Gospel of Mark Chapter
1:21 - 31 January 28, 2017
Short
Review;
Mark 1:1 This is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.
One of the reasons we are taking the Gospel
of Mark verse by verse, to learn what the work of Jesus is all about to learn
what our Father told Jesus to do.
The central theme running through the Gospel
of Mark is about Jesus Work. When we see
what Jesus is doing and we find out what His work is all about.
John 4:34 Jesus said to
them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish
His work.
John 17:4 (Jesus said) I have glorified
You on the earth. I have finished the
work which You have given Me to do.
John 19:30 (Jesus said) So when Jesus had
received the sour wine, He said, "It
is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus Heals a Man with an
Unclean Spirit – Mark 1
(21) Then
they went into Capernaum, and immediately
on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
Jesus began
to teach as soon as he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath.
Towns
name means “Village of Nahum.”
Capernaum was Christ's ministry “headquarters” and is mentioned twenty-two times in the Gospels
The synagogue was the gift of a centurion
Luke 7:5 "for he loves our nation, and has built
us a synagogue."
Matthew 4:13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the
sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,
Capernaum
is where our Lord and His mother
and brethren had moved to from Nazareth. Notice, Mark does focuses on His deeds, works, not words.
Synagogues could
be formed whenever there were at least 10 Jewish men above the age of 12. They welcomed
visiting teachers to read and teach;
Did you know when
someone teaches in the synagogue, they would sit down.
(22) And they
were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having
authority, and not as the scribes.
They (individuals in the synagogue) were
astonished at His teaching:
Words: I say to you
Where Jesus would
say in the Gospels, “I say to you”
there is over 130 places Jesus says this in the Scriptures.
Examples:
Mark 9:1 And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste
death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."
Matthew 5:27-28 "You
have heard that it was said, 'You must not commit adultery.' (28)
But I say to you, anyone who
stares at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in
his heart.
This is Jesus
speaking as the spokesman of the Old Testament.
There are 418
verses found with the statement, “thus says the Lord.”
Jesus said, this is the way, this is what I
say, he did not quote from the Jewish Scholars was the normal custom. Quote one rabbi after another rabbi. The oral law, traditions.
Mark 7:5-9 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples
not walk according to the tradition of
the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"
(6) He answered and said to them, "Well did
Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts is far from me. (7) and in vain they worship me, teaching me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
(8) For laying aside the commandment of God, you
hold the tradition of men— the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other
such things you do." (9) He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you
may keep your tradition.
This is one of the many reasons I do not like
to quote very often from other men, their books and other religious
leaders.
They may use 2 or 3 verses in an hour sermon
and end up teaching like the Pharisees and scribes and not really teaching what
the Scriptures really say. They give
their own views of the Word. I will
listen to them and take what is related to the Scriptures and work it into a
message.
Not as the scribes:
They quoted other rabbis and felt their function to be expounders of
the traditions which they made a millstone around the necks of the people. By
so doing they set aside the word and will of God by their traditions and petty
legalism
Mark 7:13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you
have handed down. And many such things you do."
Christ's teaching differed from that of scribes and Pharisees because
He did not lean on the wisdom of other teachers and rabbis. His authority came
from the Father and Himself.
I try to make my
authority and messages come from Jesus our Creator and from what He teaches
from the Word, the Scriptures.
Jesus the Messiah is the only person
in history who has the right to speak that way.
(23) Now there was a man in their synagogue with an
unclean spirit. And he cried out,
In the
synagogue? What cause the demon to cried
out?
Was it
probable that this man was fine at
times, or he would not have been admitted into the synagogue. When there,
one of his fits came on, and he suddenly cried out, this was the Messiah?
The New Testament plainly teaches that demoniac possession was a real and
actual possession of the soul by a fallen spirit. (Luke 4:31-37)
The term unclean (Gk. akathartos) bore special meaning to the Jewish
mind. The OT frequently distinguished between what was lawful and unlawful,
accepted and rejected, and therefore may mean ungodly. “Demon” is a designation used
interchangeably with unclean spirit.
(24) saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of
Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us?
I know who You are—the Holy One of God!"
Here is our answer why the demon said, “he
cried out”
What have we to do
with You: This is a common Jewish way of saying, "Do not
trouble us." Nothing in common
between the demon and Jesus.
Note “we.” The man speaks for
the demon and himself, double personality.
Did You come to
destroy us: An admission that Christ came to destroy or remove the devil and his
works.
I know who You are: The
demon made a better confession that most of the Jews.
I know who You are—the Holy One of God!"
Evil is not to be left alone.
Note the plural
pronouns, us, we, meaning more than
one.
Important:
Jesus as of this time has not declared who he is to the public, but the
demons recognize who he is.
(25) But Jesus
rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet,
and come out of him!"
First recorded miracle
performs in the Gospel of Mark, casting out a demon.
Jesus rebuked him, the
demon: Jesus refuses to accept at his mouth even so much as an acknowledgment
of His own Divine claims
Jesus did not once address the man. His conversation was with the evil
spirit, proving that it was not a mere disease or mental derangement - for how
could the Son of God talk
with “disease” or “insanity?”
- but that he talked with a “being, demon. There are, therefore, evil spirits, and those spirits have taken
possession of human beings
Be Quiet: But it is a more vigorous word, “Be
muzzled” like an ox, or shut your mouth.
Still and Be Quiet: phimoo= “Be muzzled!” Jesus rebuked the demon: Jesus would use the same terms when still the storm, when Jesus rebukes the storm.
Mark 4:39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace,
be still!" And the wind ceased
and there was a great calm.
Cried with a loud
voice. The act of the demon, not a cry of pain Luke adds that the demon ‘hurt him
not.’
Luke 4:35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be
quiet, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him in their
midst, it came out of him and did not
hurt him.
(26) At this, the unclean spirit shook the man, cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him.
The whole account
shows that there was a real possession by an evil spirit.
Shook the
man: loud voice:
The demon was
required to obey - not because he chose
- he exerted his last power, inflicted all the pain he could, and then bowed to
the Son of God and came out.
Never was there a
person possessed by an unclean spirit who did not suffer some type of convulsion,
Cried with
a loud voice, he came out of him; against the demon, as his loud cry showed, and being required to it
by a superior power.
(27) Then they
were all amazed, so that they questioned
among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is
this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
They
were all amazed: The members in
the synagogue were shaken up.
The individuals
who met for worship were in the synagogue and were astonished, not only at his
doctrine, as before, but at the miracle and power in casting out devils:
They
questioned among themselves. Only a miracle could produce this effect. The people began to think
and argue for themselves, not to ask the scribes.
“New doctrine,” “It’s new teaching with authority
behind it,” with authority commands even the unclean spirits
Obey Him: But the most astonishing thing of all is that
the demons “obey him”
They not only
observed the authority with which he delivered his doctrine, but the authority
with which he cast out devils, by a word speaking; he not only commanded them
to come out, but they immediately came out;
It was done by a
word. Jesus did it in his own name and by his own authority. This proved that
he was superior to all the unclean spirits.
Mark gives
special prominence to Christ’s power over demons.
(28) And immediately
His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.
Word of mouth,
how fast does it spread about what Jesus did?
Jesus did not welcome this type of notice lest it
created problems with both the Jews and the Romans...
The region
around Galilee: Not the regions adjacent to Galilee, but the
adjacent regions of Galilee
They had no
telephones, telegraphs, newspapers or radio, but news has a interesting way of
spreading by word of mouth. The fame of this new teacher went out “everywhere.”
Word of mouth to word of mouth, how the message
can change.
Jesus Heals Many
(29) Now as
soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon
and Andrew, with James and John.
On the Sabbath
Day.
With James
and John. Mark alone
mentions these individuals.
Originally these
disciples lived in Bethsaida. It may have been after Simon’s marriage
that he moved to Capernaum, possibly to share the home of his wife’s
mother.
(30) But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a (high) fever, and they
told Him about her at once.
Lay sick with a fever.—Was on a bed with a burning
fever. Off and on fever, is often fatal, are common
diseases then.
Luke 4:38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's
wife's mother was sick with a high fever,
and they made request of Him concerning her.
A very violent one, which threatened with
death, and must be very dangerous to an old person
at once (anon) –
immediately
Peter was married
and both he and Andrew lived together in “Peter’s house” with Peter’s wife and
mother-in-law
Did you realize,
later, Peter’s wife accompanied him on his travels
1 Corinthians 9:5 Do we have no right to take along a
believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord,
and Cephas?
They tell
him of her — naturally
hoping that His compassion and power towards one of His own disciples family
member, would not be less compassion displayed than towards the stranger in the
synagogue
(31) So He came and took her by the hand and lifted
her up, and
immediately the
fever left her. And she served them.
Jesus completely
healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law. Not only did the fever leave, but
her strength was renewed so that she served Jesus and His
followers. Preparing their Sabbath-meal.
He went into the
room where she lay, and took hold of her
hand
Jesus took her by the hand.” Mark also notes
where Jesus takes them by the hand: I personally
believe Jesus likes the personal contact.
Jairus’ daughter:
Mark 5:41Then He took the child by the hand, and
said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is
translated, "Little girl, I say to you,
arise."
The Blind
man
Mark 8:23 NKJV So
He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had
spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
Demon possessed child:
Mark 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted
him up, and he arose.
Picking up the child:
Mark 9:36-37 Then He took a little child and set him in
the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, (37) "Whoever
receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever
receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."
Peter
also used his hand:
Act 9:41 Then he gave her his
hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he
presented her alive.
We need to take people by the hand,
handshake?...Mark emphasis doing this.
Service.
Lift her
up; to sit upright in the bed, who before was laid along upon it, so weak
as not to be able to turn herself, much less to sit erect by any assistance
whatever:
Immediately the fever left her: there was not the least symptom of it, nor
none of the effects which it usually leaves;
She served them: she immediately arose from the bed, and put
on her clothes, being at once in perfect health and strength; and, in gratitude
to her Savior and physician, she assisted in preparing food for him and his
disciples, and served at table to them.
We will continue
with verse 32 next time.
