Sermon on Mark 1:21-28, 4th Sunday after Pentecost 2020 (B), "A New Teaching, With Authority!"
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The theme that jumps out of Mark 1 today is Jesus’ Authority. He teaches, He casts out demons, and crowds marvel that they haven’t seen anything like this before. They search and inquire among themselves: “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” Jesus’ authority still rules His Church, and His Word still advances against a world of darkness and spiritual evil. May God continue to visit us with His authority for our good. One of the first things strikes people yesterday and today, is that Jesus does not teach like everyone else. The rabbis, or Jewish teachers, had their customary way of quoting other supporting ancient teachers and authorities, building their interpretations and reasoning on what others had said before. Never standing on their own authority. Which in a sense is good; men should never presume to usurp G...