Barbara Moyer Lehman: Identity and Authority Issues

February 1, 2009
Mark 1:21-28; Psalm 111; 1 Cor. 8:1-13

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Is it any wonder that crowds soon followed after Jesus? Within these 8 verses, Mark records two times that the people were amazed or extremely surprised at what they had heard or seen. Just what was it that amazed them?
Two things:

1.) Jesus taught them as one who had authority, not like the scribes of the law. (Mk. 1:22) Somehow the people immediately picked up on the fact that what they heard was different from anything they heard before. His teaching was authentic. He didn’t need to rely on past tradition or another’s interpretation. He didn’t need to quote the “authorities”, for he was the authority! He didn’t need to use what the scribes did. They studied the law. They were scholars of the law. They were the professional interpreters of the law, who were often consulted as the authorities...they had their degrees! But Jesus’ teaching was different. The Greek word for authority includes the sense of “out from oneself”. So what Jesus taught came from within. His knowledge was complete, authentic to him. What he taught was not the important part, but it was the quality of this teaching that was significant. It was authoritative, uniquely him.

2.) Jesus had power over the evil spirits/demonic forces. He spoke, he commanded. They obeyed him. There was no magic show, no ritual, no ceremony. By his power, he called the evil spirit out of the man. By his power he controlled the actions of the demon. No one else could do that.

Is it any wonder that the very people who heard Jesus teach for the first time and witnessed this first public act in the beginning of his ministry, were astonished and amazed. Surely there was much talk and speculation, as they chatted together, and finally exclaimed, “What is this? A new teaching?... and with authority?” WHO IS THIS MAN?

Yes, WE know this man. We know who Jesus is, or do we? Are we still asking that question today? Who is Jesus?

But the first verse of Mark tells us, the readers, who Jesus is. We are given this knowledge. Verse 1 states: The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But think about the folks with Jesus in the synagogue, hearing him teach for the first time. They didn’t know who he was. Think about those first 4 disciples with him, two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew and James and John, fresh off of their fishing boats with barely enough time to get the fish smell off of their hands and out of their clothes, witnessing his teaching and seeing him casting out an evil spirit. They didn’t really know who he was and what it meant to follow him. They had a long way to go before they truly understood that the one who called them to follow him, that this Jesus was the Messiah, God’s Son.

With this first public act, Jesus makes a statement through his word and deed that begins to establish his identity. (done in two ways)
1.) Teaching with authority, unlike the scribes, immediately begins to set him apart from the religious establishment. It gives us a hint of what is to come and with whom he will be in conflict. After all, the scribes were the professional interpreters, the scholars. Now it appears that a new religious leader has come on the scene, one who speaks with an ‘inner authority’.
2.) By casting out an evil spirit, it shows that Jesus had power over the evil forces, the demonic, the spiritual forces, and he used that power to silence, when it was needed. And this was the time to do it, for the evil spirit was loud. It was Sabbath. This was happening among people attending synagogue. And the evil spirit cried out, “What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth? (apparently speaking for all the spirits). Have you come to destroy us? (or as a statement, “you have come to destroy us, for the evil spirit realizes that Jesus has come to oppose not just one evil spirit, but the demonic power structure, itself.).. I know who you are....the Holy One of God!”

What a revelation!!! Who has the knowledge here? It is the demons who know Jesus! (that is true in other parts of Mark’s gospel). There was this idea at that time that if you knew a person’s name, you could have some control or power over that person. The evil spirit thought to disarm Jesus with the knowledge he had and others didn’t, but Jesus silences and expels the demon. Jesus’ rebuke of the evil spirit was not to deny the truth of what the evil spirit was saying, but rather it was to suppress the information at that time! Even though the demons know who Jesus is, the human characters of the story are not to learn about Jesus’ identity from the demons.(part of the ‘secrecy’ theme in Mark)

In the Believers Church commentary by Timothy Geddert, he states, that in Mark’s gospel, “ discernment leading to true insight into Jesus’ identity comes in the context of discipleship, not as revelations from the divine or demonic world. “ (p. 47)

In Mark, the gospel writer wants to show that Jesus is not an ordinary human!
And by recording this first public act, we see that the witnesses noticed that something extra ordinary happened. Jesus’ teaching was like no other. His power was beyond all others. His knowledge was more than the demons, his knowledge was more than the scribes, the best scholars of that time. People knew Jesus was different, and they were amazed!!!

In the I Corinthian 8:1-13 passage for today, we read of some important insight on knowledge. The apostle Paul is writing to his congregation giving guidance and direction on the matter of whether Christians may eat meat that had been offered to idols or leftover after some pagan sacrificial rites. He writes: Now concerning your letter...
“All of us know something about this subject.” But knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others.(Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. RSV) In fact, people who think they know so much don’t know anything at all. But God has no doubts about who loves him.

All of us should be open to learning, growing and gaining more knowledge. But we also need to remember that knowledge gained can be used for good or for evil. It can build up, but it can also tear down. It can heal, but it can also hurt.

Paul doesn’t take sides in the dispute, but tries to challenge them in their thinking, to reconsider their actions, and suggests to them that knowledge is defective if it fails to build up the community in love. If knowledge makes us ‘puff’ up, it can soon lead to arrogance.

In Mark, we saw that the evil spirit had knowledge of who Jesus was and wanted to disarm Jesus in public by revealing his identity, wanting to take away his power. The evil spirit was using knowledge for harm.

The scribes certainly had knowledge, much knowledge of scripture. They were the professional interpreters, but often they focused on preserving and keeping the law, maintaining what was given to them to the letter. It didn’t allow for new life, for windows to be open to new, fresh interpretations. It didn’t allow for new wineskins.

Jesus used his knowledge to teach with authority, to lay the groundwork for the revealing of his identity. Jesus taught boldly, confidently, from the earliest days of his ministry, using his innate knowledge as the ultimate ‘authority’ to distinguish himself from others. His knowledge came from within.

How do we use our knowledge?
The kind of language we use tells a lot about us. The Corinthian Christians had this saying/slogan, “all of us possess knowledge”. Paul responds by saying that is not necessarily true. By saying that, you are automatically excluding those who do not share that opinion or have the knowledge that you do.
It is a little bit like if I would get up Sunday morning and say, “ We don’t have it in our hymn book, but I am sure all of you know and remember the song, How Great Thou Art. Let’s sing it together.”
Of course we don’t all know that song. Some of us might have known it, but can’t remember the words now. By what I said, and the assumptions I made, we already excluded people. As pastor it is challenging to not say, “I won’t repeat that Bible story or verse, because all of you already know that well.”. Not true!

How do we use our knowledge?
Park View Mennonite Church includes in its membership many people who are highly educated, well -read, world travelers, gifted writers, creative artists, trained musicians, skilled professionals, leaders and executives in business and medical and educational and church institutions. How do we use our knowledge? Are we using our knowledge as a weapon or as an instrument of love? Are we so confident in our beliefs, understandings and interpretations, of scripture, of ethical issues, of economics, of politics, that we leave little room for conversation and dialogue with anyone who thinks differently, who may have more or less knowledge than we do.
Sitting in one of our adult Sunday School classes on any given morning, can be pretty intimidating, if you never finished high school, or never learned to read and write, never traveled outside of the United State, or maybe even VA. For some people who can’t read music, or carry a tune, coming into our worship service and participating in the music can be a wonderful, positive experience, if you want to just sit and enjoy the harmonies. It can also be very intimidating and isolating, when you feel you can’t join in. Unfortunately, sometimes one of our strengths can also exclude.
When I first came to Park View and began my ministry, it was hard not to feel intimidated and insecure. It was nothing that you did that made me feel that way. It was within me, my own insecurities, that came to the surface. I soon realized that I would need to use the computer a lot more than I had done previously. That would be a challenge and knowing that my colleague.......well it is second nature to him and he thrives on it. It amazed me to discover that many of the older generation here at PV had high school degrees, college degrees and more, were retired professors, leaders in church and university. My parents never went beyond 9th grade. Education was valued, to a certain extent, but higher education(college) was not strongly encouraged when I was growing up, especially for a girl. I hoped that I would some day get married and have kids, but didn’t think too much about a career until I finally decided to go to college, for what purpose, well that wasn’t even clear to me. So deciding to go to seminary after our two sons were in school, and actually finishing an M.Div degree, was a huge step for this PA farm girl. I was excited to become part of the pastoral staff here at PV in the fall of 2001, but also somewhat nervous. I realized that some of the books and articles I had read and studied in seminary were actually written by some of you. I would now become your pastor. How long would it take, I thought, until you would discover how little knowledge I had of what you wrote. (I remember with clarity, the week before I started working here. I was standing in my office, surrounded with all my boxes of books, trying to place them on the shelves in some order so that I would know where to find them. Norman Kraus walked by, then came back to my door and warmly welcomed me to PV and Harrisonburg. He stood there in blue jeans and a blue denim shirt. I had just placed a few books on my shelf before he poked his head in the doorway. I knew Norman wrote a few of them. I was so nervous and probably broke out in a cold sweat, afraid that he had noticed and might ask me something about one of them. I didn’t want to expose my ignorance before I even officially started. Norman graciously welcomed me and, no, he did not ask me anything about his books.)

How do we use our knowledge?
Richard Hays who wrote a commentary on I Corinthians states this:
Every congregation will profit from looking at themselves in the mirror of I Corinthians 8 and asking whether there are ways in which they are using knowledge as a weapon rather than as an instrument of love. Whether Bible -thumping certainty about revealed truth, or serene confidence in the latest scientific findings, or passionate discernment of the “right” social causes, any “knowledge” that divides community and causes the knowledgeable ones to despise those who are ignorant or uncertain is not being used in the service of God. “ (p.145)

The key message in I Cor. 8 is that love is more important than knowledge. It is wrong to assert our rights and privileges, our strong opinions, if it is tearing apart the community. Rather we need to see that love, not knowledge, should be the guiding principle that helps give shape to our community life.

Jesus taught with authority, for he was/is the authoritative one. His knowledge is complete. For some of us, we may be in positions of “power and authority”, but we are deeply aware that any knowledge we have and any expertise we have gained in any field will always be only partial, at best.

May we use what we know wisely, carefully, constructively. May our knowledge be used for the building up of one another and the faith community. May God give us the wisdom to know how to do that in love.


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