At Capernaum confronting a demon spirit
Jesus in the synagogue teaching and healing Mark chapter 1vv21-28
Capernaum... possibly named in honour of the poet-prophet Nahum, who, correctly predicted the destruction of Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, the long time enemies of Israel. The northern area of Galilee, historically had borne the brunt of the godless invaders. The meaning of Nahum is "consolation" and so Capernaum is the city of comfort, so named in memory of the Divine judgment on Nineveh, which brought times of rest to the region. Situated in the north west coast of the sea of Galilee, Capernaum became a main fishing distribution port. It was the home town of Andrew, Simon, James, and John, and also Matthew, who became apostles of Christ. Jesus called it "His own city"(Mathew 9v1) and it became the centre of Jesus missions in the whole of Galilee. Appropriately, the first miracle recorded is the confrontation with a demon spirit; we will later see the curing of diseases, and the cleansing of a leper. If Jesus is going to undo the works of the devil, He will first demonstrate His power over demons. This is a trend that will continue later. The proliferation of demonic activity in Israel at this time was to confront the presence on earth of the Son of God, because where God is working demons will also be working.
The main issue in the verses is the authority of the servant of God. Normally servants are under authority, but this servant exercises authority, and this fact is stated in verses 22&27. This is seen in two ways; his authority in the exposition of divine truth and his authority in the exorcism of the demon spirit.
- His authority in the exposition of divine truth verse 22 - "He entered into the synagogue and taught." The synagogue was to be a local meeting place representing the temple in Jerusalem and travelling preachers were invited to speak. However this speaker was of a different calibre to anything they had ever heard ...... "they were astonished at His doctrine for He taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes." The word for "astonished" is "exeplessanto" . This is a strong Greek word suggesting overwhelming words of great power that stirred the entire audience. His preaching was contrasted with that of the scribes. These were the trained lawyers of the Old Testament teachings and would usually be pedantic, dull and monotone, usually occupied with minute distinctions of Levitical revelations, (gobbledygook as we would call it today). His words carried weight as to His matter and to His manner. The scribes dabbled in the minutiae of religion, Jesus spoke of the weightier matters. They spoke from the head, He spoke also from the heart because He was the living embodiment of all that He spoke; they quoted men, He spoke as though God was speaking. He illuminated minds and inflamed hearts when He spoke, they were astonished at His teaching. When He met the couple on the road to Emmaus, they commented "did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way and while He opened unto us the scriptures." That is the idea here.
- His authority in the exorcism of the demon spirit verse 27 - The first thing to notice was that a demon spirit was present in a religious gathering. All spirits who are not angels are unclean and seek expression through an unwitting human body. This phenomenon still occurs today, but it is less obvious. the presence of the unclean spirit was in opposition to God and had malicious intent towards man. A modern world laughs at the idea, but the operations of demons in the universe is very real, and there is no place devoid of their operations. Even if we don't recognise Jesus, they know Him and they know that He will ultimately destroy them. The proclamation by the spirit that He was "the holy One of God," was perhaps an attempt to unsettle Jesus in His teaching. Demon spirits are still opposing Jesus and they come in many guises, however Jesus was not unsettled and neither should we be when confronted with them. Jesus "rebuked" the unclean spirit. As we go through the gospel of Mark the word "rebuke" is used, always in connection with demon activity. The spirit had no choice but to obey Him and maliciously convulsed the man as he came out of him.
The result of this first picture of the service of Jesus in the work of God declares that He has full authority (magisterial jurisdiction) over all unseen demon spirits. People were astonished, not only at His powerful words, but at His powerful works in expelling the spirit. His fame spread abroad throughout all the regions of Galilee as an incomparable teacher of God's word and a controller of demons; never had there been such a demonstration of spiritual power in one man.
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