Epiphany 4 B
Demon vs. Jesus
St. Mark 1:21-28
1 February 2015 – Redeemer
Of all the concerns that weighed you down this past week demon possession probably was not on your list. You have much more obvious troubles – your mother’s health, your daughter’s marriage, your upcoming tax appointment, a world of bad news and wicked people.
So perhaps today you thought you needed a sermon addressing worry or health or money or good news. Then Saint Mark blesses us a demon possessed man confronting Jesus. And you’re thinking, “Could anything be more irrelevant? I can’t remember the last time I encountered a demon or faced off against a demon-possessed person.”
In response to all of that I can only say, “Welcome to Epiphany season – the season of the church year in which God makes the irrelevant relevant and helps you to see things like you’ve never seen them before.” This text, recorded and penned by Saint Mark is relevant because it not only reveals the devil’s tactics (which he still uses today), but it also displays the power and compassion of Jesus in ruining the demon’s work for the sake of this suffering man and for our sake.
Is there demon possession today? Yes, absolutely. God’s Word tells us that the Devil is prowling around, actively seeking the your destruction and damnation. As the angels in heaven are God’s servants for your good, so the demons are the Devil’s servants for your harm.
If there is demon possession why don’t we see it (other than in the movies where someone is levitating their bed and spinning their head all the way around)? First, there are some areas of the world where visible demon possession is more prominent. I believe it occurs where there are more native and animistic religions, such as among the aboriginals in Australia. Second, and this is my opinion, and that’s always a dangerous thing to speak from the pulpit, so I want to say again, this is my opinion about why visible demon possession may not be prominent in 2015 in rural Minnesota. When Jesus walked the earth, God Himself was manifest, visible, on earth. He was headed for the cross and would accomplish the salvation of the world in a visible, verifiable, historical, factual act, witnessed by hundreds, and recorded by the apostles and evangelists in Holy Scripture. I believe (did I say this is my opinion) that Satan, at that time of God’s most visible action, was also most visibly at work. There is an old proverb – not in Scripture, which says, “Wherever the Holy Spirit builds a church, the Devil builds a chapel right next door.” To paraphrase the proverb – my opinion is that when God was visibly active in the flesh of Jesus Christ here on earth, the devil and his demons were doing their darnedest visibly to reek havoc on human flesh.
Are the Devil and his demons still seeking your destruction today? Absolutely, but the Devil is no dumb demon. He knows better than to show up at your door speaking in some weird sub-human voice with his head spinning around while causing your computer to change it’s screen saver to a Pentagram. You would probably catch on rather quickly that he’s up to no good. The Devil isn’t going to show his true colors. He’s going to camouflage himself and use your children. He’s going to twist and pervert the good desires God gave you. He’ll come disguised as a blond haired blue eyed coworker who listens better than your husband or understands better than your wife. He’ll come as your favorite liberal or conservative pundit sowing the seeds of victimhood and anger in your heart. He’s not going to come after you with fangs bared leading the hounds of hell – you’re smart enough to see that coming. He’s going to whisper in your ear sermons that you want to hear, sermons that feed your sinful desires and draw you away from God’s Word.
And that long introduction finally gets us to the text.
And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. On the Sabbath Jesus went to the Synagogue, immediately. He didn’t worry about what famous politician might be on the morning news shows. He wasn’t concerned if his nephews were playing the championship hockey game. He wasn’t tempted by the giant sunnies they were catching on the north bay of the sea of Galilee. He went to the Synagogue.
And there Jesus taught. He taught that the Kingdom of God was at hand in His flesh. He preached that people should, “Repent and believe this good news.” He read the Word of God and then He gave us God’s own interpretation of God’s Word since He was God. He read the Old Testament and He said, “God’s Word is all about Me.” The promise to Adam and Eve of a Savior is the promise of Me. The promise to Abraham to bless all the nations of the world is the promise of Me dying for the sin of the world. The Passover Lamb points to My perfect sacrifice as the only begotten Son of God. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt by Moses points to My deliverance of the world by defeating sin, death, and the power of the Devil. These Scriptures testify of Me.
And when the crowd heard Jesus preach their jaws dropped. They were speechless. They were dumbstruck. When their rabbis taught, they quoted traditions and recited the thoughts of the great rabbis and left people debating if they could slide their chairs out from the table on the Sabbath or if that was considered work and a violation of the Law. Their rabbis gave them unbearable commands and laws, Jesus gave them God’s Word and salvation. They had never heard such words before. 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.” The Devil’s sole purpose and singular mission is to stop and silence the Word of God that declares Jesus as our salvation. Into the order of Divine Service of the synagogue Satan brings chaos and confusion. Jesus was preaching Himself and the demon could not stand people hearing the truth of God’s Word. Disrupt the service. Cry out. Make a scene. Distract. Confuse.
Now you might think Jesus should have let the demon speak. After all the demon confessed the truth – that Jesus of Nazareth was the Holy One of God and that He had come to ruin the work of the Devil. That demon proclaimed a better sermon than most of the preachers out there. But if you’ve read the Gospel according to Saint Mark you might remember something a little odd about that Gospel. For the first eight chapters of Mark Jesus tells people to keep quiet about Him. If Jesus heals a man he says, “Don’t tell anyone.” When he raises Jairus’ daughter he insists no one learn about it. When He casts out demons he forbids them to speak.
Why? Because Jesus didn’t come to be a miracle working boy wonder. He didn’t come to raise the dead or cast out demons or heal the sick. He came to die on the cross for the sin that leads to death, puts us in Satan’s charge, and is the cause of our suffering. He didn’t want people to look to Him for relief from their daily suffering but not seek Him for the forgiveness of sins. In Mark chapter 8 Jesus first predicts His suffering and death. After that, Mark’s Gospel turns toward the cross, the miracles slow to a trickle, and Jesus Himself proclaims His destination and purpose.
This demon in the Synagogue was speaking the truth, but was also interrupting God’s plan and purpose of salvation. God reveals Himself when and where He pleases and this demon is preaching a sermon of misdirection and obfuscation. So 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.
There’s is your comfort. At Christ’s Word the Devil and His demons fall silent. Remember the Devil is merely a rebellious angel while Jesus is God. The devil and his demons have great power and God’s permission to bring chaos to this fallen creation, to charge you with sin and tempt you to fall, but when Jesus speaks they must obey. When He commands they shut-up.
And so Jesus speaks. He speaks an end to sin at the cross. “It is finished.” He speaks a “not-guilty” to you at your baptism. He speaks “a cleansing of your soul” in absolution. He speaks “forgiveness” with His body and blood in His Supper. The Devil and his demons will yell and stammer and rage and scream, mostly in nice sounding, soul-distracting words, but when the Word of Jesus is heard by your ears and received in your heart the Devil has nothing to say. He cannot accuse you of sin – you’re forgiven. He cannot terrify you with evil – that dark night is coming to an end. He cannot threaten you with death – you’re living forever. He cannot possess you – for your have been purchased and won by the blood of the Lamb.
They were all amazed that day in the synagogue at Capernaum and so should we — for by a Word, God has silenced our greatest foe. By a Word the Devil and His demons are sent home to hell, licking their wounds through muzzled jaws. Yes we ought to be amazed at the Word of forgiveness spoken to us in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
31 January 2015 anno Domini