Mark 1:21-28
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “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!”
25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 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 impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
Jesus Is the Devil’s Downfall
If I told you that I just witness something “amazing,” what kind of picture would your imagination start painting even before I told you what it was? Would you picture a magic act? A random act of incredible kindness from one stranger to another? How about the miracle of birth?
All of those things certainly are amazing in their own ways, but when we read in our Gospel Lesson for today that “the people were amazed” – literally, in Greek, “the people were struck out of their senses” – it wasn’t at the sight of Jesus walking on water. It wasn’t at the sight of Jesus healing a blind or deaf person, or even raising someone from the dead. It wasn’t from anything you can see at all! Mark tells us that “the people were amazed” – they were “slapped silly” – “at his teaching.”
When was the last time you were gob smacked by a sermon? (Careful, now… Pastor may not be here, but he’s watching from home…) When was the last time that hearing someone simply talk made your jaw drop to the floor? Even in the TED Talk era, a captivating speaker is hard to find, but these people in Capernaum had one! They were gob smacked, flabbergasted, slapped silly by what Jesus had to say.
And do you know the frustrating part? Mark doesn’t tell us a word of what Jesus had to say that day! All he says is that Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. In fact, Mark records more words spoken by a demon in this passage than by Jesus!
Of course, demon possession is a fascinating topic, and we’ll get to that, but I want to linger here for a bit, because right here we see what Jesus’ own priorities were. He wasn’t going from town to town to put on a show. He wasn’t making a spectacle of himself. He wanted to people to listen to what he had to say. He wanted people to know who he was and what he came to do.
The interesting thing is that – of all the people there – it was the demon who was listening to Jesus. He hit the nail on the head when he called Jesus “the Holy One of God.” That was a special title given in the Old Testament to refer to the Promised Saviour. It also happened to be literally true; Jesus was the perfect, sinless Son of God. And he came, not to spend his days driving out demons, not even to occupy his time healing diseases or raising the dead. He came to save souls, and the way to do that is with powerful words.
It’s impressive to see organizations that make a positive impact in their communities. It’s inspiring to hear of humanitarians putting themselves out to give other people a hand up. And those are blessings from God, but the way to change the world is by changing people’s hearts. And the way to reach people’s hearts is by speaking to them of amazing things.
Amazing things like a holy God who loved an unholy and impure world so much that he was willing to sacrifice his perfect Son to save it. Amazing things like a God who is willing to be sinned against again and again, and to forgive again and again. Amazing things like a God who looks at you – with all your flaws and foibles and failings – and who loves you anyway.
Jesus did not come to destroy, as the demon feared he did. He came to demonstrate his saving grace through powerful acts of love. That’s why Jesus followed up his authoritative words with authoritative action and drove that demon out with a stern command, “Be quiet! Come out!” The last thing Jesus needed was the endorsement of one of the devil’s cronies. He needed their voices silenced so that we could hear his voice and listen to his Word.
How many times a day do you think you hear the devil’s voice? It may be more than you realize. It’s the devil or his demons who whisper in your ear when you see something you want but can’t have, “Just take it! Just do it! Who’s gonna know? Even if they find out, it’s none of their business. You do what’s right for you.”
Of course, it’s also the devil or his demons who quickly change their tune once they convince you to turn up your nose at God’s law. “How could you?” they accuse. “God definitely saw you. You’re such a liar, a hypocrite; you’re so selfish, thoughtless. How could you, and how could God ever forgive you?”
It’s the devil or his demons who want nothing more than to drive a wedge between you and God, e.g. to convince you that God doesn’t care what you do… until you do it, and then the devil convinces you that God cares more than you could possibly know. The devil and his demons want you to fear God just like this demon did, “Have you come to destroy us?”
But the amazing thing about Jesus is that he’s the devil’s downfall – and not just because he has the power to drive out demons. Jesus is the devil’s downfall because he takes the teeth out of the devil’s empty lies. When the devil flaunts your failures and flings your impurity in your face and makes you fear the wrath of God, Jesus shows you his amazing, incredible, jaw-dropping love.
Jesus came to be the Holy One of God. He came to be the Saviour God promised to generations of fearful, but faithful believers. The Son of God came to be holy, i.e. to be right where you’ve gone wrong. Jesus came to be your substitute and your sacrifice, to take all your sin away and silence the devil and all his demons. There is nothing you have to fear from God! He did not come to destroy you but to save you. And he does that by speaking to your heart even to this day.
Sometimes we get to passages like this one and we hear about the epic sermons that Jesus preached that left the people gob smacked and I just wish we could have been there that day. I just wish that someone could have recorded them or written them down so that we could know what they knew, so that we could feel like they did. But we can, because someone has.
No, Mark didn’t record this sermon for us leaving us slack-jawed and starry-eyed, but he did leave us a record of Jesus’ life and the sacrifice he made for your sins. He wrote it in a book and left it on your shelf as a constant companion for you on your earthly walk. God gave it to you so that you could have the divine authority of Jesus with you wherever you go – the same authority that drove out demons, the same authority that silences Satan, the same authority that opens heaven to sinners like you.
So, as impressive as it may be to think of Jesus speaking an authoritative command to a demon, “Be quiet! Come out!” the real power was in the word he preached in that synagogue. Even though we don’t know the exact words he used, we know the general message. It’s the same thing that Jesus preached in his very first sermon, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news” of your salvation.
Jesus is the devil’s downfall because he defeats your greatest enemy and makes God your friend. It’s the same thing that Martin Luther wrote about in his famous reformation hymn:
Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill;
They shall not overpow’r us.
This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none.
He’s judged; the deed is done!
One little word can fell him.
That word is Jesus. He’s the devil’s downfall and he’s your Saviour. Amen.