Year B Epiphany IV Deuteronomy 18:15-10 Mark 1:21-18

What does the modern mindset make of religion? We who follow Jesus read our Bibles and learn of many wonders – of prophecy and miracles, and despite our faith, some of us think that folks back in Jesus’ day were certainly more gullible than we are today. Were the prophets really carriers of God’s word, or just keen observers of the political landscape? And what about those miraculous forces of nature, we can explain so many of them today just by using the tools of modern meteorology. We in the 21st century are hard put not to fall victim to the skepticism of so many people who have walked away from their faith, branding it as ancient and outdated.

The news flash is – people in Jesus’ day were also intelligent and enquiring. They didn’t accept things without scrutiny, and they looked and listened for those who spoke with authority. If we step back into the early Jewish community, stand among those to whom our Lord first brought His message, we find people who want explanations.

The Pharisees, for example, were keenly intelligent and highly educated. They argued their points from a legal standpoint, from their knowledge of Scripture and The Law. The Jews were expecting the Messiah to be a highly intelligent man who could argue religious doctrine, and who was also a warrior king. The Jews were searching for what they expected to find. Jesus, therefore, came as a complete surprise.

Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.

Moses is actually the first person in our Bible to offer an early Christology – an idea of Who Jesus would be. Thus, the Jewish community had been waiting for, hoping and praying for the “prophet like Moses”, who would appear in their midst at a time chosen by God. However, by the time Jesus arrived on the scene it had been a long wait. There had been no prophets for 500 years.

Jesus and His disciples went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, He entered the synagogue and taught.

Our Gospel reading this morning comes from the earliest Gospel written, that of Mark. Mark’s writing has a certain presence, an urgency that can help the reader feel like they are actually there, in the scene he describes. Let us settle ourselves among the Jews attending synagogue that day. Jesus walks in, and as is customary, He, being a visiting Rabbi, steps forward to read from Scripture and then to teach about the reading.

We, sitting in the congregation, are all familiar with this – we’ve listened to other Rabbis, and to the scribes (some of whom may also have been Pharisees), and are probably acquainted with the thoughts and arguments of both. They both teach with the authority of Jewish Law, the Law of Moses, but none of them hold or claim authority unto themselves alone.

Then Jesus gets up and begins to speak, and immediately we realize there is something different happening. In Jesus’ time, when scribes and rabbis spoke in synagogue, much like many academics today, they quoted other authorities in support of their own opinions. “Rabbi so-and-so said thus-and such…” or “This is how these words have been interpreted in the past…”. Jesus did not do that. He said, “Today this text is fulfilled in your presence.” He taught with personal authority. He did not rely on the authority of the teaching tradition.

As He speaks, the people in the synagogue are astounded at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Who is this fellow, and what does this mean? Yes, we’re thinking then just as we would think today if someone stood up in church and spoke with their own authority. We are shocked, and more than a little confused. Many emotions flare, among them disbelief and anger. How dare this person speak in this way and what proof can they offer that they have the right to do so?

Just then 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."

Though the Jews sitting in the synagogue that day, and we as we sit among them, did not recognize Jesus, the unclean spirit did. And again, Jesus exercises His authority: But 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. You can see mouths drop open.

They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

We like our logical, ordered lives, and we like our faith to be supportive of those lives, to reinforce us and guide us. We like Jesus to be all loving, to be kindness and caring Personified – but we aren’t quite as eager or willing to see Him as an absolute authority figure.

Sitting with the Jews that day in the synagogue we are able, as we are in church, to marvel at Jesus’ power, but we don’t feel particularly bound by His authority, nor do we have the slightest intention of surrendering to it. In our present day lives we may every now and then in difficult situations let Jesus take control, but that tends to happen only when we’ve exhausted every solution, every means of control we can think of exercising on our own.

Like the Jews in the synagogue that day, we’re glad to spread the Good News: At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. What we aren’t at all happy about is the demand put on us in this day, to surrender to our Lord.

What does it mean – to be called to follow Him – to be called to surrender? First and foremost it means giving up something to which we cling with fierce intensity – control of our lives. That doesn’t mean we suddenly become disorganized and directionless, it means that instead of worrying and struggling with problems and situations, we put everything in His hands, relying on Him, following His commandments. It is an act of extreme humility which creates a condition of complete simplicity, costing, as T.S. Elliot put it, “not less than everything”.

We all have a long way to go to become the humble, faithful people Jesus calls us to be. We want to be able rationalize everything, to find explanations for everything, to be in control of everything. This is not what He calls us to do. We are called to love and serve the Lord, to let our hearts rest in Him, to surrender our lives for the gifts He offers, joy, and love, and peace.

Let's give Him our hearts Let's give Him our breath Let's take time to Thank Him for dying our death Let's give Him our voice Let's lift up our hands Let's give him our lives Let's surrender to Him

“Surrender” by Dave Lubben

Lord Jesus, help us to surrender to You. Amen.