I titled today’s sermon “Getting to Know Jesus!” with several thoughts in mind:

 

1.     I thought about each of the gospels presenting a different portrait of Jesus.

2.     I thought about what Dr. Marcus Borg had to say about Jesus in his book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time

3.     This led me to think of having seen a book that one of your adult classes has been reading titled something like ‘Meeting’ or ‘Getting to Know Jesus for the Third Time’. Obviously seeing the book, I thought about what Marcus Borg had said.

 

          All of this in today’s passage (Mark’s Gospel) opens up the possibility of our getting to know Jesus through looking at one of the four portraits of Jesus that we find in the 4 Gospels.  In a way I thought this was similar to what I thought was helpful in the Borg book and may be helpful in the book the adult class is reading.

 

          As Christians, it helps us to have a good knowledge of Jesus and, perhaps, more importantly to get to know and see him as our Savior. Some years back, there were scholars who presented each of the gospels as a different portrait of Jesus.  In the case of where we are in Mark’s Gospel, this thought can be helpful.

 

So far in the readings we have already had in the opening chapter of Mark, Jesus has been presented as “King of the Jews ... Son of God ... Lamb of God ... A Preacher, and Last Sunday as “One Who Calls Disciples.”

 

Today, we get to know Jesus as Teacher and Exorcist.  The passage we read gives us a new title to add to the list, “Holy One of God”. The surprising thing is ...

 

The title ‘Holy One of God’ is spoken by a demon that is commanded by Jesus to “Be Silent!”

 

I mentioned how Mark continues in the telling of the story of Jesus to expand the portrait of Jesus in a variety of roles.  It is very interesting to think of what Mark appears to be doing to help us ‘Get to Know Jesus’.  Using our imaginations, it is very easy to picture Mark writing to congregation of Gentiles sometime in the late 1^st century hoping to introduce his hearers to this One whom they are coming to know as Lord and Savior.  He wants them and would want us “To Get To Know Jesus!”

 

          It has been helpful to me in recent years to have been re-introduced to the 4 Gospels as different “portraits” of Jesus, each presented at different times to different groups and audiences under different circumstances.

 

With this in mind, there is significance in Mark “painting” how Jesus goes to the Jewish meeting place to “Teach With Authority!”  Mark contrasts His “Teach(ing) With Authority” as being unlike or NOT like the teachers of the Law of Moses, the Scribes.  The one we hear or read about is re-writing what it is “To Teach.”

 

Note though, not only does his teaching exceed the old or former teachers, but Mark paints this picture without ever telling us the content of His Teaching.  Perhaps, the process of his being a teacher is more important than the content of His teaching.

 

          What happens in the process of his great teaching is worthy of note.

 

Note:  All the Gospels, except John tell us Jesus was an exorcist.

 

          Mark portrays Jesus as an Exorcist in the setting of his teaching.  Exorcising Demons in that day was not what made Jesus ‘unique’, for there were other exorcists at work.  It was not Jesus’ method that distinguished and set him apart, for his pattern did not differ from the usual pattern of exorcisms of the day.

 

The pattern of exorcism ...

·       Usually began with the demon’s recognition of the exorcist.

·       Then, the command to come out of the one possessed.

·       There would be the loud and demonstrative departure of the demon.

·       Followed by the amazement of the spectators.

 

This may be unknown to us, but it was known in Mark’s day. What is most striking about Mark’s account of this exorcism is the story of Jesus expelling an unclean spirit from one of his listeners in the context of his teaching.  Quite clearly, the exorcism is told to illustrate the power of Jesus’ teaching. The Teaching takes place in Capernaum on the Jewish Sabbath in the Jewish Synagogue.  Clearly, Mark “pictures” Jesus entering the Synagogue and teaching like no other!  Immediately, a man with an unclean spirit (OR, in other words, POSSESSED BY A DEMON) CRIED OUT,

 

“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!”

         

Jesus surprises everyone and rebukes NOT the man, but the Demon! His students were amazed; He had commanded an Evil Spirit to come out of one of them!

 

“What is this?”

 

          A new teaching ...with Authority ... and the Evil Spirit OBEYS Him!

 

You and I can imagine this story being told all around the countryside ...

 

This Jesus is teaching as One with Great Authority. Today, we would say that Jesus was an awesome Teacher and we might miss Getting to Know Him for Whom He Is!

 

In Mark’s portrayal, there is no report or indication of what Jesus said…The primary emphasis is on the POWER of Jesus’ teaching.

 

In Mark, Jesus is the strong Son of God who entered a world in which the forces of evil were ...

·         Crippling

·         Alienating

·         Distorting

·         AND Destroying Life.

 

With Jesus, comes the word of power ...

·         To Heal

·         To Give Life

·         To Restore.

 

In Mark, the Son of God whom we meet commands the Evil in this World “OUT!”

 

          My friends, in the 1^st Century, this is the way ...

·         Good and Evil

·         Truth and Falsehood

·         Life and Death

·         God and Satan

were portrayed! We get to know our Jesus as one who teaches with power to correct and to bring about transformation.

 

          Today, the challenge in preaching to educated, sophisticated and modern people is to clarify something about our belief about Devils and Demons.

 

At the 1975 General Assembly of the old PCUS, the committee on faith and belief on which I served received a paper on Devils and Demons.  You who were around may recall that this was a time when very conservative, evangelistic groups were distributing copies of Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth in malls to youth.  It was something that led the youth group in our church in Tennessee to read the book and clarify what we believe about evil, devils, and demons.

 

You might be interested in knowing that Presbyterians take evil seriously and can see in this passage that we are following in the steps of Jesus, the teacher who taught with power and authority.  There are people who still believe literally in the Devil as well as those who think of the Devil as a symbol of evil. Regardless, the Jesus we are getting to know through this 1^st century story, acts immediately and powerfully to address evil, be it called Satan or the Devil or an Evil Spirit manifesting itself in a man who comes to meet Jesus.

 

Regardless of where you come out, ‘No Service is Rendered’ is we simply and quickly announce, “We no longer believe in Demons”.  While that may be true for a lot of Christians, not believing in demons has hardly eradicated evil in our world!

 

          In our day, evil continues to ...

·         Plague

·         Cripple

·         Alienate

·         Distort and Destroy Life.

Forces still exist to sabotage God’s creating and caring work…Even to Wreak Havoc in a Church or a Denomination!

 

When I talk about this, I think of a Jewish Rabbi whom I studied with back in 1992.  Dr. Ed Friedman wrote and taught Family Systems impact on Leadership in Churches and Synagogues.  He had served in Washington, D.C. for over 30 years.

 

          In a discussion of evil, Dr. Friedman said something I never forgot,

 

“We may be too sophisticated to believe in devils and demons, but there is enough evidence to give us second thoughts.”

 

Looking back on over 40 years of ministry, the question of what we believe about Devils and Demons  stands out.  I can remember a couple of times when an adult would come to my study after a class on such a passage as this, or after a Sunday School teacher who had a very literal, fundamentalist belief in the Devil had rigidly interpreted such a story as our story today.

 

All I have said about belief in Devils and Demons, I have said in order to help you get to know Jesus and celebrate Him as one who taught with authority AND WHO STILL COMES WITH POWER TO ADDRESS EVIL IN US AND IN THIS WORLD!

 

          CALL EVIL WHATEVER YOU WANT, BUT LET US TAKE EVIL SERIOUSLY.

 

THE ONE WE MEET AND GET TO KNOW IS JESUS WHO STILL COMES TO SAVE THIS WORLD FROM EVIL.

 

Perhaps, there’s enough evidence of evil to lead us to take it seriously!

 

LET US ACKNOWLEDGE AND CELEBRATE THE JESUS RECOGNIZED BY THE EVIL SPIRIT AS THE “HOLY ONE OF GOD” WHO TEACHES WITH AUTHORITY ...

·        HEALING

·        ERADICATING

·        GIVING LIFE ONCE MORE EVEN TO ONE WITH AN EVIL SPIRIT!

 

AMEN