Behold and Believe | Matt Ostercamp - Mark 1:21-34

The holy gospel of Jesus Christ, according to Mark.

And they went into Kapenaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he

entered the synagogue and was teaching.

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as

one who had authority and not as the scribes.

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an

unclean spirit, and he cried out, What have you to do with

us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?

I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of you.

And the unkeen spirit, convulsing him and crying out

with a loud voice, came out of him.

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among

themselves, saying, What is this?

And you teaching with authority, He commands even unclean

spirits, and they obey you. And at once his fame spread

everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the House

of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

Now Simon's mother-in-law let I'll with a fever.

And immediately they told him about her, and he came and took

her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and

she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they

brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons, and the

whole city was gathered together at the door.

And he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast

out many demons. And he would not permit the

demons to speak, because they knew him.

The Gospel of the Lord. Well, good morning 2025, my wife

and I. My wife and I were were watching

an old sitcom this week where a character gets an iPad for the

very first time and they use it and they exclaim loudly.

I feel like I'm living in 2025. We exchanged knowing looks and a

little bitter chuckle and a responsive actually, actually,

sorry to disappoint Phil Dunfrey.

Actually living in this moment, in this city, we aren't

experiencing the euphoria of some technology utopia.

We're living in a city that's marked by so much anxiety, by a

lot of fear, and at least for me, by this really just ever

present sense of grief. And today we are adding to this

a lament for the state of our denomination and the state of

our church. We cry out together.

Lord, have mercy. And I invite you not to leave

behind these emotions, but to bring them to our reflection on

the gospel text today as we continue in a series called

Simply Jesus. If there's ever anything we

needed at this moment, it's simply Jesus.

In Mark 121 to 34, which was read just a moment ago, which

you can find in your program, which we're going to be

reflecting on, we see Jesus, the Son of God, make his first

public appearance in the Gospel of Mark.

We're still in the introduction. We're still in chapter 1.

He comes to Capernaum, a lake town on the North Shore of the

Sea of Galilee, a town of a few 1000 people, a town with a Roman

Garrison, a town with a Roman tax office.

And Jesus comes to this town that is suffering from political

and spiritual oppression. And this text doesn't tell us

what he says. It doesn't doesn't give us his

message, but what it says twice in verses 22 and 27, is that he

taught with authority. Authority.

When I read this word, and as I was preparing for this sermon, I

could feel myself getting tense, feeling uneasy.

Is this really what we're going to talk about?

Feeling defensive? And yet I believe our gospel

today is asking us to think afresh about the authority of

Christ, to bring it wants to bring healing and hope even as

we lament the misuses of worldly authority we see so present

around us. But before I begin, I'm going to

tell you what I'm not going to say today.

I'm not going to say that we need to submit to every person

in every institution that claims to be an authority.

And I am not going to say that people who have misused their

positions of authority to hurt you or to hurt other people

should somehow be excused. And I am not going to say that

we should not ask critical questions, know quite the

contrary. And finally, I am not going to

say that it is right and just to use fear and violence to impose

your rules and your laws on our neighbors and on their children.

It's not right. Instead, instead, I believe that

the authority of Jesus, the Son of God in Mark One, stands apart

from the distorted and damaging uses of authority common in our

age. That Jesus provides a new and

fresh image of what authority can be.

It's an authority that dignifies all of us, all of us as objects

of grace and worthy students to hear the great promises of God.

It's an authority that silences evil and liberates us from the

demonic narratives of destruction.

It's an authority that extends an invitation to us, even us, to

join in the good and meaningful work of God.

In a world where so many experienced authority is maybe

at best mind numbing, as it were, soul crushing.

Jesus comes and he engages our mind with beauty and truth, and

he liberates our souls to be free from the weight of sin, to

soar with him. In this brief passage, I want to

divide it into three acts and we'll talk about them in turn.

The first act is the teaching is teaching.

The second act I'm calling the confrontation, and then finally

the invitation. So let's read now verses 21 and

22 of Mark chapter 1. And they went into Capernaum.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

And immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was

teaching. And they were astonished at his

teaching, for he taught as one of had authority, not as the

scribes. Having been baptized, having

gone through the wilderness of temptation, having called the

first disciples, Jesus is now beginning his public ministry.

He's now addressing the Israelite people.

And he begins, He makes his debut in the synagogue of

Capernaum, way up in Galilee, far away from Jerusalem, the

town on the lake. And I found it interesting that

Jesus chooses to enter the scene not as a king, not as a lawgiver

proclaiming thou shalt do this and thou shalt do that, not even

as a prophet speaking words of challenge, maybe words of of

judgment, but instead he enters as a teacher.

And what 9th grade me did not really understand is it teaching

is really a humbling position. And when you step in front of

the class, your success, you're putting your success in the

hands of those students. So there's no glory as an

educator and failing all your students.

Success as a teacher is bound up with your students, getting the

point with them, coming to understand it with them, making

connections and putting it into practice and acquiring new

knowledge and new skills. And Jesus comes.

I want to explain, I want you to understand, I'm here to teach.

And the students Jesus chose, they're not especially

prestigious. They don't have any renowned.

This is a very ordinary synagogue in a very ordinary

town. It's full of mothers and

fathers, men and women, merchants, tradespeople,

fishermen, laborers. Throughout the Gospels, this is

a pattern we were going to see. Jesus speaks great spiritual

truths to very common people. He entrusts these pearls of

wisdom. He doesn't go immediately to

Jerusalem, to the temple precincts.

He comes to the ordinary people, but he gives them extraordinary

teaching. There's no prerequisites for

this course, but the course what Jesus teaches can.

It has changed the world. And they were astonished.

The the Latin, this comes from the Latin word for

thunderstruck. They were thunderstruck by his

teaching for he taught them is one who had authority.

And now I think you might be asking, and I'm asking as I'm

reading this text, well, what did he teach?

What an amazing thing did Jesus tell these people.

And this is where we have to remember we're in Mark chapter

Mark 1 · chapter mention

1. Like this is precisely the tease

that Mark is, I think, leaving for us because he wants us to

keep reading. You're going to find out.

This is just the beginning of the podcast where after the

commercial, he's going to come back and and pay all this off.

But but we can Fast forward a little bit.

And I know we're going to be looking at this in weeks ahead.

So I don't want to get too deep into this, but let's just look

forward to chapters 2 and 3 where we're going to see the

message of Jesus contrasted with the scribes over and over again.

So what he's setting up here that he's not teaching like the

scribes, he's going to pay that off.

And what we're going to see is that Jesus is going to proclaim

the forgiveness of sins. He's going to welcome tax

collectors and sinners. He's going to feast when

everybody else is fasting. He's going to publicly heal

people on the Sabbath. See, I believe Mark is preparing

us to be astonished at the grace of God, at the promise of the

Kingdom. This is not the same.

Stay calm and carry on message of the scribes.

Change is coming not and it's not also it's not the empty try

harder, you know, message of so many influencers.

No, this is Jesus speaks with both clarity and he speaks as

one who not only can see the problems of the world, who calls

out the problems of the world, but who also says that he and he

alone can fix the problems of the world.

There's an urgency to this message.

This is leave your Nets, leave your taxes, tear a hole through

the roof. For heaven's sakes, you got to

get this. This is real forgiveness being

on offer. This is real change and real

transformation. The bridegroom is here.

Now is the time. See, Jesus is bringing very

radical, very strong words of hope, the very words of life, to

a very ordinary city with Roman soldiers walking outside,

astonishing the confrontation. And immediately there was in

their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out

the spirit, what have you to do with us?

Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?

I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent and come out of him.

And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out

with a loud voice came out of him.

And they were all amazed. So they questioned among

themselves, saying, what? What is this?

A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean

spirits and they obey him and at once his fame spread everywhere

throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

If you ever had that prove it moment, you know that time where

you've just been talking the talk and suddenly people look

and say, can you walk the walk. So some of you, many of you

maybe know that I work at a university.

In one spring, I had the opportunity to address parents

who were on campus with their high school sons and daughters

to to get a chance to preview the college.

And so I gave this talk and I talked about how myself and our

colleagues, how caring for students is our number one

priority and how we have all of these services that we can help

students with their academics, with their mental health, with

their physical health. And we finished this talk and I

was leading this group out of the classroom to their next stop

on their itinerary. And very dramatically, right in

front of me, a student walked by and then just collapsed on the

ground. And I could feel all of those

parents seeing their son or daughter in that student.

And I could feel them all looking at me out and they were

all behind me. But I should feel them looking

at me and thinking, what are you going to do?

You just talked about how much you care for students.

What are you going to do for that student?

And even though I'm a librarian, so I'm much more accustomed to

helping people with research or bibliographies, finding, you

know, texts that are hard to find, I knew I had to act right.

And, and I was able to do that. I've had some training.

We were able to get medical attention.

The student was fine, but here we find Jesus in that moment

where he's been teaching on the grace of God.

He's been teaching on this radical hope that things are

changing. This New Hope is coming.

Lice is here and now can he back up this astonishing teaching

right here? There's a man in need of

liberation. What can he do?

But before we get there, before we we conclude that moment, I

want to just pause on verse 23. I think there's a sobering truth

here. This man I've been wrestling

with and I want to share with you in verse 23, we read and

immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean

spirit. He said we've just concluded in

a manual over the summer, a whole series on the sacred

spaces where we meet God. And I believe many of us, I know

myself, we long for these places to be refuges where we can stick

a step back from the spiritual battles of the world.

We can catch our breath. We can kind of have a moment to

collect ourselves. But I think what we're learning

in this verse is that the churches and synagogues of our

communities, they're not, they're not places of retreat

away from the spiritual war. They so often are on the very

front lines of the spiritual war.

Jesus does not seem to be surprised that we have a demonic

appearance right in the synagogue.

The very places where we call upon the Spirit of God to come

in power to change the world is also the same places where the

spirits of darkness are doing everything they can to stifle

that power. And so, so often as we come to

worship, we're coming into a spiritual battle.

And this might look like it works, looks here of an an

actual confrontation with the forces of evil.

It might look like it did in Corinth.

And we considered this last Saturday where there's

infighting and some parts of the body trying to exert power and

take control over other parts of the body.

It might look like, I don't know, construction noises when

you're trying to preach. Or it might look more seriously

like a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing or maybe shepherd's

clothing. So as we gather, I think we are

wise to heeds Jesus's words that we need to pray and watch, pray

and keep watch. We need to listen to Saint

Paul's admonishment that we put on the full armor of God even

when we come here, especially when we come here.

Now back to the story reading on the demon here is speaking what

have you to do with us? Jesus of Nazareth, have you come

to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy one

of God. Now commentator suggests that

the demon here is trying to exert control by naming Christ

that there was a the the the tradition was if you know, if

you could name your spiritual opponent, you could gain power

over them. And then it's also interesting

that he reframes the message of Jesus in the one of destruction.

You're not here to bring life. You're here to destroy us.

You're the fear in that so many people afraid we're going to be

destroyed. But Jesus, he doesn't take the

bait. Jesus rebuked him saying be

silent and come out of him and the unclean spirit convulsing

him and crying with a loud voice came out of him.

It is this is very it's noted. This is in contrast to

traditional exorcism accounts of this time where usually there

would be some kind of liturgical formula or prayer or or a rite

that would be said to counter the forces of evil or that there

would be some kind or and also some kind of holy object was

easily involved. Something that would be sacred

that could could bring restoration to one who was

possessed. That Jesus, he doesn't use the

props, he doesn't use fancy words in this account.

He just simply says come out. He also doesn't try to name his

opponent. He doesn't meet him on a equal

playing field. I'm not here to play that game.

I'm in charge. He also doesn't even counter the

libelous accusation of being there for destruction.

He lets the liberation speak for itself.

I'm just going to show you what change I'm going to bring.

You know, you decide if this is destruction, I'm going to free

this man. In the crowd.

As they watched, they were all amazed.

So they questioned him on themselves, saying what is this?

A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean

spirits and they obey him. Crowd is amazed at the authority

of Jesus. I talked at the top, how

authority, the concept of authority, how it can be

triggering. But let's just take a moment to

reflect with the crowd on this authority, the authority of

Jesus. In this passage here we see

Jesus come to them, even them, and all of their ordinariness,

just common people in a common village.

And he comes as a teacher. He's investing time opening up

the Torah, opening up the writings of the Old Testament in

the Hebrew prophets and explaining the great truths to

them. And we can look ahead and we can

anticipate that what he's teaching is he's teaching

forgiveness. He's teaching grace.

He's seeking teaching that there is hope for everybody, even for

those who you think are outside the pale, for the the tax

collectors and the sinners. He's giving the words of life.

And when the forces of darkness appear, immediately, suddenly

Jesus isn't caught wrong footed. He stares him straight in the

face. He just speaks a word of

command. He silences those dark voices.

There's grace in the teaching. There's grace in the exorcism.

Jesus uses authority to connect with people and build them up to

bestow dignity. You're important.

You count to bring hope. He's backed by the power to

change and free people. This is real authority.

He can issue commands even to the spiritual forces, but it's

wrapped in real love. He cares for these people, a

love that would ultimately lead Jesus to lay down his life.

Real authority combined with real sacrificial love.

We need more of that. What does this mean for us?

Let's consider the third, the third movement here, which I'm

calling the invitation. And immediately he left the

synagogue and entered the House of Simon and Andrew with James

and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay

I'll with a fever. And immediately this is Mark's

favorite word. They told him about her, and he

came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever

left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick

or oppressed by demons, and the whole city was gathered together

at the door. And he healed many who were sick

with various diseases, and he cast out many demons.

And he would not permit the demons to speak because they

knew him. So one time I tried to nominate

a fellow leader in our field for an an industry award.

This was somebody I've been on committees with, I attended

meetings to and I always looked up to.

So I'm like, I should nominate him for this award.

So I reached out to the people of his staff in his library and

said, hey, would you like to join me in writing a letter of

nomination? And they very politely declined.

You see, who a leader is when they're on stage, when they're

in public, can be very different from what a leader is when the

crowd's not watching. And I think Mark, having

established Jesus as a person of authority, now wants to take us

behind this, behind the curtain. Is it, if you will, What was he

like when he wasn't in the synagogue?

When there weren't crowds of people sitting at his feet

listening to his teaching? And the first thing I notice is

how Jesus can transition with so much grace from this cosmic

encounter, from this in breaking of the Kingdom of God into human

history. This thing that's literally

going to change all of time that we mark our, you know, we still

mark our history by this event to the concerns of a single

household that he stops and he sees his team, his team members

and he sees them as human beings with human concerns.

I think I would have been tempted after this synagogue

teaching to gather the team and like, let's debrief.

I, I know you have some issues, but let's just talk about what

just happened. That was kind of amazing.

Or maybe we want to celebrate like guys, like there's going to

be some tough days ahead, but let's just think about this.

Like, did you see how that crowd responded?

Or even possibly to start thinking about next steps?

Like we need to follow up tomorrow.

John, I need you to go and visit that household.

Peter, can you check in on that man and just make sure he's

still OK? But Jesus, he doesn't get to any

of that. He comes and he sees Peter.

He sees that Peter is concerned and what's going on?

How can I, what do I, what do you need?

Peter? Let's go talk to your

mother-in-law. She seems sick.

And it's unclear here whether this fever was serious or not.

It could have been, it could not be.

Even today, fever can be a range of experiences.

My sense is that maybe it wasn't a life threatening fever, but it

was important to Peter. And I want to think just for a

minute about the gift he gave to that woman.

That mother-in-law, when he takes her by the hand and he

welcomes her up from the sick bed and he's not just restoring

her to health, he's inviting her.

Come be a part of this. Come be a part of this moment.

You see, this was going to be the greatest single moment in

the history of that house. The entire town was going to

come to their door and find healing and find restoration.

This would be a story that would be talked about for generations

and generations. We actually think we know where

that house is today, by the way. It's still still something

that's known. And and her part of that story

could have been you slept through it.

You remember you were in the backroom.

Remember how you didn't even wake up when the crowds were all

celebrating? And have you ever been part of

that? I know one of the biggest

stories in my family happened my freshman year in college.

So I was away. And it's the story we tell when

we get together over holidays and, and we pass on to the the

newer members of our family. And I always, you know, I almost

feel like I was there because I've heard it so much, but I

wasn't there. And I always remember I missed

that. I wasn't there.

So I think Jesus, by allowing this woman to get up and

allowing them to serve her, he's inviting her to.

This is a great day of redemption.

I want you on the team. I want you to be a part of this

so her part in the story could be.

Remember how hungry they all were?

And I break those rolls. He ate so many rolls.

I never knew he was that, you know, he could eat that much.

I remember when we brought the cheese and wine out after, you

know, you've been healing and it was like 2 in the morning.

Remember how there was so much laughter?

Remember how good it all felt to just be with Jesus?

Remember how we were all part of the team?

Remember how I was part of that team?

He gave her the gift of being part of that moment, part of

that story. So I think it's remind, it's a

reminder to us that Jesus has time for us, that even though he

is engaged in this ultimate contest between good and evil,

and he is the victor, the lamb who is conquered, he still sees

the needs of our household. He sees the needs that we're

bringing here today. And I think he wants each of us

to be a part of his team, that he is doing great redemptive

things. And I believe that he's going to

do and is doing great redemptive things in the city of Chicago

right now. And he's inviting us to be part

of that and be part of that story.

And I hold on to hope and belief that he's going to be doing

great and redemptive things in the Anglican Church of North

America. And I wonder, what is his

invitation to our congregation? What is the part we're going to

play in that story? I think there's an invitation

for us. So as I conclude, authority is a

word that can make us uneasy, can make me uneasy.

We carry the scars of unholy authority that has that have

been used to maim us. We fear the possibility that

powerful people even now seek to harm our city, to harm us, to

harm our neighbors, to take away our freedom.

And maybe even we bring some regrets of times we've been in

authority and we haven't been the victims, but maybe the

perpetrators. We have not used authority well.

I think this text invites us to find in Jesus a man of true

authority who comes to teach us about forgiveness, to teach us

about the liberating power of the Holy Spirit of the gospel.

Will you come and sit at his feet?

Come back next week. As we get into more and more of

the deeds of Jesus, maybe take time to read through Mark or

read through the first few chapters.

Just listen again to the message that Jesus is bringing.

This text reveals to us Jesus who is more powerful than all

the dark pretenders who attempt to exercise authority over us.

He can silence and banish demons.

He can bring liberation. Are we willing to call out to

him? We willing to take time and say,

Jesus, here I am, I need help, we need help.

Just make time to call out to Jesus.

This text reveals Jesus as a kind and gentle leader who

offers us a place on his team, a part in his story of redemption.

Will we take him up on that invitation?

Do we want to be part of the gospel story, the gospel story

of 2025? In a moment?

We're going to take communion. And after communion, we'll have

prayer ministers on either side. And if you are here and you want

to take up any of these offers, if you want to come and just

hear from Jesus, if you want to experience the liberating power

of Jesus, if you're looking for and saying Jesus, here I am.

What part do you want me to play?

I would encourage you to meet up with one of the the prayer

ministers. Let them pray for you.

Let's start a conversation. Today can be the first day of a

new a new chapter. Come, King Jesus, we pray in the

name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.