Mark 11:1-11 The One Who Comes in the Name of the Lord

 

Who is Jesus? This is the question we’ve been asking as we travel with Jesus through Mark’s story of who Jesus is. Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, the day that kicks off Holy Week and Jesus’ journey down the path of the Via Dolorosa, the Path of Suffering or Way of Grief. But it sure doesn’t look like a path of suffering or grief today. It’s a day of celebration and waving palm branches; it’s a day where Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah who has come to save his people, and the people recognize that Jesus is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

The people know the promises of a Messiah, and they have different pictures in their heads of what the Messiah is going to be. Jesus uses these images now to show the people who he is. One of the pictures comes from Jacob’s blessing of Judah in Genesis 49, “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.”

As Jesus and the disciples come close to Jerusalem, he sends a couple of them into the city to bring him the colt that they will find there. Jesus is going to ride into Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passover, a time where the people are coming together to remember how God saved them from slavery and oppression in the past, and Jesus is going to reveal himself as the Messiah, as a king who comes to save his people. Jesus is also picking up on what blind Bartimaeus has just called him, “The Son of David.” So, with all the images of kings and colts, of Messiahs and salvation, Jesus is priming the pump for the week coming up.

The disciples are completely misreading the whole story here. They’re getting excited, finally Jesus is becoming the person they’ve been waiting for, the king who’s come to claim David’s throne from Herod, the one who will free them from Rome. They’re thinking of the powerful positions that Jesus is going to give them once he’s king. Now maybe Jesus will stop talking about suffering and dying and crosses. Following Jesus has become all about them rather than about Jesus. This temptation is still with us today. It’s so easy to think we’re following Jesus, but when we actually listen to Jesus’ teaching, to his call to give him our entire life and loyalty, we often find that we haven’t really been listening, but have heard only what we want to hear. We focus on rights when the only rights Jesus gives us is the right to be called children of God. We focus on freedom when the freedom we are given is the freedom to serve.

The disciples find the colt, just as Jesus has said they would, and they bring it to him. As Jesus gets ready to ride the colt, the disciples place their cloaks on the colt for Jesus to sit on. Jesus climbs on the colt and joins the other pilgrims who are walking the last couple of kilometers to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast that’s coming up. The pilgrims recognize Jesus and an excitement begins to build. The people are steeped in the stories of God and his promises of a Messiah. They have been waiting for such a long time for him to arrive. As they see Jesus on the colt, echoes of the prophet Zechariah’s prophecy ring through their hearts, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Could Jesus be the one?

This is quickly becoming an exciting procession into Jerusalem. The people gather branches and spread them on the road, some even spread their cloaks on the road like a red carpet. Could Jesus be the new Simon Maccabees who rode into Jerusalem just like Jesus is doing right now to the cheers of the crowds? Simon was a huge hero to the Jews after freeing them from the oppression of Syria. 1 Maccabees tells the story of how he regained Jerusalem, “Those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going in and out to buy and sell in the country. So they were very hungry, and many of them perished from famine. Then they cried to Simon to make peace with them, and he did so. But he expelled them from there and cleansed the citadel from its pollutions. On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred seventy-first year, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. Simon decreed that every year they should celebrate this day with rejoicing.”

The crowd starts getting into it, shouting, “Hosanna!” which means “Save now!” the people are eager for the Messiah, for freedom. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” They realize, at least for now, that Jesus has come from God, though they don’t quite get that he is God! Mark calls the people a great crowd, though an intense crowd probably fits the situation better. At Passover, Rome usually brought in extra solders to keep the peace, a reminder to the Jews that they were not a free people. Now with the Messiah here, the intensity ramps up big time. The throne in Jerusalem is on their minds; they want their king on their throne, they want the one who comes in the name of the Lord to claim the Lord’s city and people for his own. The Passover is a reminder that God saves, and they want God to save them now! With Jesus’ power and ability to do miracles, how can they fail?

Scott Hoezee and Carrie Steenwyk ask, “What if Mark ended his story here with Palm Sunday?” This is the way the world, and maybe even us, would like the story to end: Jesus is on his way to claim the throne, the people love him, and he has the power to accomplish this; what’s not to love about this ending? This is exactly the end that Satan promised Jesus in the wilderness during the temptation, that Jesus could rule, not only Israel, but all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would kneel before him. Salvation has come, the one who comes in the name of the Lord is on the throne of David, and everyone is happy.

There’s only one problem, this story ending doesn’t solve humanity’s biggest problem: our slavery to sin and its effects on creation. God has written a different ending to Jesus’ story, an ending that leads to all the things Jesus has been warning the disciples about: his suffering, death and resurrection. God knows the story we need and it’s different from the story that we often want. We want the story of the conquering king. Our temptation is the same as the crowd’s, to turn Jesus into a Messiah created in our image. God knows that we really need the story of Good Friday and Easter Sunday; a story of redemption, renewal, of death and new life, of forgiveness and reconciliation. We need the king of Zechariah, a humble king of peace.

Jesus has come as our king and Messiah. Kings provide for their people what they really need, not always what they want; kings protect their people, often from enemies and threats the people may not even be aware of. By refusing the throne in Jerusalem, Jesus provides us with forgiveness and reconciliation with our heavenly father; by going to the cross, Jesus protects us from the power of Satan, ensuring Satan’s defeat. God raises Jesus to the throne at his right hand and gives Jesus authority and power over all creation, making sure that we have eternal life with him.

Jesus is a humble king, a king of peace, a king who defeats our enemies with the greatest love the world has ever seen. Jesus is a king who washes feet and who tells his followers to humbly serve since even he came to serve rather than be served. As you go home today, ask, “What kind of a king have I made Jesus into, and if Jesus is a suffering, sacrificial king, who is he calling me to become as his follower?”

Mark 8:22-9:1 You Are the Messiah

 

Who is Jesus? This is a question that even the disciples asked each other, especially after Jesus calmed a storm with just his words. They turned to each terrified, asking, “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him!” Jesus has been doing things, saying things that no one else had ever done before on the same scale as Jesus. Jesus has healed diseases, raised the dead, cast out demons, calmed storms, walked on water and fed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. Jesus is teaching with power and authority and people are listening and lives are being changed. Jesus’ disciples are trying to figure out just who Jesus is.

Marks leads us to the answer to the disciples’ question through the healing of a blind man. It’s a really different kind of healing for Jesus. Some people bring a blind man to Jesus and simply ask him to touch the blind man. They know that Jesus cares and has healed people by just touching them, or by the people touching Jesus. Jesus takes the blind man by the hand and leads him out of town. Then Jesus spits on the man’s eyes and touches him, asking, “Do you see anything?” We expect the man to tell Jesus, “Wow, I can see,” but the man’s answer is slightly different, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Didn’t see that coming! What went wrong? This miracle just went sideways on Jesus, or did it?

Jesus then puts his hands on the man’s eyes and Mark tells us, “Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” Full sight restored, no more walking trees, mission accomplished, but why does it take two tries? Who does Mark tell this story, normally Mark tells us stories about Jesus that make us sit up and go “Wow!” Sometimes to understand one story in the Bible, you need to read the stories leading up to it and the stories that follow in order to see what the writer is getting at.

Mark has his reason for including this story of Jesus’ healing of the blind man here and we get more understanding and a “Wow” moment as we read on. “Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” people aren’t quite sure who he is, there’s different answers, but everyone seems to agree that Jesus isn’t an ordinary person and it’s a good chance that he’s a powerful prophet like the old-time prophets Elijah, or maybe even John the Baptist, though that seems a stretch since it’s John who baptized Jesus.

Now Jesus asks them the question that has been on their mind ever since Jesus had calmed the storm, a question that has been sitting in their hearts as they’ve seen Jesus do miracle after miracle, as they’ve listened to him preach, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.” This is a “Wow” moment; if Peter is right, then the Messiah Israel has been waiting for, for hundreds of years has finally arrived! Even though Mark already told us Jesus is the Messiah in the first sentence of his Gospel, this is the first time since then that Jesus is identified as the promised Messiah! The disciples get it, they see who Jesus is! Or do they?

This is where we step back for a moment to look again at the healing of the blind man. In the first stage of his healing, the blind man sees people, but they look like trees walking. He sees, but not clearly. It’s the same with Peter, he sees who Jesus is, but not clearly. We see Peter is partly blind to who Jesus is when he begins to rebuke Jesus for telling them that he’s going to suffer, be rejected, and killed, but then will rise up from the grave in three days. Jesus talks about the disciples having to deny themselves, to be willing to give their lives up for him, and take up crosses. Peter and the disciples are not expecting this kind of Messiah. They’re expecting an anointed king from the line of David to claim the throne in Jerusalem and throw out their oppressors. They’re looking for a national and political Messiah, but Jesus never did anything to lead them to think this way. He’s never challenged Rome or shown any interest in Herod’s throne.

Jesus’ intense teaching about suffering, death and crosses draws a rebuke from Peter, but Jesus’ response to Peter is even more intense, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Ouch! Yet how often, when we think about church, when we look at our ministries and priorities, how often are our concerns more about us than about the concerns of God; do we even think about the concerns of God in our committee meetings, does the subject even come up? Do we ask ourselves, “How much does Jesus care about the people of our community? Do we care that much?” I believe we need to be honest with ourselves and admit that we all have places in our faith, in our lives where we fail to see who Jesus is clearly.

As Bethel Church, we talk about sharing our faith with others, yet how often are we sharing our faith? Is it because we don’t see what Jesus is already doing in their lives because we’re not looking, so we find it hard to share the Good News of who Jesus is? These are uncomfortable questions; we think we know who Jesus is, what he wants, we think he’s happy with how we live our lives, but are we more like Peter than we want to admit, that we’ve created a Messiah of our own creation instead of the Messiah who has come? I wear reading glasses now because otherwise the words on the page are blurry and I find it hard to understand what I’m seeing; the glasses make things clear. If you want to see Jesus clearly, read the Bible. Simply making reading the Bible daily a priority will deepen your faith and help you see who Jesus is more clearly.

Jesus now shares what a disciple of his looks like. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

How do Peter and the disciples hear this? Instead of fame, fortune and power, the disciples are being promised persecution, prisons, and crosses! They’re being called to give up their desires and dreams and to embrace Jesus’ ways, Jesus’ kingdom vision and plans, to put others first. The disciples did not clearly see the kind of Messiah Jesus really is. They, like us all too often, see Jesus through their own wants and desires instead of through God’s will and concerns for reconciliation and new life for his people and creation. The disciples’ Messiah is too small, Jesus wants so much more for us. Jesus wants us to have a rich full life he wants us to experience healing and strength, but that means choosing Jesus as our whole universe, as Ann Voskamp reminds us, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah who offers grace and brings new life. Do you want to grow, to become more? Denying yourself grows you. Allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you in giving yourself away to Jesus’ call to love God and your neighbour, to serve others and make disciples so they can flourish and find healing.

Jumping ahead a bit, at the end of chapter 10 we see Jesus healing Blind Bartimaeus. In the verses just before this healing, Jesus reveals exactly what kind of a Messiah he is, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus is the Messiah who comes to serve us by offering his life in place of ours on the cross, the place where he paid the ransom for our sin, freeing us from the punishment for our sin, bringing us hope that there is more, that there is healing and freedom. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to guide us into becoming the people God has created us to be as we see his will and do it. We’re given the Holy Spirit to help us to be servants first, giving ourselves to God for his concerns, giving ourselves to bring the good news of Jesus the Messiah, helping others to see who Jesus is.

Mark 3:13-35 You Are a Son and Brother

 

Our question for Lent this year is, “Who is Jesus, Who is Christ,” and this morning we’re going to get an unexpected picture of Jesus from Mark as someone who changes our ideas and beliefs about what family, community, relationships, and commitment look like. Jesus has been travelling through the area of Galilee and he’s creating a name and reputation for himself. Our story begins with Jesus taking his followers on a mountainside retreat where he chooses 12 of them to be with him so “that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” Jesus is beginning the process of multiplying his ministry by identifying these 12 men to mentor and invest in so they can do what he’s doing. Mentoring and discipleship is the lifeblood of the church.

Jesus and his disciples head back to the village, likely the village where Peter and Andrew are from and they enter a house, again, likely Peter and Andrew’s house. It’s still early in Jesus’ ministry, but he’s already creating quite a stir among the people. He’s becoming well known as a teacher, healer and caster out of demons. They’re hearing about Jesus all the way down in Jerusalem where the teachers of the law send some of their people to check this new rabbi out. The crowd shows up and it gets so crazy full that Jesus and his disciples can’t even eat because it’s so packed in the house there’s no room to eat.

Mark now gives us a glimpse into how hard it is for some people to recognize who Jesus is. Jesus’ family is hearing about all the things he’s teaching and doing and about the crowds surrounding him, so they head out to talk to Jesus because they think, “He is out of his mind.” Now Jesus is the Son of God, but he’s also a son to Mary and a brother to his siblings, and it must hurt to hear how his own family thinks about him. Robert Frost once wrote that “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,” but who wants to be the one in the family that everyone thinks is crazy enough that they actually need to head out to seize him to take him home? Yet to be fair to Jesus’ family, Jesus’ ministry is already creating powerful enemies, so much so that just before this story, we hear the Pharisees and Herodians begin planning on how to kill Jesus. How do we react to Jesus’ actions and teachings and claims? C.S Lewis writes that we need to come to a decision about Jesus: either he is a liar, a lunatic or Lord. Yet, Jesus’ family may have been trying to keep him safe, and maybe to keep the family name safe too.

Before Jesus’ family arrives at the house where he and his disciples are, the teachers of the law from Jerusalem show up. They’ve been hearing the stories of what Jesus is doing and it concerns them because of the power of his teaching, the power in his healing, and his ability to cast out demons. Jesus is creating issues for them because he’s reinterpreting how and why they do the faith practices they do. Jesus’ disciples aren’t fasting like everyone else and Jesus defends them, telling the Pharisees that they should be celebrating instead of fasting. Then one Sabbath, when Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field, they pick grain and eat it, going against the Sabbath customs that have been in place a long time. Jesus then tells the Pharisees that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus is telling them that they don’t understand God or him. If that’s not enough, Jesus goes and heals a man on a Sabbath, challenging them, embarrassing them by asking them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”

Pastor David Lose writes about the teachers of the law, “Perhaps this is the predicament in which the Scribes find themselves in today’s story. It’s not that their way of relating to God is wrong — they are part of a long and proud tradition of faithful service to God and the people of God. It is just that Jesus doesn’t conform to their structures. Jesus declares that the law, finally, isn’t about regulating our relationship with God but was given by God to help us get more out of life. And so he heals whenever and wherever there is need, even on the Sabbath. And he welcomes all, even those normally excluded by certain religious restrictions or customs. And, let’s face it, he does manage to banish all those unclean spirits. In all these ways Jesus points back to the wildly merciful and unpredictably (and uncontrollably) gracious God who is always doing a new thing.”

The teachers of the law can’t figure Jesus out, he’s got power to heal, he’s a powerful teacher, and he can cast out demons, so they accuse him of being possessed, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” Jesus calls the teachers of the law over and gets in their face, mocking their accusation, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.” Their accusation that Jesus is possessed by a demon in order to drive other demons out doesn’t make any sense at all. They can’t recognize that Jesus is God’s beloved Son, the Holy One of God, even though they’ve studied the prophets and what we call the Old Testament; all they see is a possessed man with great powers, someone to fear.

Now Jesus’ mother and brothers arrive. Mark tells us that they send someone in to call him. They need someone able to squeeze their way through the crowd to reach Jesus. Jesus is told, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” Jesus’ response is kind of shocking. He askes, “Who are my mother and brothers?” What’s going on in that family that’s causing Jesus to distance himself from his family?

When we ask, “Who is Jesus,” Jesus is a son of Mary and a brother to his siblings. They may not recognize him as God’s Son or as the Holy One of God, but they do recognize him as their family. So why is Jesus responding so harshly to his family here? Even if they think he’s out of his mind, they still care about him and are trying to protect him. Mark writes, “Then Jesus looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” James Boyce writes, “It is not status but action in response to the call of God in the person of this Jesus that marks what it means to belong to his “family.” That would seem to sum it all up simple and to the point. Relationships in this family are dynamic; they flow from the encounter and response to this Jesus…. Relationships in this family are couched in terms of “doing the will of God.”

Scott Hoeze and Carrie Steenwyk write, “If Mark 3 makes one thing clear, it is that the work of God in the kingdom trumps all else, no matter how painful a reality that may be. In recent years we’ve heard a lot of talk about “family values” from religious people in the public square. And of course, the church must promote strong families. But Jesus knew that being the Christ of God meant that he could not make an idol out of his own family.” Later on, in chapter 10, Jesus tells the disciples, “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” Jesus’ call on your life comes before everything else. It will cost you to follow Jesus, but the life change you can bring into peoples’ lives with the Gospel news is worth all the sacrifices that being a sister or brother of Jesus costs you.

Jesus has planted the seeds of the church here. He’s creating a core group of people that he’s investing into to carry on his work. He’s defined who they are and what defines them is doing the will of God. Being a part of this new family comes at a cost. Jesus isn’t denying the importance of our families, our families shape us and it’s the place where many of us first meet and learn about Jesus. Our families cannot come before God, no relationship can come before God’s will and Jesus’ call on our lives, but it’s an amazing journey with Jesus!

Mark 1:21-35 You Are the Holy One of God

 

Last week Mark introduced us to Jesus as the Son of God. Now Mark begins to reveal what being the Son of God means and looks like. Jesus is walking through Galilee, in the area where he grew up, preaching, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus has also begun calling people to follow him to learn from him and join him in his work of spreading the good news “that the kingdom of God is near and it’s time to get serious about God and repent and believe.” Jesus has just called the brothers Andrew and Peter who are fishermen, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Further down the seashore, Jesus calls the brothers John and James to also follow him. They pack up their nets and follow Jesus; Jesus’ call has power in it.

Mark wants us to sit up and pay attention. Jesus isn’t doing things the normal way. Most rabbis began teaching and students would then choose which rabbi they would become disciples of. Jesus instead seeks out his disciples, identifying and challenging them to leave their lives and follow him. Jesus chooses us first before we choose him. Now Jesus and his new disciples arrive in Capernaum, a small village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

On the Sabbath, Jesus goes to the local synagogue and begins to teach. As we get to know Jesus more, we see him reveal God in the daily things and events around us, but it’s early in his teaching ministry and the people are amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who has authority, not as the teachers of the law. Have you ever had teachers where you wondered if they really knew what they were talking about, or if they were just parroting something they’d been taught, but really don’t understand that well themselves? The knowledge may be right, but it doesn’t come across with passion or impact. Jesus’ teaching has impact!

Jesus teaches with power and impact because he’s the source of knowledge and truth, he knows exactly what he’s teaching and talking about, it’s part of who he is as the Son of God. The people notice. Jesus is teaching about the kingdom of God, about his kingdom. He’s calling the people to repentance and it’s powerful because he knows their hearts and how to touch them. The Holy Spirit is at work here, touching the peoples’ hearts through Jesus’ teaching and the people are responding to Jesus.

Now Mark comes to the place in his story where he wants us to sit up and pay attention. “Just then a man in their synagogue,” but the word Marks uses is more like, “Immediately, at once.” This man’s reacting strongly to what Jesus is teaching, it’s hitting him hard and we find out why, “he was possessed by an impure spirit and he cries out, ‘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!’” Wait a minute, a demon possessed man is sitting in the synagogue, what’s he doing there? It’s interesting that he first identifies Jesus by his home town of Nazareth.

Jesus sternly tells the demon, “Be quiet!” Satan is the Prince of Lies, twisting everything to make us doubt God and Jesus, doubt ourselves, and even our salvation. It began already with Adam and Eve when Satan planted seeds of doubt in their minds about who God is. Satan made God out to be controlling, insecure, selfish, and not wanting them to be like him, and not completely truthful. You see the same pattern happening already with the demon emphasizing that Jesus is from Nazareth, a place everyone looked down on and mocked at that time. The first thing the demon does is to try to make Jesus look smaller, try to give us a false image of who Jesus is, to make him look like a country bumpkin so the people won’t listen to Jesus. The demon tries to make the people fear Jesus, asking, “Have you come to destroy us?” The demon’s trying to get the people to question Jesus’ motives. The demon knows Jesus has come to save his people, not destroy them. By using a question rather than an accusation, the demon is trying to plant a mind worm in the peoples’ heads to turn them away from Jesus or ignore Jesus.

Then the demon confesses who Jesus is, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” It may be a demon, but it recognizes who Jesus is, that he is holy, set apart for God’s work and plan, that Jesus is pure and untouched by sin, that Jesus has come to make things clean again, to bring humanity back into a right relationship with God after Satan worked to break that relationship. This is also a confession that Jesus is of God, that God and Jesus are one, as Jesus makes clear in the Gospel of John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

Jesus faces the demon head on, commanding it, “Come out of him!” The demon has no choice but to obey Jesus and after shaking the man violently, it comes out of him with a shriek. The pure overpowers the unclean, Jesus, the Holy One of God cleanses the unclean man of the demon. Normally, when the clean touches the unclean, the clean becomes unclean and needs to be cleansed again. Jesus, the clean sinless one, doesn’t become unclean, but makes the unclean clean again. This is a sign of what Jesus accomplishes for us on the cross when he becomes sin for us so that we can come before our Father cleansed and made new again. On the cross, Jesus confronts Satan and wins.

This story of Jesus confronting the demon and cleansing the man from the demon is important because Satan still uses the same tactics today, working to give people a false image of who God, of who Jesus is. There are many people today who dismiss God because they see God as insecure, controlling, angry and hate-filled. Often, people see God this way because that’s how they’ve experienced the church, or read about the church. They believe the church isn’t relevant anymore. Often, we fail to recognize God’s love for his precious and dearly loved children.

In Jesus we see a compassionate God, who cares about justice and taking care of the most vulnerable, who frees us from slavery to sin, addictions, and false ways of thinking. In Jesus we see a God who is self-giving, sacrificial, who brings healing and hope, who cleanses our souls from the sins and stains of the past, while challenging us to follow him, to focus on living a holy life, and experience the kingdom of heaven.

Thomas Long and Jan Richardson remind us that in Jesus we see the power and authority of God in casting out the demon and we get a glimpse of the way the world is supposed to be, and insight into how the world really is. Mark tells us that the “people were 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.” Jesus shows himself to be more than we expect. While others feared demons, Jesus commands them with authority. Jesus transforms the unclean, the broken, all those not permitted into the presence of God and restores the image of God in them, restoring and renewing them. David Lose reminds us that Jesus comes to us in our own brokenness and experienced our brokenness on the cross so we can experience healing and restoration through his resurrection.

This week, I kept thinking about the fact that this demon possessed man is in the synagogue and no one seems to notice until Jesus begins preaching. There are many people in our churches, in our community who are wrestling with their own demons, with things that seem way too strong to defeat. It may be a way of thinking that pulls us down constantly, it may be an addiction, it may be emotions that fill us and hurt us over and over again such as anger, bitterness, jealousy, or more. There are those struggling with depression and a lack of self worth. Sometimes it may be evil spirits. A former pastor of mine, Pastor Gerrit, served in Red Mesa and elders there taught him about casting out evil spirits from members. Satan adjusts himself to snare us in his chains. But Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery…. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope… The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Jesus has the power to free us from our demons, from the addictions and powers that hold onto us. Jesus has come to cleanse us and make us holy through his holiness. He comes because he loves us deeply and each one of you are precious to him, even if you believe you are unlovable, too broken to be accepted. Through the power of prayer in Jesus’ name, through Christian counseling and therapy, through the encouragement of Scripture, by knowing that there are many of us who fight these battles, by walking together in supportive mentoring and disciplining relationships, we can find hope and healing because Jesus is the Holy One of God with the power to free us and cleanse us from the powers that hold us in chains.