Awesome -- And Sometimes Disturbing -- Authority

 

Awesome, Disturbing Authority (Mark 1:21-28)

“What’s going on here? A new teaching that does what it says? He shuts up defiling, demonic spirits and tells them to get lost!”  (Mark 1:27)

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There’s something different about Jesus. As I walk with Jesus, I am pretty sure I am going to find myself saying that more and more: There’s something different about Jesus. 

Jesus went to Capernaum, a town along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. On the Sabbath, Jesus went to the local synagogue, where he had an opportunity to teach. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow! Jesus speaks, and people listen – really listen.” There is a unique air of authenticity about Jesus. He speaks truth in a manner like no others I have ever heard. I’m not the only one who is impressed by Jesus, because there is a buzz going through the whole synagogue about him: “He’s so forthright and confident. He doesn’t need to quote his sources like our regular Sabbath school teachers.”

And then it happened out of the blue – a strange and disturbing spirit overtook a man in the synagogue, and the spirit yelled out at Jesus in a violently intimidating and fearful way. “Why are you shaking up our world, Jesus? Are you trying to get rid of us?” Jesus shut the disturbing spirit down immediately. “Be quiet!,” he said, “Leave that man right now!” And with great shaking, convulsing, and screaming, the spirit left the man.

As I said before, there’s something different about Jesus.

Later in the day, while I was walking with Jesus, I thought about what I had seen and heard. I was in awe and wonder as he spoke in the synagogue. Every word captivated me. It made me want to hear more from him. Jesus speaks truth that warms my heart. When Jesus speaks, I feel like God is speaking to me.

I have to admit, though, that something inside me also wrestles with what I hear from Jesus. His truth doesn’t just warm my heart – it also convicts me. Not only am I drawn to Jesus mysteriously and wondrously, but there is something within me that makes me want to turn away, to hide myself from him. The truth that Jesus conveys by his teaching and his mere presence shines light on parts of me that prefer to stay in the darkness. There are places in my heart that are not terribly unlike the disturbing spirit of the man in the synagogue, places that make me groan, “Why are you shaking up my life, Jesus?”

If you’re going to walk with Jesus, be warned: Jesus will lay bare some things in your life that you don’t want to deal with. But I hope that you will come to the same conclusion that I have made, namely, that those things that Jesus lays bare are things that need to be removed from our hearts. There will be moments of internal struggle in our walk with Jesus, but in the end, it is worth it. Because like no one else ever has or ever will, Jesus will deal with all the disturbing spirits that haunt us.

When we walk with Jesus, he will remove the things that burden us and weigh us down, so that we may walk more freely.

Lord Jesus, I am filled with awe and wonder when I hear you speak. But there are parts of me that are fearful of your presence. Give me courage, I pray, to let you confront the darkness within me. I know that when I let you do that, I will be able to walk with you in freedom and peace. Amen.