Mark #3

LET THE HEALING BEGIN

If you could be healed of whatever ails you, how would it change your life? What would it mean to be free of that problem that keeps you from living a full and happy life?

            Do you want to be healed? Or have you grown accustomed to the pain you feel or the burden you bear? Have you resigned yourself to the idea that God simply refuses to heal you in this life?

            Many of us are caught in the in-between state of believing that Jesus is the Great Physician with the power to heal anyone, and what we call “reality” – that he does not heal today. Some may even doubt that God heals miraculously in this generation. Others of you have been healed and give full credit to the Lord for that healing.

            We would have to confess that the majority of us are a little skeptical about God’s desire to heal us today. You have prayed for yourself and for others and have seen nothing tangible to affirm your faith. I have been in that very position myself.

            So now we read today in Mark 1:35-2:12 that Jesus came preaching the good news and healing many. We believe that Jesus has the authority to heal but we may be left wondering what the purpose was behind Jesus’ healing ministry. What could it possibly mean for us today? We cannot help but sit under a cloud of doubt about this.

            What I want to show you this morning is that Jesus’ healing ministry exemplified what the good news was all about – specifically, pointing people to God.

1. Jesus Preaches a Message of Healing

a) The drawbacks of healing ministry – From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus mixed healing with preaching. While preaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, a demon-possessed man interrupted the message and Jesus dealt with him (1:23-26). After the service while at Simon’s home, Jesus healed his mother-in-law. With the news spreading about Jesus that same day, many others came seeking him. And Jesus healed them.

            While news about Jesus spread quickly and crowds began to seek him, a problem arose. What would you do if you heard a man was healing all manner of diseases? You would seek him out. But why? Do you want to get to know the man, become friends with him? Would you care about the message he is preaching? No, you want the healing that he offers. People could easily get the wrong idea about Jesus. They would seek him out just for the healing and not for what the healing says.

            So Jesus retreated the next morning to pray. You will notice that Mark writes about Jesus praying in connection with his temptations. Jesus prayed a lot. But Mark only records when Jesus felt tempted that he went and prayed. What is this temptation? It does not say, but we can guess that Jesus would feel pressured to stay and heal all who come to him.

b) The relationship of healing and preaching the good news – Simon confirms this pressure: “Everyone is looking for you!” he says excitedly. Jesus replies, “Then let’s get out of here.” Or as Mark records it, “Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come” (1:38). Jesus goes through all of Galilee – doing what – preaching and driving out demons.

            The miracles continue; Jesus does not stop healing. But he goes on to other places to preach and heal. This begs the question: What is the relationship between healing and preaching?

            One thing you may notice is that we don’t know what the content of his messages was, except for the line “the kingdom of God is near.” What Mark insinuates is that the miracles of healing are the message. Jesus was not healing for healing sake; he was sending a message. What message?

            Back in 1:14 Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” Healing and casting out demons were the verification of that message. When Isaiah foretold of the One who would come and redeem his people he wrote, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor…” (Is 61:1). The healing indicates that Messiah has come and that is the reason Jesus keeps moving on – to spread this news everywhere.

2. Jesus Heals the Inner Child

a) Approaching Jesus – Now a man with leprosy finds Jesus and begs him, “If you are willing you can make me clean” (1:40). This should not have happened.

            The Law of Moses forbids this encounter. The leper was unclean and he made everything he touched unclean. Leprosy was considered highly contagious and incurable. Lepers had to live apart from the general population; they lived in garbage dumps and ate what scraps they could find. They were required to wear bells around the neck to warn the healthy of their presence. If they met someone on the road they were to yell out “Unclean, unclean!” to avoid accidental contact.

            Lepers were a sorry sight with ulcers and deformities making them grotesque to look at. They were cut off from their families and from the community of faith. Unclean people could not go to temple to worship or offer sacrifices.

            This man gave Jesus no warning; there were no tinkling bells. He approached Jesus out of desperation and gambled that Jesus would heal him. Jesus could have rebuked him and sent him off; maybe he should have. But the leper wanted to be restored, to be clean.

b) “He touched me” – Jesus has shown us in the gospels that he can heal from a distance. He speaks the word and it is done. Jesus could have stood safely at a distance and yelled “be healed.” He doesn’t though. Jesus reaches out and touches the man.

            How long had it been since someone had touched him? The alienation this man felt went far deeper than the surface scars on his skin. He was ostracized and treated like a monster, cut off from those he loved. And Jesus touched him.

            There is so much to say about the healing power of touch. In our politically-correct world with its sensitivity training and rules of conduct we are afraid to touch another person for fear of being inappropriate. There is a right and a wrong to touch, no doubt. To pray is one thing; to lay hands on someone and pray sends a deeper message. We should not be afraid to touch the hurting and speak into their hearts.

            Jesus touched the man and healed his inner child. That is, when we hurt we become like children, desperate for the love and affection of a parent. Like the commercial of the man with a cold who begs for his mother. Then his wife throws him a bottle of Nyquil as if to say “get over it.” Jesus never says, “Get over it,” but reaches out and touches the man; he heals the little boy inside and heals a deeper hurt.

            This is ironic. This is the first and only time in history when someone clean touched something unclean and both were clean as a result. If I lean up against my car today with my clean suit, both my suit and my car will be dirty. But here the world is turned upside down: Jesus touches the leper and he becomes clean instead of Jesus becoming unclean.

            The leper symbolized our alienation from God. He could not enter God’s house and was outside the community. There was nothing he could do to change his status. But he goes to Jesus and says, “If you are willing.” This is true repentance – an unqualified turning to ask if we can be made clean. We come like children to be washed and made right.

c) Fallout from association – Jesus tells the man not to tell anyone but to go to the priests for verification of his healing. Not that Jesus did not heal him; it seems rather that Jesus was sending a message to the religious establishment: the good news has come. But the man disobeys Jesus and starts telling everyone what Jesus did. “As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places” (1:45b).

            I have always understood this line in the sense that Jesus could not go into town because he was being mobbed by the sick and possessed. This is not the case. Because the man told everyone that Jesus touched him, an unclean leper, the townspeople assumed that now Jesus was unclean. Now Jesus was being ostracized, cast out, and declared unfit.

            Still, people came to him, even in the wilderness.

            There is symbolism in this too. Does not Isaiah 53 say that he took up our infirmities, was despised and rejected by men? He took up our sorrows and was considered stricken by God. This suffering was part of the ministry of healing too. Jesus became like us to suffer with us in order to heal us.

3. Jesus Heals the Most Crippling Disease

a) Removing the barriers – Jesus returns to Capernaum and is preaching again. The house is packed. People are listening from outside. “Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on,” (2:3-4).

            Can you hear the commotion these men made? They clambered onto the roof, started pulling up tiles and tearing away the structure to create a hole big enough to lower an outstretched man down. I would have stopped preaching and stared in disbelief, plaster dust in my hair.

            What a dramatic scene! They saw an opportunity to restore their friend to health, to get him back on his feet. It seemed that there is a measure of faith here too since the men believe that Jesus can accomplish this desire.

b) The Question of “Need” – Jesus says to the man who cannot walk, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” (2:5). If this were you or me, I think we would say, “Wait. What? I’m paralyzed here. Could you deal with that?”

            But in fact Jesus knows something the man doesn’t know – that he has a much bigger problem than his physical condition. Jesus is saying to him, “I understand your problem. I have seen your suffering. I’m going to get to that. But please realize that the main problem in a person’s life is never his suffering; it’s his sin.”[i]

            This could be problematic since people in those days equated sin with disease. Most of the people listening to Jesus that day would have assumed that the man on the mat had committed a sin for which God had judged him. That’s not what Jesus is saying.[ii]

            Jesus is saying that he knows our real need. What is our real need? The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus. Whether it’s to succeed in our chosen field or to have a certain relationship – or even to get up and walk – we’re saying, “If I have that, if I get my deepest wish, then everything will be okay.” You’re looking to that thing to save you from oblivion, from disillusionment, from mediocrity. You’ve made that wish your savior. You would never say it that way – but it’s turning out that way. And if you never quite get it, you’re angry, unhappy, empty. But if you do get it, you ultimately feel more empty, more unhappy.[iii]

            Jesus wants to be your savior. If you have Jesus, he will actually fulfill you. And if you fail him, he will forgive you. Thinking that if we got our deepest wish would heal us – that’s the problem. We have to let Jesus be our savior.

            This is the problem with our concept of healing itself. We focus on the healing and not on God. It’s the same with forgiveness, peace and even going to heaven – if we focus on just getting to heaven and not on God who is the main objective of our faith, we have not been converted by the gospel.

c) True healing – Jesus asks a question of the teachers of the law who were judging his words, “Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?” (2:9).

            That’s always been a tough one. It’s been debated for centuries. We must settle on healing being the easier task. Here’s why: You can only forgive a sin when it’s against you. When Jesus says to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” he’s actually saying, “Your sins have really been against me.” The only person who can possibly say that to a human being is their Creator. Jesus, by forgiving the man, is claiming to be God. That’s why it is the harder task.

            This is even more profound when you consider that the harder task involves going to the cross. Any miracle worker can say, “Take up your mat and walk,” but only the Savior of the world can say to you, “All your sins are forgiven.”

            We see in this story the shadow of the cross. To the religious leaders present, Jesus is a heretic. A miracle worker can be tolerated, but Jesus claims to be the Savior. If he not only heals this man but forgives his sins as well, he’s taking a decisive step down the path to the cross.

            That is the cost of true healing. That healing brings us to God, to relationship with the Almighty. And that is what we really need more than any other healing or answer to prayer.

Should we ask for healing for our physical or mental illnesses? Yes, absolutely. God cares for you and knows our suffering.

            In some cases he heals miraculously; in others through doctors; and still others are not healed (and that’s another sermon). But in one instance Jesus heals every time: our deepest wound is the sin that separates us from God. Our greatest disease is the crippling effect of sin that keeps us from walking in relationship with God.

            Every gift we receive from Jesus is meant to point us to God: His salvation, his forgiveness, his healing, his NOT healing us. Healing is not our goal; God is our goal, and enjoying him forever.

            Tony Campolo tells a story about being in a church in Oregon where he was asked to pray for a man who had cancer. Campolo prayed boldly for the man’s healing.

            That next week he got a telephone call from the man’s wife. She said, "You prayed for my husband. He had cancer." Campolo thought when he heard her use the past tense verb that his cancer had been eradicated! But before he could think much about it she said, "He died." Campolo felt terrible.

            But she continued, "Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence.

            But the lady told Campolo, "After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We’ve sung. We’ve laughed. We’ve read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they’ve been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing."

            And then she said something incredibly profound.

She said, "He wasn’t cured, but he was healed.”[iv]

            Jesus preached good news. He illustrated his message with healing. And he came to truly heal us. So let the healing begin.

                                                            AMEN

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[i]  Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p. 27

[ii]  Ronald J. Kernaghan, Mark, p. 55

[iii] Keller, p. 30.

[iv] Tony Campolo, "Year of Jubilee," Preaching Today Tape #212.

Mark #1

COME AND JOIN THE DANCE

I don’t dance, at least not publicly. My neighbors might catch a glimpse of dance-like movements through the living room window – but it’s not for their eyes. If you know me, you know my mantra: It’s not that Mennonites shouldn’t dance; it’s that they can’t dance.

            You can understand then my issue with the popular song “I can only imagine.” The singer of this song looks forward to being in heaven with Jesus and wondering what that would be like. That’s fine, but then there’s the line, “will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still.” My response is, Jesus has seen me dance and he would say, “It’s okay Darryl, let’s spare the angels.”

            Studying Mark through the eyes of Timothy Keller has cured this cynicism about dancing somewhat. I now see that Jesus does not want me to dance for him but with him. Life with Jesus does not permit us to be wall-flowers in the cosmic dance.

            C. S. Lewis explained it this way: “In Christianity, God is not a static thing…but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.”[i]

            As we begin to study the Gospel of Mark, we will find that there is relatively little of Jesus’ teaching – what we will see is not Jesus teaching so much as doing. Therefore we can’t sit back as we come to know Jesus, we need to respond actively. You cannot watch the dance; you have to dance.

            But why should this Gospel of Mark cause us to dance? Because Jesus is shown to be the Son of God. And the first question we face in the first chapter of Mark is a response to this declaration: How can I know Jesus is the Son of God? Mark implies that we can know Jesus is the Son of God because of the testimony of the witnesses.

            And this testimony should make you dance for joy.

1. The Dance Continues

You will note that “the dance continues” not “begins.” The first verse may have been the original title of the Gospel: “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” (1:1). This title suggests that something new is being introduced, but the next verse takes us back to Isaiah, hundreds of years prior to this gospel. So Mark did not understand the Gospel as something new at all but a continuation of something God had been doing for a long time.

            The title is startling and daring. Jesus could be the Messiah, the Christ, but to add “the Son of God” was to state something no Jew or Gentile could fathom or accept. Even Jesus prefers to call himself “the Son of Man” in this gospel. Mark really begins with a bang then, a shocker, to announce this story is about God’s Son.

            Regardless of the bluntness of this statement, Mark moves right to prophecy to back up his claim. He points to something both Malachi and Isaiah foretold: a messenger would come before the Messiah to get things ready for his appearance.

            Twice it is said that a messenger would prepare the way for the One who was to come. In ancient times it was usual for a forerunner to go ahead of a king and make sure there was a passable road, that obstacles were removed and that people were ready to receive the king. In short, this messenger was to prepare a highway for the king.

            Every Jew who looked forward to the redemption of Israel would be keeping an eye out for the forerunner. When he appeared it meant the King was not far behind and salvation would finally be realized.

            Fulfilled prophecy validates any claim. Jesus is the King Israel and the world was waiting for. It is said that if anyone had fulfilled even eight prophecies of the OT regarding the Messiah, the chances of that happening were one in ten trillion. Jesus fulfilled 60 prophecies concerning this Special One of God promised centuries before his incarnation. Fulfilled prophecy testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. Mark refers to Isaiah again and again directly and indirectly showing Jesus to be that One.

            The Dance continues. Begun long before the creation of the world – the Dance continues.

2. The Dance Caller

At a dance there is a dance caller. You might have a DJ or someone who directs the type of dance by the music they choose, or at a hoe-down you have someone who calls the dance.

            Mark introduces the dance caller abruptly as John. “And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” (1:4).

            Mark does not directly say that John is the messenger or forerunner – he implies it by following the prophecy with the introduction. So how do we know that John is that person?

            There are three clues that point to John’s role. The first clue is that John came preaching in the wilderness. Isaiah 40:3, which Mark quoted, reads: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” The wilderness was the venue for the forerunner’s ministry.

            The second clue was that John was a Messenger. He announced something astounding, something that no human being had ever done before – someone was coming to baptize them with the Holy Spirit.

            The third clue is found in John’s get-up. He wore clothing made of camel hair with a leather belt around his waist and he ate locusts and wild honey. He looked like Elijah, a man of the wilderness.

            As a dance caller of God, John came to change the dance. Everyone was dancing for themselves. It looks pretty odd and chaotic when everyone is dancing their own dance. One couple is slow-waltzing while others are break-dancing – it doesn’t seem like people are on the right page.

            John’s message was simple: Turn. He called the people to repent. This was not a private matter; it was a public matter expressed in baptism. Turn from your sins, he preached.

            Now John was not a priest; he did not oversee nor did he require sacrifices or offerings. He was not related to the temple at all. This is interesting because for centuries the Jews had looked to the Temple, sacrifices and the Law of Moses for avenues of forgiveness. It was what they were used to. But here, John turns his back on the temple institution and called people to the wilderness to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

            John spoke to a universal need, one that touches us today as well – the forgiveness of sins. And people left the city in droves to hear him. Everyone suffers from the same syndrome of sin, guilt and fear. How do we define sin? Sin is basically self-centeredness. That’s it. We commit sins because we are thinking of ourselves, loving ourselves, indulging ourselves, looking out for ourselves, taking care that no one get ahead of us. That is the essence of sin -- self-centeredness. We are all victims of it. And we feel guilty when we realize how self-centered we are and how it hurts others. Guilt makes us hate ourselves. Then we feel afraid; afraid that we have lost control and we can’t trust ourselves to act correctly.

            People are dancing the wrong dance. Most people are dancing for themselves. John called people to turn from that dance and get ready to see a new/old dance, the dance of God. John’s call to repent was a call to turn around and look for God in the desert. It meant to turn away from a fixation on temporary solutions, from empty philosophies and gimmicks and causes. It meant to turn in eager expectancy toward the baptism of the Holy Spirit which the coming One would bring.

3. The Dance Explained

No greater testimony concerning Jesus as the Son of God could be had than the testimony of God himself.

            Jesus comes down from Galilee to where John is baptizing “sinners” in the Jordan and is baptized with them. As Jesus emerges from the water he sees heaven torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

            Two images need addressing in this event. That heaven is “torn open” recalls an expression found in only one other place in the Bible: It comes from Isaiah 64:1 where the prophet calls on God to rend the heavens and come down and rebuild the desolated kingdom of Israel. That chapter is an anguished plea for God to forgive the sins of Israel and restore them to prosperity and peace. Mark deliberately applies this to the baptism of Jesus.

            Secondly, the dove descends or “flutters” over Jesus. As the readers of this Gospel we are supposed to make the connection between the Spirit hovering or “fluttering” over Jesus and Genesis 1:2 where before Creation the Spirit hovers over the waters. Here he is hovering over the water again telling us that like Creation, a new Creation is being inaugurated.

            At Creation the Trinity was involved in creating. God spoke – the Word created – and the Spirit hovered. Now the three persons of the Trinity are present again. The Son is baptized while the Spirit hovers and the Father speaks.

            What the Father says affirms who Jesus has been from before Creation. He says, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (1:11). This is a combination of three verses from the OT.

            “You are my Son,” comes from Psalm 2:7, a coronation hymn sung when a king was crowned. So these words now point to Jesus as the One through whom God’s reign would be established. Jesus is the King.

            “Whom I love,” comes from Genesis 22:2. This is a reference to when Abraham took Isaac as a sacrifice to God. God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…” Isaac was the son through whom God’s promises would be fulfilled for Abraham. Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God’s promises and evokes the image of God sacrificing his own Son for us, the Son “whom he loves.”

            “With you I am well pleased,” comes from Isaiah 42:1 where the Servant of the Lord is described. This is an intentional application to Jesus as the true Servant of the Lord.

            God identifies his Son, affirms his love for him, and confirms his mission as the Messiah in this one statement.

            I have just shown you the dance. Let me explain. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are three persons but one God. Not three Gods who work in harmony; nor is it that God takes on one form or another for different purposes. The Trinity is one God in three persons who know and love one another. When Jesus comes out of the water, the Father envelops him and covers him with love while the Spirit covers him with power. This is a small glimpse of the heart of the universe: Father, Son and Spirit glorifying one another.

            If in a dance we were all self-centered and wanted everyone to orbit around us we would have chaos. A hundred people standing around waiting to be the center of the performance would lack coordination. Everyone is listening to different music and dancing their own dance.

            The Trinity is other’s centered. What marks the Father, Son and Spirit is their mutually self-giving love. No person of the Trinity insists that the others revolve around him; rather each of them voluntarily circles and orbits around the others.[ii] If this is the God who created the universe then at the heart of the universe – what life is all about – is the love relationship as seen in the Trinity.

            Why would a Triune God create a world? Some mistakenly believe that God created us so that someone would love him. But we have just seen that God already had that love within the Trinity (Father loving Son, etc), and in a far more powerful way than humans could ever give. So what are we here for? He must have created us for the sole purpose of giving us this joy. To invite us into the dance. To say: If you glorify me, if you center your life on me, if you find me beautiful for who I am in myself, then you will step into the dance, which is what you were made for.[iii]

4. The Dance Battle

One further testimony concerning Jesus as the Son of God is what happened after his baptism.

            “At once (immediately) the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him” (1:12-13).

            Mark is the most economical writer of the four gospel writers: he doesn’t waste words. But he says a lot. Mark doesn’t tell us how Jesus was tempted, only that following his baptism he is faced with spiritual opposition. This is the fourth witness: Satan opposes Jesus because he is the Son of God.

            If Mark doesn’t tell us what the temptation was, Matthew does. If we summarize Matthew 4:1-11 we could say this: Satan tempts Jesus to step out of orbit around the Father and the Spirit and to dance Satan’s jig. Satan wants Jesus to take the self-centered route of life and avoid the suffering and the cross. But Jesus stays in orbit and keeps time with the Father and the Spirit.

            The most important connection we can make between Jesus’ baptism and the temptation in the wilderness is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit leads to a confrontation with evil forces. When you choose to make the Triune God the center of your life you can expect spiritual opposition. Another way of looking at this opposition is to say that it confirms your choice. If you are living a God-centered life you will face opposition from Satan. That must mean you are dancing with the Star and not Dirty Dancing.

Conclusion

C. S. Lewis asks, “What does it all matter? It matters more than anything else in all the world. The whole dance, or drama, or pattern of this three-Personal life is to be played out in each one of us…[Joy, peace, power, eternal life] are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality.”[iv]

            Jesus is the Son of God. Prophecy is fulfilled in him; the forerunner signaled his arrival; God himself affirmed him; and Satan’s opposition revealed he was a threat to the forces of darkness.

            So Jesus is the Son of God. So what?

            Well if God is your insurance for a bad day, someone to pray to when everything breaks loose, then you may be a wall-flower watching the dance but not really dancing. If we want everyone else to do the dancing then we are not God-centered but self-centered.

            If life is a divine dance, then you need more than anything else to be in it. You were made specifically to enter into a divine dance with the Trinity, to enter into a mutual self-giving love relationship with God and others.

            One of the unique things about Mark’s account is that Mark suggests who Jesus and John are but does not tell us directly. And even when God affirms Jesus as his Son, only Jesus hears the voice. Mark shows that he is convinced that God speaks and acts in history. But he expects his audience to decide what to do with what they see and hear in this gospel. He shows us the evidence of Jesus and invited us to decide for ourselves what to do with this Jesus.

            Will you have this dance with Jesus?

            Jesus is the Lord of the Dance.

                                                                        AMEN

Sydney Carter
Lord Of The Dance lyrics

I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:

I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:

I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!

They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

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[i] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

[ii] Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p. 8

[iii] Keller, p. 10

[iv] Lewis, Mere Christianity

Mark #2

AUTHORITY THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED

Who or what has the authority to speak into your life? To whom do you give power over the course of your day that causes you to act or think a certain way?

            We bought a new set of phones in our household. There is a base with an answering machine and three extra handsets distributed throughout the house. One of the new features of these phones is the intercom. Now Sharon can press a button on the kitchen phone and call down to Ethan in the rec room. There is a slight problem with this new system: it sounds like an old drive-in speaker phone so you can’t tell what is being said. Fortunately, Sharon only uses it at supper time and Ethan knows the garbled message is for him.

            This sure beats the system in our house when I was growing up. My mother would pound on the kitchen wall of our story-and-a-half and yell “Rations!” which to tell the truth was not an appetizing invitation.

            There are two elements in my story that relates to authority: the one who calls and the message. We respond to the authority of the one who calls: Mom, who has proven to be an expert in food-prep over the years. And we also respond to the message that is sent: Supper, a powerful motivator. This is an authority we generally do not rebel against.

            We have no problem accepting the authority of someone who knows what they are talking about, and if the message is what we want to hear, if it applies to us, if it is good for us, and if we trust the messenger.

            In the Gospel of Mark we find that Jesus claims an authority that cannot be ignored. Jewish leaders will have trouble with his authority; others will be amazed. The question will be: What do you do with someone who possesses such a profound authority? How do you respond to him? It depends on your view of the one who calls and the message you hear.

            Jesus’ message is Good News. What is the essence of this Good News? The Good News is that Jesus has the authority to do what the Father has sent him to do.

            To better grasp this message and authority, turn to Mark 1:14-34.

1. Jesus offers NOT advice BUT Good News

It is after John is put in prison that Jesus begins his ministry. Mark gives us this short description to point to something of a turning point. John, the forerunner, has done his job, and he exits the stage. As one ministry ends, another begins.

            Jesus’ initial message seems brief. Possibly Mark gives us the essence of the message, but this is what Jesus preached: “The time has come…the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (1:15).

            The time has come; the time of waiting is over. For the Jews, the Kingdom of God represented their hopes that God would remove all evil from the world and begin a new era of peace, prosperity and joy. Jesus came preaching that the time is now.[i]

            The two phrases, “The time has come,” and “The kingdom of God is near” sound contradictory. But to say that the kingdom is near is like saying God has begun to fulfill his promise.[ii]

            This is the good news, or gospel. This was a fairly common saying in the first century world, as well as Palestine. A gospel was an announcement of something that has happened in history, something that has been done for you that changes your status forever. [iii] Jesus declares the good news of God; specifically that Yahweh is doing what he said he would do.

            Here is the difference between Christianity and other religions: other religions give advice, Christianity is essentially news. Other religions will tell you what you need to do to attain Nirvana or existential peace or to be right with God. Christianity is the good news of what has been done in history. Our good news is how Jesus lived and died to earn the way to God for us. This good news is that God connects to us not on the basis of what you’ve done or have not done but on the basis of what Jesus has done.

            This gospel has been distorted over the years by well-meaning preachers and believers who still want to add advice to the news. They want to slip in a “yes – but” so that seekers still feel that there is an obligation to faith.

            But the good news is this: You don’t have to do a thing. That’s why it’s news and not advice. What does God require of you? Nothing. That’s hard to accept. You can “do” for God, live rightly, speak purely, but you know that you will never do enough or fulfill all your righteous obligations to please God completely. And you don’t have to.

            Well there is one thing Jesus asks: “Repent and believe the good news!” We know that “repent” means “to turn.” Turn and believe the good news of Jesus. However, “believe” means “trust” instead of merely intellectually accepting the news. Trust Jesus that he has the authority to speak this news and that it is true.

2. Jesus issues NOT a suggestion BUT a Command

It would be naïve to think that absolutely nothing is required of us. A response to the good news is necessary. News is just entertainment if it doesn’t motivate or change your mind.

            Jesus goes for a stroll beside the Sea of Galilee and finds four men to whom he issues a call. These men are not complete strangers to Jesus; other gospels suggest that two, three or all of them were disciples of John. So Jesus sought them out and said, “Come, follow me” (1:17).

            Astonishingly, they drop their nets, their livelihood and families, and follow Jesus. Can you imagine walking out of your business or barn or classroom and following some guy you hardly know just because he said, “Come follow me”?

            There must have been a strong tone of authority in Jesus’ command. It was not a suggestion but a necessity. They needed to follow Jesus. He made it clear that they should.

            There is a cost to following Jesus. Luke’s gospel expands on Jesus’ call, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

            We must understand that Jesus does not call us to actively hate these “loved ones;” Jesus calls us to hate comparatively. He says, “I want you to follow me so fully, so intensely, so enduringly that all other attachments in your life look like hate by comparison.”[iv]

            If Jesus calls you to follow him, he must be your goal. Jesus calls us to know him, love him, resemble him, serve him – and make all of this the supreme passion of your life. Everything else takes second place to knowing Jesus. Remember that in the Dance we revolve or orbit around God; that is the true balance of life. Our goals, activities, work and vacations will reflect that Christ is central to all we do.

            If anyone else would command you to follow them you would question the gall that person has in ordering you around. You high schoolers would think twice before getting up and leaving French class without permission. What gives Jesus the right to command you? He is the Son of God and God has given him an authority that is unfamiliar in our world.

3. Jesus taught NOT tired rules BUT Original Truth

Jesus’ authority became obvious when he went to Capernaum and began to teach. “The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law” (1:22).

            That Jesus had authority to preach and to call his disciples was plain. Now Mark uses the word “authority” for the first time in his gospel. The word “authority” literally means “out of the original stuff.” It comes from the same root as the word “author.” So what Mark is telling us in this scene in Capernaum is that Jesus taught about life and faith and spiritual things with original rather than derived authority.[v]

            Authority was not something that Jesus threw around like an axe in china shop, not caring what he smashed. Plenty of leaders like to call attention to themselves and the authority they have been given, demanding that everyone acquiesce. The religious leaders of the synagogues wanted everyone to notice them, to defer to them, to seek their counsel as the wisest in the community. They wanted to be called “rabbi” or some other important term.

            Jesus came and taught and the authority was not derived but evident in how he spoke. He taught as if he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t teach new rules but the truth about God. He wasn’t given a new interpretation; he was speaking as the author, the original writer. (see Dan 7:13-14)

            Into the midst of Jesus’ sermon a man with an evil spirit interrupts crying out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” (1:24).

            In the vernacular of our time, Jesus tells the spirit to “shut up.” This is interesting because we have just been talking about authority and wanting recognition. Well here, an evil spirit “outs” Jesus identity as the Son of God, but Jesus silences him. Mark tells us two things about Jesus: he doesn’t throw around titles and demand authority on the basis of who he is, and he certainly doesn’t want the affirmation of demons.          Jesus simply says, “shut up,” and commands the demon to leave the man, which he does instantly. The response of the people is telling: “the people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him’” (1:27).

            Jesus does not demand respect; he commands authority. And in the usual upside-down way of the Kingdom of God, we see what real authority is in the person of Jesus. Someone once said, “Real authority is the power to serve.”

4. Jesus healed NOT with magic BUT with true power

As 21^st century readers of the Gospel of Mark we don’t realize that the idea of exorcism, casting out demons, was an accepted practice in those days. So too the healing of the sick with incantations and spells or herbal remedies or such like. That Jesus cast out demons and healed then is not unusual in itself. What was unusual was the way Jesus healed – with authority.

            The events we are covering today in the Gospel of Mark span exactly one day. So when we read, “News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee,” (1:28), news really does travel fast. For the next thing we know people are seeking him out on this very same day.

            Jesus and his new disciples leave the synagogue he was speaking in and go to Peter’s house. His mother-in-law is sick in bed with a fever – how bad we don’t know, but when you have a fever you can’t host or entertain very well. Jesus went to her, took her hand and helped her up. “The fever left her and she began to wait on them” (1:31b).

            Think of the power and authority Jesus had to simply touch the older woman and heal her. She gets up and starts making dinner! You all know that when your fever breaks from a flu that your energy is still gone and it takes a day or two to get back on your feet. Jesus healed her, really down to the core of her being – healed her! That’s power and authority.

            I remember trying to get home in a hurry from our church in Winnipeg. Sharon was locked out of our house by two-year-old Katy and had no way to get to our daughter. I was in a bottle-neck on Ness and seriously thought about tramping the gas pedal and speeding past some cars on the wrong side. Problem was I was driving Sharon’s work car, a Ford, and what I was planning was against the law. So I had neither the power nor the authority to do what was in my mind.

            Jesus had the power and the authority to speak for God, because he was God, and to heal the sick and demon-possessed. It was this authority that impressed some and threatened others. It was this authority that, as will see later, caused some to plot Jesus’ death. Such was the authority of Jesus that it spoke to who he was and demanded a response.

Where does Jesus get the authority to command us and to change our course in life? Later on in Mark at the Transfiguration, we’ll hear God say, “This is my Son. I love him. Listen to him.”

            C. S. Lewis said, “Believing things ’on authority’ only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine percent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there is such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. The ordinary person believes in the solar system, atoms, and the circulation of the blood on authority--because the scientists say so. Every historical statement is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Spanish Armada. But we believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them; in fact, on authority. A person who balked at authority in other things, as some people do in religion, would have to be content to know nothing all his life.”

            Come, follow me, Jesus says. Follow me because I am the King you’ve been waiting for. Follow me because I have authority over the physical and spiritual elements of life. I have humbled myself to serve you, even though I have authority over you. I died on the cross for you when you didn’t have the right beliefs or the right behavior. I bring you good news, not advice. I’m calling you to live your life with your true love – me. Follow me on this journey – don’t look to the left or the right. Put me first – trust me – stick with me – don’t give up. I’m going to take you places that will make you say, ‘Why in the world are you taking me there?’ Even then, trust me.

            That’s what it means to respond to the authority of Jesus – Trust. So when he calls, we will go. Have you given Jesus the authority to speak into your life?

                                                                        AMEN

           

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[i] Ronald J. Kernaghan, Mark, p. 41

[ii] R. T. France, NIGTC the Gospel of Mark p. 93.

[iii] Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p.15

[iv] Keller, p. 19.

[v] Keller, p. 21