Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; Mark 1:21-28
Our reading from Deuteronomy paves the way for Jesus. It comes around halfway through the book that is basically Moses’ “last words” before his death.
We know from Exodus that Moses had encounters with God. In Exodus 3 vs 6 we read that as God told him who he was Moses, “hid his face because he was afraid to look at God”. You’ll remember it was Moses who received the 10 commandments as we’re told in Exodus 20 and the people were standing below listening to the encounter – they heard God speak but they did not see him. They saw thunder and lightning, they heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke and they trembled in fear! They said to Moses, “speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die”. Moses’ response was to tell the people not to be afraid… “God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning”.
So often people think that the “fear of God” means we need to be afraid of him – I don’t know what you are afraid of, some people have a fear of heights, some people fear exams, some fear public speaking (me included!) but while the people were trembling in fear, Moses is telling them that they shouldn’t be afraid, or scared, but they should fear God. The fear of God is different to fear of heights, fear of failure, fear of “insert your own fear here”; it’s a reverent fear, a recognition that God is far bigger than we are, understanding that He created us and wants to have the final say in everything that we do. And Moses is telling the people that understanding who God is, recognising Him as God of all, will stop us from sinning – if you remember God is Lord of all then, in an ideal world, you’ll want to do what pleases him and stop doing what doesn’t. Of course we don’t live in an ideal world and, because God gave us free choice, it’s up to us whether we obey Him or ignore Him.
And so back to Deuteronomy – Moses tells the people that God will raise a prophet who they must listen to. Why will he do that? Because, as we read in verse 16, “this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb when you said, “let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire any more or we will die”.”. God listens to his people – He even listens to us! In verse 17 we read that God even considers the people’s idea is good! Maybe some of our “good ideas” are also considered good by God! So we read that the prophet will be raised up from among their own people, God will put words into his mouth and He will tell the people everything that God commands him – no holding back in case He’s heard wrong. Yet judgement, as we read in verse 19, remains with God himself – it is to him that we will be accountable if we do not listen to the words of the prophet that He sends.
And so the story continues, prophets come and prophets go throughout the Old Testament. And then we arrive in the New Testament. Elizabeth and Mary both fall pregnant, we have the “nativity” story which we’ve been reminded of over Christmas, the boy Jesus grows into a man and, when he’s around 30, Mark picks up the story.
Mark’s gospel begins, not with news of Jesus’ birth, but with the news of John the Baptist preparing the way. Earlier in chapter 1 we see people rushing to John, wondering if he is the Messiah that Moses had talked of. John says no, there is one coming after me who is more powerful. Our reading joins the opening chapter of Mark after Jesus has been baptised and called his first disciples. We’re told that together they travelled to Capernaum and when the sabbath came Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. If we read this alongside John’s gospel then we might conclude that, following his baptism, Jesus had gone to Cana – where He turned water into wine as Nick talked about last week. It’s of Cana that John writes “this was the first of the signs through which He revealed his glory” and from there to Capernaum. We have a chronological bible in our house and that suggests He went to Jerusalem too before Mark’s account takes place. Whatever the exact order of events this was early in Jesus’ ministry. News will be spreading of him but many would not have heard him speak or witnessed miracles, there will be an interest among the people to know more of this man.
So on this particular Saturday (the sabbath) Jesus goes to the synagogue and starts to teach – as a “new man in the town”, and with news of his baptism, the water turning into wine at the wedding in Cana, and maybe his comments in Jerusalem spreading, it’s likely the ruler of the synagogue thought “quick, let’s get this man Jesus to teach; let’s see what he has to say”. A bit like the novelty factor and maybe a little wary that he might talk nonsense (a risk any leader takes when inviting someone to preach). The people were amazed at his teaching – he wasn’t quoting chunks from a text book, he probably wasn’t even reading from a script, he was speaking with authority; he understood and was able to explain the scriptures that he was sharing; the Spirit had descended on him during his baptism and he was speaking the words that the Holy Spirit gave him – I pray I’m doing the same today. As Christians now, living after Jesus and having the gift of the Holy Spirit, we just have to ask for his help in interpreting the scriptures, back then the Holy Spirit hadn’t been given to everyone so it was unheard of for someone who was uneducated to be speaking with such authority.
We’re not told the contents of the teaching – or even which passage of scripture they were reading – but we are told that Jesus had authority and that the people were amazed. No other teacher they had heard spoke like this. This is the start of Jesus’ ministry and he’s arrived with a bang! Jesus is here; God is in the room through his son; the people could do nothing but listen and be amazed. I wonder how many mouths were open as the older members of the congregation, the well educated members of the synagogue, listened to the words that were coming out of the mouth of this young man that they hadn’t heard teach before.
As Christians today, living with the benefit of the Holy Spirit, we can also speak with authority when speaking of and for God. To do that we need to study our bibles and ask the Holy Spirit to give us understanding and the words to say.
And then, the thing all preachers dread, a member of the congregation cries out. For those of us who preach in modern times we have to make a decision do we carry on or do we stop and address the person who’s causing the disturbance – perhaps Jesus momentarily went through the same thought process. Jesus knew immediately that it wasn’t the man himself crying out it was an impure spirit. Mark tells us that the man switches between referring to us, plural – What do you want with us, have you come to destroy us? and I, singular – I know who you are, the holy one of God – the man was so engulfed in the unclean spirit that he and it were intertwined. Yet Jesus remained calm, and with authority commanded the spirit to be quiet and come out of the man – it had no option but to do as Jesus’ said. Mark doesn’t tell us where the spirit went or how the man was afterwards; he simply sets the scene, in this first chapter, of Jesus teaching and acting with authority, giving us a glimpse of what is to come throughout Jesus’ ministry as he teaches, casts out demons and heals the sick.
Again Mark tells us that the people were amazed – Jesus had come with new teaching with authority and even the impure spirits obeyed him.
We don’t talk about impure or evil spirits much here in the UK but in South Sudan it’s quite normal for deliverance ministry to take place. I’ve even witnessed a possessed person interrupting a sermon – fortunately not mine. Deliverance ministry can get very loud and, if you’ve not experienced it before, can be a little daunting, but Jesus cast out evil spirits (from this account a lot faster than happens in South Sudan!) and we are to do the things that Jesus did as John writes in John 14:12.
The news went out throughout Galilee. As Jesus, and the disciples, moved to another location people gathered, bringing with them the sick that needed healing.
I wonder what has Jesus done that has amazed you? Have you shared that with others – people outside the church so that they want to hear more, to find out more, to get to know him too. Or do we sit and hide our faith…
This leads us nicely into today’s Psalm –
“Great are the works of the Lord, they are pondered by all who delight in them”.
God sent Jesus to speak His words, to show us how to live; to teach with authority; to lead us back to God the Father. We simply have to listen and obey. Part of that obedience is to share the gospel with others; often the easiest way to share the gospel is to start with our own experience. What has God done for us – for you, for me? What has amazed us?
For me, I can look back and see many God-incidences; times where God has clearly been in control. I could talk about the time last year when I was taking a team to Abyei on the border of South Sudan and Sudan. We, and friends around the world, were praying about how and when we should travel, there had already been some issues with the plans we thought we had in place. We had booked onto a flight and, after waiting in the airlines office (a container!) for around 3 hours we were driven to the plane; I stood on the tarmac asking God what He was saying, I felt as though I couldn’t hear Him speak, time was running out, I had to make a decision. The pilot was grumbling about the number of people and the amount of luggage, I was frantically praying but couldn’t hear a clear answer from God, I asked the other team members and they weren’t hearing anything either, and then, after two team members had climbed in, as I stood at the door of a plane I simply said “no, we’re not flying in this” and told the two already in the plane to come out – I don’t know where the words came from, it can only have been God! That decision should have cost us $800 – the cost of the tickets for the four team members, in the moment I spoke it didn’t seem to matter. That decision meant people waiting for us in Abyei, where we were heading to lead training, would be disappointed, they were actually quite relaxed with our main contact saying, “we didn’t expect you to come today!”. When we arrived, a few days later, we met two of the three people who had travelled in that plane – we didn’t know them or have any reason to meet them, we saw one in a restaurant and another walking down the street – both told us how sick they had been since travelling and how this was the first day they had been able to go out. Had we got on that plane we would have been too sick to carry out the ministry we had gone for. A few days later we had a call to say the airport authorities had spoken to the airline about selling passenger seats on a cargo flight and we would get all our money back. God’s hand was in that situation from the beginning, as a team we were travelling in obedience to His call for us to go. We did not understand fully as events were taking place but later God showed us that the decisions we made were the right ones, He restored and multiplied all that was taken from us – the money was refunded and our change of travel date meant we went better prepared and had longer on the ground, enabling us to minister to more people.
As we take a step in faith, whether tentatively or boldly, God leads us into more. Deborah spoke to us two weeks ago about Samuel hearing God’s voice and responding “speak Lord, your servant is listening”.
We know we won’t see God until the end but He will speak to us, we just have to listen. The voice is so often quiet – the still small voice – God doesn’t push himself onto us; he’s given us free choice – to follow and obey or to walk the other way. The consequences of not obeying are for him to decide when He holds us accountable; but I’m sure I speak for the majority, if not all, of those who follow him, in saying it is better to obey than to contemplate what judgement may look like. We can only obey if we are listening.
David sets out the greatness of God –
His righteousness endures forever;
He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and compassionate;
He provides food for those who fear him;
He remembers his covenant forever;
He has shown his people the power of his works;
The works of his hands are faithful and just, all his precepts are trustworthy;
They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness;
He provides redemption for his people
This is the God that we worship; the God that we follow; we should not keep him inside this building! We should be taking him out into our daily lives, sharing him with the world around us, sharing our amazement at all He does with others, pointing others to eternal life in Jesus.
God listened (and still does listen) to His people; He sent Jesus to speak the words that He commanded him; Jesus came and spoke with authority, His teaching and His actions amazed people; when His physical ministry on earth was finished He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us so that we could continue the work. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3 – “the Lord has assigned to each his task… so neither the one who plants or the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow… for we are co-workers in God’s service…”. As Christians we are working together with God.
Is God asking you to step out of your comfort zone, to do something different this week, to speak up for him when you are with others? We may not understand why God is asking us to do something; we do not always know what He is asking others to do that, with what He asks us to do, fills in a part of His wider plan; but if we all listen and obey then one day we will see and understand the part we played in building his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. I have used the analogy of a jigsaw before, we are each one piece in God’s huge jigsaw – but, as with any jigsaw, every piece is important and every piece is vital to enable others to see the full picture.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; may we be people who have a reverent fear of the Lord that we may follow his precepts and have good understanding. May we be people who praise Him eternally. Amen.