit
to
him
and
say
Jesus
you
are
my
savior
Jesus
you
are
my
lord
yes
Jesus
it's
worth
it
to
choose
generosity
over
greed
it's
worth
it
to
choose
forgiveness
it's
worth
it
to
choose
love
it's
worth
it
to
choose
life
I
recommit
and
every
Sunday
when we
gather
for those
who have
not yet
given
your
life
to
Jesus
there's
no
I
worry
that
you'll
destroy
me
but
I
trust
what
I
just
saw
in
your
word
that
you
will
subvert
those
sinful
power
dynamics
and
idolatrous
things
in
my
life
you'll
subvert
those
but
I
trust
you
Jesus
that
you
will
subvert
and
deconstruct
those
but
fulfill
actually
the
real
deeper
longing
of
my
heart
because
in
the
depth
of
my
heart
I
know
that
I'd
rather
on
my
death
bed
than a
greedy
person
a
forgiving
person
than
one
who
never
forgives
a
loving
person
rather
than
one
who
hates
one
who
shows
compassion
for
every
race
rather
than
a
racist
that
is
really
the
deepest
longing
in
my
heart
and
all
I
can
say
to
you
is
to
silence
the
demonized
aspects
in
your
sin
and
there's
no
better
time
than
right
now
to
say
Jesus
please
be
my
savior
and
Lord
and
trust
that
you
will
free
me
and
heal
me
that's
the
path
you
will
put
me
on
let's
bow
our heads
in
prayer
father
we
thank you
for
Jesus
we
thank you
that
he
is
the
king
who
died
for
the
pawns
so
the
pawns
can
be
kings
and
queens
under
him
we
thank
you
father
that
you
are
on
the
side
of
life
that
you
are
love
that
you
are
life
that
you
are
goodness
that
you
are
beauty
that
you
are
joy
that
you
are
wholeness
that
you
are
freedom
and
that
you
father
sent
your
son
to
die
on
the
cross
to
take
our
place
to
do
for
us
what
we
could
not
do
for
ourselves
to
make
us
your
children
by
adoption
and
grace
not
weighing
our
merits
but
pardoning
our
offenses
we
thank
you
for
Jesus
and
we
ask
father
for
in
his
way
for
your
glory
for
the
good
of
this
city
for
the
good
of
the
world
and
father
if
there
are
any
here
who
have
not
yet
done
that
may
father
your
holy
spirit
bring
that
work
of
miraculous
work
in
their
lives
so
that
they
for
the
first
time
might
commit
to
him
we
ask
all
these
things
in
the
name
of
Jesus
and
all
God's
people
said
amen