'Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; 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!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee (Mk. 1:21-28).'
After Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan river, he began his Galilean ministry teaching on a Sabbath in the Synagogue in Capernaum. The service had three parts: prayers, Scripture reading, and teaching, and any learned person could be invited to teach. There were no ordained Rabbis in Jesus’ time. In the Gospels the Scribes interpreted and taught OT Law. Jesus spoke with the authority of his Father, not like the Scribes who usually appealed to the teachings and deeds of other Jewish teachers. There was a man possessed by an evil spirit which asked Jesus, “What have you to do with us?” This implied that Jesus was meddling in the devil’s domain of evil. We can accept God into our lives, but we can also accept evil into our lives. The evil spirit possessed the man and acknowledged Jesus’ ability to destroy it. It addressed Jesus as the ‘Holy One of God’ in an attempt to stop Jesus from casting it out of the man. The belief in those times was that using the precise name of an opposing spirit would allow control of that spirit. Jesus ordered the evil spirit to be silent and cast it out. Jesus cured the man by the authority of his word alone, not using rituals or displays of magic like the Jewish religious leaders. The bystanders were amazed and acknowledged Jesus as a new authoritative teacher with power in both his word and his deed.
Almighty God, in a world filled with anger and hatred we pray fervently that you deliver us from evil and guide us along the path of righteousness. Help us to do our part to avoid the near occasion of sin, and to be proactive in our efforts to lead others to you. Our savior Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. In his name we pray, have mercy on us. Amen!
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Santiago Ausin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Vincente Balaguer, Francisco Varo, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (2017). The Navarre Bible - New Testament. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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