Says Who? Says Jesus, the Son of God!

4th Sunday after Epiphany, 1/28/24 Mark 1:21-28 Says Who? Says Jesus, the Son of God! I. His authority is in his divine words. II. His authority is in his divine actions. I realize that about half of you aren’t able to connect with what I’m about to say, but please bear with me for a minute. I think I can count on one hand the number of experts in my life for the first 20 years or more of it. There was a medical expert. His name was Dr. Darrell Angus. As far as I know he brought me into this world. He was my pediatrician. He was also my surgeon, stitching me up at least 3 times before I was 12 years old. He was my primary care physician, prescribing penicillin on what seemed to be an annual basis. He also was my parents’ doctor, and, for a while, my grandmother’s geriatric doctor. So, when Dr. Angus shared his medical advice with us, it was as good as gold. He was one of the experts in my life. As a family, we also had an expert auto mechanic. He was the guy. He fixed or replaced everything on our family vehicle from worn out wiper blades to a slipping transmission. If we had auto trouble, we called him. He was another one of the experts in my life. And our family, like the others in our neighborhood, had a “guy” whom we would call if my father couldn’t make the home repair himself. Plumbing, electrical, furnace—no matter. Same guy. He was an expert. In school, if I wanted to learn about some specific topic, there was a set of encyclopedias on a shelf in the back of the classroom. It didn’t matter that this set was published seven years earlier and was obsolete on countless subjects the moment it was printed. If the encyclopedia stated it, it was as good as gold. One of the experts in my life. How different things are today! Some for the better and some for the worse. For the better, because we now have the latest and most accurate knowledge available to us at the click of a computer key. The amount of information available to us is incredible if not overwhelming. But it’s also for the worse, because the information we’re receiving is often at odds. One source says one thing, and another source says something different. And it makes us spend a lot of time and effort trying to know which information is reliable. That’s difficult enough when you’re trying to get the best information on something such as a health issue in your life. But imagine how exasperating that would be if you came to worship this morning and faced the same difficulty. Opposing spiritual viewpoints from experts and you don’t know what to believe or think. That’s the situation facing the Jewish people of Jesus’ days on earth as they attended synagogue for worship each Saturday. I imagine they walked home after worship, pondering what “expert” opinions they had heard, not liking them, and stubbornly stating, “Says who?” But not on this day. They listened to Jesus speak to them, and as they did, they were struck with his authority. He was a bona fide expert. So, on this day, as they walked home and pondered what they had heard, if they asked themselves, “Says who?” The answer was, “Jesus, the Son of God.” And that’s our answer to the same question this morning. In a world of conflicting information from self-proclaimed experts, pay attention to this information. This is the word of Jesus, and he has divine authority. I. I saw it the other day. It was a warning being aired on television about the “information” I would likely be receiving between now and this November. Just because I might think I’m seeing a national expert telling me something doesn’t mean anything. That’s because, through the use of artificial intelligence, it’s possible to make any human being look like they’re telling you anything, when they really aren’t. The Jews of Jesus’ days on earth obviously had never even thought about artificial intelligence. They were spared from any concerns about it. But they faced all sorts of “fake” spiritual messages from Jewish authorities. In those days, anyone who was a rabbi or a scribe—that is, someone who copied what the Hebrew scriptures stated and their interpretations of it—was considered to be an expert. But they were prone to sharing their “expert opinions” on insignificant details of Jewish life. For instance, they argued about how many steps you could walk on the Sabbath day without violating it. Or, every Jewish person knew that the Sabbath began at sundown on Friday and all work must cease at sundown, but when does the sun actually go down? How dark does it have to get before I need to close my business and put an end to making money that day? So, the Jewish people walked away from worship at their synagogues too often wondering what to believe, think, and do. The best they could do was to select one particular Jewish spiritual “expert” and try to find some direction for their daily lives. Pitiful, isn’t it? But on this day as recorded in Mark 1 along comes Jesus. He was invited to speak and immediately the people noticed something different. And you and I aren’t surprised. Of course they did! This wasn’t just some Jewish expert speaking to them. This was none other than the eternal Son of God, whether they realized that truth or not. He was different! Here was an expert! And they heard the Son of God speaking the very words of God. I wonder how much that truth impresses you. Think about it. Instead of hearing human opinions about the word of God, they heard the very word of God. And that word had saving power, just as it does today. It impacted their hearts and lives. Here was an expert with authority! And I can’t help but imagine that having spoken God’s word to them, he helped them apply it to themselves. In other words, he spoke clear, convicting law, and clear, healing gospel. We know from other verses of the Bible that Jesus’ daily message was to repent and believe the good news. That’s nothing other than proclaiming law and gospel. Calling people to repent of their sins and believing that they are forgiven through the work of their Savior. That’s the only message that saves sinners. That’s authority! Says who? Says Jesus the Son of God. His authority is in his divine words. II. Read through the gospels and notice how often Jesus speaks with authority to someone and then he does something which proves his authority. That’s what happened here in the synagogue of Capernaum. Listen to it once again, “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried 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!’ ‘Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 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.’” In the world of sports, every winning streak eventually ends with a loss. But in the world of salvation history, Jesus is still on a winning streak. He defeated Satan every time he faced him, and he always will. At the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus went into the desert and was tempted by Satan forty straight days. We know what the final three temptations on the fortieth day were. And he crushed Satan every time. Here in Mark 1, he meets one of Satan’s demons head on. And it happened right there in the synagogue. It seems like an unlikely spiritual battlefield for a demon—a place where the word of God was being read and shared. And notice the unlikely battle posture of the demon. He marches into battle with Jesus, recognizing exactly who he is (the Son of God), what Jesus’ work is, and what the ultimate outcome of his battle with Jesus will be—the eternal destruction of Satan’s kingdom. Imagine going into a battle knowing you can’t win it! But that’s what happens when Satan is confronted with authority of Jesus. And with six words in English, the battle is over and Jesus is the victor—another win under our Savior’s belt. “Be quiet! Come out of him!” The demon did his best to resist the authority of Jesus but quickly realized he was no match for the Son of God. And that’s exactly the Savior the entire world of sinners needs—one who wins the victory over Satan. One who wins for us every time because we so often lose. One with authority, even over Satan. Be quiet! Come out of him!” Says who? Says Jesus, the Son of God. His authority is in his divine actions. We are God’s people by faith in Jesus. And, as such, we’re thrilled with the authority of Jesus. Here’s what Jesus says. This is what we believe. Of course we’ll listen to what he says. Until it doesn’t align with what we’re thinking and feeling at the moment. I know that Jesus forbids me from judging the thoughts and attitudes of others, but that’s what I want to do. I know Jesus requires me to be patient and kind towards my neighbor, but my neighbor is on my last nerve and I’m going to let him have it. I know I pray in the Lord’s Prayer for Jesus to forgive my trespasses as I forgive others, but I won’t forgive that person, at least not right now. Says who? Says Jesus. But that’s not what I want to admit right now. That’s when I need to hear this from Jesus, “My word cuts deeply. It even exposes the sins in your heart and mind. So, don’t go thinking that outward goodness is all I require. Instead, admit the sins of your heart. Confess them.” And when we take those words of Jesus to heart, then he shares these words with us, “Though your sins are as red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool (Is. 1:18). Forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Washed clean and made pure, day after day. And now we don’t face his judgment, but his blessing—eternal life with him. His saving power and authority live in us by faith in him. And now he tells us to go and share that saving power and authority with others. Says who? Says Jesus, your Savior and your Lord. Amen.