Sermon Index
January 29, 2012, Epiphany 4B
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GOSPEL LESSON: Mark 1:21–28 21And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24“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.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. |
SECOND LESSON: 1 Corinthians 8:1–13 [About food sacrificed to idols] 1Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. 4Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 7However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. |
When Jesus preached in the synagogue, people were amazed at the way he spoke. He did not quote the pious opinions of other rabbis and Bible scholars. He spoke from his own authority, and he “told it as it was.” And then he healed the man who had an unclean spirit. People said, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” This authority is a big theme in the Gospel of Mark. What is the authority of Jesus? Where does this authority of Jesus come from? Does he have authority over us? This is also one of the big themes of our Sunday morning preaching and teaching this year: the authority of Jesus and what it means to us.
Jesus had the authority of God, because he was God. God has also given authority to humans when they have been called to preach and teach and lead his people. For example, God called Moses and gave him authority; it was like God gave him permission and a license to do God’s work, and also gave him the necessary support and backing to do that job. And so Moses went down to Egypt and through word and miracles, led the people of Israel out of slavery. And at Mt. Sinai, Moses was authorized to tell the people the Law of God. This was the Ten Commandments and all the ceremonial and social laws and regulations written in the first five books of the Old Testament. These laws were to prevent crime of course, but the rules about food and dress had another purpose also. They helped shape the identity of the Israel people. They were a holy people dedicated to the Lord God. By not eating pork and by the way they dressed, they showed that they were not like other people. They were special.
Jesus gave authority to his disciples. The greatest authority was to forgive sin. This is the so-called “Office of the Keys,” the keys that bind and unbind sin, and open or close the gate of heaven. Jesus also gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples. With the authority of the Holy Spirit, the disciples preached and taught the Gospel of Salvation and led people to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.
That authority gave the disciples the true understanding of God and of our relationship to him. We are not connected to God by what we do, but rather by what God has done through Jesus Christ. And so we are no longer bound by the ceremonial laws of Moses. Paul could tell the church in Corinth that they were no longer bond the food laws of Moses. In talking about the problem about eating food offered to idols, he said (1 Cor.8:8-9) “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” Moses would never have said that. Moses would have said that such food was unclean and so could never have been eaten by the Israelites. Moses feared that it would be a stumbling block to faith of not only the individual, but would also weaken the whole nation of Israel.
But the Apostle Paul could speak the way he did because he had the authority of Jesus who had come and had defeated the power of the devil and unclean spirits and so-called gods and idols. St. Paul wrote (1 Cor.8:4) “Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’”
There is one other great difference between the authority of Moses and that of the Apostles. Moses was shaping the people of Israel to be separated from and different from the rest of the world. When Jesus gave the Great Commission to the Apostles, he told them to go into the whole world and to make disciples of them. This was gospel and forgiveness and freedom.
The authority of the church today is the same as that which the Apostles had: to teach the gospel, to perform the sacraments, and to forgive sin. Those are the true marks of the true church. That is what we are licensed to do by the Holy Spirit. Therefore we have permission to live the freedom of the Gospel. We can eat pork. We do not have to cover our heads when we come into church. We do not have to fear evil spirits or idols. But St. Paul reminds us of the one great obligation that we do have. We have to love our neighbor. St. Paul reminded us that some Christians are still weak in their faith about things like that, and we must not hurt their faith. St. Paul said (8:13), “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” He had the freedom and love to do that.
People were surprised at the authority of Jesus. They are surprised when the church speaks out about various things. People rejected the authority of Jesus, and likewise they do not accept the role of the church and the role of Christians to speak the word of God today. But with the God-given authority comes the God-given responsibility to love the neighbor. We do that in our prayers and in our actions. It is as powerful as when Jesus cured the man with the unclean spirit. Our deeds should be just as amazing!
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church